Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur said the Caribbean Community is keenly aware of Cuba’s support of its development and looks forward to another year of cooperation as Caricom observed 35 years of diplomatic relations between the Region and Cuba on Saturday.
Arthur, who also holds the portfolio of Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, said “since that historic day in 1972, the bonds of friendship and solidarity have deepened significantly to incorporate a high level of collaboration in the political, economic and social spheres.” Guyana, Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) have diplomatic relations with the Republic of Cuba.
Arthur said the relationship between Caricom and Cuba has been marked by a number of significant milestones, the most recent of which was the signing in 2005 of “the Declaration of Bridgetown” by the Heads of State and governments of Caricom and Cuba. “Our mutual commitment to cooperation was reaffirmed by the CARICOM-Cuba Cultural Co-operation Agreement of 8 December 2005,” he added. This agreement facilitated a continuation and a deepening of the many collaborative links which the Community had already forged with Cuba, including cooperation in the areas of health, sports, engineering, education, culture and in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS, the statement said.
Arthur said the Region is most keenly aware of the support of Cuba to the development and well-being of the Community particularly in the field of human resource capacity building through the Cuban offering of numerous scholarships as well as in the health domain with the deployment of Cuban doctors and nurses. “The Government and People of the Caribbean Community therefore wish to record their appreciation for the concrete and practical demonstrations of goodwill which Cuba has extended in these and other domains, and which have facilitated the building of the region’s expertise in a wide range of areas of vital importance to the Community,” he said.
Further, the statement said, at the trade and economic levels the region has established a presence in Cuba embodied in the Trade Facilitation Office which was opened by T&T earlier this year. “As trade levels between Cuba and the Region continue to expand, we welcome the role which this Office will play in further supporting and enhancing the flow of goods between Cuba and the Region,” it said. Arthur said as small states in the Caribbean, the Region experiences similar vulnerabilities, opportunities and challenges, and it is therefore particularly beneficial that Caricom member states and Cuba are able to share information and best practices in areas such as disaster management. In this context, Arthur said, the Region is grateful for the technical assistance and information provided by the Cuban Institute of Meteorology. He added that the assistance has been of great value to the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre. “Of equal importance is the support offered by Cuba to Caricom in international fora on issues such as environmental sustainability and climate change.
The chairman said the region and Cuba have also enjoyed a fertile relationship in the field of culture. It has provided “an avenue for mutual understanding and we recognize the pre-eminent role which Cuba has played in the popularization and preservation of Caribbean culture.” The statement said in past years, Cuba has been actively involved in the Community’s cultural festival Carifesta and the Region looks forward to its active participation in the celebrations scheduled for next year.
The statement said the common Caribbean identity which the Region shares with Cuba has been an important factor in encouraging South-South cooperation, facilitated through fora such as “the G77 where Cuba and Caricom have collaborated closely to ensure that our collective economic and development interests are articulated and promoted.” Similarly, the Community welcomes the Cuban presidency of the Non-Aligned Movement and its efforts to revitalise this movement, to which Caricom member states remain committed as an important forum for the coordination of positions on issues of priority to the developing world.
Caricom said it recognises the right of every nation to determine its own development priorities and strategies and it reiterates the call for the unjust economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed against Cuba “to be lifted so that our sister nation can rise to its full economic potential for the benefit of its people and the peoples of the Region.” The Community said it is confident that its relations with Cuba will continue to flourish in the years ahead.
