Counsellor at the Cuban Embassy Joi Puente (Photo: VNA) In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agencyon the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Paris Agreement onEnding the War and Restoring Peace in Vietnam (Paris Peace Accords), reached onJanuary 27, 1973, Joi said Cuba always stood by Vietnam's side duringthe anti-US resistance war and the struggle for national liberation.
The signing of the accord marked the gloriousvictory won by the Vietnamese people after the 19-year struggle on political, military and diplomatic fronts, especially diplomacy, he said.
The moves both on the battlefield and at the negotiatingtable were intended to force the US to put an end to the war and commit torespecting Vietnam’s sovereignty, independence, reunification and territorialintegrity, the Counsellor noted.
The victory was thanks to the extraordinary efforts,combat readiness, and the sacrifice of the Vietnamese army and people in the resistancewar under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam, he explained, notingthat it was the Party’s sound leadership and resolve that led the Vietnamesepeople to various victories.
The signing of the accord marked the glorious victory won by the Vietnamese people after the 19-year struggle on political, military and diplomatic fronts, especially diplomacy. (Photo: VNA) Joi described the agreement as a great source of encouragementfor leftist movements as well as national liberation movements of peace-lovingforces worldwide.
Recalling the establishment of the diplomatic tiesbetween Vietnam and Cuba on December 2, 1960, he emphasised that Cuba becamethe first country in the western hemisphere to establish full diplomaticrelations with the Southeast Asian nation.
On March 4, 1969, Cuba was also the first torecognise the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam and theonly to open an embassy in the liberated zone.
Cuban leader Fidel Castro's saying “For Vietnam, Cubais willing to shed its blood” has been seen as a symbol of the Cuban people’s readinessto offer sacrifice to Vietnam during the struggle.
Fidel also assigned heroine of Moncada MelbaHernandez to popularise the Vietnamese people’s just struggle against the US,as well as anti-war movements, the Counsellor said, adding that Melbaestablished the Cuban Committee of Solidarity with Southern Vietnam in 1963,now the friendship association between the two countries.
The Committee created a worldwide united movement insupport of the Vietnamese people's anti-US struggle, he added.
The special and close ties between the Vietnamese andCuban peoples have been carried forward, he said, stressing that both nationsknow that they have comrades and brothers from the other side of thehemisphere, who always support them unconditionally.
Fidel was also the first and only foreign head of state to visit the 17the parallel liberated zone in Vietnam in September 1973. (Photo: VNA) Between 1965 and 1975, Fidel delivered up to 66speeches regarding the war, with 19 in 1972 alone, when the war got fiercer,denouncing the US’s escalating military policy and affirming his unconditionalsupport for Vietnam’s just struggle for national liberation.
Fidel was also the first and only foreign head ofstate to visit the 17the parallel liberated zone in Vietnam in September 1973. Hewaved the flag of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, shoutingloudly: “Vietnamese comrades, plant this flag of invincibility in Saigon!”
His presence and saying served as a source ofencouragement for Vietnamese people during their struggle for nationalliberation, the Counsellor noted.
The cohesion of the noble revolutionary ideals andthe struggle for independence, freedom and national liberation created mutualsympathy and understanding between the two peoples and the friendship that has beentested over the past more than six decades./.
VNA
