Namibia remains steadfast in its calls for the US to lift the six decades economic blockade on Cuba.

President Hage Geingob reiterated the country's position during a farewell courtesy visit by Cuba's outgoing Head of Mission at the State House.

The more than 60-year-old blockade prevents US businesses from conducting trade with companies with Cuban interests, which is enforced through a number of US laws.

President Geingob has been consistent in arguing that the impact of the sanctions disadvantages ordinary citizens and is not in line with rule-based international order.

The years of bilateral ties between Namibia and Cuba have seen the two cooperating in the health, construction and education sectors.

This includes the dispatching of doctors and other professionals by Cuba to Namibia, while a number of Namibians study medicine at the island nation's prestigious institutions of higher learning,

The outgoing Head of Mission says despite the US blockade constraining Cuba's economic growth, it will continue to assist its allies.

Namibians, President Geingob says, will forever be indebted to Cuba, especially for the decisive battle of Cuito Cuanavale, where Cuban forces assisted Swapo's PLAN fighters and the Angolan army to defeat the apartheid South African forces.

The battle was a turning point in the liberation struggle.
Ambassador Sidenio Acosta Aday heads back to the Cuban capital Havana tomorrow.