HAVANA — Cuba and Fidel are two sacred words in the heart of every Vietnamese person, said Nguyễn Đức Lợi, member of the Communist Party of Việt Nam’s Central Committee and head of the Vietnamese delegation to the 24th Sao Paulo Forum in Havana, Cuba. 

Addressing the special plenary session of the forum on Tuesday, Lợi, who is also general director of the Vietnam News Agency, underlined that Fidel was a great leader of international communist and worker movements, and a symbol of revolutionary heroism, with aspirations of freedom and happiness. 
He highlighted that humanitarian internationalism initiated and led by Fidel had materially and spiritually supported many revolutions and movements for national liberation worldwide, including the Vietnamese people’s resistance war against the US. 
The official recalled Cuba’s support for Việt Nam in the past even when the Caribbean country was facing numerous difficulties as a result of the embargo imposed by the US, quoting Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro as saying that “For Việt Nam, Cuba is willing to shed its blood”.
He also recollected Fidel’s historic visit to Việt Nam’s central province of Quảng Trị in September 1973, the first trip by a foreign leader to a liberated area in Việt Nam. During the trip, the Cuban Commander-in-Chief hoisted the Vietnamese liberation flag on top of a bunker formerly belonging to enemy troops, and then urged the Vietnamese soldiers to “put up this glorious flag in the centre of Sài Gòn”. His wish came true two years later. 
On this occasion, Lợi congratulated the Mexican leftist force on the triumph of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at the recent presidential election and expressed his support for the revolutionary cause and social progress in a number of Latin American countries. 
The official noted his wish that under the leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba, the Cuban people would successfully update the socio-economic model, and complete development targets set through 2030. 
During the plenary session, other leaders and politicians of Latin American, Caribbean, Asian and African countries also delivered speeches reiterating the universal and everlasting values of the ideology and model of Fidel. 
At the July 15-17 forum, many Latin American and Caribbean leaders committed to reinforcing solidarity between leftist forces in the region and the world. 
As many as 625 delegates from 51 countries and 168 organisations across the world have adopted 45 resolutions and statements on socio-political issues in the region. 
Created in 1990 as a result of the Permanent Conference of Political Parties of Latin America and the Caribbean, the Sao Paulo Forum is a space for dialogue, which attracts about 100 political parties, organisations and progressive movements in the region. — VNS