This Thursday will be a historic day for Honduras; For the first time a woman who has shown a lot of tenacity, a lot of will, a lot of courage and has been able to integrate popular factors, Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, will assume the presidency of this sister nation.
The Vice President of the Republic, Salvador Valdés Mesa, made these reflections in the meeting he held with representatives of solidarity organizations with Cuba in the Central American country.
He arrived here early Wednesday afternoon to attend the inauguration of President Xiomara Castro, which is being held on the morning of January 27 at the National Stadium.
In the elections held on November 28, 2021, the candidate of the Libertad y Refundación Party (LIBRE) and other political forces that supported her won a resounding victory, winning over 1.7 million votes, a large majority in a vote attended by around 80 percent of the electoral roll, also the highest turnout in the history of this republic.
Xiomara, stressed Valdés Mesa in the meeting with the Honduran movement of solidarity with Cuba, has created great expectations in the Honduran people, especially in the most humble, poorest masses and also in the region.
We believe that with this victory, added the Cuban Vice President, new perspectives are opened to strengthen relations between Cuba and Honduras, because these are, essentially, historical relations and solidarity.
Honduras gave shelter to Antonio Maceo, Máximo Gómez and other Cuban patriots who fought for our independence, and since our relations have that nature, they must always be based on history and commitment.
Likewise, the poet Anarella Vélez Osejo, a member of the solidarity movement with Cuba and Secretary of Culture and Arts of the LIBRE party, led by Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, spoke about the permanence and impact in this country of the Bayamese writer José Joaquín. Palm.
Salvador Valdés Mesa heads a delegation that is also made up of the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Josefina Vidal, among other Cuban executives, who were received upon arrival by the Antillean ambassador in Tegucigalpa, Francisco Delgado Rodríguez.
During the visit, the Cuban Vice President will also hold meetings with local authorities and representatives of other sectors.
BETWEEN SISTERS AND BROTHERS
Vice Foreign Minister Vidal Ferreiro told the press accompanying the delegation that this will be a new opportunity to ratify the will and commitment to continue expanding bilateral relations, consolidate the bonds of friendship between both nations, as well as economic-commercial relations and cooperation in different fields.
In a message via Twitter, the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs had already thanked, on behalf of the Cuban people, the solidarity and support received from Honduran friends and the permanent accompaniment of this country in denouncing and condemning the economic, commercial blockade and financial imposed by the US against Cuba.
A testimony of the new times and hopes that open up for Honduras with the arrival to the presidency of Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, was given to us by the young Adela Rocío Vaquedano Escoto, a member of the Youth of the Libertad y Refundación (Libre) Party and a student of Law degree from CEUTEC University, San Pedro Sula.
«Xiomara’s triumph is unique in the history of Honduras; Both for the votes won and for the attendance at the polls, they were unique elections, a sign of the change that was needed and demanded.
“Xiomara is a legitimate president, she has the full support of the people and embodies the refoundation of our country,” Rocío said passionately, who supports the Cuban press team that accompanies Vice President Salvador Valdés Mesa to cover the details of his visit.
— What has the triumph of Xiomara Castro Sarmiento meant for young Hondurans?
-The elections were not only massive, but a new vote came out to decide at the polls, the youth vote, and Xiomara’s victory is, without a doubt, a win for Honduran youth.
«It was an unprecedented event, both for the participation of the young militants who belong to LIBRE and for the non-militants. Honduran youth have also taken the reins of Honduras.
— What significance does this victory have for Honduran women?
—This is the first time you will assume power in the two hundred years of independence. Women, not only young women, are happy, we feel represented for the first time in a total and true way.
“For young women it is a very big precedent, and not only because Xiomara has shown us that we can even aspire to be president, but also because Honduras has always been a very conservative country, where the participation of women in politics has not been easy. .
«Sensitivity, nobility and empathy were very necessary in Honduran politics, and Xiomara represents that, because she has shown, and not only with words, but with deeds, what material she is made of.
“Xiomara is a woman of the street, of the struggle in the street, and the people know that, and that is why they support her.”
HOW WE CAN DO MORE FOR CUBA
How can we do more for Cuba? Was the question that comrade Dirian Beatriz Pereira Calix asked Salvador Valdés Mesa in an exchange where they spoke of solidarity and also of possible new projects and the promotion of others that already existed between the peoples and governments of both countries.
The Vice President thanked the support that the solidarity groups have always given to Cuba, and especially now, where they participate in the defense of the aggressive attacks of the enemy, especially Yankee imperialism in its eagerness to destroy the Revolution, he said.
He underlined the capacity of the Honduran movement to mobilize different social sectors to continue in the battle against the US economic, commercial and financial blockade against the Cuban people and to defend the Revolution against manipulation and lies in social networks.
He highlighted the contributions they have made to confront the COVID-19 pandemic on the island, which included campaigns such as Syringes for Cuba, among other initiatives, in addition to joining the Bridges of Love initiative that is being developed in favor of the island around the world.
Valdés Mesa said that the Honduran Government and people will be able to continue counting, as they have up to now, on the support and solidarity of the Cuban Government and people.
It was recalled that the Cuban medical brigades remained in Honduras for more than 20 years, starting in 1998, after the damage caused by Hurricane Mitch, and after the passage of Hurricanes Eta and Iota, two contingents from the Henry Reeve Brigade were sent, which they developed a work that was recognized by the town and was awarded with the Commander’s Cross Order.
The Vice President of the Republic thus reiterated Cuba’s willingness and commitment to advance and expand bilateral relations between the two countries for the benefit of both brother peoples.
It was about several requests made by the representatives of the solidarity groups, such as that of Dirian Beatriz, who after greeting and thanking Salvador Valdés Mesa for attending the presidential inauguration ceremony of Xiomara Castro and for his stay in Honduras, He spoke out for expanding the granting of scholarships so that young people from this country can study in the Greater Antilles, both in medicine and in pedagogy and other areas.
He also exposed the need for the Island to contribute, once again, to rid illiteracy of tens of thousands and thousands of Hondurans, through the methods that Cuban pedagogy has developed.
Jimmy Sorto praised the impact that the Cuban medical brigades had on the poorest communities in Honduras, an initiative of humanism and solidarity that must be resumed.
Leonel Casco Gutiérrez, Secretary of Organization of one of the branches of the Honduras-Cuba Friendship Association, expressed the commitment of the Honduran brothers and sisters to increase solidarity, which includes the strengthening of cultural exchanges as well as people-to-people exchanges. people, and government to government.
Casco Gutiérrez deliberately limited the desire of the solidarity movement and of the Honduran people, that the troubadour Silvio Rodríguez come to the country to offer his music.
CUBA CONTINUES EXPANDING THE DIALOGUE WITH ITS EMIGRATION
At the close of this information, Valdés Mesa held exchanges with representatives of Cubans and Cubans residing in Honduras. He addressed issues that strengthen Cuba’s relationship with its emigration, and reported on the participation of Cuban residents here in the Popular Consultation process on the Family Code.
He assured that Cuba will continue to expand the dialogue with its emigration and affirmed that the pending meeting of La Nación and Emigration will take place when the pandemic allows it.
On this Thursday, the Vice President of the Republic of Cuba will participate in the inauguration of President Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, which will take place at the National Stadium, Tegucigalpa.
