New Cuban Ambassador to Liberia Presents Letters of Credence to President Sirleaf

Receiving the Letters of Credence from Ambassador Nicolás in the Cabinet Room of the President’s Office, President Sirleaf welcomed Cuba’s strong desire for strengthened relations with Liberia, geared towards promoting political exchanges and cooperation on bilateral and international issues.

According to an Executive Mansion release, the Liberian leader extolled the long-standing relations between Cuba and Liberia, both members of the Non-Aligned Movement and the United Nations, which are aimed at tackling emerging challenges to the international system.

President Sirleaf used the occasion to re-emphasize Government’s commitment to the Liberia-Cuba Joint Commission for Economic, Scientific, and Technical Cooperation, agreed in Monrovia on April 10, 2008, in compliance with Article IV of the General Agreement for Scientific, Technical and Economic Cooperation, and signed between both Governments in Havana, on April 28, 2000. She also looked forward to identifying new areas of cooperation.

“We have witnessed remarkable levels of Cuban technical assistance within this cooperation framework, including Cuba’s offer of 13 scholarships for Liberian students to study in Cuba in the fields of health and medicine, sports, geography, mathematics, civil engineering and agronomy,” President Sirleaf said, adding, “Let me assure you, Mr. Ambassador, of my Government’s commitment to the full utilization of these scholarships opportunities.” Four Liberian students currently study medicine and sports at Cuban universities.

The Liberian leader expressed her gratitude to the Government of Cuba, which has offered to train instructors at the William V.S. Tubman University in Maryland County, for which the credentials of three Cuban professors have been submitted to the Ministry of Education. The Cuban Government has further offered to renovate the National Archives, damaged during Liberia’s civil war.

President Sirleaf noted the level of progress her government has initiated in the recovery process since her ascendancy to the Presidency in 2006, and, going forward, she disclosed that Liberia has commenced in earnest the implementation of critical elements of a new “Vision 2030” development roadmap, with strong focus on developing the country’s electric power and energy infrastructure, aimed at improving overall conditions of the economy. “My government remains committed to improving the standard of living of all of our people, and would like to express gratitude to President Raul Castro for Cuba’s assistance to Liberia thus far,” she said.

She assured the Cuban envoy that initial steps are already being taken for a reciprocal accreditation of a Liberian Ambassador to Cuba, which she hoped to consummate in a timely manner.

Earlier, Ambassador Nicolás congratulated President Sirleaf on her 74th birth anniversary. He pledged that during his tenure as Ambassador, he would further strengthen relations between both countries, and expressed optimism for expansions in new areas of cooperation between Liberia and Cuba.

Before his posting to Liberia, the new Cuban Ambassador served as Ambassador, Senior Diplomatic Desk Officer of the Northern Africa and the Middle East Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before that, Ambassador Nicolás served as his country’s Ambassador to the Republic of Poland.