Cuban diplomat to lecture about Cuban-U.S. relations Feb. 21 at MSU

Miguel Fraga, the first secretary of the newly reestablished Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C., will lecture about Cuba and U.S. relations during a visit to Montana State University on Tuesday, Feb. 21. Fraga’s MSU visit is part of a weeklong visit to Montana.

Fraga will deliver an illustrated lecture, “Cuba-U.S. Relations: Current State of Affairs,” about newly established relations between the two countries at 6 p.m. in room 168 of the Strand Union Building. The lecture is free and open to the public, and will be given in English. His lecture will be followed by a question-and-answer session. A reception will follow in the SUB’s Leigh Lounge.

MSU students, staff, faculty and members of the community interested in teaching, research and outreach opportunities with Cuba are invited to an introductory session of MSU’s new Cuban Interest Group, organized by the Office of International Programs, at 1:30 p.m. in SUB 168. MSU faculty, staff and students will share current experiences and explore possible ideas for future collaborations with the first secretary.

Jan Strout, a College of Letters and Science instructor who is helping coordinate the visit and the interest group, said Fraga’s visit is a rare opportunity for the local community to interact and share perspectives with one of Cuba’s high-level diplomatic staff members.

“The goals of Miguel Fraga’s visit are to share and exchange (ideas) about the status of normalization of relations between the Cuban and U.S. governments, learn more about current MSU and Cuban collaborations and future possibilities and to create opportunities for faculty, staff, students and our community to engage locally and globally with one of our nearest neighbors,” said Strout, who is involved with the Gallatin Valley Friends of Cuba organization and has worked extensively with programs in the country.

Fraga’s visit is sponsored by MSU’s Office of International Programs and Gallatin Valley Friends of Cuba, the Colleges of Agriculture, Arts and Architecture, Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship and Letters and Science, the International Business Club, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, Department of Land Resources and Environmental Sciences, Department of Political Science and the Department of Native American Studies. Other sponsors include the Latin American/Latino Studies program; the Diversity Awareness Office, the Office of the President, the Office of the Provost as well as ASMSU, Sustainability NOW! Bridges to Cuba, Hopa Mountain, Gallatin Valley Community Radio, Cuba Connection and the U.S. Women and Cuba Collaboration.