A Boost for Cuba's Economy

Vietnam Pledges Aid & Advice!!
{Sunday, April 1st, 2018}

      A very important airplane landed in Havana this week -- Thursday, March 29th, 2018. Vietnam's General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, in the center, was warmly greeted by Jose Ramon Balaguer Cabrera, the head of Cuba's Central Commission of Foreign Affairs, at Havana's Jose Marti Airport. Phu arrived with gifts of cash and computers but, more importantly, he provided two-days of economic advice.

      Vietnam's Phu spent public and private time with Cuban President Raul Castro. Both agreed that it is vital that Cuba develop a Vietnamese-style market economy.

  But the March 29th highlight of Secretary General Phu's arrival in Cuba came when he was hosted at the University of Havana by Miguel Diaz-Canel, the 57-year-old education-minded and soon-to-be {on April 19th} the next President of Cuba and the first non-revolutionary and non-Castro leader since 1959. Also in this significant photo, just at Phu's left, is Gustavo Cobreiro, the rector at the University of Havana.

    At the University of Havana this week, the Vietnamese leader Nguyen Phu Trong made a powerful and well-received economic speech. He said, "Vietnam was also sanctioned-embargoed by the United States after we won the Vietnam War, uniting the North and South into one independent nation. But the U. S. lifted our sanctions two decades ago and became our nice trade partner, and the last three U. S. Presidents have flown to Vietnam to congratulate our still-burgeoning market economy. Raul Castro and Miguel Diaz-Canel have both assured me that is the direction Cuba will go. So, we will help Cuba survive and thrive despite six decades of the longest and harshest embargo any small nation has ever had to confront from a strong nation, in this case the world Superpower. With such tenacity, the Vietnamese people believe the Cuban government and the Cuban people deserve all the help we can provide to our friends on this beautiful and sovereign island. No small nation has so many deserving people. We fought and won a long war against USA imperialism. Cuba fought and won a revolution against the same thing. I am proud of independent and united Vietnam and of Cuba."

      Cuba's Ambassador to Vietnam, Lianys Torres Rivera, had prepped Vietnam's General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong prior to his trip to Cuba this week. In the past two days Phu has made it a point to meet not only with top Cuban government officials but also with Cuba's leading educators. Phu brought with him a hefty cash gift for those educators and a large supply of educational tools, especially brand-new computers and laptops. During the exchange above, Phu told Ms. Torres, "After our war victory, the U. S. still sanctioned and embargoed us for 20 years, but then dropped them and became our nice trade partners. In the last 20 years we have lifted 30 million Vietnamese out of poverty. The U. S., after 60 menacing years, will not drop its revenge sanctions against Cuba but Cuba has proven it still deserves to survive as an independent nation free of Washington and, we think, with help it can soon thrive." 

     In Cuba this week, Vietnam's Nguyen Phu Trong asked if he could visit a Cuban elementary school. At this stop he said: "We in Vietnam, and the rest of the world outside the U. S., marvel at Cuba's free and excellent education and health systems. I personally am astounded it has provided such things against America's wishes."

Vietnam's Phu with Cuban students.

Phu visiting more Cuban students.

     One of the most dynamic and powerful Cubans is Ena Elsa Velazquez, the island's Education Minister. She thanked Nguyen Phu Trong, Vietnam's General Secretary, with these words: "I receive these gifts on behalf of the students, professors, and teachers who have some nearby enemies but also, as you have shown today, some sweet, sweet friends. And the noble and generous Vietnamese people are our dearest friends. Be certain as we furiously protect our revolution and the independence it bequeathed to us, know too that we will continue to preserve the indissoluble bonds of friendships and solidarity that unites the great and bold people of Cuba and Vietnam."

The key Phu speech in Havana.

Listening to Phu's speech, Miguel Diaz-Canel.

Phu congratulated by Miguel-Canel. 

     While Miguel Diaz-Canel, who has already closely studied Vietnam's market economy, will be Cuba's President starting next month, rest assured that Revolutionary Cuba's dependence on powerful women will continue. The island's Education Minister, Ena Elsa Velazquez, is both a powerful and truly brilliant woman.

     When Cuba's Minister of Education, Ena Elsa Velazquez, speaks, the leaders of a lot of countries, including Vietnam, listen. And so does Cuba's Miguel Diaz-Canel.

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