Between 1961 and 2002, 1,085 students graduated in Cuba from the countries that, as of August 1, 1973, were progressively integrated into the Caribbean Community (CARICOM); and they had graduated in more than 33 specialties, 818 at university level.
The data were presented by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, on December 8, 2002, at the celebration in Havana of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties with the four independent English-speaking nations of the region.
They had achieved sovereignty in the 1960s, during the anti-colonial wave to which the Cuban Revolution and its permanent denunciation of the colonial status of Caribbean, African and other parts of the world territories also contributed with determination.
The irrevocable decision of the leaders of Jamaica (Michael Manley), Trinidad and Tobago (Eric Williams), Guyana (Forbes Burnham) and Barbados (Errol Barrow), which put an end to the isolation of Latin America and the Caribbean to which Cuba had been subjected by the U.S. and the OAS, came to fruition on December 8, 1972.
On that day, representatives of the four States and Cuba signed the formal agreement at parallel events held at the Jamaican mission to the UN and at Cuba's diplomatic headquarters in Ottawa. Today, all the independent countries of the Caribbean Community have embassies in Havana, and vice versa.
The capacity-building of young people from the area in Cuban schools continued to increase year after year. On December 8, 2002, the Commander in Chief reiterated that our higher education centers were available to thousands of them, including about a thousand medical students, and at no cost.
Today, Fidel added on that occasion, "Cuba contributes with 1,174 civilian cooperants in Caricom countries. Of these, 964 are in the health sector, more than two thirds as a donation of services", because some "brotherly countries would not have the economic resources to pay for these vital professional services".
The relationship of solidarity and cooperation between our nations has been permanent, and always growing since then, and this December 6, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, heads the delegation to the Eighth CARICOM-Cuba Summit, which is held in Bridgetown, Barbados, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of mutual relations, and the 20th anniversary of the beginning of these meetings between heads of state and government.
Summing up, by the end of last June, 6 164 young people from the Caribbean Community had graduated from Cuban study centers and another 869 are currently studying in our universities.
CUBA-CARICOM IS ALSO WRITTEN IN SOLIDARITY
At present, 1,698 Cuban health collaborators are in 13 CARICOM countries and one non-independent territory. Of these, 351 are members of brigades of the Henry Reeve International Contingent.
During the pandemic response, Cuba sent 17 Henry Reeve brigades to 12 Caricom countries and five non-independent territories, for a total of 670 professionals. In addition to Health, about 600 professionals from the Ministries of Education and Construction, INDER and Hydraulic Resources, among others, are currently cooperating in the Caribbean Community.
The members of the Caribbean Community have maintained a vertical position in defense of Cuba. Their solidarity and unconditional support is demonstrated, for example, in the permanent denunciation of the economic, commercial and financial blockade of the U.S. government against the island and in the bloc's vote in favor of the resolution that every year, at the UN, calls for the end of these arbitrary measures.
At the 2020 Cuba-CARICOM summit, held virtually between the different capitals due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Díaz-Canel said: "We appreciate the consolidation of the close relations that CARICOM and Cuba forged and that were the personal endeavors of the Commander-in-Chief of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro Ruz and Army General Raúl Castro Ruz. The idea of our leaders to cooperate in solidarity, to support each other in the face of the challenges imposed on us by the colonial past and to defend the essence of our friendship, remains firmly upheld by all of us.
"I am grateful, once again, for the solidarity, respect and courage of the Caribbean in its relationship with our country. We are small giants in a world where hypocrisy and cruelty reign."
Between Cuba and CARICOM there is also a Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement that includes the most different areas, both in health, education, sports and culture, as well as in the field of tourism services, travel, transportation, construction, telecommunications and information technology, and others.
The vast solidarity between these countries is more than eloquent; there has been no hurricane, earthquake, volcanic eruption or other natural disaster in which Cuba has not extended a hand to its neighbors.
Examples abound in recent years, including some little-known ones, such as the fact that in 1997 the Greater Antilles gave shelter, in Tarará, to children and adolescents from Montserrat after the eruption of the La Soufrière volcano, which buried Plymouth, capital of the British overseas territory inhabited by 4,000 people.
The Caribbean's solidarity with Cuba is also well known, such as the sending of medicines, food and other resources during the pandemic caused by COVID-19 and in the face of recent natural and technological disasters suffered on the island.
A VERY CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY
- On July 4, 1973, the founding fathers of Caribbean integration, Prime Ministers Michael Manley, Eric Williams, Forbes Burnham and Errol Barrow signed the Treaty of Chaguaramas in the town of the same name in Trinidad and Tobago, and CARICOM was born, which came into force on August 1 of that year.
- The four independent countries of the region -Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Barbados- embarked on a path that did not exclude any other member of the regional organization that preceded it: CARIFTA (Caribbean Free Trade Association-Caribbean Free Trade Association).
- The constituent document of the bloc thus formalized that the then eight non-independent territories (Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines) could become full members in 1974, and they did. Bahamas, Suriname and Haiti joined years later.
RELEVANT FACTS
- Since 2014, with the opening of the Embassy of St. Kitts and Nevis in Havana, the presence of the 14 CARICOM member states in our country with their respective diplomatic headquarters was completed. In turn, Cuba maintains an equal number of diplomatic representations in each of the CARICOM member countries. The capital of Cuba is honored to be the permanent seat of the diplomatic representations of all these countries.
- Our ambassadors in Saint Lucia and Guyana are also accredited to the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States and CARICOM, respectively, and as a member of the Association of Caribbean States, our Head of Mission is accredited in Trinidad and Tobago, which has allowed for greater rapprochement with these organizations and their secretariats.
- To date, seven CARICOM-Cuba summits have been held. Their venue has alternated between the countries of the Community and Cuba. The holding of ministerial meetings prior to the summits has been an effective mechanism for reviewing the most important aspects of the bilateral relationship.
- Both the summits and the ministerial meetings have proven to be a useful instrument for political coordination and cooperation.
- Our country's historical cooperation, a fundamental axis of bilateral ties, has a great impact and recognition in the Caribbean Community. Cuba has signed basic cooperation agreements with the 14 independent member states of CARICOM.
