L-R: Cuba Vice President Salvador Valdes and RPF Vice Chairperson, Consolee Uwimana
Cuban Vice President Salvador Valdes has said that his country and Rwanda are deepening their relationship.
“My visit here is intended to strengthen bilateral relations between our two countries to the highest level possible,” Valdes said.
The VP said that following the G77, the plan to open embassies in both countries remains a matter under consideration.
“During the meeting, the presidents of Rwanda and Cuba respectively spoke highly of the possibility to open diplomatic embassies in both our countries,” Valdes said November 21, 2023 while holding discussions with the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF) Inkotanyi’s officials.
The VP was accompanied by a Cuban delegation including the First Deputy Minister of Public Health, Tania Margarita Cruz, the Deputy Director General of Bilateral Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Angel Villa, Ambassador Tania Perez Xiques along other officials.
Ambassador Tania Perez Xiques explained that discussions to open the two embassies are underway and so far there is progress being made to ensure this happens.
The Communist Party of Cuba and RPF-INKOTANYI have a lot in common and share a commitment to a pro-people approach to governance, and revolutionary methods of work characterize their political movements.
RPF Vice Chairperson, Console Uwimana, said that the progress both countries have achieved in past years is evident and both parties also continue to play a pivotal role, in forging a shared vision for sustainable socio-economic development, and building prosperity for the people of Rwanda and Cuba respectively.
“It is therefore evident that bilateral cooperation at both government and party levels, is important to make the most out of the shared opportunities available to us,” Uwimana said.
Uwimana stated that the CPC-RPF cooperation framework allows both sides to benefit from collaboration in different areas of mutual interest, including cadreship development, economic development, science and technology, as well as cultural exchanges to enhance people-to-people diplomacy.
In 2010 Cuba sent to Rwanda a team of 29 Cuban volunteer doctors under the “South to South Cooperation” and the team spent two years treating over 500,000 patients from various hospitals across the country and Cuban Physicians trained Rwandan medics who worked alongside.
Uwimana thanked the CPC for its support and made a commitment to enhance the existing bilateral relations between Rwanda and Cuba.
“I also wish to express our wish to renew, consolidate and formalize the bilateral relations between Rwanda Patriotic Front, and the Communist Party of Cuba, so that we can continue to build on the existing excellent bilateral relations between our two countries, and achieve even more together,” she said.
VP Valdes said that Cuba would like to explore other areas of the framework especially economic development, science and technology, parliamentary cooperation as a way of advancing the bilateral relations further.
Valdes has been in Rwanda on a two-day official visit where he met with President Paul Kagame, Prime Minister Édouard Ngirente and the Senate President François Xavier Kalinda.
Valdes also visited Kigali Genocide Memorial in Gisozi to pay respects to the victims of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi and the Campaign against Genocide Museum before flying back home.
