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Elita Chikwati

Senior Reporter

Zimbabwe and Cuba have pledged to continue strengthening relations, especially on the international arena, as the two are facing similar challenges including being under United States sanctions.

This came out yesterday after Cuban Ambassador, Mrs Carmelina Ramirez Rodriguez met Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development Professor Amon Murwira and other senior health officials.

The parties discussed further areas of cooperation especially in health and education sectors.

Ambassador Rodriguez said Cuba and Zimbabwe have strong ties dating back to the struggle days.

“Zimbabwe and Cuba will walk hand-to-hand on the international arena because we face same challenges as countries and because of sanctions. Both countries we have seen the need to help each other,” she said.

“We have a very strong cooperation in the field of health and also in education, it’s our biggest sectors of cooperation. Cuba continues to give scholarships for medicine and other disciplines.

“The meeting has been fruitful, we were discussing about the new avenues of cooperation in both sectors from the continued medical assistance from the Cuban medical doctors, even to increase the current numbers of the doctors and also to develop avenues of cooperation in the production of medicals.”

VP Chiwenga said Zimbabwe had been cooperating with Cuba mostly in the health and education sectors.

“We have been having the Cuban medical brigade which has been assisting us from the time of our independence.

“We have had Zimbabweans trained in Cuba in various fields, some of them now in quite high positions both in the public and private sector.

“This cooperation is going from strength-to-strength. We are now in the areas where we have great cooperation with our institutions of higher and tertiary education,” he said.

VP Chiwenga said his ministry cooperates with the Ministry of Higher Education.

“The manpower comes through the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education.

“We are also one of the main beneficiaries and this is why we had the joint meeting sharing our areas of cooperation and assessing the developments so far achieved in the areas which we have agreed upon with the various institutions in Cuba,” he said.

The Vice President congratulated Cuba for coming up with Covid-19 vaccines which he said were not going to benefit Cuba alone, but Zimbabwe and the world too.