Argentinean President Cristina Fernández Arrives in Cuba. (Picture: cubadebate.cu)

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President of Argentina, arrived in Havana on Saturday on an official visit to attend on Sunday morning the Mass that Pope Francis will officiate at the José Martí Revolution Square.

Being here is like being at home, asserted the head of state when she stepped on Cuban soil, where she was received shortly after 9:00 a.m. by Deputy Foreign Minister Rogelio Sierra, ACN reported on September 19.

It is a great honor for us to be here in this land, which has been an example of heroism, courage and convictions, and even more so for being invited to participate in a historic event like the one we will experience tomorrow, when at Revolution Square the Pope says Mass for everyone, not only for Cubans, but for the world, she stressed.

Fernández de Kirchner, who traveled with a small delegation to the Caribbean nation, plans to be received by Army General Raúl Castro, president of the councils of State and Ministers, and carry out other activities.

To a question by the press the president said that Argentina will always remain close to Cuba until the U.S. blockade against the island is lifted: “It is a policy of our country,” she pointed out.

This will be the seventh occasion that the Argentinean President meets with Pope Francis since the beginning of the pontificate of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, since she previously shared four private audiences and two meetings on the occasion of the tours of Latin America of the Bishop of Rome.
It will be, in turn, the fourth trip of the head of state to Cuba since she assumed power.