Harare, February 6, 2026 – The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe, Professor Paul Mapfumo, received the Ambassador of Cuba, Her Excellency Susellys Pérez Mesa, today with the aim of strengthening collaborative projects between the two countries.
Mapfumo and Pérez Mesa reviewed the status of ongoing projects with three universities in the African nation and discussed upcoming events in Cuba related to higher education, unilateral coercive measures, and international relations.
The Vice-Chancellor, as the highest-ranking official of the University of Zimbabwe, affirmed the Zimbabwean authorities' commitment to maintaining cooperation in the areas covered by bilateral agreements and identifying other opportunities for exchange.
The Ambassador, accompanied by Minister-Counselor Luis Enrique González, briefed her counterpart on the current situation in Cuba, which has endured nearly seven decades of a US embargo, now intensified by the executive order to prevent oil purchases. She also noted that this year marks the 40th anniversary of the start of Cuba's ongoing medical collaboration, exemplified today by the 14th Brigade of specialists working in six hospitals in the major cities of Bulawayo and Harare.
Mapfumo and Pérez Mesa both emphasized the excellent state of relations between the two countries, reflected in 2025 by a significant exchange of delegations, including that of the President of the Cuban Parliament, Esteban Lazo Hernández, to Harare, as well as a special envoy from the President of Zimbabwe, along with two ministers and three deputy ministers, to Havana.