Nicaraguan Minister of Defense Rosa Adelina Barahona Castro

Havana, Sept 20 (RHC) Nicaraguan Defense Minister Rosa Adelina Barahona Castro paid tribute to independence hero Antonio Maceo at the beginning of her visit to Cuba.

The official reception ceremony held the day before at El Cacahual, in southern Havana, was presided over by Army Corps General Joaquín Quintas Solá, deputy minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR), and other chiefs of that institution, national television reported.

At that site, which holds the remains of Antonio Maceo and his aide, Captain Francisco Gómez Toro, as well as those of other Cuban patriots, the Nicaraguan Defense Minister placed a wreath.

After the ceremony, Barahona Castro reaffirmed to the press the excellent and historic ties of friendship between his country and Cuba, and conveyed the solidarity greetings of President Daniel Ortega and Vice President Rosario Murillo to the Cuban people and its Revolution.

He recalled that Nicaragua is one of the nations that systematically denounces the criminal blockade of the United States against the island.

We defend peace with revolutionary principles, as we learned from this heroic Cuba, he said.

The visit of the Nicaraguan Defense Minister will conclude on September 28, and includes, among other activities, tours of FAR units. (Source:PL)