As part of the 2024 People-to-People Diplomacy Program, a Hanoi delegation led by Chairwoman of the Hanoi Vietnam Fatherland Front Nguyen Lan Huong visited Lapa District, Rio de Janeiro, from October 25 to November 2, 2024.
The delegation visited Lapa District, where President Ho Chi Minh once lived and worked for six months in 1912.
Lapa was the place where President Ho Chi Minh worked in 1912, immersing himself in the lives and struggles of Brazilian workers and seafarers. At 22 years old, during his journey to find a path for national liberation, Nguyen Tat Thanh (introduced to the world as Ho Chi Minh in 1945) arrived in Rio de Janeiro aboard an international ship, spending six months living and working among Brazilian laborers.
Vietnamese Ambassador to Brazil Bui Van Nghi, said that the Rio de Janeiro city administration intends to commemorate President Ho Chi Minh's journey with a memorial in the famous Lapa Square (Arcos da Lapa) and to designate a street as "Vietnam Road."
During the visit, the delegation met with Nguyen Van Nghia's family, Vietnamese expatriates residing in Rio de Janeiro. The Nghia's family expressed deep emotions upon welcoming the delegation and shared in the pride of Hanoi and Vietnam's development. They also updated the delegation on the situation of the Vietnamese community in Brazil, which currently numbers around 200 people, mainly in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
United and supportive, Nghia said the Vietnamese community actively engages in Vietnamese initiatives, expressing a strong bond with their homeland and faith in its progress.
At the meeting, Huong shared updates on Hanoi's socio-economic landscape and commended the Vietnamese community in Brazil for their efforts to build stable lives and integrate well into Brazilian society.
She encouraged the Nghia's family and the Vietnamese community to continue fostering mutual support, national pride, and solidarity, helping one another through challenges and striving for successful integration and adherence to local laws. She emphasized their role as an essential bridge in Vietnam-Brazil relations, urging them to maintain a connection with Vietnam and to contribute constructively to the nation's growth and Hanoi's development.
Ngoc Mai