Cuba and Morocco Reestablish Diplomatic Relations

HAVANA TIMES – Cuba today reestablished diplomatic relations with Morocco, which had been broken in 1980, following the expulsion of the Cuban ambassador from Rabat, dpa reported.

The agreement was signed at the headquarters of the Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations.  It came days after the private visit of King Mohamed VI and his family to the Cuban capital where they booked the entire 96-room Saratoga Hotel in Old Havana. The Moroccan monarch’s agenda was not public and the Cuban state media did not broadcast it.

Participating for Cuba was Anayansi Rodríguez Camejo and for Morocco side Omar Hilale, both ambassadors of their respective countries to the United Nations.

“Both governments proceeded to re-establish these relations guided by the mutual will to develop friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries in the political, economic, cultural and other fields,” said the Cuban government’s Prensa Latina news agency.

In April 1980, Morocco broke diplomatic relations with Cuba after Fidel Castro’s official recognition of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR).

Now, after the diplomatic reestablishment with Morocco, only Israel, South Korea and Somalia remain the only countries that do not maintain ties with Havana.