Cuba will always remember Phu Trong as a great brother, always ready to extend his hand of solidarity in the most complex and challenging situations, both leaders stressed in a condolence message addressed to the Vietnamese head of State, To Lam.

The note, reproduced by the VNA news agency, stated: “dear friend Phu Trong will be remembered by generations of Cubans as a pillar of the traditional long-standing friendship between the two countries”.

Raul Castro and Diaz Canel particularly evoked the important visit made by the Vietnamese top leader to Cuba in March 2018, and especially the memorable moments of his trip to Santiago de Cuba to pay posthumous tribute to the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz.

Also, the president of the Union of Journalists of Cuba, Ricardo Ronquillo Bello, conveyed the most heartfelt condolences for the physical departure of Phu Trong to his Vietnamese colleagues, through the head of the Journalists’ Association and editor-in-chief of the Nhan Dan newspaper, Le Quoc Minh.

In his message Ronquillo Bello extended condolences to the family and relatives of the prominent leader, as well as to the brotherly people of this nation, and quoted Diaz Canel’s words when he publicly lamented the news, assuring that “a faithful friend of Cuba has died”.

On the occasion of the death of the secretary general of the PCV, the Cuban head of State decreed official mourning on July 20 and 21 and national mourning on July 22 to honor the memory of Nguyen Phu Trong. jrr/arm/arc/mp