Speech delivered by Miguel Mario Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and President of the Republic, at the constructive opening of the Vista Alegre photovoltaic park, in Mayabeque, on the occasion of the celebrations for the 65th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and Vietnam, on December 2, 2025, "Year 67 of the Revolution."
(Transcripts - Office of the President)
Dear Comrade Ho Quoc Dung, member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam and Deputy Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;
Comrades members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba;
Comrades from the leadership of the Party, the State, the Government, the Union of Young Communists, the Revolutionary Armed Forces, the Ministry of the Interior, and the mass and social organizations;
Honorable members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Vietnamese brothers who accompany us;
Esteemed guests;
Comrades:
Sixty-five years ago, the document that officially established diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Cuba was signed in Hanoi.
That event made the young Cuban Revolutionary Government the first in the Western Hemisphere to establish full relations with Vietnam. Thus began a long history of fraternity, which continues to add pages of solidarity and full moral identification, as defined by President Ho Chi Minh.
We know that for you these have been days of extraordinary efforts to heal the human and material damages caused by the intense rains and floods in central Vietnam. Therefore, let our first message carry all the solidarity and encouragement from the Party, the Government, and the Cuban people to the noble people of Vietnam; the same support we received from you, dear Vietnamese brothers, after Hurricane Melissa passed through eastern Cuba.
When recalling these years of shared history, we inevitably return to the seed, to the supportive Fidel who on January 2, 1966, publicly declared the willingness of all to give up even our own blood for Vietnam, and who raised the flag of the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam in 1973 during his visit to the liberated territories. We also return to the venerable Ho Chi Minh, who in every meeting with delegations, journalists, and Cuban leaders expressed his affection and admiration for the Cuban Revolution. These sacred names are the foundation upon which the exemplary friendship of our peoples is built.
We arrive at this commemoration at the end of what we can justly call the “Year of Vietnam-Cuba Friendship,” due to the multitude of important events for bilateral relations, including fruitful exchanges between both parties, governments, national assemblies, and armies.
Last September, during the most recent visit to Vietnam, we felt the warm affection of a country vibrant with patriotism, pride, and national civic spirit. We will never forget the light and joy of those festive days celebrating the 80th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, which cost so many lives of the Vietnamese people.
In the fraternal meetings with the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, To Lam; with President Luong Cuong; with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh; and with the President of the National Assembly, Tran Thanh Man, we were able to feel very closely the special sympathy and respect toward Cuba, which likewise overflowed in every corner and space of the city, where Vietnamese of all ages celebrated their National Day.
In Vietnam, we also celebrated 80 years of the August Revolution, and on April 30 we accompanied that heroic people in their commemorations of the 50th Anniversary of the Liberation of the South, which led to reunification.
The Joint Declaration adopted last September 2 in Hanoi, on strengthening the historic fraternal and comprehensive cooperation relations on the 65th Anniversary of bilateral relations, reaffirms the character and strategic projection of the bilateral ties.
Today, we are honored by the visit of our Vietnamese brothers to jointly commemorate also 69 years since the landing of the yacht Granma and the 64th Anniversary of our glorious Revolutionary Armed Forces, confirming the traditions of shared struggles as a distinctive feature of the relationship between Vietnam and Cuba. From here, we express our congratulations, admiration, appreciation, and affection to all the fighters of our glorious Revolutionary Armed Forces.
The Defense sector played a pioneering role in the shared history of solidarity, dating back to the harsh years of the war, as evidenced by the monument inaugurated last September at the Military History Museum of Hanoi.
Regular cooperation in Defense has been consolidated as a pillar of bilateral relations. In 2025, Vietnam was visited by the Minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, Army Corps General Álvaro López Miera, on the occasion of the 80th Anniversary of the Vietnam People’s Army, and the Chief of the Political Directorate of the FAR, Division General Víctor Rojo Ramos, in the context of the 50th Anniversary of the Liberation of South Vietnam. On the Vietnamese side, we were honored in June by the visit of the Deputy Minister of National Defense and Chief of Staff of the Vietnam People’s Army, comrade Nguyen Tan Cuong.
To briefly summarize some of the most outstanding events in the bilateral exchange of 2025, there were various activities on the party agenda, including the celebration in Havana of the 6th Theoretical Seminar between both political organizations; the 2nd Scientific Conference “Fidel Castro Ruz-Ho Chi Minh: Vision of the Revolution,” and the inauguration of the Ho Chi Minh Chair at the Ñico López Party University.
Special mention is deserved by the cooperation between the national assemblies. The President of the National Assembly of People’s Power and of the Council of State, comrade Esteban Lazo Hernández, led the official Cuban delegation to the second session of the Interparliamentary Cooperation Committee, held in Hanoi last October.
This year of 2025, soon to conclude, will also be remembered as a fruitful year for economic and cooperation ties, with tangible advances in projects of high economic and social impact such as this photovoltaic park, for which today we lay the foundation stone, a result of the cooperation and solidarity of the Vietnamese Government.
The presence of Vietnamese companies in Cuba, decisively participating in economic sectors, reaffirms what was stated last September by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh: “For Cuba, we are willing to give all our effort, all our solidarity.”
This generous initiative is a demonstration of that and is part of a plan to install four similar parks, with a total generation capacity of 80 megawatts and 10 megawatts of storage, which will contribute to mitigating the complex situation of the National Electric Energy System, severely affected by the impact of the intensified economic, commercial, and financial blockade that Cuba has suffered for more than six decades.
We thank the Vietnamese Government for the prompt realization of this idea, which is the result of the historic visit of the Secretary General of the Communist Party of Vietnam, comrade To Lam, in September 2024. Please extend this recognition to the Viettel group, its technicians and executives who are already working quickly with their Cuban counterparts in the installation of capabilities at this and other sites in the Mayabeque province.
We are also encouraged by the good progress of the pilot rice production projects involving Vietnamese companies, with new management and sustainability approaches that increase productive yields and reaffirm Vietnam as a key player in food security in Cuba.
During our recent visit to Vietnam, I attended the inauguration of a plant for the production of Cuban medicines, based on the creation of an unprecedented joint venture in the medical field. This initiative aims to expand the presence of recognized products from Cuban science and biotechnology in Vietnam and ASEAN countries.
Upon symbolically receiving on this occasion the second installment of the donation promoted by the Vietnam Red Cross, with the participation of its people and institutions between August and October, I convey the gratitude of the entire Cuban people for this gesture that allows funds to be allocated to sectors with high economic and social impact, such as energy, water, and education.
Having raised in just the first 30 hours the amount planned to be collected in 65 days eloquently reaffirms the deep and sincere friendship shared by our peoples.
In various settings and ways, Vietnam has extended its hand in solidarity to Cuba. Its firm voice against the injustice of the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States Government on Cuba exemplifies its foreign policy rooted in well-established principles.
Dear comrades:
In a few days, we will bid farewell to the year marking the 135th Anniversary of the birth of Ho Chi Minh and welcome the year of the centenary of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz.
We will remember in October 2026 the historic visit of Army General Raúl Castro Ruz to Vietnam, marking 60 years since that event and his memorable meeting with President Ho Chi Minh.
We will celebrate the 9th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba and the 14th Congress of the Communist Party of Vietnam and, as is tradition, exchange experiences on the outcomes of both events and the political and socioeconomic outlook of each country for the coming years.
We are fully convinced that Vietnam will achieve new victories as it steadily progresses through the Era of National Ascendance toward the goal of becoming a developed nation by 2045, on the centenary of its independence.
In 2026, we will work hand in hand to strengthen brotherhood, not only as a benchmark of relations among socialist countries but as a paradigm that, amid so many threats to peace, continues to remind the world that only solidarity and cooperation among peoples will enable humanity to overcome the colossal challenges of today and tomorrow.
Thank you, Vietnam, for so much solidarity, generosity, and your example!
Long live the unbreakable friendship between Vietnam and Cuba! (Cheers of “Long live!”)
Long live Ho Chi Minh! (Cheers of “Long live!”)
Long live Fidel and Raúl! (Cheers of “Long live!”)
Always forward to victory!
Thank you very much. (Applause)
