The Vice President of Cuba, Salvador Valdés Mesa attended this Thursday the opening of the embassy of the United Republic of Tanzania in the context of the G77 and China Summit.
This is the first diplomatic headquarters of the African nation in Cuba although its bilateral relations date back to 1962 and are cemented by the friendship between their historical leaders, Fidel Castro Ruz (1926-2016) and Julius Nyerere (1922-1999).
The ceremony was attended by the president of Zanzibar and the Revolutionary Council of that Tanzanian region, Hussein Ali Mwinyi, who will also participate in the great event.
The Tanzanian ambassador to Cuba, Humphrey Hesron Polepole, invited the representatives of both governments and members of the diplomatic corps accredited in Cuba to unveil a plaque identifying the headquarters and to cut the ribbon that marks the official beginning of the functions of the legation.
The Cuban vice president highlighted the ties of brotherhood and solidarity that unite both nations, and recalled that medical collaboration with Tanzania began in Zanzibar, where 12 health professionals currently work at the local medical university.
Valdés Mesa highlighted the pride of the Caribbean island for having trained dozens of professionals from the African nation in various branches and thanked its government for its firm stance in international forums against the US blockade against Cuba.
At the end of the ceremony, the Cuban vice president and the ruler of the Zanzibar region held official conversations at the diplomatic headquarters, located in the Miramar residential complex in Havana.
On the occasion, the heads of the higher education portfolio of Cuba and Tanzania, Walter Baluja and Adolf Mkenda, respectively, signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening ministerial ties for the development of academic research in various areas of knowledge.
Meanwhile, a second instrument, signed this morning, seeks to strengthen links between the universities of Havana (UH) and that of the Tanzanian city of Dar Es Salaam for the study and promotion of Swahili, the most used language in the countries of the African Union.
The agreement, signed by the rector of the UH, Miriam Nicado and the vice president of the university of Tanzania, William Anangisye, projects the future edition of a dictionary in the Swahili language, translated into Spanish.
