CubaMinrex. Sitio del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba

Kenneth Kaunda Highlights Historic Bonds With Cuba.

By Juan Leandro
HAVANA, May 25, 2011.- Kenneth Kaunda, historic leader of Zambia’s independence and its first president, highlighted the historic bonds existing between his country and Cuba, and underlined that Africa’s relations with the Caribbean island are very strong and truly real.

On the occasion of Africa Day, to be celebrated on May 25, Kaunda, one of the main defenders of the continent’s emancipation, stressed the role played by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro in Cuba’s contribution to the emancipation of many African countries from the colonial regime.

May 25, 1963, marks the creation of the historic Organization of African Unity, which became the African Union on July, 2002.  On the occasion, a team of the National Television Newscast interviewed in Lusaka the only survivor of the generation of African leaders that headed the pro-independence movement.

Cuban combatants for freedom came to many African countries to struggle against colonialism, emphasized Kaunda during the interview, during which Carmelina Ramirez, Cuban ambassador to Zambia, and Turcios Esquivel, first secretary of the island’s legation to Lusaka, were also present.

While making his farewells, the African leader had words of gratitude towards the Cuban people and its leaders, and said that this is a history "you and we are proud of."

The meeting took pace at the office of Zambian President Rupiah Banda, minutes before the historic leader of that nation left on a trip to neighboring Malawi. (Cubaminrex-RHC)