The Portuguese head of state this Friday defended a strengthening of bilateral relations with Cuba, which he described as “very constant”, regardless of the regimes in Portugal, and reiterated his opposition to the blockade imposed by the United States of America.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa spoke to the media at the Palace of Belém, in Lisbon, with at his side the President of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, whom he received today, at the start of his state visit to Portugal.
“We are especially interested in the future. And the future means strengthening friendship, strengthening cooperation, strengthening cultural cooperation, economic cooperation, social cooperation, political cooperation and diplomatic cooperation,” he said. .
In his speech, the Portuguese president “supported cooperation with Cuban doctors in Portugal, both in the present and in the past”, noting that this has happened before “with governments from the left and the right”.
“We are one of the first European countries to recognize the independence of Cuba and maintain constant relations with Cuba, regardless of the regimes in Portugal, monarchical, republican, autocratic, democratic, economic and social regimes. We Portuguese are very constant in our friendships ” , he stated.
The Portuguese head of state added that “this explains the opposition to the blockade of Cuba by right-wing and left-wing governments with different presidents and different prime ministers” in Portugal and the “international cooperation on Latin America” between the two countries.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa pointed out that this is “the first state visit by a Cuban president to Portugal – given that Commander Fidel Castro was here in 1998 at an Ibero-American summit in Porto”, and comes in the wake of his equally unprecedented state visit to Cuba in 2016, when Cuban President Raúl Castro was.
“I cannot forget the meeting with Commander Fidel Castro, one of the last he had before his death,” said the Portuguese head of state.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Miguel Díaz-Canel made statements to the media, after which there was no right to questions from journalists.
Source: DN
