CUBA, January 23, 2009. Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega on Thursday thanked visiting Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez for Cuba’s solidarity with the Central American nation. According to Prensa Latina news agency, Ortega met with the top Cuban diplomat, who conducted a one-day official visit to Nicaragua on Thursday, at the venue of the Secretariat of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in Managua. The Nicaraguan leader praised Cuba’s assistance to his country in an ongoing nationwide literacy campaign using the Cuban methodology “Yo si puedo” (Yes, I Can) that aims at declaring the country free from the scourge of illiteracy on July 19, 2009. Likewise, Ortega stressed that the contribution of Cuban health professionals has been invaluable in their efforts to increase the health levels of the Nicaraguan people. Finally, he praised Cuba’s support of the Central American nation in the energy sector, which allowed Nicaragua to eliminate power cuts that could last up to 14 hours. During his meeting with Perez Roque, the head of the Nicaraguan government reiterated his call on the new US Administration to put an end to the almost fifty-year-old economic blockade of Cuba and to release five Cuban anti-terrorist fighters who remain unjustly imprisoned in US jails since 1998. (Cubaminrex- ACN) |