Hanoi, Oct 6 (Prensa Latina) Cubans will always remember Do Muoi as a brother, said today the member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), Olga Lidia Tapia, when paying tribute to the recently deceased Vietnamese communist leader. We will never forget that Do Muoi was the one who received Commander in Chief Fidel Castro when in 1995 he visited Vietnam for the second time, nor his contributions to the relations between the two parties, governments and people, said Tapia.
Along with other officials of the Central Committee of the PCC and the ambassador here, Lianys Torres, the Cuban leader placed flowers and incense before Muoi's coffin, gave her condolences to relatives, friends and comrades of the PCV and signed the condolence book opened in the mortuary house
As soon as the death of Do Muoi was heard in Havana, the first secretary of the PCC, Raúl Castro, and President Miguel Díaz-Canel, sent messages of pain and solidarity to Vietnam.
In a letter to Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the PCV, Army General Raul Castro described Muoi as 'a close friend of Cuba, who contributed to the strengthening of the bonds of brotherhood among our countries.'
For his part, Diaz-Canel sent a message to the interim president of Vietnam, Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, and to Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, in which he also enhanced Muoi's contributions 'to the development of the historic ties of friendship and cooperation existing between Vietnam and Cuba '.
Vietnam celebrates two days of national mourning during Saturday and Sunday during which it will perform state funerals to Do Muoi. The flag is hoisted at half mast in public buildings and sport a black crepe, while the festive activities were suspended.
The funeral will be Sunday in the district Thanh Tri, in the outskirts of this capital, the homeland of the disappeared leader.
Do Muoi died on Monday in Hanoi at 101 years of age.
Born on February 2, 1917, he joined the Communist Party of Indochina in 1939 and was a leading fighter against French colonialism.
Muoi held important party and government posts during the war for reunification and was general secretary of the PCV from June 1991 to December 1997.
From that position he contributed greatly to lead the Party, the Government, the armed forces and all the people towards the fulfillment of the guidelines of the renovation and the construction and national safeguard.