Dear brother Neville Gertze, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Namibia,
Dear Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations,
Distinguished guests:
It was with deep sorrow that we received the news of the physical demise of the founding father of the sister nation of the Republic of Namibia, H.E. Dr. and Comrade Sam Nujoma.
The world has lost an icon of the struggle against the apartheid regime, Namibia has lost one of its best sons, and Cuba has lost an extraordinary friend.
I reiterate the heartfelt and sincere condolences of the Communist Party of Cuba; of the Leader of the Cuban Revolution, Raúl Castro Ruz; of the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez; of the Cuban people and Government to the sister Republic of Namibia.
"Death is not true when the work of life has been well accomplished”, as our national hero, José Martí, wrote, thus immortalizing those exceptional people who, like Nujoma, came to the world to leave legacies and essential works.
Throughout his fruitful life, our dear friend Nujoma amply demonstrated his vocation to sacrifice for his country and for other just causes in the world.
He was an undisputed African leader who contributed to consolidating Namibia's international projection, placing it in the vanguard of nations, in defense of the development of the peoples of the Third World, especially Africa, for equality and justice.
Throughout his life, he showed a special affection for Cuba and supported the Cuban Revolution from the time he led the heroic Namibian people in the struggle for independence, and later when he assumed the highest leadership of his nascent independent state.
Under his leadership, since the years when he led SWAPO, the peoples of Cuba and Namibia got to know each other, to work together, to share the sacrifices of the trenches, to build, strengthen and defend our respective societies on the basis of solidarity and fraternal cooperation.
President Nujoma was a fervent promoter of solidarity and cooperation with our country, and never ceased to recognize and appreciate the Cuban contribution to the struggles for the liberation of Africa and the end of apartheid. The Cuban people and government will always be grateful for his unwavering support of our just demand for an end to the U.S. economic blockade.
We remember today his sincere friendship with the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, and with Army General Raul Castro Ruz.
The enduring history that President Nujoma shared with our country qualified him as a close friend of the Cuban people and its Revolution, reason why he deserved to be awarded of the Order of José Martí, the highest distinction granted by the Cuban State.
For this reason, Cuba, a country inextricably linked to Africa and Namibia, joins you today to commemorate his legacy, but above all to pay tribute to his extraordinary life.
We felt a moral obligation to be present at this farewell to one of our most faithful friends from the “Land of the Brave”, as the words of the national anthem of our sister Republic of Namibia read.
Nujoma is the African baobab that will multiply with greatness and immortality in the young people who embody the future, and who will forge the Namibia he dreamed of and to which he dedicated his fruitful life.
For our part, we will continue to carry Namibia and Africa in our hearts, for which we will always build bridges of solidarity and brotherhood, as Fidel and Nujoma taught us.
Thank you