- It has been a long time since you came to Mongolia. Let’s start by talking about your first impressions here and how you adapted things now.
- Thank very much to GOGO for this opportunity to reach your readers. The landscape of your  steppes and the national parks are impressive. However, the most impressive thing about Mongolia is its rich history, its culture and its friendly, cheerful and cooperative people.

The preservation and promotion of culture is commendable, from songs to traditional music with the Morin Khuur Ensemble, classical music with the Philharmonic Orchestra, jazz with the Bayangmongol Big Band and contemporary music with other prominent groups. Dance with its colorful traditional dresses and theater also stand out. A milestone in the conservation of history was the opening of the Chinggis Khaan National Museum. In summary, it is a country with a cold climate, but with warm people and that is why is easy to adapt.

- What do you do in your free time here?
- There is not much free time here. Mongolia is a place with numerous active foreign and national diplomatic events, despite having a small diplomatic community. Important tourism, mining and food events and fairs, Art Week, the Economic Forum and the “Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asian Security” are held annually. We use the little free time we have to go to theaters, visit places of interest, share good times with friends, read and rest.

- Tell us about our two countries’ diplomatic relations history and highlight events. I heard Mongolia has established diplomatic relations with Cuba for the first time among Latin American countries.
- Although we are geographically far away, the heart and mind between our two peoples are close and have always be together in good and difficult times. Our historical bilateral relations have withstood the tests of time, of changes here and there and in the world.

Cuba is honored to be the first country in the Americas to establish diplomatic relations with Mongolia on December 7, 1960 and both countries opened their Embassies in Ulaanbaatar and Havana cities in 1962. Cuba is also honored to have today one of the twenty-six Embassies of countries residing in the Mongolian capital - the only one from our region here – and to host in Havana the only Mongolian Embassy in Latin America and the Caribbean. That is proof of the importance that both countries attach to our bilateral relations.

More than six decades of bilateral ties have been characterized by high level visits that is not possible to mention all in a short time, mutual respect, consultation and support in international organizations especially in important elections, as well as agreement in the defense of peace, nuclear free zones, multilateralism and the principles of International Law.

Cuban Government and people also highly appreciate that Mongolia also has traditionally supported the United Nations General Assembly resolution that condemns the economic, commercial and financial unilateral blockade of the United States against Cuba, that violates International Law, Free Trade Multilateral Rules, the rights of our people to peace, development and to have an adequate standard of living.  

To mentioned some high level visits, the then Second Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, Army General Mr. Raul Castro Ruz visited Mongolia in April 1970.

More recently the then Mongolian President, Mr. Ts.Elbegdorj, paid an official visit to Cuba on September 15-18, 2016 and in September  2023, we were honored with the visit of President, Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, to our country to attend the G77 + China Summit on Science, Technology and Innovation.  In the occasion president Khurelsukh held friendly meetings with the Cuban president, Mr. Miguel Diaz-Canel and the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Army General Mr. Raul Castro Ruz.  That last visit and high-level meetings are indications of both countries will for advancing long-standing relations and bilateral cooperation to a new level and strengthening and developing it in the future.

As for the immediate future, Cuba will attend the forthcoming World Women’s Forum: Towards Green Future that will take place in Ulaanbaatar, on 22-23 August 2024.

-What is the average amount of trade profits and the main products of the two countries?
- Bilateral trade between our two countries is limited. There is a potential complementarity on trade and investment between strong sectors in Mongolia´s economy like cattle, agriculture, and food processing, that are weak in Cuba. Geographic is not an impediment since China, Mongolia's neighbor, is one of Cuba's main trading partners.   

Mongolian businesses are importing Habanos cigars, Cuban Rum, cigarettes and some medicinal products, like Vidatox for cancer patients and HEBERPROT-P, a biopharmaceutical, the only one of its kind in the world, registered in more than 25 countries, for the treatment of patients with diabetic foot ulcers in advanced stages, that reduces the amputation rate to less than 5 %.  

On trade in services last year close to 235 Mongolians travelled to Cuba as tourists. There is a potential to grow and cooperate in this sector.  The excellence of Cuba´s virgin beaches, beautiful seabeds varied flora and fauna, 9 World Heritage Sites and          6 Biosphere Reserve Areas, make it a perfect place for sun and beach, eco and cultural tourism and nautical and nature activities.  That is why at the World Travel Awards, considered the Oscars of international tourism, Cuba was recognized as a Leading Cultural Destination in the Caribbean from 2021 to 2023 and in the Travellers' Choice Best of the Best 2023 selection - from the prestigious travel website Tripadvisor - Cuba occupied sixth position among the “Best Cultural Sites in the World”, and number 15 among the “Best Culinary Destinations”, as well as the first “Fashion Destination” internationally. Among beaches, Varadero was selected among the 10 best in the world.

To explore further and new opportunities of bilateral trade and investments, I suggest to Mongolian business sector to attend the most important trade fair in Cuba and in the Caribbean: the XXXX Havana International Fair (FIHAV 2024) that will take place on next November 5 to 9, 2024. In 2023 FIHAV was attended by more than 800 firms from 60 countries, including China, Russia, Viet Nam, South Korea, Japan, etc and  and 150 commercial and legal instruments were signed, including 24 export contracts, 10 import contracts and 82 cooperation agreements and letters of intent.

There are many opportunities on trade and investment in Cuba. All sectors of the Cuban economy are open to Foreign Investment with exclusions of health, and education and Armed Forces, except for their businesses, in minority or majority joint ventures (JVs) with public enterprises, cooperatives and private MSMEs, International Economic Association Contracts for production or management of facilities or 100 % foreign-owned.

There is an unsatisfied demand for food and the food imports reach 2,000-2,500 million USD per year, while there are Idle or underutilized lands in Cuba. There are also idle or underutilized industrial facilities that many of them do not require large investments, but few tens of thousands of USD, hundreds of thousands, 1 million or few millions. Besides, there is also a potential market in the 13 Caribbean countries with 44 million consumers.

There are 334 foreign investment businesses in operation in Cuba. In addition, there are 172 international economic partnership contracts.  There are many Transnational Corporations investing in Cuba such as Sherrit International (Canada), Trafigura,  Castrol, Lavazza, Pernod Ricard, British American Tobacco, Unilever Plc. Nestlé, Altadis, Melbana Energy and Antilles Gold Limited’s (Australia) and Viglacera  Corporation and Binh Global Trading Corp (Vietnam) plus more than 15 International Hotel Chains.

The Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM) offers additional incentives to invest like 0 % corporate tax during the first 10 years, exemption of the tax on the use of labor force contribution to local development, 0 % custom duties on imports of means and equipment for the investment process and fast approval regime. Opened in 2013, ZEDM has 64 companies with an investment of 3.3 billion USD.

In mining, for example, Cuba offers Investment opportunities in 53 projects.  There are more than 9 000 deposits of metallic ores: iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn), gold (Au), silver (Ag), manganese (Mn), tungsten (W) and chromium (Cr) and industrial rocks and minerals, that large part can be mined in the open pit (low cost Vs underground mines).   

- Cuba’s ability to train medicine, especially dentists, is high. What is the reason for this?
- This question is impossible to answer it briefly.  There are numerous unique and unrepeatable reasons why medical science studies in Cuba are among the best in the world.

First, Cuba has some 295 years of tradition of medical education and in 2024 the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) of Cuba and its study program were internationally accredited for 6 years by the International Evaluation and Accreditation Committee (CEAI) of the Union of Universities of Latin America and the Caribbean (UDUALC).

Second, the Cuban health system is based first of all on prevention, on knowing and addressing the family and social and work environment causes of diseases. It is always better to prevent diseases than to cure the sick.

Third, because medical studies in Cuba are based on the idea of ​​our National Hero, José Martí, to combine theory with practice and from the first years of study, students are in direct contact with patients, advised by professors.

Fourth, medical students in Cuba have comprehensive academic and practical training. During their general studies they rotate through the main medical specialties: internal medicine, pediatrics, gynecology and surgery. A general doctor graduated in Cuba, has seen or has done births, cesarean, common and emergency surgeries, such as hernias and appendicitis, has sutured wounds, etc.

Fifth, since on May 23, 1963, Cuba sent the first international medical brigade to Algeria, until now more than 600 000 Cuban health staff have worked in 165 Nations, have performed more than 16 million surgeries and more than 5 million births. Today 22,861 Cuban health workers, of them 9,049 doctors, provide services in 54 countries. That is the reason why medicine professors in Cuba have worked in several countries and have the unique experience of knowing numerous diseases that are only seen in books.

Sixth, our medical care and teaching system is integrated with the research carried out in all health centers and draws not only on international experts to train personnel when necessary, but also on nearly 20 Specialized Institutes and Research Centers on cancer, cardiovascular, neurological, renal, endocrine, tropical, emerging or exotic diseases, etc.

Seventh, the training of doctors places emphasis on clinical diagnosis. Therefore, doctors are capable to diagnose diseases based on clinical exams and not only on medical equipment.

- And how can we cooperate in the field of biotechnology?
- Cuba has a world competitive biotechnology for human health, agriculture and cattle with 2640 patents registered in Cuba and abroad, more than 10 joint ventures in China, Spain, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam and with US and exports to more than 50 countries.  Mongolia use in agriculture imported expensive chemicals harmful to the environment, but Cuba developed biofertilizers, biopesticides, biostimulants, etc, cheaper and, non-polluting to replace 50-60 % of chemicals.  Your import them or produce here with Cuban technology in joint ventures, license or transfer of technology, etc.

Your country have a great infestation of rats that affect pastures and livestock feeding but Cuba developed an effective biological rodenticide, the only one of its kind in the World. Cuba also produce biopharmaceuticals for some common human diseases in Mongolia like liver cancer / hepatitis B, lung cancer, meningococcal, meningitis, pneumococcal, leptospirosis, burns and  Haemophilus  influenzae type b (Hib),

Ticks is also a problem in Mongolian livestock. Cuba developed GAVAC, the only world commercial biovaccine against  ticks of the genus Rhipicephalus (boophilus), but we need to find a Mongolian company to finance trials to know if  GAVAC is effective in tick species here.

Here there are milk losses in summer due to distance and high temperatures. Cuban Stabilak product for the conservation of raw milk without refrigeration delays acidification up to 24 hours and more at temperatures up to + 34 0C.

- The number of Mongolian students studying in Cuba has been increased. Is there any other plan to do in the education cooperation furthermore? /How many Mongolian students are currently studying/
- Yes, the number Cuban free scholarships for Mongolian students, as part of  our South-South Cooperation Program, has been increased modestly to 5 per year, starting this year, 4 of them to study medicine.

The Cuban Government began granting scholarships to Mongolian students in 1963. More than 130 Mongolian professionals have graduated in Cuba so far. Now there will be between 15 to 20 Mongolian students in Cuba with those traveling this summer there.  Many of the students graduated in medical science, becoming leading physicians and dentists here.

There are opportunities for Mongolian students with the capacity to self-finance their studies to study in Cuba and also the possibility to enter in a bilateral agreement to send additional students financed by the Mongolian Programs of financing the best students of the country to study in foreign universities.

- In 2023, during the meeting with our President, the President of the Republic of Cuba announced that he would visit Mongolia in 2024. Will President Miguel Díaz-Canel visit Mongolia this year?
- Officials of both countries are talking through diplomatic channels to fix mutually convenient dates for that very important visit that will be announced once finally agreed.

- What state development program does Cuba follow?
- For some years now, Cuba has been immersed in a complex process of updating the Cuban Economic and Social Model of Socialist Development to continuously adapt to new international circumstances and advance with a vision of the future to achieve a prosperous and sustainable socialism and the continuity and irreversibility of our Revolution. Cuba's development program has, among other principles, to continue having the human being as the main objective and leading subject, their dignity, equality and full freedom, the State as rector of economic and social development, the socialist ownership of all the people over the fundamental means of production as the main form of property of the socioeconomic system, the planning as a fundamental component of the management system of economic and social development, combining its centralized character with decentralization to achieve the sustainable development.

- The world knows Cuba and the United States have an unfriendly relationship. Historically what is the root cause of this and how does Cuba make solutions for this?
- The historic roots of the US-Cuba dispute are more than 200 years old and lay in the intentions and successive attempts by the US governments to control the destiny of Cuba. In 1805, Thomas Jefferson, the US third President, called for an “easy conquest” of Cuba.  In 1823, John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State, developed the famous “ripe fruit” theory which suggested that the island could “gravitate only towards the North American Union” and in 1823 Jefferson also considered “Cuba as the most interesting addition which could ever be made to our system of States”.

After the 1959 Cuban Revolution the political conflict has further deteriorated. In April 1960, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, Lester Mallory, wrote a Memo " that admitted that the "majority of Cubans support Castro" and that there "is no effective political opposition” and suggested that the U.S. Government, “should make the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.”

That is the real purpose of the establishment in 1962 of the US economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba that remains in place for 62 years, until today, despite the fact that for 31 years the UN General Assembly  has adopted by overwhelming majority a resolution requesting to end the blockade. At current prices, the accumulated losses of application of  the blockade amount to USD 159,084,300,000 and In only one year from March 1, 2022 to February 28, 2023, the blockade caused losses estimated at USD 4,867 million, on average, exceeding USD 405 million per month, USD 13 million per day and USD 555,000 for every hour of the blockade.

As Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, leader of the Revolution, said in his speech on the occasion of the 65th Anniversary of the triumph of the Revolution, last January 1st “The policy of permanent hostility and blockade of the United States Government is the main cause of the difficulties of our economy.”(…) and “The above does not mean in any way that we are unaware of our deficiencies and errors,..”

The problem is, as the Cuban President said in December 2023, that “It does not seem that the hostility of the neighboring empire will change in 2024. (…)”  as “… the Government of the United States continues to be burdened by the lack of political will to move towards a relationship with Cuba that is respectful and in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations. and International Law.)…”

Cuba did not established any unilateral coercive measure of any type against the United States.  The US blockade was established unilaterally and has to be removed unilaterally and unconditionally by the US Government without asking anything in return.

Despite political differences, Cuba has always been willing to dialogue with the United States on any issue and to maintain respectful and civilized relations, unconditionally, under conditions of equality and respect for the principles of International Law of non-interference in internal affairs, sovereignty and independence of our country and the right to self-determination of our people, as we do with other governments in the world. However, Cuba does not have the ability to force the United States Government to change its position.