Visit of Cuban leader opens new page in cooperation

Maputo, 26 Aug (AIM) – Cooperation between Mozambique and Cuba is expected to expand rapidly in the coming period to cover economic areas where mutual gains can be achieved.

This development is the fruit of the official talks held in Maputo on Friday between Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi and his Cuban counterpart, Miguel Días-Canel, during the latter’s two day visit to the country.

A matrix will be drawn up to guide the next steps. It will be worked on by the focal points of working groups of the two countries.

“We want to deepen bilateral cooperation in crucial areas where we have mutual and comparative advantages”, said Nyusi. “We recognize that there is a lot of space for us to explore economic cooperation. To date we have been working together in areas such as health, education and science and technology.”

But he thought that Mozambican and Cuban businesses could now capitalize on the opportunities offered by agriculture, trade and tourism.

For now, and as long as the new matrix is not concluded, cooperation will remain dominated by health, education and training within the framework laid down decades ago by Mozambique’s first President, Samora Machel, who met with Fidel Castro in Beira in 1977.

Dias-Canel’s visit this week is the first time that a Cuban President has set foot in Mozambique since 1977.

Nyusi also expressed his solidarity with Cuba against the embargo imposed against the Caribbean island by the United States. He called for the lifting of the embargo to allow Cuba to participate freely in development processes.

“This embargo was imposed unjustly and for a very long time. We reiterate our call for it to be removed”, he said. “We praise the capacity of resistance shown by the Cuban people during all these years of blockade”.

For his part, Dias-Canel recognized that the time has come to expand the relations between Cuba and Mozambique into the economic sphere, given the existing potential.

This should have happened in 2019, but suffered a setback due to the Covid-19 pandemic that swept the world.

Días-Canel guaranteed that Cuba will continue to support Mozambique in the field of health training and research.

On Saturday, the Cuban President is scheduled to inaugurate a clinic for the treatment of diabetes in Maputo.

(AIM)

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