The first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee, Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, and President of the Republic Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez sent a message of congratulations to Kim Jong Un, on the 60th anniversary of relations between the two countries.

“Celebrating six decades since the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, we extend to you the most cordial congratulations in the name of the people, the Communist Party and government of Cuba,” the message read, according to the Korean Central News Agency, reported Prensa Latina.

“We take advantage of the occasion to reaffirm the high priority Cuba gives the ties of friendship and cooperation between our two countries, built on the foundation of the special relationship shared by our historic leaders, Fidel Castro Ruz and Kim Il Sung,” the missive adds.

On the occasion of the commemoration, Korean leader Kim Jong Un also sent a greeting to Raúl and Díaz-Canel, reiterating his personal support to the just cause of the Cuban people, defending their revolutionary conquests.

Over the past 60 years, both peoples have invariably defended, consolidated, and developed the noble traditions of friendship, solidarity and cooperation, Kim Jong Un noted.

He emphasized that the friendship between the two nations was created by two great leaders, Kim Il Sung and Fidel Castro, within the context of difficult international conditions and provocative challenges from hostile forces.

Since August 29, 1960, Havana and Pyongyang have maintained diplomatic relations. Cuba has always been able to count on the support of the DPRK in the struggle to end the unjust economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed on our island by the United States.

The two countries share a high level of agreement on the principal issues of international interest and cooperate regularly in multi-lateral bodies.

(Source: Granma)

In his message, Raul reaffirmed the value Cuba gives ties with Pyongyang, based on the special relations shared by their leaders, according to a report on Cubavisión.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez also saluted the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea on its anniversary, on behalf of the people and government of our country.

Cuba and the DPRK established diplomatic relations August 29, 1960, and have maintained fraternal ties since that time, based on mutual respect and admiration, and the friendship shared by Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz and the great leader Kim Il Sung.

(Granma)

Not to confuse the existence of intelligent life with the existence of life itself which, from its elementary forms in our solar system, came into being millions of years ago.

A practically infinite number of life forms exists. In the sophisticated work being done by the most emminent scientists in the world, the idea of reproducing the sounds following the Big Bang, the great explosion that took place more than 13,700 millions of years ago, has been conceived.

This introduction would be far too lengthy if it were not to explain the gravity of such an incredible and absurd event as the one created on the Korean Peninsula, in a geographical area inhabited by almost five thousand of the seven billion people living today on the planet.

We are dealing with one of the most serious risks of nuclear war since the Cuban Crisis in October of 1962, fifty years ago.

In 1950, a war broke out there which took millions of lives. Just 5 years earlier, two atomic bombs had been dropped over the defenceless cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing and irradiating hundreds of thousands of persons in a matter of minutes.

General Douglas MacArthur wanted to use atomic weapons on the Korean Peninsula against the Peoples´ Democratic Republic of Korea. Not even Harry Truman permitted that.

According to statements, the Peoples´ Republic of China lost a million brave soldiers to prevent an enemy army from taking up positions on that country´s border with its homeland. And the USSR provided the weapons, air power, technological and economic aid.

I had the honor of meeting Kim Il Sung, a remarkably brave and revolutionary historic figure,.

Should a war break out there, the peoples on both sides of the peninsula will be terribly sacrificed, at no benefit for either. The Peoples´ Democratic Republic of Korea has always been a friend to Cuba, just as Cuba has always been, and will continue to be, its friend.

Now that their technical and scientific advances have been demonstrated, we remember their duties with the countries that have been its great friends, and it would be unfair to forget that such a war would especially affect more than 70 per cent of the planet´s population.

Should that kind of conflict erupt over there, the second term of Barack Obama´s government would be buried under a flood of images that would represent him as the most sinister character in U.S. history. Avoiding war is also his duty and that of the people of the United States. Fidel Castro Ruz

April 4, 2013

11:12 p.m.

In this April 3, 2012 photo, a model of North Korea's Kwangmyongsong-2 satellite, which was launched in April 2009, hangs on the ceiling of a school space observatory in Samjiyon, North Korea. Engineers are pumping fuel into a rocket that is set to carry a satellite into space, officials at the North Korean space agency's central command center said Wednesday, showing reporters a live feed of the west coast launch pad. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

Pyongyang, Apr 9 (Prensa Latina) Representatives of international media organizations are arriving in this capital to cover the launch of a satellite to observe the Earth on the 100th birthday of the founding father of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Il Sung.

Invited by the North Korean Space Technology Committee, reporters from the news agency AP and the U.S. TV chains CNN and NBC, as well as the first TV channel, NTV, and Russia’s Zvezda, have arrived in Pyongyang by plane or train, it was reported here.

Other reporters who arrived here over the weekend were those from Kyodo and the Japanese chain NHK, AFP and the French newspaper Le Monde, as well as the news agencies Reuters and BBC, from Great Britain, and ARD TV, from Germany.

The list of international news organizations present in Pyongyang to cover the satellite launch also includes reporters from Sweden, Switzerland, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, South Africa and Brazil (the newspaper of the state of Sao Paulo), according to the North Korean news agency KCNA.

Kim Il Sung’s 100th birthday will be celebrated on April 15 and the Kwangmyongsong-3 satellite will be launched between April 12 and 16.