Hanoi (VNA) – President Fidel Castro will forever be a great friend and close comrade of Vietnam, Assoc. Prof. Dr Nguyen Manh Hung, Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics, said at a scientific seminar in Hanoi on August 3.
The seminar, organised by the academy to mark the 100th birth anniversary of Fidel Castro Ruz (August 13, 1926–2026), honoured the Cuban revolutionary leader's legacy and reaffirmed the enduring friendship between the two countries.
In his opening remarks, Hung, who is also Vice Chairman of the Central Theory Council, said the special relationship between Vietnam and Cuba, founded by Presidents Ho Chi Minh and Fidel Castro and nurtured by successive generations of leaders and peoples, has become the prime example of fraternal solidarity, comprehensive cooperation and mutual trust in international relations.
Vietnam will never forget Fidel Castro's immortal words during the fiercest years of the Vietnamese people's resistance war against the US: "For Vietnam, Cuba is willing to shed its own blood," Hung added.
According to the official, Fidel Castro's revolutionary ideals transcended national borders, making him a steadfast internationalist, an outstanding theorist and practitioner of the international communist and workers' movement, and an enduring symbol of national liberation and socialism.
He also recalled Fidel Castro's historic visit to Vietnam's liberated zone during the war, when the Cuban leader raised the flag of the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam, describing the moment as a lasting symbol of the unwavering solidarity between the two peoples separated by half the globe.
Hung said the seminar also sought to strengthen public awareness, particularly among younger generations, of the special traditional friendship between Vietnam and Cuba so that it would continue to be preserved and developed to a new height.
Cuban Ambassador to Vietnam Rogelio Polanco Fuentes described the seminar as a meaningful tribute to Fidel Castro in a country the leader deeply admired for its heroic struggle for national liberation and to which he devoted unwavering solidarity throughout his life.
The ambassador said Fidel Castro's revolutionary thought was rooted in Cuba's historical realities and shaped by strong ethical and humanistic values, a profound sense of justice, patriotism, internationalism and a firm anti-imperialist stance.
He added that Fidel Castro's birthplace in Biran played an important role in shaping his personality and political ideals. However, it was his intellectual and political journey that ultimately forged his revolutionary consciousness and enabled him to become an exceptional leader whose influence extended far beyond Cuba and his own era.
Presentations at the seminar highlighted Fidel Castro's life, career and contributions to Cuba's national liberation movement and socialism construction, while reaffirming the enduring relevance of his views on safeguarding national independence, building socialism, opposing imperialism and promoting a fairer and more democratic international order.
Participants also underscored the sincere and selfless support that Fidel Castro and the Cuban people has extended to Vietnam, stressing that the traditional friendship between the two nations and the valuable lessons from their cooperation should continue to be promoted to strengthen bilateral relations in the new context./.
VNA
