Meetings in Cuba will strengthen ties between Caribbean nations

Dear Editor,

Several events are taking place in Havana, where essential topics such as tourism, trade, transport and climate change are being discussed. In addition, Cuba will ratify its commitment to maintain cooperation with countries of the bloc in sectors such as education, health, construction and challenge to natural disasters.

The meetings include the First Cooperation Conference of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), which is being attended by invited guests from international organizations and countries that due to their capacity can contribute to the development of the mechanism. The Conference is to be followed by the XXII Meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Caribbean Association, for which Cuba has held the pro tempore presidency from 2016, and finally the V CaricomCuba Ministerial Meeting that examines the relations between Havana and the regional bloc will be held.

The ACS meeting is part of the revitalization process of the organization, which emerged in 1994 to promote consultation, cooperation and joint action among the Caribbean territories.

In the first meeting a series of projects is being circulated that is within the Action Plan of the VII Summit of the Association held last year in Havana. In the case of maritime connectivity, and under the theme ‘Uniting the Caribbean by air and by sea’, documents such as the maritime route map of the area, which is already in its fifth stage, a port and maritime strategy, and short distance sea shipping, coordinated by a Mexican agency, are included. Together with ACS members, a number of countries interested in the large Caribbean basin, as well as United Nations programmes and funding are present.

Meanwhile, during the XXII Ordinary Meeting of the ACS Council of Ministers, the report of Cuba will be presented on its work in the pro tempore presidency of the organization, which began last year and will end on March 10th. The work of the island contributed to the revitalization process of the regional organization and in the obtaining of financing for two projects aimed at mitigating the consequences of climate change. Likewise, June Soomer, General Secretary of the ACS must report on her management since she took office last August.

In relation to the Caricom-Cuba Ministerial, it is worth emphasizing that relations with the Caricom countries are a priority for Cuba. The ties that unite Cuba and the Caribbean are based on the principles set forth by the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz: solidarity, friendship, selflessness, gratitude and full support to the Caribbean.

We Cubans will never forget that on December 8th, 1972, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago established diplomatic relations with Cuba. The event paved the way for the gradual establishment of diplomatic ties between Cuba and the rest of the Caribbean nations. Today we can say that there is a high level of exchange between the Caribbean and Cuban authorities.

These three events propose to strengthen ties between nations that have as a common element the Caribbean Sea, an asset that connects us geographically; and that we also have the need to tackle the challenges of a region in which we share historical, social and cultural ties. It is an exceptional opportunity to promote regional cooperation in the Caribbean, to implement policies and to devise actions to stop the forces that threaten the sovereignty of our

peoples and that try to destabilize the internal order of our nations.

It will also be a favourable opportunity for Cuba to thank the Caribbean countries for their support, and especially their pronouncement against the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States.

The ties of our country and the Caribbean are based on solidarity and selflessness, and the proof of that is that the island has diplomatic representation in the 14 independent nations of Caricom and each of them has an embassy in Havana in addition to which we have developed solid cooperation that will grow for the benefit of our peoples.

Yours faithfully, Julio César González Marchante Cuban Ambassador to Guyana