Today we celebrate what the Venezuelan poet Aquiles Nazoa called “humanity’s greatest invention”: friendship, stressed the head of the Bolivarian diplomatic mission, Tatiana Pugh Moreno, who clarified that this bond between the two countries dates back to 1964.
He recalled that at the time, in a gesture of courage and a daring operation, a group of militants from his country’s National Liberation Front kidnapped US Colonel Michael Smolen in Caracas to exchange him for Vietnamese fighter Nguyen Van Troi, who was later shot dead by invading troops .
The diplomat also recalled that another encounter with history took place on July 31, 2006, when President Hugo Chávez presented here a replica of Simón Bolívar’s sword to the Commander-in-Chief of the People’s Army and strategist of two wars, General Vo Nguyen Giap.
Pugh Moreno reviewed the progress of bilateral ties over the past three decades, noting that during that period more than 60 agreements have been signed, nine bilateral political consultations have been held and the Fourth High-Level Commission is expected to meet next year.
After overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic, visit exchanges resumed and bilateral trade increased 700 percent this year compared to 2021 and continues to grow, he stressed.
For Venezuela, these recent times have been difficult, since more than 900 unilateral coercive measures have been imposed “which have served to express the creative powers of the people and the solidarity of the world” with our country, he said, citing again Aquiles Nazoa. . .
For his part, the president of the Vietnam-Venezuela Friendship Association, Nguyen Viet Thao, said in his words that in the 33 years of diplomatic relations and 15 years of extensive cooperation, “relationships between the two countries have not stopped growing.”
Viet Thao also alluded to the noble gesture of the Venezuelan revolutionary fighters who did not hesitate to sacrifice themselves to demand the freedom of Van Troi in 1964.
A photo exhibition covering part of the career of the legendary General Vo Nguyen Giap was also opened at the Union of Friendship Organizations of Vietnam headquarters to mark the 33rd anniversary of diplomatic relations between Hanoi and Caracas.
mgt/mpm