Pretoria, January 14, 2024 - The VII African Continental Meeting of Solidarity with Cuba will take place between the 15th and 17th of this month in the South African city of Mbombela, Mpumalanga province. The Cuban delegation attending the event is headed by the President of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP) and Hero of the Republic of Cuba, Fernando González Llort. He is accompanied by the Cuban Ambassador to South Africa, Enrique Orta González; Yahimí Rodríguez Flores, ICAP's director for Africa, and other officials from the Institute and the state mission.
The theme of the meeting is "Africa's global commitment to the Cuban Revolution" and delegations from more than 20 countries from the continent and other regions of the world will participate.
South Africa hosted the first meeting of this kind in 1995, at which time 12 countries representing southern Africa attended. Then President and anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela presided over the event, while Father Michael Lapsley spoke on behalf of the South African Cuba Friendship Association (FOCUS).
Father Michael, widely known for his tireless solidarity work towards Cuba, especially during the campaign for the release of the Cuban Five Heroes, will also attend this event, as he did 29 years ago, this time in his capacity as Honorary President of FOCUS.
Five other meetings have taken place over the years, in Ghana (1997), Angola (2010), Ethiopia (2012), Namibia (2017) and Nigeria (2019). These meetings have been the right space to unite and strengthen the Cuba Solidarity Movement on the continent, to show that Cuba is not alone and that its African brothers and sisters will always be by its side.
(Cuban Embassy in South Africa)