“A sad passage in Rwanda’s history tells the story of the Kigali Genocide Memorial: more than one million people were killed in 1994, as part of one of the largest known ethnic genocides. I lived there deep emotions that will mark me for the rest of my life,” Valdés Mesa wrote on his X account.

The Memorial shows in images a part of the barbarism lived by the Rwandan people in a little more than 100 days. The remains of some 250,000 victims rest in this space that is a reminder of the importance of always defending the identity of peoples, the Cuban Presidency stated on the same social network.

When signing the visitors’ book, Valdés Mesa stated that “the Memorial must be a place for reflection, healing and reconciliation, not only for the Rwandan people but for all human beings.”

Between 800,000 and one million Rwandans, mostly Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus, were killed by extremist factions for nearly three months in 1994, a period that was identified as a bloody spring.

As part of the Cuban vice president’s official visit to Kigali, meetings with lawmakers and President Paul Kagame have been planned.

Upon his arrival, Valdés Mesa was welcomed by Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta, who noted that this is the first high-level delegation from Cuba to visit Kigali since the beginning of bilateral relations nearly 50 years ago, and appreciated the visit.

jg/arm/mem/nm