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STATEMENT BY THE MOST HON. P.J. PATTERSON, CHAIRMAN OF THE CONFERENCE OF HEADS OF GOVERNMENT OF THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY (CARICOM), ON THE OCCASION OF CARICOM-CUBA DAY 2003

It is with great pleasure that today, 8 December, we celebrate CARICOM-Cuba Day.

Thirty-one years ago, four Caribbean Community countries – Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago – opened this chapter in the Community’s history by establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Last year, the thirtieth anniversary of this historic event was appropriately commemorated with a meeting in Havana, by CARICOM Heads of Government with their Cuban counterpart and the signing of the Havana Declaration. It was a truly grand celebration. That Declaration, in which we agreed to celebrate annually this historic day, states in its preamble, that the action by our predecessors “represented an historic breakthrough which encouraged the reinsertion of the Republic of Cuba into hemispheric diplomatic relations and constituted an affirmation that Cuba is an integral part of the Caribbean family.”

That affirmation remains the bedrock of CARICOM-Cuba relations.

There has been and continues to be a lot more to our relations than symbols and ceremony. Cuba is a valued partner of CARICOM in many areas of functional cooperation including education, health and sports and our trading and economic partnership continues to grow. The past years have tested and strengthened this relationship as we, as developing nations, have all faced a number of unprecedented challenges.

Cuba’s understanding and support in our surmounting of these challenges is exemplified by the vast number of young people from CARICOM who have benefited or are currently benefiting from training in that country largely at its expense. This assistance in the development of our Human Resources is most welcome and valued given the Community’s critical needs in this area, particularly as we move towards creating a Single Market and Economy.

Further, Cuban technical assistance, especially in the field of health, has had a most beneficial impact on the lives of the Peoples of the Community. As we strive to combat the latest and perhaps most deadly threat to the future survival and development of our Region posed by HIV/AIDS, we look forward to continued cooperation with our sister island.

As our Community seeks to find a place for itself in a constantly evolving global context, we have sought throughout the thirty years of its existence, to maintain, strengthen and develop links with many partners, including Cuba. Being small economies, we recognise the need to participate meaningfully in the world trading system. We will therefore persist in our endeavour to ensure that our insertion in the process of globalisation is constructive and beneficial thereby providing an equitable place at the world’s table for small, vulnerable nations and economies such as ours. In this regard, we welcome the dynamic role of Cuba.

Today – the 8th of December – therefore, marks more than just an historical milestone in the evolution of intra-Caribbean relations. It commemorates the importance of cordial and productive relations with one’s neighbours and of the benefits of working towards the goals of peace, security, prosperity and unity within our Caribbean family and beyond.

As Chairman of CARICOM and on behalf of my CARICOM colleague Heads of Government, I take the opportunity as we mark this occasion, to urge the people of CARICOM and Cuba to move toward greater interaction to ensure a better understanding of each other and to ground the relationship firmly at the level of the prime beneficiaries – our citizens.

A happy and united CARICOM-Cuba Day to all.

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