Ecuadorian President Receives Cuban Foreign Minister

HAVANA , Cuba - The president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, received Cuban foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, on Monday, at the Palacio de Carolendet, in Quito.

The Cuban Minister, on official visit, and the Ecuadorian president, attended the ceremony of the changing of the presidential guard in the historical center of Quito, reports a press release by Prensa Latina agency news.

The Ecuadorian Foreign Minister, Ricardo Patiño, told Prensa Latina that the relations with Cuba are a priority given that Cuba is one of the strategic nations for their diplomacy.

Patiño praised the international solidarity of Cuba with Ecuador, the homeland of Eloy Alfaro. He mentioned that there are about 2 000 young Ecuadorians studying Medicine in Cuba, without asking anything in return.

Both ministers chair the 2nd Meeting of the Mechanism of Political Consultation between the two countries to strengthen the historical relations of friendship and solidarity and to boost cooperation programs in different sectors.

At the Palacio de Najas, Rodríguez talked, by videoconference, with the Cuban doctors of the Operacion Milagro in the Ophthalmologic Center of Latacunga, who have done more than 100 000 free sight surgeries.

The Cuban diplomat will meet on Tuesday with Ecuadorian Vice President Lenin Moreno to discuss the topic of Cuban cooperation in the study of people with disability and their follow-up in prevention and attention stages.

Rodriguez will also meet with Augusto Barrera, metropolitan major, in the context of the declaration of Quito as the Latin American capital of Culture in 2011.

The Cuban Foreign Minister arrived in Quito on Sunday, and was received by deputy foreign minister Kintto Lucas and Jorge Rodriguez, the Cuban ambassador to Ecuador.(acn)

Rafael Correa: Historic Victory in Ecuador

HAVANA, Cuba, April 27 (acn) After being reelected president of Ecuador last Sunday, Rafael Correa confirmed that he is to emphasize his socialist project. The leader of the Movimiento Alianza País achieved a historic and unprecedented victory.

No other candidate has won in the first electoral round since 1976. The triumph allows Correa to govern until 2013, says a Granma newspaper report.

"Socialism, of course, will continue. The Ecuadorian people voted for that," he declared, adding: "When have we concealed our ideological orientation? We are going to emphasize this fight for social justice; for regional justice….we are going to continue the fight to eliminate ll forms of workplace exploitation within our socialist conviction: the supremacy of human work over capital," EcoDiario quoted the president.

While not yet official, the election results confirm survey findings: Correa would win in the first round. A rapid recount by the Participación Ciudadana nongovernmental organization, with 71.5% of the votes counted, places Correa of the Movimiento Alianza País in first place with 51.7%, and Lucio Gutiérrez of the Partido Sociedad Patriótica second, with 28.4% of the vote, EFE reports.

"Nobody is in any doubt that our preferential option is for the poorest people, we are here because of them," Correa affirmed before ending with a Hasta la victoria siempre.

(Histórica victoria de Rafael Correa en Ecuador)

Cuba and Ecuador Strengthen Cooperation in Biotechnology

HAVANA, Cuba, March 24 (acn) Cuban specialists from the Havana-based Center of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (CIGB) are in Ecuador as part of Cuba's interest in strengthening bilateral cooperation with this South American nation.

According to the website of Granma news daily, the Cuban experts are visiting the Leopoldo Izquieta Hygiene Institute in Guayaquil aiming at developing joint projects with Ecuador.

An official communiqué announced that the CIGB specialists will discuss with their Ecuadorian counterparts the possibility of providing the necessary technology to build a plant to produce the Cuban Pentavalent vaccine and other medicines there.

This technical visit to Ecuador is part of a bilateral project to develop products and for technological transfer that was agreed with the National Secretariat of Science and Technology of Ecuador (SENACYT) during the visit to Havana last January of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa.

On Tuesday, the Cuban specialists will give a press conference at the Leopoldo Izquieta Hygiene Institute along with SENACYT officials.

(Expertos cubanos en Ecuador para estrechar nexos bilaterales)