"I am in Cuba for the first time and I am very proud of the warm and sincere welcome of a brotherly people. We also have that attitude towards it", said Major General Pavel Nikolaevich Muraveiko, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus and first deputy Minister of Defense in that country.
At the official reception, held at the Cacahual Mausoleum, he said: "We share an identical perception of the world problems and the military-political situation. We are going to exchange experiences and opinions".
He also commented on details related to the program of his stay on the island. He described it as very intense, marked by visits to military units and companies of the sector's industry. He has already learned about the training process of cadres in the academies.
"I am sure that these days will contribute to the strengthening of our bilateral collaboration in the future", considered the high command of the European nation.
After a floral offering, a tribute from the Belarusian side, the chief of the General Staff listened to the history of the place, which keeps the mortal remains of Antonio Maceo and Panchito Gómez Toro, who fell in combat during the invasion of the West during the Necessary War at the end of the 19th century.
They also spoke about other distinguished patriots buried in that site, among them the revolutionary intellectual Blas Roca Calderío. Likewise, the space houses the Monument to the last mambí, Juan Fajardo Vega, he was told.
The explanations were provided by Army Corps General Roberto Legrá Sotolongo, first deputy minister of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, chief of its General Staff and member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba.
"History must be kept; when we forget it, we forget the Fatherland," he remarked to Nikolaevich Muraveiko and the others present at the Mausoleum.
