The President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, at 2:00 p.m. local time yesterday, arrived in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan, to participate in the 18th Non-Aligned Movement Summit, to take place here October 25-26.
Díaz-Canel was welcomed at Baku International Airport by Deputy Prime Minister Ali Ahmadov and Cuba’s ambassador here, Alfredo Nieves Portuondo. Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parilla, who was already in Baku, participating in preparatory meetings for the Summit, was also on hand to greet the President.
He was later received by his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, who in a gesture of friendship devoted more than 40 minutes in his residence to the Cuban delegation, amidst preparations for the Summit, in which delegations from 120 member countries will participate.
Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the Cuban press accredited here that the positive state of bilateral relations was discussed during the meeting, and the desire shared by the two leaders to preserve unity within the Non-Aligned Movement and its important role in the international arena.The Summit opens today, under the slogan “Defending the Principles of Bandung to ensure an adequate, concerted response to the challenges of the contemporary world.”
On this occasion the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela will relinquish the presidency of the Movement to the Republic of Azerbaijan, which will direct the bloc for the next three years.Cuba is fully committed to the Non-Aligned Movement, and has hosted two Summits in Havana, in 1979 and 2006, when our nation assumed the Presidency of the organization.
(Granma)