SOCIETY 375

SOCIETY
We are proud that six decades later, our little island and the dream of
the Cuban Revolution have survived all attempts to subdue it.
support of peoples and nations. It is
always a challenge, but at the same
time an opportunity to work in a country,
in this case Austria, with a different
language, idiosyncrasy and economic
situation. As I mentioned, it is a great
opportunity to show our culture and
at the same time learn from the host
country. This exchange enriches us all.
Cuba is celebrating the sixty-year
anniversary of the revolution. How
would you define or describe today’s
Cuba, how – from your point of view –
did it change since the revolution?
Cuba is a society that looks with pride
at what has been done in these 60
years of Revolution, it develops its present
with a critical and open spirit and
is building a prosperous and sustainable
future. The social achievements
of the Cuban Revolution are very
well-known: elimination of illiteracy, a
free educational and universal health
system structured with the broadest
access for people, having the best rates
of human development and health
of the Third World and comparable
with those of many developed countries,
and having been able to resist and
survive with dignity the collapse of the
socialist system that constituted 80
percent of our commercial and economic
relations. The notable differences
between the city and the countryside
were eliminated and, above all, we
became an independent and sovereign
state. If I would have to define Cuba
in a few words, I would say that it is a
country with dignity, popular support,
social equality and a prosperous future.
Cuba went through a profound revolution,
with broad and solid popular
support. We are proud that six decades
later, our little island and the dream of
the Cuban Revolution have survived all
attempts to subdue it. We are a nation
in struggle, conscious of its duty and
proud of its history.
In 2017, the National Council President
Doris Bures welcomed the Cuban
Foreign Minister Bruno Eduardo
Rodríguez Parrilla at the Austrian
Parliament, where they confirmed to
further strengthen the traditionally
friendly relationship between the
two countries. What happened in this
regard since then?
In 2016, when I presented my credential
letters as Ambassador of Cuba,
both countries were celebrating
70 years of uninterrupted diplomatic
relations. That year, the former
president of Austria, Heinz Fischer,
paid an official visit to Cuba with a
large delegation including ministerial
and political leaders, scholars,
representatives of the culture sector
and businessmen. Cuba and Austria
have always had a friendly relationship
of respect and cooperation, and
they have been open to dialogue and
mutual exchange. Our relations are
mainly political, diplomatic, cultural,
educational and scientific-academic
and we have legal instruments to
formalize cooperation ties in these
sectors. The diplomatic relations
between the two countries were established
on July 26 in 1946. Years later,
that day became glorious for Cuba.
In Cuba, the prevailing government
at that time, which was meant to be
a hope for change, ended as a quick
frustration, timidly trying to expand its
foreign relations, which were always
Cuba is a society that
looks with pride at
what has been done in
these 60 years of Revolution,
it develops its
present with a critical
and open spirit and is
building a prosperous
and sustainable future.
Editor in Chief of SOCIETY Magazin, Tanja Tauchhammer, met with H.E. Juan Antonio Fernandez Palacios
in the Cuban Embassy in Vienna.
KUBA
039