Caricom, Cuba defend TT against US

This was contained in a statement which the leaders issued following the conclusion of the summit at NAPA in Port-of-Spain last night.

In the statement the leaders said, “this is a unilateral and unwarranted extraterritorial application of the United States’ Helms-Burton law which is contrary to the United Nations charter and international law.

The leaders added, “It also flies in the face of the annual overwhelming rejection of this policy by the United Nations General Assembly.”

The leaders also said, “this was one more demonstration of the injustice of the United States’ embargo and its harmful impact on the daily life of the Cuban people.”

The leaders concluded their statement by saying that while such extraterritorial action could have impacted on the success of the summit, “thanks to the commitment and solidarity of the members states of the Caribbean community we can celebrate an outcome which reinforces the strong fraternal bond between Caricom and Cuba.”

At a news conference at NAPA where the statement was presented to reporters, outgoing Caricom chairman St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr Denzil Douglas said the statement received unanimous support from all leaders in attendance including Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

Douglas added he did not believe this statement would harm US-Caricom relations and the US remains a valuable ally and trading partner to Caricom.

However, he said he hoped the US would recognise that realities have changed and it was necessary to bring the embargo against Cuba to an end.