RAMALLAH, November 26, 2016 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas Saturday sent Cuban President Raoul Castro his condolences for the death of Fidel Castro describing the late Cuban leader as a person “who spent his life fighting for the causes of his country and people and the causes of right and justice in the world.”

Abbas described the Cuban people as “friends” of the Palestinian people.

Cuba was the only Latin American country that voted against the United Nations partition of Palestine resolution in 1947. It was a strong supporter of the Palestinian struggle for independence from Israel and for its revolution.

Fidel Castro announced severance of ties with Israel on September 9, 1973 during the fourth Non-Aligned Movement summit held in Algiers and recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization.

M.K.