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Remarks of Welcome at the Washington National Airport to President Prio of Cuba.
December 8, 1948

I AM very happy to welcome you, President Prio, to the United States. No two countries of this closely knit hemisphere have been bound together more closely than the Republic of Cuba and the United States. The friendly bond between them was forged in a common struggle for freedom, and it has continued through all the trials of two world wars and through the many other problems in the political and economic growth of our two countries. There is no relationship which better typifies the firm solidarity of the American States than the traditionally cordial collaboration between Cuba and the United States.

Mr. President, I have been looking ward to your arrival, as have all the friends of Cuba in this country, and we sincerely hope that you will thoroughly enjoy your all too brief stay in the United States.