Helsinki, September 20th.- The Charge d'Affaires a.i of Cuba in Finland, Víctor M. Rodríguez Etcheverry was received at the headquarters of the prestigious University of Helsinki by Phd. Jussi Pakkasvirta, Vice Dean and Head of the Department of Cultures of the Faculty of Arts of the oldest institution of Higher Education in the Nordic country.
During the meeting, Pakkasvirta recalled the fruitful cooperation that existed between the two countries in the 70´s and 80´s of the last century. "Cuba has always been of research interest to Finnish academics and there is admiration for the island's scientific potential, especially in the area of medical sciences," said the Vice Dean. Currently, the University has several scientific doctoral projects on Latin American issues in different areas, with emphasis on countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and precisely: Cuba.
Pakkasvirta, invited the Charge d'Affaires of Cuba to the pre-congress of Ceisal (European Council of Social Research in Latin America), which will take place at the end of November of this year, where academics will discuss the "Uncertain Trajectories: Latin America after the globalization ". In June 2022, the X edition of the Congress will be attended by renowned academics and personalities from various countries in the region, such as the professor at the University of Costa Rica: Juliana Martínez Franzoni or the professor at the School of Government and the Institute of Political Science of the Catholic University of Buenos Aires: Juan Luna. For Cuba, the guest of honor will be the award-winning Caribbean writer, National Literature Prize 2012, Leonardo Padura Fuentes.
"The necesity to promote exchanges between universities, mainly, where we can both get feedback from the scientific advances of the counterparts, could be resumed and would constitute a cornerstone of the development of bilateral ties," said the Cuban diplomat. Both Finland and Cuba have a first-rate educational system, with prestigious universities and with great financial support from the State, for scientific production of a social nature and there is the will to revitalize the ties that once existed between both countries.
The meeting was attended by, on the Finnish side, the anthropologist and expert in Cuban affairs, Phd. Heidi Harkonen and Phd. Florencia Quesada Avendano, Historian and Archaeologist of Global Development Studies.