During the festival, Cuban Minister of Higher Education Walter Baluja Garcia announced in a video message the launch of the International Network of Graduates of Cuban Higher Education, which welcomes Cuban nationals residing in different parts of the world.

  Baluja Garcia emphasized that, amidst the complex international situation from which Havana is not exempt due to the United States’ economic, commercial, and financial blockade, the bonds of brotherhood and solidarity is an essential path to facing the development challenges of our countries.

  He said he hopes that the intercontinental deployment of this network would allow for the reestablishment of ties, offer new opportunities for personal and professional development, and ease reunions with classmates, professors, and educational institutions in Cuba.

  For her part, Havana’s ambassador to Ethiopia, Meylíin Suarez, emphasized that ties with the African continent predate the six decades of existence of the organization that unites African countries.

  She reiterated gratitude to Africa for joining its voice with those of the vast majority of the world in favor of ending the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States government against Cuba, and also acknowledged the solidarity movement of graduates with the Caribbean nation.

  On the centennial of the Cuban Revolution’s birth, she urged all those present at the event, held under the theme “Africa and Cuba: Culture, Memory, Education, and Solidarity,” at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), to offer their gratitude to the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz.

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