By: Angélica Paredes López.
Minsk, June 25 (RHC)-- At 8:45 a.m. local time this Wednesday (seven hours later than in Cuba), the First Secretary of the Party Central Committee and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, arrived in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.
The Cuban president is beginning an official visit, his second since his presence in Minsk in October 2019. He will also participate in the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council on June 26 and 27, a mechanism where our country has observer status, the only one in Latin America and the Caribbean.
After traveling the just over nine thousand kilometers separating the Caribbean island from this Eastern European nation, the Cuban president was greeted at the foot of the aircraft's steps with flowers and salted bread—held by three Belarusian women—as a sign of greeting, as dictated by Slavic tradition. The president was accompanied by his partner, Lis Cuesta Peraza.
At the airport, under a persistent rain, the following people came to welcome the visitor: Viktor Karankevich, Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister; Evgeny Shestakov, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Vitaly Borchuk, Belarusian ambassador to Cuba; and his Cuban counterpart accredited in Minsk, Santiago Pérez Benítez.
Díaz-Canel received a military salute from the Honor Guard, positioned on both sides of the red carpet laid out on the pavement of the airport.
Accompanying the Head of State as part of the official delegation are Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, member of the Political Bureau and Minister of Foreign Affairs; Emilio Lozada García, head of the International Relations Department of the Party Central Committee; Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga, head of Foreign Trade and Investment; and Mayda Mauri Pérez, president of the BioCubaFarma group, along with other officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to the scheduled program, Díaz-Canel will hold an official meeting with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and visit sites of economic and historical interest.
The dignitary, in addition to leading the Cuban delegation attending the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, will also attend the opening of the Plenary Session of the Fourth Eurasian Economic Forum.
Cuba and Belarus maintain political relations at the highest level, based on the historical ties that intertwine the two countries, while also making progress in consolidating economic and commercial ties.
Bilateral diplomatic ties were established on April 16, 1992. The two peoples share deep feelings of respect and friendship.
Cuban flags were waving at the airport this morning; they also adorn several avenues in the city, expressing the arrival of a representative of a friendly people to Belarus.
[ SOURCE: PRENSA LATINA ]
