Havana, May 8 (RHC)--The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, will be addressing the opening day of the thirty-seven session of the Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), being held in Havana through Friday.

The program of the event includes discussions on the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, South-South cooperation and the fight against inequality in the region.

The UN Chief arrived in Havana on Monday and was received by President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

The two leaders held talks about the preservation of peace, international security, climate change and the 2030 Agenda, as well as on the role of the island in multilateral institutions.

Guterres also paid tribute to the Cuban national hero, José Martí, in Revolution Square.

The UN Secretary General also toured areas of Old Havana, included in UNESCO´s World Heritage sites list.

He took the opportunity to acknowledge the work of conservation and restoration of Old Havana, undertaken by Cuban authorities amidst the difficulties faced by Cuba and the persistence of the US blockade.

Guterres was accompanied on his tour by the historian of Havana, Eusebio Leal, and the executive secretary of ECLAC, Alicia Bárcena.

The former Portuguese Prime Minister (1995-2002) and former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2005-2015) is ending on Tuesday his first visit to Cuba since he took office in January 2017 at the helm of the United Nations.

In remarks to the press upon his arrival at the José Martí International Airport, Guterres recalled that he was in Havana in 1999, when he was prime minister of Portugal, to participate in the IX Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government.