~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

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Castro gets huge welcome in Vietnam

Cuban Leader Fidel Castro Gets Huge Welcome During His Visit to Vietnam in Nearly a Decade

HANOI - Cuban and Vietnamese flags flapped side by side Saturday as Cuban President Fidel Castro received a grand welcome from many old communist friends during his first visit to Vietnam in nearly a decade.

In a blue suit and tie, Castro paraded down a red carpet outside the Presidential Palace with Communist Party chief Nong Duc Manh. A band played both nations' national anthems, and Castro was saluted by the head of the military honor guard and hugged by Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong and Prime Minister Phan Van Khai. Later on Saturday, Castro was expected to visit the home of Vietnam's legendary general, Vo Nguyen Giap. The most prominent figure still living from the war era, Giap, 91, was the mastermind of Vietnam's guerrilla battle against the United States.

"In my heart, and in the heart of each Vietnamese, I believe the image of Fidel Castro is a noble and excellent symbol of a staunch revolutionary fighter," Manh told Cuban journalists in an article carried by the Vietnam News Agency. Manh said Castro's visit marks 43 years of strong diplomatic ties between two of the remaining five communist countries in the world. In the past, Vietnam has donated rice to Cuba, and two-way trade between the two nations has increased in recent years. The other three remaining communist countries are China, Laos and North Korea.

Vietnam is the first of three stops during Castro's trip to Asia. He will leave Sunday for Malaysia to attend next week's Non-Aligned Movement summit and will end his tour with a visit to China. Castro's other visits to Vietnam were in 1973 and 1995. During his last trip, he toured the Cu Chi tunnel network where communist soldiers hid from U.S. troops during the Vietnam War.

The Associated Press - February 22, 2003.