“We express our heartfelt condolences on the passing of dear comrade Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, which we extend to the brotherly Vietnamese people, relatives and loved ones. A faithful friend of #Cuba has died,” Díaz-Canel wrote in X.

The day before, the Caribbean leader lamented the deterioration of Phu Truong’s health, and expressed on behalf of the Communist Party, the Government, and the people of Cuba, “all our solidarity to the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam and the confidence that they will know how to face it with their traditional wisdom”.

The VCP Central Committee, the National Assembly, the President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Government, and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front will issue a special announcement on the organization of the national mourning for the Party leader, an official note released in Hanoi said.

Phu Trong merited the Order of the Golden Star, the highest honor awarded by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to individuals with significant and particularly distinguished contributions to the revolutionary cause of the Party and the nation, and the First Class Anti-US Resistance Medal.

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