• NA Chairman expresses gratitude to Cuban people

• Vietnam, Cuba look towards stronger ties

In a front-page article on the friendship between the two countries, Granma, the organ of the CPC said Cuba and Vietnam, regardless of their geographical distance, have always maintained the fraternal relationship and this is proven by Cuban Party chief Raul Castro’s visit.

The newspaper ran many photos of Mr Raul Castro holding talks with Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong, State President Truong Tan Sang and Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

Granma quoted Mr Raul Castro as saying to Mr Trong that it is his great honour to re-visit Vietnam to strengthen the time-honoured friendship between the two countries.

For his part, Party leader Trong said Mr Raul’s trip in response to the visit by a high-ranking Vietnamese delegation to Cuba in April with the aim of bringing the relationship between the two Parties and Governments to a higher level.

The official labor newspaper Trabajadores frontpaged the Cuban delegation’s activities in Vietnam with a focus on the talks between Party leader Raul Castro and PM Nguyen Tan Dung during which both pledged to boost economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

Online newspaper Cubadebate and Cuba National Television also carried articles on Mr Raul Castro’s first visit to Vietnam as top leader of the Cuban Party, State and Government but his third trip to Vietnam after the first in 1966 and the second in 2005.