Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here present.
Ambassador El Hadj Abdoulaye Doré, Dean of the Diplomatic Corp
Dear Ambassadors from African Nations accredited in Monrovia
Dear friends from Liberia-Cuba Friendship Association
Dear invitees
Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to start by thanking the Liberia Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Delegation of the African Union accredited to Monrovia for joining our Embassy and supporting the implementation of this modest activity, whose main objective is to continue the celebrations initiated yesterday for Africa Day and at the same time highlight the excellent state of relations between Cuba and the African continent.
I am also grateful for the presence of all of you on this day, and it is our greatest desire that this activity contributes to the strengthening of relations between the peoples and governments of African nations and the Cuban government and people.
On this occasion I do not intend to make a long speech, because the most important thing today is the pleasure of sharing and talking with our African friends. But I do have the duty to point out that as every year during this month of May there have been numerous and varied activities throughout Cuba as part of a program of initiatives to commemorate Africa Day.
Cultural, political and sports activities, among others, were attended by the embassies, institutions and African organizations accredited in Havana, thousands of young Africans studying in Cuba, as well as Cuban institutions and organizations and the Cuban people in general. Likewise, the diplomatic missions accredited in Africa commemorate with enthusiasm and gratitude this important date in the history of the so-called black continent, which was the foundation of the Organization for African Unity in 1963, predecessor of the current African Union.
For our part, this program today is also part of a group of initiatives that our Embassy has designed to conmemorate this date.
The Cuba-Africa ties go back to the history of the formation of Cuban nationality, marked by the imprint, culture, rhythm and African traditions that came to our country together with the more than 1 million 200 thousand Africans brought to Cuba during the time of the slave trade. Hundreds of these Africans and their descendants fought in Cuban independence struggles.
The culture, traditions, food and every aspect of Cuban life in general is marked by the influence of the African, which is definitely inseparable from our history and our culture. Today 35% of the Cuban population is black or mulatto, as a result of the miscegenation throughout the history of our nation.
That is why, since the Triumph of the Revolution, Cuba has practiced a consistent internationalism and support to the African nations, as part of our foreign policy mainly driven by the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro.
In that sense, it was not by chance that the first Cuban Medical Brigade that worked extensively in a foreign country, was in Algeria in 1963.
In Africa more than 350 thousand Cubans fought in the struggles for the independence of several nations such as South Africa, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Angola, Namibia and Guinea-Bissau, many of them descendants of the African slaves that arrived at Cuba. After the contribution of the Cuban troops to the freedom of these African nations, Cuba only took from Africa the remains of the more than 2,600 Cubans who gave their lives fighting.
· Today more than 6,200 Cuban collaborators work in 29 African nations, of which 2 698 are in the health sector. More than 29,000 African students have graduated in Cuba in various specialties, of which more than 27 300 belong to the sub-Saharan Africa region.
· Currently, more than 9,398 African students study in Cuba in various university degrees, most of them for free scholarships granted by our government, including young Liberians.
The most recent chapter of unconditional solidarity was the work of 256 Cuban doctors who fought Ebola in the 3 nations most affected by this deadly disease, 53 of them in Liberia.
Cuba maintains diplomatic relations with the 48 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, with a total of 29 embassies.
The Cuban government and people are grateful for the expressions of support and solidarity from African countries, particularly in our struggle against the US blockade which remains the main obstacle to the development of the Cuban economy. We are also grateful for the tribute of the Africans to Commander in Chief Fidel Castro on the occasion of his physical disappearance occurred November 25th last year.
I Take this opportunity to ratify that the Cuban government willingness to continue strengthening relations of solidarity and cooperation with Africa, supported by the historic and internationalist legacy of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro, as well as the willingness to continue contributing to the implementation and fulfillment of Agenda 2063 for Development of the continent.
I wish to conclude by thanking once again the Liberian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Delegation of the African Union for their support in carrying out this program.
On behalf of the Cuban government and people, as well as on behalf of our Embassy and on my own behalf, I wish to express our sincere congratulations on the Africa Day.
Long live the unity of African peoples !!
Live forever Cuba-Africa relations.
Thank you very much to you all.