AILYN AGONIA

DOHA: Cuba and Qatar are gearing up for the grand celebration of the 20th anniversary of their friendship and cooperation in December, Cuban Ambassador to Qatar HE Armando Vergara Bueno said on Wednesday. He gave vent to his country’s strong condemnation of the coup in Honduras.

Ambassador Bueno said at a press conference that Cuba and Qatar are enjoying an excellent relationship which, he said, the two countries intended to further particularly in the fields of tourism and health services.

The envoy added that besides the activities both countries organised earlier this year as part of their year-long celebration of the 20th anniversary of their relations, more are in the pipeline. These events will take place here as well as Qatar as well as Cuba from October. He said further details of the activities will be announced later.

He expressed Cuba’s concern and strong condemnation over the coup in Honduras. “Cuba strongly condemns the brutal coup d’état against the constitutional government of Honduras and its President Manuel Zelaya.

The Latin American countries are unanimous with the UN General Assembly and the rest of the nations in strongly condemning this disrespect to the Honduran people and their Constitution.

We are advocating for no negotiations with the coup supporters such as the military and we maintain that Jose Manuel Zelaya is still the legitimate president of Honduras,” Bueno remarked. He reiterated Cuban President Raul Castro’s message of solidarity for the Honduran people delivered at the Rio Group Summit held in Nicaragua on Monday.

The envoy said that despite the aggression experienced by diplomats in Honduras including their embassy staff, Cuban government had not decided yet to pull out their humanitarian workers including about 480 doctors and nurses. However, he cited a possible pull out of some Latin American ambassadors from the area. He the next course of action of Honduras’ neighbours will depend on the outcome of President Zelaya’s planned return to the country on Thursday.

He reiterted the importance of 15th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in Egypt from July 11 to 16. Cuba and Qatar are among the 118 member countries.