Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez underscored, on Tuesday, the significance of the well-established brotherly and solidarity relations between his country and Algeria.

This comes at a time when the Algerian capital, Algiers, witnessed the largest military parade of the People's National Army units and forces on the 60th anniversary of independence. As part of the celebrations commemorating the seizure of national sovereignty, cannons were fired, announcing the start of the celebration that thousands of Algerians watched along the eleventh national road.

During his participation in the celebrations, Cuban FM tweeted via his Twitter account, "We deeply thank the Algerian authorities for their invitation to the great military parade on the occasion of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of Algeria's independence," adding that his country's participation in the celebrations is an expression of brotherly relations and of solidarity between the two peoples.

Nuestro profundo agradecimiento a las autoridades argelinas por la invitación al gran desfile militar con motivo de la celebración del 60 aniversario de la independencia de #Argelia, expresión de los lazos indestructibles de fraternidad y solidaridad entre ambos pueblos 🇩🇿🇨🇺. pic.twitter.com/pXeRVKyimQ

— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) July 5, 2022

Furthermore, Rodríguez said that "We are honored to represent Cuba at the celebrations on this great and unforgettable history," and emphasized the importance of his visit to Algeria as an opportunity to further strengthen the historical ties between the two countries.

Algeria has had a strong and solid allyship with Cuba since its independence from French colonialism in the early 1960s. In 1963, Algeria was the first country to send permanent health professionals to Havana.

How it all started

When Algeria snatched its independence from France on June 3, 1962, Ahmed Ben Bella, a few days after being elected Prime Minister, arrived in New York on October 15 to participate in Algeria's accession ceremony to the United Nations.

The next day, he boarded a Cubana de Aviación for the Caribbean island and was greeted at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport by the commander-in-chief of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro.

Soon after Ben Bella's visit, Fidel gave a speech at the opening of the Playa Giron School of Medicine in Havana, where he proposed the idea of ​​sending a medical brigade to help Algeria, which after independence suffered from a mass departure of French doctors and led to a significant shortage of health personnel in the country.

In his speech, Castro said that "Most of the doctors in Algeria were French and many of them left the country. There are millions of Algerians and colonialism left them with many diseases. The population of Algeria is 4 million more than the population of Cuba, but they only have a third of our doctors or even less. For this reason, I informed our Cuban students that we require about 50 doctors to volunteer to go to Algeria."

Castro's words had great resonance and received an immediate response from many Cuban doctors who expressed their willingness to go and help the Algerians. As such, the first Cuban medical solidarity journey in Algeria came in the context of the latter having resisted and defeated the French colonial regime, and this pushed Cuba to provide services beyond the island's borders.

Cuban Foreign Minister meets his Syrian counterpart in Algeria

On the sidelines of his participation in Algeria's celebrations, the Cuban FM met with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad. During their meeting, the Cuban FM highlighted the importance of Cuban-Syrian relations and expressed his appreciation for the solidarity that exists between the two peoples. 

Rodríguez Tweeted: "Today I met the Syrian Foreign Minister, Faisal Mekdad. We believed in the historical ties of friendship and solidarity between our two countries."

Sostuve encuentro con el canciller de Siria, Faisal Mekdad.

Ratificamos históricos lazos de amistad y solidaridad entre nuestros países, y la voluntad de continuar fortaleciendo las relaciones políticas. Dialogamos sobre temas de interés de la agenda bilateral e internacional. pic.twitter.com/a2YTJT2PkT

— Bruno Rodríguez P (@BrunoRguezP) July 5, 2022

The Cuban FM indicated that he discussed with Mekdad issues of common interest on the bilateral and international agenda, adding that the two countries will continue to strengthen their political ties.

Read more: Algeria: 60 years of endless support for the Palestinian cause