Esteban Lazo Hernández, president of Cuba's National Assembly of People's Power, paid tribute to the Battle of Quifangondo during his official visit to Angola, marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations. He emphasized the deep bonds forged in the fight against colonialism and imperialism. The visit includes meetings to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
In Quifangondo, Angola, Esteban Lazo Hernández began the fourth day of his official visit with a tribute to Angolan patriots and Cuban internationalists who fought together in the Battle of Quifangondo against colonialism, apartheid, and imperialism, for Angola's independence and sovereignty. Accompanied by Heroes of the Republic of Cuba such as Army Corps General Joaquín Quintas Solá, Vice Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, and Major General Ramón Pardo Guerra, Lazo recalled the words of Army General Raúl Castro Ruz: “Angola is a brilliant, clean, honorable, and transparent page in the history of solidarity among peoples, in the history of internationalism, in the history of the Cuban people’s contribution to the cause of freedom and human betterment. Angola is also, for all these reasons, a milestone in Cuba’s own history”.
Upon signing the visitors’ book at the monument to the battle, Lazo attended the main event for the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations, established four days after Angola's independence on November 11, 1975. In his speech, he stated: “It is a great honor to address you, on behalf of the Government and people of Cuba, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of our bilateral diplomatic relations. We established these close diplomatic ties half a century ago, when in Quifangondo, the Ebo highlands, and the narrow territory of Cabinda, we shared trenches to prevent Angola’s long-awaited independence from being thwarted by invading forces in the service of imperialism”.
The event featured General Francisco Pereira Furtado, Minister of State and Chief of the Military Household of Angola's President, and Américo Cuononoca, first vice president of the National Assembly. Lazo highlighted Africa's legacy in Cuba, quoting Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro: “Without Africa, without its sons and daughters, without its culture and customs, without its languages and its gods, Cuba would not be what it is today”. He thanked President João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço for the November 6 decoration of Fidel and Raúl Castro with the Medal for the 50th Anniversary of National Independence in its highest class, 'Honor'.
Lazo concluded: “Cubans and Angolans are brothers by blood, dreams, and hopes. The ties between our historic leaders, Agostinho Neto and Fidel Castro, reflected this unique connection, which will endure always”. Furtado stated: “Cuba’s relations of friendship and solidarity with Angola were born in a context of struggle and are intrinsically linked by our shared history of fighting for freedom, and by the bonds of solidarity and internationalist brotherhood forged between our peoples”.
During the day, Lazo met with Adão Francisco Correia de Almeida, nominated on November 13 by the Political Bureau of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) as National Assembly president, to be approved on the 17th. He also discussed with Mara Regina da Silva Batista Domingos Quiosa, MPLA vice president, ways to strengthen inter-party, inter-parliamentary, and inter-governmental ties.