-DATE- 19730425 -YEAR- 1973 -DOCUMENT_TYPE- REPORT -AUTHOR- F. CASTRO -HEADLINE- COMMENT ON VISITING POLISH DELEGATION -PLACE- PALACE OF THE REVOLUTION -SOURCE- HAVANA IN SPANISH -REPORT_NBR- FBIS -REPORT_DATE- 19730426 -TEXT- REPORTS, COMMENT ON VISITING POLISH DELEGATION Exchange of Awards Havana in Spanish to the Americas 1800 GMT 25 Apr 73 C [Excerpts] Polish Chairman of the Council of State Henryk Jablonski has received the National Order of Jose Marti, the highest Cuban award. Jablonski then awarded Cuban President Osvaldo Dorticos and Prime Minister Fidel Castro the Grand Cross of the Polonia Restituta, the highest award in Poland. The solemn ceremony was held at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana. The Cuban president, who is a member of the Cuban Communist Party [PCC] Politburo, praised the Polish delegation leader's strong personality and his successes in the resistance against fascist aggression and in the construction of socialism, as well as his significant contribution to the friendship between Poland and Cuba. When awarded the Jose marti medal, Chairman Jablonski said: This medal embodies the great friendship which unites the two countries. He added that the honor was even greater because the medal has the name of the great Cuban patriot, Jose Marti, whom he described as the Latin American man who was the first to realize the danger of Yankee imperialism. In his words of thanks, Chairman Jablonski recalled that in last century's wars for Cuban independence, a Polish man, Gen Carlos Roloff, fought beside Marti. The Polish leader then said that revolutionary Cuba--today's Cuba--is the Cuba that Marti dreamed of, a Cuba made free and sovereign by its brave and strong men who fought with tenacity to destroy the imperaialist yoke. The audience applauded when the Polish leader awarded the Grand Cross of the Polonia Restituta to the Cuban president and prime minister. The head of the Cuban Government, Maj Fidel Castro, recalled his visit to Poland last year, his contacts with Polish miners, metallurgical workers, students, workers and soldiers, and the great humanity of the Polish people, their great effort to construct socialism and their long and great history. Fidel Castro, the first secretary of the PCC, said that his talks with Edward Gierek, secretary general of the Polish United Workers Party, enabled him to become acquainted with the efforts in that country to solve the difficulties and make progress. Maj Fidel Castro then discussed the personalities of Roloff and Martin and emphasized how two peoples--the Polish and Cuban--are brothers because of their strubble, their heroism and their patriotic ideas, and because of the blood they have shed on the battleground. The Cuban prime minister said: Today we are united by our march toward socialism, by our progress within the socialist community and by our friendship with the Soviet Union. The PCC Central Committee and the Revolutionary Government gave a reception at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana for the Polish Government and party delegation, headed by Chairman Henryk Jablonski. President Osvaldo Dorticos, Prime Minister Maj Fidel Castro, First Vice Prime Minister Maj Raul Castro, and PCC Politburo members welcomed the Polish guests at the Palace of the Revolution. Other members of the PCC Politburo, Secretariat and Central Committee and officials of the Cuban party and Revolutionary Government were present at the reception given for the Polish delegation. -END-