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Friendship Medal Bestowed upon Ambassador from the Cape Verde Islands

CUBA, June 15, 2010. The Cuban Council of State conferred the Friendship Medal on Crispina Gomes De Almeida, ambassador of the Republic of Cape Verde to Havana, at the end of her mission on the Caribbean island.

During a ceremony held at the Foreign Office, Bruno Rodriguez, Minister of Foreign Affairs, presented the African diplomat with the high distinction.

While reading the document awarding the medal, Alberto Velasco San Jose, the Foreign Office’s Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, highlighted the work carried out on the island by the Cape Verde representative.

She has worked with a lot of effort, modesty and skill in order to strengthen, more and more, the bonds of friendship and solidarity that have united the peoples of Cape Verde and Cuba throughout history, he said.

Gomes De Almeida talked about the efforts she made during her seven years of work in Havana, “with the objective of strengthening the relations of cooperation and friendship between the two countries.”

She defined as “very special” and as “an immense honor”, what meriting the Friendship Medal meant to her, and considered the award as “a tribute of the Cuban government and people to the excellent relations of friendship and cooperation existing between this beautiful island and other little islands, those of Cape Verde.” 

Also present in the ceremony were Jorge Marti, head of the Department for International Relations of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, Kenia Serrano, President of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples, representatives and leaders from these two organizations and from the ministries of Foreign Trade and Investment and Foreign Affairs, as well as the diplomatic corps.      (Cubaminrex- ACN)