President of Bosnia and Herzegovina tours the Historic Center of Havana

Željka Cvijanović, president of Bosnia and Herzegovina, toured emblematic sites of Havana’s Historic Center on Tuesday, as part of her official visit to Cuba.

During the tour, which began in El Templete, the president learned about that founding space of the Villa de San Cristóbal de La Habana, where pictorial works are treasured, allegorical to the creation of the place and the celebration of the first town hall.

In the Plaza de Armas she became interested in the figure of Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, Father of the Nation, and his role as initiator of the Cuban independence deeds in 1868.

Cvijanović toured the Palace of the General Captains, which currently functions as the City Museum and is the site that marked the restoration actions, more than 40 years ago, by Eusebio Leal Spengler, historian of the Havana city.

In front of the statue that perpetuates the figure of the author of “Return in Time”, she recognized the joint work carried out by the Cuban State and the Office of the City Historian to turn the Historic Center into a living and social space in terms of heritage.

Our countries have different paths and cultures, but being here for the first time is a starting point to analyze the possibilities of cooperation that we can develop, said the head of state in statements to the press.

Finally, she walked through Oficios street, one of the best known in the city’s historic center, where cultural projects, museum sites dedicated to Middle Eastern culture and housing for people in vulnerable situations come together, among other places of social interest.

Previously, at the headquarters of that portfolio, Cvijanović exchanged with the head of Public Health on the island, José Ángel Portal, with the presence of officials from the sector in Cuba and members of the visiting delegation.

According to authorities from both nations, there is a will to increase economic-commercial exchange and cooperation, as well as boost potential in the field of health and medical services, agriculture, tourism, higher education and biotechnology.

Željka Cvijanović’s visit is the first by a Bosnian leader to Cuba since relations with that country were established on April 29, 1997. It will be 26 years since the strengthening of these bilateral ties, which are based on the desire to increase economic-commercial exchange and cooperation in the field of health and medical services, agriculture, tourism, higher education and the biotechnology.

Bosnian president interested in medical cooperation with Cuba

During a meeting with Cuba´s Public Health Minister José Ángel Portal, the European country’s leader also expressed her desire to boost medical assistance, human resources training collaborations, as well as to acquire Cuba´s innovative biotechnology products.

According to a national report, Cvijanović informed she will hold talks with her Cuban counterpart Miguel Díaz-Canel, to whom she will convey her nation’s interest in strengthening cooperation and friendship relations.

Portal, on the other hand, thanked Cvijanović´s willingness to begin medical cooperation with Cuba as well as to strengthen bilateral exchanges between universities in the sector.

Cvijanović is planned to visit biotechnology production centers where she will learn in details about cancer immunotherapy and Covid-19 vaccines.

President of Bosnia and Herzegovina pays tribute to Cuba’s Jose Marti

The president of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Željka Cvijanović, paid tribute on Tuesday to Cuban National Hero Jose Marti by laying a wreath before an equestrian monument in his honor in Havana.

Cvijanović was accompanied at the ceremony by Cuban Deputy Foreign Minister Elio Rodriguez Perdomo.

The top Bosnian representative arrived in Cuba on Monday and today’s agenda will also include a tour of the Cuban capital.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the current constitution establishes a collective presidency among three communities: the Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian groups. Each head of State exercises their functions on a rotating basis.

Cvijanović was the eleventh prime minister of the Republic of Srpska, a Serb autonomous entity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and since October 2018, she has served as president of that region.

The ceremony was held in Havana’s March 13 Park, where Jose Marti’s equestrian monument, a faithful replica of the sculpture made by US artist Anna Hyatt and located in New York’s Central Park, was inaugurated on January 28, 2018.