Seychelles Marks 65th Anniversary of Cuban Revolution at Victoria Ceremony
VICTORIA, Seychelles — Seychelles joined Cuba on Monday in marking the 65th anniversary of the Cuban Revolution, with a small ceremony organised by the Seychelles-Cuba Friendship Association (Secufa) at a venue in central Victoria. The foreign affairs minister, Sylvestre Radegonde, attended as guest of honour, alongside members of the Cuban diplomatic community and a handful of veterans of earlier Seychelles-Cuba solidarity projects. A short cultural performance by Secufa’s youth dance group preceded the formal remarks.
The anniversary is, in Cuban official memory, the founding event of the modern Cuban state, and Secufa has marked it every year since the early 2000s. The Seychelles connection is older than that, though. Hundreds of Seychellois trained as doctors, engineers, and teachers in Cuba under scholarship programmes that ran from the late 1970s through the early 2010s. Many of those graduates are now in senior positions across the public service, and a number were present at Monday’s ceremony.
Speaking at the ceremony, FM Radegonde said the bilateral relationship was built on a tradition of solidarity rather than commerce, and that Seychelles remained grateful for the training opportunities Cuba had offered over four decades. He said the government was keen to refresh the relationship for a new generation, and pointed to co-operation on climate adaptation, medical research, and sports development as the most promising areas for the next phase. He also thanked the Cuban government for its support during the Covid-19 vaccination rollout.
For the Cuban side, the anniversary is a moment to consolidate ties with the African continent at a time when several regional partners are recalibrating their foreign relations. Cuba’s ambassador to Seychelles, Jorge Pablo Virelles, said the revolution remained a living reference point for Cuban foreign policy. He added that small island states had a particular role to play in defending multilateralism, and that Cuba would continue to stand with them in international forums.
Secufa used the occasion to launch its 2024 calendar of activities, which includes a youth leadership programme, a medical exchange for nurses, and a small cultural festival in the second half of the year. The association’s chair said the calendar was deliberately modest in scale, and that the focus would be on quality of engagement rather than on the size of events. Applications for the youth programme will open in March, with a closing date in April.
A photographic exhibition on the history of Seychelles-Cuba relations will open at the National Library later this month.
