Caracas, April 16 (Prensa Latina) Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil highlighted here today the fundamental role played by Cuba and the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, on the 22nd anniversary of the Barrio Adentro Mission.

“We wish to highlight the fundamental role played by Cuba and Commander Fidel Castro through his thousands of humanistic doctors, who made the Health Revolution in Venezuela possible,” the senior diplomat stated on his Telegram account.

Gil emphasized that this program “stands as a triumphant testimony to what we can achieve when our peoples unite in a spirit of brotherhood and solidarity.”

The text responded to the message sent this Wednesday by “our esteemed brother” and Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez, who in his account on X recalled “the historic and revolutionary initiative of President Hugo Chávez (1954-2013).”

Rodríguez stated that the Barrio Adentro Mission “brought quality medical care to all communities in that country, with the participation of more than 165,000 Cuban collaborators.”

Commanders Chávez and Fidel Castro (1926-2016) were the architects of this program, which initially consisted of the installation of popular clinics in the most neglected communities of the Bolivarian Republic, to which thousands of Cuban professionals came to offer collaboration.

The Barrio Adentro Mission began as a pilot project in the Libertador and Sucre municipalities of Caracas’s Capital District, with the participation of some 30,000 Cuban doctors.

This experience brought the novelty of providing preventive care to patients and being implemented completely free of charge, principles upheld to this day despite the country’s difficult economic conditions in recent years due to the blockade and coercive measures.

The Venezuelan population received 1.296 billion,915,510 medical consultations, and more than 1.49 million lives were saved thanks to the care provided by Cuban doctors, according to official sources.

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Havana, April 16 (Prensa Latina) Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez today expressed his country’s willingness to continue strengthening cooperation ties with South Africa in various areas.

According to the foreign minister’s report in X, this willingness was expressed during a meeting with the South African Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, and president of the South African Communist Party, Blade Nzimande, who is on an official visit to the Caribbean country.

Cuba and South Africa established diplomatic relations on May 11, 1994, constituting the first foreign policy act of the democratic South African government.

In March, Cuba’s top diplomat and South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ronald Ozzy Lamola, reaffirmed their shared interest in expanding and diversifying their economic, trade, and cooperation ties in Pretoria.

According to the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting reaffirmed the two nations’ stance in defense of the causes and interests of the people, especially those of the nations of the South.

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Baku, April 15 (Prensa Latina) Azerbaijani Health Minister Teymur Musayev received the Cuban ambassador to the South Caucasus nation, Carlos Valdés, at the headquarters of the institution he heads, Prensa Latina learned today.

According to Valdés, the meeting addressed strengthening bilateral cooperation in the areas of health and medical sciences, and Musayev emphasized that the collaboration between the two countries in the areas of medical and health sciences, as in all other areas, is exemplary.

The minister also recalled the visit to Cuba by a delegation from the Ministry of Health in 2023, which included high-level meetings, including one with Prime Minister Manuel Marrero.

On that occasion, productive meetings were held with various Cuban medical and pharmaceutical institutions, and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Ministries of Health of both countries, the minister emphasized, expressing confidence that this cooperation will continue to strengthen.

For his part, Valdés affirmed that Cuba attaches special importance to developing its relations with Azerbaijan, and emphasized the signed Memorandum of Understanding, as it will significantly contribute to boosting bilateral relations in the health sector and the development of medical sciences.

During the cordial discussion, the parties agreed to emphasize the political decision to strengthen and develop cooperation with specific actions that will enable mutually beneficial collaboration in the field of health for the peoples of Azerbaijan and Cuba.

The primary areas of cooperation between the two countries are focused on medical care, academic and scientific exchange, as well as the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, the Caribbean diplomat emphasized.

The Azerbaijani side was accompanied by Deputy Minister Nadir Zeynalov and Head of the Department of International Cooperation Vugar Mammadov.

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oscow, April 15 (Prensa Latina) The opening today of the exhibition “Year of Anniversaries: From Mexico to Argentina” marked the culmination of the celebrations marking the anniversaries of Russia’s diplomatic relations with several Latin American nations.

The director of the Latin American Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Eurasian giant, Alexander Shchetinin, in statements to Prensa Latina acknowledged that the commemoration of ties with a dozen countries in the Latin American region in 2025 gives his nation the opportunity to defend so many years of shared history.

“The diplomatic relations of some of the countries we are celebrating with this year date back to the 19th century, such as Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. Others are more recent, for example, Honduras, with whom we have 35 years, but most of the nations represented here have ties that go back 80 years,” the diplomat said.

Alexander Shchetinin drew a parallel with the coincidence of the anniversaries falling in 1945, and with the victory of the Red Army in World War II, the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) for Russia.

That is why we note with great satisfaction that the vast majority of Latin American countries were on board the anti-Nazi coalition. And thus, they contributed to the common fight against Nazi-fascism through their military detachments and solidarity movements with the Soviet people, he recalled.

“For us, Latin America is a great partner, a partner that shares our values, such as equality among states, sovereignty, and non-intervention in foreign and domestic affairs. That is why we will continue to expand cooperation and friendship, in a joint journey toward a better future,” the official emphasized.

For his part, Enrique Orta, Cuba’s deputy head of mission in Russia, described the 65 years of ties between Havana and Moscow as a fruitful period marked by multilateral ties of full understanding between the two countries.

In this regard, he noted that it is an honor for the Caribbean nation that this celebration takes place on the eve of the commemoration of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany.

“And although these dates may not seem directly connected historically, they do. Three Cubans fought in the Great Patriotic War, and three Russians were part of the Liberation Army fighting in Cuba, actions that made our ties even more historic,” the ambassador recalled.

Along these lines, he emphasized that the historic milestone of celebrating 65 years of diplomatic relations on May 8, followed by the 80th anniversary of the victory over fascism, adds further depth to Russian-Cuban ties.

The exhibition “Year of Anniversaries: From Mexico to Argentina,” opened by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and displays copies of documents from Russia’s foreign policy archives that reveal the process of establishing diplomatic relations with Argentina (140 years); Mexico (135); Colombia (90); Bolivia, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Ecuador, 80 years with each country, respectively; Honduras (35); and the 65th anniversary of the reestablishment of bilateral ties with Cuba.

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Havana, April 14 (Prensa Latina) Cuba and China are collaborating in areas of mutual interest, focusing on the Belt and Road Initiative and economic and social development, according to attendees at the Seminar on Chinese-Style Modernization today.

Mercedes Delgado Fernández, rector of the Higher School of State and Government Cadres of Cuba, also stated that “Chinese-style modernization cuts across all the areas of interest in our fruitful collaboration, through which we hold bilateral meetings with the Development Research Center of the State Council of China (DRC).”

DRC Vice Minister Zhang Laiming highlighted his organization’s intentions to strengthen cooperation with the Caribbean island.

Laiming also characterized Chinese society, highlighting its spirituality and perseverance toward development over five thousand years of history; factors he asserts have been key to achieving the Asian giant’s current achievements.

For his part, Ernesto Rodríguez Hernández, First Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Communications, explained during his presentation that the objective of this cooperation is to ensure harmonious and sustainable growth, emphasizing four integral aspects.

These are: building a model socialist country, deepening reforms, governing according to the law, and strictly enforcing the Party; and they aim to promote a “profound transformation at all levels of Chinese society, based on a development model that does not sacrifice stability.”

“It is important that we move forward together on the path of socialist modernization,” declared Hua Xin, China’s ambassador to Cuba, during the closing ceremony of the seminar.

Other participants also highlighted the importance of cooperative relations between the two states in building and developing their societies.

The two republics established diplomatic relations on September 28, 1960.

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