Prime Minister completed Working Agenda in Qatar.

(Doha, November 9, 2025) – Manuel Marrero Cruz, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and Prime Minister of the Republic of Cuba, paid a working visit to the State of Qatar on the occasion of his participation in the Second World Summit on Social Development, held from November 4 to 6 in the capital. Upon his arrival at Hamad International Airport, he was received by His Excellency Mr. Ibrahim Yousif Abdullah Fakhro, Director of Protocol of the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Cuban delegation also included Jesús Otamendiz Campos, Minister of Labor and Social Security; Carlos Luis Jorge Méndez, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment; Elio Rodríguez Perdomo, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Enrique Enríquez, Cuban Ambassador to Qatar; and other officials from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

As part of the bilateral program carried out during his visit, the Cuban Prime Minister held meetings with high-ranking officials of the Qatari government, notably receiving His Excellency Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. During this meeting, they reviewed the excellent state of relations between the two countries in various spheres and agreed to take concrete steps to further strengthen them and elevate economic, trade, and investment ties to the same high level as their political and diplomatic relations.

The Cuban leader was also received by Her Excellency Maryam bint Ali bin Nasser Al Misnad, Minister of State for International Cooperation, with whom he discussed possible ways to further strengthen bilateral cooperation mechanisms. The Qatari minister also announced her government's decision to offer a donation to the eastern provinces of Cuba, whose population was severely affected by Hurricane Melissa.

The historical cooperative relations in the health sector were discussed by Comrade Manuel Marrero Cruz with Mansoor bin Ebrahim bin Saad Al Mahmoud, Minister of Public Health, who acknowledged the excellent work carried out by Cuban health professionals in various hospitals in this Arab nation.

The Head of Government also held a productive exchange with Sheikh Thani bin Hamad Al Thani, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Qatar Fund for Development, during which they evaluated possible avenues of cooperation between Cuba and this Qatari government entity responsible for the country's international development and foreign aid.

Marrero Cruz also met with Mohamed Saif Al Sowaidi, Executive Director of the Qatar Investment Authority, where special emphasis was placed on the potential for strengthening ties with this entity.

In the context of the Second World Summit for Social Development, the Prime Minister participated alongside the Cuban delegation in the First Leaders' Meeting of the Global Partnership against Hunger and Poverty, held on November 3. In his address, he emphasized that the Partnership is a strategic platform for advancing the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. He reiterated that the cruel and intensified blockade imposed by the United States for more than six decades is suffocating our economy, directly and severely impacting the food security of the Cuban people.

Three decades after the First World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen, the meeting in Doha brought together a large number of Heads of State and Government, ministers, and high-ranking officials. The Cuban Head of Government, in his address to the plenary session, stated emphatically that military spending should be reduced to contribute effectively to the social development of nations.

He condemned Israel's aggression against the Palestinian people and affirmed that Cuban solidarity with the Palestinian cause will remain steadfast. He also rejected the U.S. policy of economic, commercial, and financial blockade against the Cuban people, asserting that solidarity remains key to overcoming obstacles and contributing to the social development of our countries. He took the opportunity to express his gratitude for the outpouring of support following the damage caused by Hurricane Melissa.

During his visit to Qatar, Marrero Cruz visited the Cuban Hospital in Dukhan, founded in 2012, which has marked a milestone in relations between the two countries. At the medical institution, the Cuban leader was received by Hussain Al-Ishaq, executive director and representative of the Hamad Medical Corporation of the Qatari Ministry of Health, and by Dr. Tania Fernández, the hospital's medical director, who outlined the center's excellent results in recent years.

In discussions with representatives of the Cuban medical professionals working in this and other Qatari hospitals, the Prime Minister provided information on the country's situation and the preliminary effects of Hurricane Melissa, sharing with those present the measures that have been adopted to overcome economic challenges and mitigate the impact of the blockade.

(Embassy of Cuba in Qatar)