Jorge Rodríguez, visiting Cuba at the invitation of the National Assembly of People’s Power, also took part in the 33rd edition of the International Book Fair in Havana.

The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, received on Monday at the Palace of the Revolution, Jorge Rodríguez Gómez, President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, who is visiting the island at the invitation of the National Assembly of People’s Power (ANPP).

In a meeting marked by cordiality – and which was also attended by Ana María Mari Machado, Vice-President of the ANPP – the Head of State stressed the importance of strengthening relations in the legislative sphere, from which many other alliances can be supported. The parliamentary sphere is an important component of relations between our countries, along with those of government and party, he said.

After the meeting with the Head of State at the Presidency of the Republic, Jorge Rodríguez told the press that «it is always a great pleasure and a source of joy to be in the homeland of José Martí, in the homeland of Fidel, of Raúl, visiting dear brothers of the Venezuelan people and dear brothers of the Venezuelan Revolution».

We have had an agenda, he explained, which included an official visit to the National Assembly of People’s Power, we met with President Esteban Lazo Hernández, we signed a Cooperation Agreement between the two Parliaments to accentuate the closeness. «Parliamentary diplomacy to accompany the fruitful work carried out by our governments and peoples,» he summarised.

On the meeting with the President, he commented that «President Díaz-Canel was kind enough to receive me, also in the framework of this official visit I made to the Republic of Cuba; we talked as governments and brotherly peoples talk; we made progress in all the processes of cooperation and alliance of our peoples; we talked about the development of alba; and how to confront the brutal blockade suffered by nations such as Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba».

We invite President Lazo, added Jorge Rodríguez, to come to Venezuela on an official visit, and we hope that the work of both Parliaments will contribute to the process of integration of our peoples.

Alongside his official activities, Jorge Rodríguez presented this Sunday, at the Havana International Book Fair, his book of poems, Río Quemado, dedicated to the memory of his father. Its pages contain the pain and mourning of two children after the torture and murder of their father, at the hands of the repressive government of Carlos Andrés Pérez, in 1976.

Jorge Rodríguez is a member of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, and since 2021 he has been president of the National Assembly.

Esteban Lazo received the President of the National Assembly of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

With the traditional military ceremony and review, which preceded the interpretation of the notes of both national anthems by the Concert Band of the Ceremonial Unit of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, the member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the National Assembly of People’s Power and the Council of State, Esteban Lazo Hernández, received this February 17, at the National Capitol, Jorge Rodríguez, head of the National Assembly of the sister Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, who is making an official visit to the Greater of the Antilles.

During the fraternal and fruitful meeting, a new example of the historic and close relations between the two fraternal peoples, both parties ratified the will to strengthen and expand inter-parliamentary ties.

In this sense, Esteban Lazo and Jorge Rodríguez signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the two legislative bodies, which will promote cooperation and the exchange of experiences, based on the consolidation of working relations between the committees and parliamentary friendship groups.

«We ratify here, in the Simón Bolívar Hall of the beautiful Capitol of the Republic of Cuba, that the brotherly peoples of Cuba and Venezuela, the people of Fidel and the people of Hugo Chávez, will be united in battle and in victory forever. We will win,» said Jorge Rodríguez after the signing of the document.

Also taking part in the cordial exchange on the Cuban side were Ana María Mari Machado, vice-president of the National Assembly of People’s Power and the Council of State; Yoerky Sánchez Cuéllar, member of the Council of State and president of the Parliamentary Group of Friendship with the sister South American nation; Alberto Núñez Betancourt, vice-president of the International Relations Commission of the Cuban legislature; as well as Jesús Rafael Mora and Indira Pineda Rojas, director and official of International Relations of the National Assembly, respectively.

The delegation from the Homeland of Bolívar and Chávez was also made up of América Pérez, second vice-president of the National Assembly; Edgardo Ramírez, head of the Venezuela-Cuba Parliamentary Friendship Group; and the Venezuelan Ambassador accredited to Cuba, Orlando Maneiro.

Both delegations toured the historic halls of the National Capitol, a national monument and institutional seat of the Cuban Parliament.