Africa Day is celebrated worldwide every May 25, a date that commemorates the 1963 meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where 32 leaders of the continent’s States established the Organization of African Unity, currently the African Union.
Since then, the celebrations in Cuba are special and, in addition to strengthening political and government ties, they promote cultural ties and different opportunities for cooperation in various sectors.
Many reasons underlie the evocations, including the struggle of some 380 thousand Cubans, for almost three decades, in defense of the sovereignty and integrity of various countries, where more than two thousand lost their lives.
Likewise, thousands of collaborators from the island have served in public health programs, education, sports and other sectors, while more than 31 thousand Africans studied here.
Further back in time, more than a million Africans arrived in these lands, all victims of the infamous slave trade, who fertilized and marked our culture with their traditions, customs and beliefs.
The day before, in the context of the 2024 celebrations, the president of the National Assembly of People’s Power, Esteban Lazo, presided over a meeting between Cuban parliamentarians and African diplomats accredited in this capital.
At the National Capitol, Lazo highlighted the solid and historical ties between Cuba and Africa, the support of the Cuban government for just African causes and reiterated that maintaining these relations is a political priority.
He also thanked Africa for its solidarity with Cuba, demonstrated every year in the united vote in the United Nations and the resolutions approved in the African Union, which condemn the United States blockade against the Caribbean country.
Last Thursday, the heads of missions received the 60th Anniversary Seal of the Enrique José Varona University of Pedagogical Sciences, after touring that house of higher studies founded on July 3, 1964.
They also visited the Karibuni Sociocultural Project, which promotes the quality of life and empowerment of black women, in addition to preserving and promoting the historical and cultural ties between Cuba and Africa.
On the other hand, the Cuban Foreign Ministry recognized “the unanimous support, over the years, of the governments, personalities, organizations and peoples of the brother African continent, for the permanent fight of our country against the criminal blockade that the United States imposes on us.” ».
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