-DATE-
19730912
-YEAR-
1973
-DOCUMENT_TYPE-
REPORT
-AUTHOR-
F. CASTRO
-HEADLINE-
WELCOMING BANQUET
-PLACE-
PRESIDENTIAL PALACE IN HANOI
-SOURCE-
HANOI VNA
-REPORT_NBR-
FBIS
-REPORT_DATE-
19730913
-TEXT-
Grand Welcoming Banquet

Hanoi VNA in English 1744 GMT 12 Sep 73 B

[Text] Hanoi VNA September 12--The Central Committee of the Vietnam Workers
Party and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam gave a grand
banquet at the presidential palace here this evening in honor of the
delegation of the Communist Party of Cuba and of the Revolutionary
Government of the Republic of Cuba led by Fidel Castro, first secretary of
the CPCC and premier of the Cuban Government, on a friendship visit to the
DRV.

President Ton Duc Thang attended the banquet.

Also present on the Vietnamese side were Le Duan, first secretary of the
Central Committee of the Vietnam Workers Party; Truong Chinh, Political
Bureau member of the party CC and chairman of the Standing Committee of the
National Assembly; Pham Van Dong, Political Bureau member of the party CC
and premier of the government; General Vo Nguyen Giap, Political Bureau
member of the party CC, vice premier and minister of national defense; Le
Duc Tho, Political Bureau member of the party CC; Nguyen Duy Trinh,
Political Bureau member of the party CC, vice premier and foreign minister;
Le Thanh Nghi, Political Bureau member of the party CC and vice premier; To
Huu, Hoang Anh, and Nguyen Van Tran, secretaries of the party CC; Vice
Premier Do Muoi and other party and state leaders. [Hanoi in Vietnamese to
Vietnam at 2230 GMT on 12 September in its report on the banquet for the
Cuban delegation, adds the following names to the list of those attending:
"Hoang Quoc Viet, WVP Central Committee member and member of the Presidium
of the VFF Central Committee; Tran Huu Duc, VWP Central Committee member
and minister to the premier's office; Hoang Tung, alternate member of the
VWP Central Committee and chairm and of the Vietnam-Cuba Friendship
Association; Hoang Van Loi, deputy minister of foreign affairs; Tran Chi
Hien, deputy chairman of the VWP Central Committee's Foreign Relations
Committee; Tran Vy, acting chairman of the Hanoi municipal administrative
committee; many other members of the VWP Central Committee; many cabinet
ministers and deputy ministers; and many other high-ranking state and army
cadres."]

Nguyen Van Tien, head of the Special Representation of the Republic of
South Vietnam, was also on hand.

On the Cuban side were Fidel Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, premier of the Cuban
Revolutionary Government; Carlos Rafael Rodriguez, member of the
Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, vice
premier of the Revolutionary Government in charge of external relations,
and chairman of the Commission for Economic, Scientific and Technical
Collaboration; Osmany Cienfuegos, member of the CPC Central Committee, Mme
Melba Hernandez, president of the Cuban Committee of Solidarity With
Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos; [and] Ambassador Rau Valdez Vivo. [At this
point, the Vietnamese version adds: "cadres of the Cuban Embassy; Cuban
specialists working in Vietnam; and the Cuban artistic troupe."]

Also present were members of the diplomatic corps in Hanoi. [Here the
Vietnamese version adds: "Comrade (Toki Toyoshi), representative of the
Japanese Communist Party; and many local and foreign newsmen."]

In his reply Premier Fidel Castro spoke highly of the fight of the
Vietnamese people which, he said, was an example and an encouragement to
the Cuban people in their struggle.

He said particularly deep tribute to President Ho Chi Minh, who had so
genially combined the struggle for national liberation with the struggle to
liberate the oppressed classes. To liberate the nation and liberate the
society is the cornerstone of his doctrine, Fidel Castro remarked.
President Ho Chi Minh, the Cuban leader added, had also defended in the
most resolute manner the solidarity of the revolution and progressive
forces in the world.

Premier Fidel Castro stressed that the Vietnamese people have fought and
made sacrifices not only for their own sake but also for the other nations
in the world.

The Cuban people feel profound gratitude for the sacrifices of the
Vietnamese people, Fidel Castro stressed.

Premier Fidel Castro sternly condemned the very heinous acts of the
reactionary military in Chile who had just staged a coup d'etat against the
Popular Unity Coalition of President Allende. He expressed the Cuban
people's resolve to side with the Chilean people and their firm belief that
the just struggle of Chilean people as well as the revolutionary struggle
of the Latin American peoples will win victory.

Referring to the recent Algiers Summit Conference of the Nonalined
Countries, Premier Fidel Castro said he was gratified at its result since
this had confirmed the unanimous support of the nonalined countries for the
struggle of the Vietnamese people, for the Provisional Revolutionary
Government of the Republic of South Vietnam.

Premier Fidel Castro reaffirmed Cuba's continued and wholehearted support
to Vietnam in national reconstruction as well as in the struggle to make
the other side implement the Paris agreement scrupulously.

Though Cuba is small and poor, it will contribute to the reconstruction of
Vietnam in order to make Vietnam ten times bigger and more beautiful than
in the past, in conformity with President Ho Chi Minh's last will, he said.

Premier Fidel Castro's speech was frequently interrupted by stormy and
prolonged ovation.

The reception took place in an atmosphere of warm fraternal friendship and
militant solidarity.
-END-