The Ambassador of Cuba to Ghana, Pedro Luis Despaigne González, was received in the Parliament of Ghana by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin.
The Cuban diplomat recalled the letter sent to the Speaker by the President of the National Assembly of People's Power and the Council of State, Esteban Lazo Hernández, where he congratulated him on the 64th Anniversary of the Independence of Ghana and on his appointment to office. In the same sense, he specified that the letter expresses appreciation for the support that Cuba has received from Ghana against the blockade imposed by the United States, as well as the reiteration of the will to work in order to strengthen relations between both legislative bodies.
The Cuban Ambassador updated Parliament with Cuba's progress in obtaining vaccines against COVID-19 and ratified the willingness of the country's authorities to cooperate in this field with Ghana. Likewise, he mentioned the international solidarity aid provided to several countries through the “Henry Reeve” brigades, and about the preparation of new Ghanaian doctors on Cuban soil. Lastly, he ratified how positive it would be to establish a Ghana-Cuba Parliamentary Friendship Group in the Ghanaian legislature.
The Speaker of Parliament expressed that he had the opportunity to visit Cuba twice, in 2001, when he was the Minority Leader and in 2012, when he was Minister for Health, of which he has memorable memories. He ratified his solidarity with the Cuban people and expressed his opposition to the unjust blockade imposed by the United States; in this regard, he added that the current government of that country can take actions to considerably ease this blockade and pointed out that the Cuban people would have advanced more in their economic development if it did not exist. He said he was in a position to approve the formation of the Ghana-Cuba Parliamentary Friendship Group.
Among those accompanying the Speaker of Parliament were the leaders of the Majority and Minority leaders, Hon. Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu and Hon. Haruna Iddrisu; the member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, among other parliamentarians. (Cubaminrex-Embacuba Ghana)