Pretoria, October 19 (RHC)-- South African Vice President Cyril Ramaphosa is in Stockholm attending the Eighth Session of the South Africa-Sweden Bilateral Commission as part of a tour that will take him to Cuba and later to Mexico.

The top government South African official's visit to Sweden will consolidate bilateral relations with Sweden in the areas of trade, industry, science, technology, education, the environment, telecommunications and governmental links, according to the South African Foreign Ministry.

Sweden is an important commercial partner for South Africa, as imports from that European nation grew 14 percent between 2010 and 2014.

Cuba and South Africa have maintained excellent bilateral relations since the end of the racist apartheid regime that ruled South Africa for many years.

U.S. Congressional Representative Refers to Importance of U.S.-Cuba Relations

Washington, October 19 (RHC)-- U.S. Congressional Representative Democrat Adam Smith said on Sunday that the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Washington and Havana is one of the most important events in U.S. foreign policy this year.

In an article published Sunday by The Hill daily, Smith said that the U.S. policy on Cuba maintained for years and based on unilateral sanctions was a mistake that only separated the United States from the Cuban people. The lawmaker is member of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee.

Congressman Smith also recalled that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the accord signed by the Bill Clinton administration that led to the normalization of relations between the United States and Vietnam.

Cuba and the United States re-established diplomatic relations on July 20th as a first step towards the normalization of bilateral links, for which the main obstacle is the over-50-year U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade of the Caribbean nation.