Havana (VNA) – Fifty-two years ago, in September 1973, when Vietnam’s Quang Tri province was still scarred by the ravages of war, Fidel Castro Ruz, the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, became the first and only foreign head of state to visit the liberated zone in South Vietnam at that time.

On the anniversary of this historic moment, the Cuban News Agency (ACN) published an article by journalist Indira Ferrer Alonso reflecting on 52 years of an unparalleled brotherhood between the Vietnamese and Cuban peoples.

According to the piece, Fidel’s words to the gathered soldiers: “For Vietnam, Cuba is willing to shed its own blood!” captured the very essence of the friendship forged between the two nations, a relationship nurtured through resilience, dignity, and internationalist spirit.

Fidel’s presence in the Southeast Asian nation carried with it the legacy of a movement established a decade earlier: the Cuban Committee for Solidarity with South Vietnam. Founded on September 25, 1963 at Fidel’s initiative and chaired by the heroine Melba Hernández, the organisation took the lead in denouncing imperialist aggression while providing political, moral, and material support to the Vietnamese people.

Today, more than half a century later, the memory of that visit remains vivid for those who witnessed it, said the article. Though Fidel’s journey to Quang Tri lasted just six hours, it was long enough to seal an eternal friendship. His trip stands as a symbol of the brotherhood between two nations bound by shared ideals of peace, independence, and social justice.

💞 As the author recalled, Fidel declared on Vietnamese soil that the country will be ten times more beautiful, as President Ho Chi Minh wished; and in that endeavour, Cuba will always stand side by side with Vietnamese people./.