Cuba confers highest state honour on Venezuelan president

Cuba confers highest state honour on Venezuelan president
Indo Asian News Service
IANS
19 March 2016

Havana, March 19 (IANS) Cuba granted the highest state honour to
visiting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

At a ceremony held at Havana's Revolution Palace on Friday, Cuban
President Raul Castro honoured Maduro with the Jose Marti Order, Xinhua
reported.

The Venezuelan leader, who arrived here in the early hours of Friday,
took the order with "the commitment of loyalty to the ideas of the
founding fathers, Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez."

The Jose Marti Order is granted to Cuban or foreign citizens for their
services to the cause of peace or outstanding achievements in education,
culture, science, sports or creative work.

Maduro was in Havana to participate in the Cuba-Venezuela High Level
Joint Commission meeting to map out a cooperation arrangement for 2016
and a plan to deal with the present epidemics of Zika, dengue and
Chikungunya affecting the region.

In his talks with Maduro, Castro reiterated unconditional solidarity
with Chavez, the Bolivarian revolution and the civil-military union of
the Venezuelan people led by President Maduro.

Both presidents reaffirmed their willingness to continue strengthening
cooperation, said an official statement.

Maduro's visit to Cuba came two days ahead of the arrival of US
President Barack Obama.

Venezuela, a major political and economic ally of Cuba, provides some
half of the fuel that Cuba needs to meet domestic demand, while Havana
supports the social health and education plans promoted by the
Venezuelan government.

Source: Cuba confers highest state honour on Venezuelan president -
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/cuba-confers-highest-state-honour-venezuelan-president-124232896.html