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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Honduran VP arrives for five-day visit
President Tsai Ing-wen, right, speaks with Honduran Second Vice President Olga Margarita Alvarado Rodriguez, left, in Paraguay in August last year. Photo courtesy of the Presidential Office
SUPPORT: Prior to meeting the Honduran official, President Tsai Ing-wen met and thanked a Peruvian legislator for initiating a petition for Taiwan’s inclusion at the WHA
By Lu Yi-hsuan and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Honduran Second Vice President Olga Margarita Alvarado Rodriguez yesterday arrived for a five-day state visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Alvarado, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, is to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文）, Vice President Chen Chien-jen （陳建仁） and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Tsao （曹立傑） at a series of events and state banquets, the ministry said.
Her seven-member delegation is to conduct exchanges with Taiwanese officials and non-profit organizations on bilateral cooperation in the fields of public health, social welfare, agriculture and education, it said.
The delegation is expected to visit the International Cooperation and Development Fund, the Garden of Hope and Maria Social Welfare foundations, and Taipei Heping Experimental Elementary School, it said.
To promote cultural understanding, the group is to visit the National Palace Museum, Taipei 101 and New Taipei City’s Gold Museum, it said.
Before becoming vice president, Alvarado was known in Honduras for being a champion of the rights of minority groups and women, the ministry said.
She had also served as youth minister and social integration and development deputy minister, among other major posts, it said.
Alvarado’s visit is a reflection of the value of Taiwan’s friendship to the Honduran government, it said.
Separately yesterday, Tsai met Peruvian Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Luis Galarreta at the Presidential Office and thanked him for his role in expressing support for Taiwan’s inclusion at the World Health Assembly （WHA）. By writing directly to her office and launching a pro-Taiwan petition with 50 other Peruvian congressional members, Galarreta was responsible for Peru’s biggest show of support for Taiwan in recent years, Tsai said.
As Galarreta wrote in his letter, health is a fundamental human right and a universal value, Tsai said, adding that Taiwanese have an inalienable right to health and to see the global community acknowledge the nation’s contribution to global health.
Taiwan and Peru are APEC members and relations between nations could and should be pursued within the organization’s framework, she said.
Tsai added that she looks forward to promoting bilateral trade and cooperation in world affairs with Peru.
Additional reporting by Su Yung-yao
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
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