Friendship, trust, vision and accomplishment Fidel Castro saw in Maurice Bishop made Cubans part of the history of the Revolution in Grenada, from its establishment (March 1979) and development until its collapse back in October 1983, Leyva said.
In an exclusive interview with Prensa Latina, the Cuban diplomat stated that “to bring to light the lives of two great revolutionaries is to be loyal to a history we should feel proud of”.
Leyva recalled that the legacy of Fidel Castro and Maurice Bishop was present throughout Mitchell’s visit (April 11-14), on the 45th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations.
In a telephone conversation from Saint George’s, where she arrived in five months ago in her capacity as ambassador, Ivette Martínez Leyva stressed that the current government of Grenada highly praises history and works to “reveal such a legacy to the new generations and to include the heroes in the social and political imagination of Grenadians.
She added that it is necessary to make people understand what political leaders did for the welfare, social balance and economic growth of a country.
Regarding current state of bilateral relations between the two nations, Leyva assured “there is a direct exchange with government authorities in both countries and they are working passionately and steadily to reach mutual interests in cooperation agreements”.
The Cuban ambassador informed her country and Grenada have reached collaboration agreements in different areas including health, infrastructure, education, agriculture, aquaculture, culture and environmental preservation.
Regarding Mitchell’s official visit paid to Cuba, Martínez Leyva said that, upon his return to Grenada, the Grenadian leader himself described it as successful.
The Cuban diplomat was present at all meetings of Mitchell and his delegation with President Miguel Díaz-Canel and high-ranking Cuban authorities. “I can say admiration, respect, interest, willingness to cooperate, commitment to make a reality of what the visit was conceiving, was the permanent feeling”.
The official meetings, she said, were diaphanous, open, of gratitude by the Cuban side for the permanent denunciation of Grenada against the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States on Cuba, and the unjust inclusion of Cuba in the states-sponsor-of-terrorism (SST) list.
Leyva also praised as a transcendental moment the visit paid by Mitchell and his companions to the Fidel Castro Ruz Center, in Havana, which presents the life and work of the historic leader of the Cuban revolution.
She also described the Grenadian delegation’s interest in paying posthumous homage to Fidel Castro and Cuba’s National Hero, José Martí, at the Santa Ifigenia Heritage Cemetery in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba.
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