PM Mottley repeats call for end to US embargo on Cuba

Prime Minister Mia Mottley joined her regional counterparts on CARICOM-Cuba Day on Wednesday, lauding Cuba’s contribution to regional development and calling for an end to the US economic embargo on the Spanish-speaking country.

She also praised Cuba’s contribution to the region, particularly during the current COVID-19 pandemic .

“Cuba’s opening of its tertiary education facilities to Caribbean youths, and its highly recognised eye-care programme Operacion Milagro, aimed primarily at seniors suffering from cataracts, have been of immense value for decades,” the Barbadian leader said as CARICOM celebrated 49 years of formal diplomatic relations with Havana.

“However, its outreach to Barbados and so many other CARICOM neighbours, with nurses and doctors to join the battle against COVID-19, trumps all others. The depth of this gesture becomes even more apparent when we acknowledge that this was not a country giving of its surplus, but a neighbour helping neighbours while itself battling the same scourge.”

She expressed hope that next year’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations “will be against the backdrop of the total removal of the embargo”.

Prime Minister Mottley said when the leaders of Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Guyana decided on December 8, 1972 that they would send a message to the world that the isolation of Cuba was wrong and they would no longer be a part of it, they were establishing a philosophy that states that fairness and equity would govern their countries’ relationships with all others.

She noted that near a half-century later, while the Cuban people continue to suffer the ill effects of the embargo, it was heartening to see the number of countries across the globe that have followed the bold stance of those four countries.

In his message, CARICOM Chairman, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne said the symbolic and courageous historic act of Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago had evolved over the years into a fruitful and mutually beneficial relationship that was based on solidarity.

“CARICOM and Cuba have a lot of which they can be proud. A growing friendship spanning almost half of a century is a rare milestone in the history of any relationship,” he said, adding that CARICOM countries “place great value on the strong and enduring bonds” with Havana.

He also spoke of the “excellent spirit of cooperation that has been of great assistance, both bilaterally and regionally, particularly with regard to human capacity-building and the provision of health care – critical inputs to improving the welfare of our people”.

“[With] regard to the latter, the provision by the Government of Cuba of public health personnel to Caribbean nations to reinforce their response capacity in addressing the public health challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, is a vivid example of Cuba’s continuing solidarity in the face of its own challenges, arising from the longstanding and universally-condemned US embargo, “ Prime Minister Browne added. (SD)