HONDURAS, March 1, 2007.- Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque is due to attend on Thursday with his Honduras counterpart Milton Jimenez and the country s Health minister the opening ceremony of an ophthalmologic center donated by Cuba. With the delivery of that hospital to the community of Villa de San Francisco in Tegucigalpa, the Cuban minister begins of the subjects to tackle on his visit, concluding today. According to Honduran President Manuel Zelaya, bilateral ties will strengthen as a result of today s encounter. On April 22, 1961, after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, Ramon Villena Morales government, as many others of the continent, broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba, as a result of the US-boosted policy against the revolutionary process. Late in the 90s, Honduras officials and businesspeople began more frequent visits to Cuba. After the passing of Hurricane Mitch through the region, much of that country was devastated, and links began to grow even closer. A few days after the disaster, a Cuban medical brigade traveled here to assist the most affected areas and physicians were sent to the poorest zones, where there were no Honduras doctors. Since then, those health professionals have been working free here, have had an extraordinary prestige among people and reached important national health achievements. In August, the country s Foreign Minister Milton Jimenez stated in Havana Tegucigalpa s will to recover levels of dialogue and bilateral cooperation, as well as step up relations in other fields. (Cubaminrex-PL)
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