Activities held abroad to mark President Ho Chi Minh’s 132nd birthday

In Argentina, the Vietnamese Embassy and the Argentina - Vietnam Culture Institute (ICAV) held a celebration at the Ho Chi Minh Monument in a park named the “Socialist Republic of Vietnam” in Buenos Aires.

Highlighting milestones in Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary career, Ambassador Duong Quoc Thanh said Ho Chi Minh was a preeminent leader of the national liberation movement, an exemplary communist, and a close friend of the peoples fighting for peace, independence, democracy, and social progress around the world. He was a great source of support for the struggle for national liberation in colonies in the 20th century.

ICAV President Poldi Sosa praised the late leader’s enormous contributions to Vietnam, describing Ho Chi Minh as a brilliant example of patriotism and a huge driver for the fights by the oppressed in the world.

She also expressed her hope that his life and career, as well as the history of Vietnam will be further introduced to Argentinian people, especially the young, so as to help enhance the two countries’ friendship.

At the event, participants laid wreaths in commemoration of Ho Chi Minh. A documentary on his life and career and some video clips about Vietnam were also screened.

In Saint Petersburg city of Russia, representatives of the Vietnamese Embassy and people paid tribute to Ho Chi Minh at the site where a statue of the late President will be installed in a square in Vyborgsky district. The Ho Chi Minh Institute under the Faculty of Oriental Studies at the Saint Petersburg State University also laid flowers in commemoration of the late Vietnamese leader at his monument in the school campus.

The same day, the city’s Committee for External Relations held a seminar on Ho Chi Minh with the participation of local officials, representatives of the Vietnamese Embassy and the Vietnamese People’s Association in Russia, experts in Oriental studies, former Soviet Union who used to work in Vietnam, along with Vietnamese and Russian students.

The committee and the management board of the Pavlovsk fortress relic site also organised ceremonial cannon firing to celebrate Ho Chi Minh’s birthday, which was also part of the Vietnam Days in Saint Petersburg from May 13 to 20. From May 17 to 20, the local administration decorated the Palace Bridge on the Neva River with red and yellow lighting representing the colours of Vietnam’s national flag.

Also on May 19, the Vietnamese Embassy in Algeria laid flowers to pay tribute to the President on Ho Chi Minh Avenue in Algiers, and the Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore paid floral tribute at the Ho Chi Minh monument in the Asian Civilisations Museum.