South African Minister Meets with Esteban Lazo

Havana, Jul 8, (PL).- Cuban Vice President Esteban Lazo Hernandez met Monday afternoon with South Africa’s Minister in the Presidency, Essop Pahad, who is on an official visit to the island.

The two leaders termed the relations between South Africa and Cuba as excellent and expressed their willingness to continue developing and expanding those ties.

Lazo highlighted South Africa’s gestures of solidarity with Cuba, including a monument built to the combatants for liberty, which includes all the Cuban internationalists who died fighting in Africa. He also explained the main tasks facing the Cuban revolution in the current world political and economic context.

Minister Pahad spoke about the complex situation faced by South Africa with the increase in oil and food prices. He said that despite his country having the leading economy in Sub-Saharan Africa it has prioritized national food production.

Also present at the meeting were Fernando Remirez de Estenoz, member of the Communist Party Central Committee Secretariat, Deputy Foreign Minister Marcos Rodriguez Costa and other officials.