President of the Brazil-Vietnam Friendship Association (ABRAVIET) and Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Ignacio Arruda. VNA/VNS Photo

BUENOS AIRES – The Việt Nam-Brazil friendship and cooperative ties began in the early 20th century when President Hồ Chí Minh set his foot in Rio de Janeiro in 1912 in his journey to seek the way to save the nation, according to a Brazilian official.

In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency's correspondents in Latin America on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the bilateral diplomatic relations, President of the Brazil-Việt Nam Friendship Association (ABRAVIET) and Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation Ignacio Arruda recalled the time when Hồ Chí Minh was sick while working on a French-flagged ship from Việt Nam to France, and went down to the Port of Rio de Janeiro for treatment.

He said it was at that time when the Vietnamese revolutionary leader made important contact with the Porto workers’ union movement, which he mentioned in an article published in Moscow in 1922.

Many decades later, students from São Paulo and other Brazilian capitals led a movement to fight for peace and against the war in Việt Nam after they saw films sent by the National Liberation Front of South Việt Nam in 1968 showing the atrocities committed by the US during the war in the Southeast Asian country.

However, not until 1989 were the diplomatic ties between the two countries established, he continued, adding the Brazilian Embassy was opened in Hà Nội in 1994, and the Vietnamese Embassy in Brasília six years later.

The deputy minister highlighted that the two countries have exchanged many high-level delegations over the past 35 years, with the latest being an official visit of Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính last September, and a visit by Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation and President of the Communist Party of Brazil Luciana Santos last November. 

Regarding the bilateral cooperation, Arruda said a delegation from his ministry will visit Việt Nam this year to carry out cooperative projects signed with the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology.  

He affirmed that the friendship association will work with the Vietnamese Embassy in Brasília to organise various activities to mark the diplomatic relations’ anniversary, including an event to commemorate the time when Hồ Chí Minh worked at a restaurant on Santa Tereza street, Rio de Janeiro.

The ABRAVIET President highlighted the positive contributions by the association to the solidarity, friendship and cooperation between the two nations. He said the association has contributed to the dissemination of the thought and work of leader Hồ Chí Minh, mainly through a book entitled "Hồ Chí Minh, Life and Work of the leader of the National Liberation of Việt Nam". The book written by journalist Pedro de Oliveira -- who is also General Secretary of ABRAVIET -- is already in its third edition and received the first prize in the national award for external communication from the Socialist Republic of Việt Nam, in the book category. 

In 2022, the association worked with the Việt Nam Union of Friendship Organisations to launch the Portuguese-Vietnamese Thematic Dictionary to serve the teaching and learning of the Portuguese language at Vietnamese universities, he added.

According to Arruda, the association will enhance delegation exchange with the Vietnamese side, and promote the establishment of a chamber of commerce between the two countries. –VNS