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• 12 / 10 / 2009

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The Cuba-CARICOM Day was commemorated on Tuesday at the ‘Casa de las Americas’ cultural center in Havana thus marking another anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations between Cuba and the Caribbean Community
37 years ago.

 Paula Gopee-Scoon, Foreign Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, recalled that in 1972 four states that had recently become independent – her homeland, Guyana, Barbados and Jamaica - resumed their ties with the Caribbean nation, a friendship that
strengthened and developed over the years.

She added that during the first Cuba-CARICOM Summit in Havana in 2002, participants agreed to celebrate the Cuba-CARICOM Day on December 8 to perpetuate the event as a reaffirmation that Cuba is an essential part of the Caribbean.

Gopee-Scoon highlighted Cuba’s contribution to the development of the region in important sectors such as health, education, agriculture, sports and, particularly, in the training of human resources.

Meanwhile, Cuban Acting Foreign Minister Marcelino Medina praised the Caribbean states’ courage to resume relations with Cuba in spite of significant US pressures.

He said that more than 1,200 Cuban voluntary workers are currently making their
contribution in the 14 nations of the region. He added that 79,000 Caribbean people have benefited from the Miracle free eye care program promoted by Cuba and Venezuela, and that nearly 4,000 youths from the area have graduated from Cuban
universities.

Source: ACN