Innovative diplomacy in Cuba
Sri Lanka's Ambassador to Cuba, Tamara Kunanayakam, participated a
day of voluntary work to commemorate the International Day of Solidarity
with the Palestinian people, by joining in the renovation of the
Kindergarten Amiguitos de Palestina (Little friends of Palestine) in
Havana Alamar, last Saturday.
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At the Kindergarten Amiguitos de Palestina (Little Friends
of Palestine) in Alamar, suburb of Havana, front row (from
left to right) State of Palestine Ambassador to Cuba, Akram
Mohammad Rashid Samhan, Venezuela Ambassador to Cuba Ronald
Blanco La Cruz, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Cuba Tamara
Kunanayakam, Ecuador Ambassador to Cuba Edgar Ponce. |
In an effort, characterised by an spirit of teamwork and unity for a
common cause, Venezuelan Ambassador Ronald Blanco La Cruz, Ambassador of
Ecuador, Edgar Ponce, the State of Palestine Ambassador, Akram Mohammad
Rashid Samhan, and Sri Lanka's Ambassador Tamara Kunanayakam, were
joined by more than a hundred diplomats and students from Venezuela,
Ecuador, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Palestine.
"There is urgent need for a new kind of diplomacy based on principles
of solidarity, cooperation, reciprocity and respect, in which words must
be translated into concrete action and exemplary behaviour," declared
Ambassador Kunanayakam. Diplomats must set the example! Rhetoric must be
replaced by concrete actions and sincerity if lasting ties of friendship
and solidarity are to be secured for the mutual benefit and progress of
our peoples."
Sri Lanka, with its own history of commitment and practice to
voluntary work, Shramadana, fully identifies with these noble
principles. In Cuba, Ernesto Che Guevara was the first to launch the
principle of voluntary work, which continues to inspire this generous
and altruistic action, without expecting anything in return, in a
country that has faced, and continues to face, an unjust blockade for
over 50 years.
In his address to the 65th Sessions of the United Nations General
Assembly in September President Mahinda Rajapaksa unequivocally
expressed his solidarity with Cuba and Palestine. This is not the first
time that Ambassador Kunanayakam has participated in the ALBA initiative
to contribute, through voluntary work, toward the renovation of primary
and secondary schools in the Cuban capital. In October, she participated
in the renovation of an Elementary School and in November in the
renovation of a school for handicapped children, dedicated to Argentina,
on which occasion she collaborated with the Ambassador of Argentina to
Cuba, Juliana Isabel Marino. |
