Escambray ENGLISH EDITION
Correa was welcomed at Santiago de Cuba International Airport by Comandante de la Revolución Ramiro Valdés Menéndez
The President of the Republic of Ecuador, Rafael Correa Delgado, arrived in Santiago de Cuba, yesterday May 3, close to 11:00pm, and, in his first words to the press, announced plans to visit the Santa Ifigenia Cemetery to pay his respects to the “greats” Fidel and José Martí.
“Beloved Cuba,” he said, “as always, it is an honor to be in this sister land, this heroic land, land of inspiration for the entire Greater Homeland, to be in the city of Santiago and be able to visit tomorrow the graves of the great José Martí and the great Fidel.
“Thank you very much for receiving us again,” he continued, “Many thanks for this example of dignity, of permanent struggle that inspires all Latin Americans to continue building this Greater Homeland with the example of giants like
José Martí, like Alfaro, like Bolívar. Onward to victory always, dear Cubans!”
On the tarmac at Antonio Maceo International Airport, to welcome the South American leader, were Comandante de la Revolución Ramiro Valdés Menéndez, party political bureau member and vice president of the Councils of State and Ministers; First Secretary of the Party in the province, Lázaro Expósito Canto; President of the Provincial Assembly of People’s Power, Beatriz Johnson Urrutia; and Miriam Teresita González, deputy minister of Foreign Affairs.
The distinguished guest and his companions, including the country’s Foreign Minister Guillaume Long, were also received by Ecuador’s ambassador in Havana, Fabián Solano Moreno.
According to the program announced, Correa will begin his day, this morning, at the historic Santiago cemetery, with a tribute to José Martí at the mausoleum where his remains rest, and to Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz, before the boulder which holds his ashes.
Next, he will be welcomed at the Provincial Assembly of People’s Power, as an Illustrious Son of Santiago de Cuba, and visit the student residence where hundreds of Ecuadorian youth studying medicine have lived, which was repaired by a corps of Ecuadorian engineers after Hurricane Sandy severely damaged the structure.
He will likewise tour a housing complex of 560 apartments, constructed with a donation by this sister nation of materials for 28 five-story buildings.
Before traveling on to Havana, where he will be received by President Raúl Castro, Correa will visit the museum at the former Moncada Garrison, which was reopened as the July 26 Educational Center, after the triumph of the Revolution.
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