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Zambia expels Cuban Ambassador for attending and addressing an Opposition Party meeting

By Chief Editor
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Cuban Ambassador to Zambia, Nelson Pages Vilas, at the launch of Fred M'membe party
Cuban Ambassador to Zambia, Nelson Pages Vilas, at the launch of Fred M'membe party

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Cuban Ambassador to Zambia, Nelson Pages Vilas, at the launch of Fred M'membe party
Cuban Ambassador to Zambia, Nelson Pages Vilas, at the launch of Fred M’membe party

President Edgar Lungu has expelled the Cuban Ambassador accredited to Zambia.

On Saturday Cuban Ambassador to Zambia Nelson Pages Vilas, graced the launch of the Socialist Party in Zambia.

In what he described as a Revolutionary greetings, the Ambassador said his government was wishing the Socialist Party in Zambia all the best.

But President Lungu said Ambassador Pages-Vilas has breached diplomatic ethics, practice and standards by his action.

President Lungu was speaking through his Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations, Amos Chanda when he addressed the media at Taj Pamodzi Hotel

Chief Editor
Chief Editorhttp://www.lusakatimes.com

98 COMMENTS

    • Ifya bupuba what’s wrong with attending an opposition political gathering? What if it was a PF gathering?

    • This is a very good move. Leave politics to the Zambians. Cubans outa bebele! Cuba can also deport ours no problem. I do not like this guy MMembe

    • These are tendencies of Dictators, ie like the Rwandan President.

      When something brews near the Opposition, the book is thrown at them through hook and crook.

      I dont like this

      Thanks

      BB2014,2016

    • State House shaken up….. serious politics now. You are used to Tayali.
      Such important mistake and let Amos Chanda face the revolution?
      why not Minister of Foreign Affairs?

    • RECIPROCAL REPRESENTATION. A ZAMBIAN AMBASSADOR ACCREDITED TO CUBA CANNOT GO AND GRACE THE LAUCH OF A DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN CUBA. NIMALOZA.
      =============================
      Take home aka lesson number 1. Fair enough.

      “He breached diplomatic ethics, practice and standards by his action.”

      We got that. Who doesn’t get this? Get me on 090 000 000, I will explain in layman’s language.

      1

    • Meanwhile State House staff make contributions at PF Fundraising events….this Lazy Lungu for you he will drag his feet on corruption but matters like this he is very quick to act!!

    • Aren’t the opposition part of the nation? Aren’t they citizens? Isn’t lungu president of both PF and the opposition? Should the opposition have their own diplomats?

    • Hey, double Jay, this is not ZWD where no and low brainers debate with incompetence and heavy hearts. This is LT, Zambia’ s number one popular blog spot. @1.6 I can’t understand your shallow rants. If you are convinced ECL is corrupt, report it to ACC. CK has just been slapped with 39 counts aka charges. Help us nail ECL for your allegations now. Don’t just rant like a empty tin. It dangerous for your health.

    • @1.2 It’s against diplomatic etiquette to support the opposition. Be it in UK or Russia, China etc it’s never allowed.

    • The problem I have seen is the people from the under 5 grouping like debating with bitterness and emotion. This bitterness has overtaken their brains. An ambassondor in whatever Country be Zambia, UK is not supposed to take part in internal politics whether we like Lungu and worship HH, this ambassondor bleached to guidelines. On top of that Cuba is a Communist Country and what was being launched was a Communist Part. One does need to be inteligent to under stand the extent of that bleach

    • MMEMBE HAS ALWAYS BEEN A CUBAN STOOGE ALL THESE YEARS PRAISING CASTRO AND THE NONSENSE FROM THE COMMUNIST DICTATOR.
      GOOD RIDDANCE ECL!!!

    • ANY GOVERNMENT COULD HAVE EXPELLED THE ERRING AMBASSADOR. INCLUDING THE ONES IN OPPOSITION IF THEY WERE IN POWER.

  3. In fact Cuban Embassy must be closed! I have always had the thought that Mmembe is a very dull person who thinks he’s cleverer than every other human being, my thoughts are proving to be true! What he was doing as a journalist can not be done now! Doing wrong things under the guise press of freedom! If Mmembe was president of Cuba today, would he allow the Zambian ambassador to address opposition? And anyway, there’s no opposition in Cuba, hence the backwardness of the country! We don’t want Zambia to go backward because of socialist dictatorship! Mmembe waloba ilya uma!

    • You have no idea what you are talking about…you seem not to understand Cuban assistance to the African liberation struggle …only lost corrupt entities like Lazy Lungu can not understand such!!

    • One careless ambassador cannot and should not make you lament. Ambassadors are replaceable for crying out loud. What happened to political nose pockerand internal matters meddler ambassador Schulz. Painlessly replaced whether by change of GOVERNMENT in the U.S. or not. Cube needs credible representation period.

    • @ I Source… – Dont mind this brainwashed toddler, he is ignorantly calling Cuba backward forgetting that it has the lowest literacy levels, best health service fully staffed with the best medical personnel in the world.

    • Cuba brought confusion in Angola which prompted KK a devout socialist to condemn cuba…” we let the tigers through the front door only to allow wolves through the back door. It’s a wrong move by the Cuban ambassador.

    • Cuba saved Angola! The Boers were about to have their second colony in Africa after Namibia but at the battle of Cueto Cuenavale theCubans had the Boers retreating to Johannesburg. Had the Boers taken over Angola Zambia would have been in their sights and the world would still be debating apartheid in the UN general assembly

  5. Truly an incompetent move by an incompetent leader…..whst chance did the socialist party stand ? Now they have publicity…..instead Zambia has much to gain from Cuba in the medical and education sectors ….instead of acting like an insecure thug , lungu should have squeezed concessions out of Cuba for this breach…..

    • The president of cuba will understand. He didn’t send his ambassador to come and meddle in our political affairs but to seek opportunities for cuba, share their culture and facilitate for the Cuban citizens inside and outside our land. Don’t missinform the weak on this podium. Diplomacy has ethical connotation attached to it. Read. They will send a more experienced ambassador and keep sending those medical and education handouts you are currently sobing for.

  6. I watched M’membe’s inaugural speech and was quite disappointed. I looked forward to a brilliant strong articulation of issues addressing the current Zambian context. Alas it was a historical elite presentation mainly focused on ideology which a villager in nabwalya cannot comprehend. He needed to focus more on giving practical examples of socialist solutions that will take Zambia forward. It was more of saying capitalism has failed lets try socialism which is an elite argument not fit for common man. He is very brilliant behind editorials and I doubt he wrote them himself. I hope he can make up for that poor show and directly attack his opponent who is Lungu and not the historical Cecil Rhodes. As for the Cuban Ambassador, good luck, you need to read the environment before making moves…

    • Yea! Being smart in universities and collges can not make you a good or better content deliverer or lecture when all is said and done. You spend more time editing than delivering a realtime speech. Nikulimba basa. Life and living.

    • Badi.. very good analytical comment . If we can all contribute from a well informed angle, we will help each other in understanding..very good observation

  7. At this point I cannot even term the so called Socialist Party an opposition party. Socialism is an ideology and so what the Ambassador went to do is to express solidarity with the ideology.

  8. Can these so called Ambassadors or High Commissioners accredited to Zambia do these s1lly things in orher countries? In fact we expect all those countries they represented in Zambia to publicly apologise to HE President Lungu for this unbecoming behavior. Further, our journalists in Zambia must rise above the cause of duty and them too investigate further the involvement of Cambridge Analytica in manipulating and influencing the vote patterns in favour of UPND in 2016. These are serious matters and big stories that may not only earn our journalists global respect but also expose this tyranny called HH in UPND. Honestly, like someone said, could this be reason HH claimed he had won the 2016 general elections even before we went to the polls? Let’s be serious as Zambians and safeguard our…

  9. It’s like when lungu issued an arrest warrant for membe and next membe appeared next to the British high commissioner who stated he was having tea with the inflalable membe , forcing kapoyongo to swallow his arrest warrant…then lungu expelling the HC….??

  10. HH is a dangerous man and must not be treated kindly or lightly. Am very certain that this guy has auctioned our country to selfish and crooks in the name for just wanting to be in power, and of course NOT for the poor masses but to enrich himself and his associates. Just study the unfolding events, so PF must woke up and NOW.

    • Who has sold Zambia to the chinese ? Even your broadcaster is has been sold, lungu even wanted to bring Chinese police to be arresting Zambians…….

  11. Here we go again, the Paranoid Freaks Party at it again…so scared of everything…what’s wrong with attending someone’s opening speech ceremony.

    • Foreign diplomats accredited to zambia swear before the head of state to uphold and respect the diplomatic relationships and the govt of the day. Going against these credentials undermines the relationship. As under5s you cant understand these issues because they are at a higher level.

  13. Some Zambians are so dull. No where in the world will a a foreigner ambasaddor give speeches at party political rallies. But some Zambians think it is cool. Poverty can be problem – anything light skinned and foreign is right. People of Zambia grow wise.

    • They need to wise up indeed. All other nationals would support their president 100% on this. The Cuban ambassador is the extended arm of the Cuban president and I cannot imagine that Raul Castro authorized this audience. Like all human beings, even diplomats make mistakes and they are disciplined accordingly.

  14. We must value our sovereignty as a nation and put politics aside when it comes to such issues aside. If the Zambian Envoy in Cuba attended a meeting of the launch of an opposition party supporting capitalism will he be applauded by the Cuban government and its citizens? I doubt it!

  15. Some of these are better handled through the same diplomacy these diplomats have come to implement! EXPULSION IS TOO SEVERE,without first calling the Embassodor to WARN and ADVISE on possible actions to be taken that can include PROTESTING TO CONCERNED COUNTRY,requesting them to recall their Embassador. EXPEL IS NO GOOD,CUBA has been Zambia’s FRIEND so we need to handle some of the issues INTELLIGENTLY!! Why use a hammer to kill a fly??Even in employment NOT ALL OFFENCES ARE DISMISSABLE!

    • Don’t worry your bitter and dullo selves. Some mistakes require no review or disciplinary tabling. It was a grave mistake. The ambassador was so dullo to have figured it out that he was being used by one sociolist M’membe that his country was being put to shame. Communication channels on Government level you are not privy to have already taken care of this even before this public announcement was made. Again you emotional under5s cannot understand these things.

    • Hehehe ……so because of alleged Russian poisoning you want to compare that the the launch of nothing but a nostegia related movement ???

      Cuba has been a all weather friend of Zambia through thick and thin….is now PF and lungu realigning them selves into the anti Russian mood sweeping the west ???

      Hehehe

    • Hehehe hehehe these people cracks my ribs comparing Russia-UK/the West issue of alleged poisoning to political miscalculation at Lusaka… hehehe… Some bloggers must have attended school of owls

    • I thought some Ambassadors even British high comm met Sata when he formed PF. They may not have addressed the PF that time but surely nobody saw anything wrong with them meeting the opposition party leader. The viciousness of some of the current PF actions is what makes a difference here. There are diplomatic channels that yield even better results without raffling any feathers. We’d just be told Cuba has recalled their ambassador.

  16. The desperation being exhibited by UPND and HH in particular must start worrying everyone in our country. The man is on a destructive mission and the sooner he is made to account for his actions the better and safer for our country and future generations.
    Reminder of some very serious behaviors:
    1. Mongu saga
    2. No recognition and respect of an eligible President
    3. Impeachment motion on flimsy and unfounded allegations
    4.Brought divisions in our country, now Tongas are the most disadvantaged guys in Zambia all because of HH
    5. Held his supporters under seize! From 2006 til 2018, 12 years down the line no democracy in UPND, something that has brought misery and frustration amongst their members to extent of being enslaved
    6. HH lied to the Zambias about load shedding in 2016,…

    • The thief’s mission.
      1. Destroy
      2. Steal
      3. Kill.
      Those with ears, let them hear. I rest my case.

  17. Ime ba dull upnd , attendind and addressing are two different things , the man addressed the gathering were on earth , I just wonder how upnd God forbid if had to lure how they will govern if you can support this nonsense and hh must be investigated in Cambridge scandals this guys does not mean well for zambia that’s God has not allowed him to win for five time and he will never as long he has evil intentions

  18. Zambia doesn’t even have any muscle political or otherwise. Lungu just picked a soft target. Let him expel a British ambassador and see if he can risk loss of all the aid

    • The British ambassador cannot be that careless to do such a silly thing. Lungu has the muscle, he’s president so save your fantasies.

    • This is what I am telling these rats….this is not out of principle but knee jurke insecurities…..when they issued an arrest warrant for membe, the British ambassador appeared with membe and told them flatly he was having tea with membe……kapoyongo promptly swallowed his arrest warrant..

    • No amount of ambassador from every whichway can survive this. Read the commonwealth charter and you will be schooled on issues of sovereignty. Extremely dull and ignorant comment. Don’t lie. High commissioners and ambassadors are naturally highly read and schooled individuals on diplomacy. This particular one must have been misled. Like Zambia, CUBA has a lot of diplomat job seekers. They soon send one for us.

    • Ndanje I was with the British ambassador at the hour has come rally at pope square. The us ambassador was at PF rallies when MMD was in power so get your self zipped

  20. There’s this silly guy on the blog who pretends to be very knowledgeable but his comments on this issue shows he’s an embec1le.

    • BR Mumba is more reasonable than you. Fact that he doesn’t share your lost ideals doesn’t make him my subject. You’ll support anything as long as it’s antigoverment no matter what. Your thirst for state house will swallow you and your HH.

    • You are right , I don’t support anything from these theives with their insecurities and oppression …..

  21. The problem I have seen is the people from the under 5 grouping like debating with bitterness and emotion. This bitterness has overtaken their brains. An ambassondor in whatever Country be Zambia, UK is not supposed to take part in internal politics whether we like Lungu and worship HH, this ambassondor bleached to guidelines. On top of that Cuba is a Communist Country and what was being launched was a Communist Part. One does need to be inteligent to under stand the extent of that bleach.

  22. Another political miscalculation. ambassadors can attend political fora: USA ambassador (Mark Storrela) in 2011 attended and spoke at Sata/PF conference in Kabwe. It is hard to describe this clearly strained decision.

    • Looks like the dull pf and lungu want to look relevant to the west and their current anti Russian frenzy with Russians being expelled by the west….

  24. Dont register ka Fred Membe´s socialist party until he pays back the money he borrowed from Zambia Airways

  27. Upnd have the worst thirst for power. If DRC decided to raid Zambia they would support it. Sometimes we should distinguish cheap politics from patriotism. Be careful of what you say or do.

  28. Wow ,that was fast very fast . This Cuban guy had just presented his ambassadorial paperwork to ECL within a week to his expulsion from Zambia.

  30. Playback 2011 (last paragraph of the Muvi story)

    Meanwhile, journalists from the public media have been barred from covering the convention.

    And Mr Sata has accused government of misusing the public media.

    He has told the PF convention that public media has lost its vision of informing, educating and entertaining.

    Meanwhile, first republican president, Kenneth Kaunda was among several dignitaries, who attended the official opening of the PF convention.

    *Others were the ambassadors from Britain and the United States of America./Muvi TV*

  31. Part of VJ comment on Expulsion of the Cuban Ambassador: Just in case memories have conveniently faded, in 2011 when PF held its Convention at Mulungushi Rock, they formally invited the then American Ambassador to Zambia, Mark Storella to attend, accompanied by a political affairs officer from the US embassy and while there, he announced that the United States of America, supports democratic developments, when ever they occur. I was then a member of the MMD government of then President Rupiah Banda and no issue was made of Ambassador Storella’s attendance or remarks he made there. This decision to expel the Cuban Ambassador is extreme and uncalled for. At the most, he should have been summoned to the Foreign Ministry and given a demarche. It does not augur well for our relations with…

  32. Ambassadors are the extended hands of their governments. They do not do anything out of their own volitions. Ni nchito iyo! Your deeds are being heard around the world! It’s Cuba today, tomorrow?

  33. Out of 27 texts one upnd boy has posted 8 why? Its because you know your contributions lucky merit that’s why u want to respond to any other who post against what upnd believe in , a wrong will never be light , Zambian politics is for Zambia’s period just ask you small god kainde to give u ka spokesman for u to speak more

  35. How is attending a political party launch rally equivalent to interference in the internal politics of a country? This is another dumb decision by these insecure PF thieves. Just because diplomats expulsions is being done by the West and the Russians, doesn’t mean you have the ticket to copy and act irrationally and illegally. The nerve agent issue the UK is fighting about is bigger an issue that Zambia wouldn’t be able to comprehend. It’s not a ‘monkey chicken cow dung’ that you think you could easily use to get rid of perceived enemies. And even those world giants are not expelling actual ambassadors but the rank and file staff who don’t mean much.

    PF itself mingles with diplomats so why the double standard? It’s not like he said his Cuba govt would fund Fred Mmembe for the…

  36. PF itself mingles with diplomats so why the double standard? It’s not like he said his Cuba govt would fund Fred Mmembe for the purpose of unseating the PF govt. This is really dumb overreaction decision.

    Cuba helps our people with free specialist medical doctors and scholarships. This dumb childish decision will jeopardise that relationship.

  37. General diplomatic etiquette does not favor diplomats attending political party events. It is a thin line which can easily be misconstrued.They can host political parties. It is ok for Diplomats to attend and speak at Political Rally BUT the hosting government has to be aware of such attendance especially if one intends to speak. Mark Stollela was a seasoned diplomat even his speech was not supporting PF in any way. I don’t know the Cuban one and what he said about Socialism or The Socialist Party.

  38. What short memories some Zambians seem to have! The following Western ambassadors attended the PF General Conference in July, 2011 in Kabwe WHEN PF WAS IN OPPOSITION: US Ambassador to Zambia Mark Storella, British High Commissioner to Zambia Carolyn Davidson and Germany Embassy Counselor, deputy head of mission Astrid IIper. MMD never expelled these ambassadors. PF leaders must be living in great fear, including fear of their own shadows!

  39. Love your neighbor as you love your self: Mark 12: 30-31 Banono abakwata ukutemwa uko ba YESU batulangile: A lot proclaim to be Christians especially those with high positions but far away from the Kingdom of God: Very sad Story during this Easter when Jesus died for our sins. Blessed are the peace Makers for they shall be called the sons of GOD: Matthews 5 v 9. Seek first the Kingdom of GOD and every thing shall be added to you. Matthews 6: 33. Ala mwilalwila icalo cikashala one day because Jesus is coming soon the owner of the Heavens and Earth.

    1

  40. The ambassador has accepted his failure to discern right from wrong. The president is right as much as I understand it was a painful move to do.

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