Caricom saved Cuba from US

CUBAN AMBASSADOR to Trinidad and Tobago, Felix Rojas, yesterday expressed his country’s gratitude to Caricom for helping Cuba to survive the economic and political hardships inflicted upon it by successive United States governments. 

Addressing the launch of a photographic exhibition at the National Library to commemorate the 31st anniversary of Caricom-Cuba relations, Rojas recalled that on December 8, 1972 four Caricom nations (TT, Barbados, Guyana and Jamaica) established diplomatic relations with Havana “under adverse conditions and under great pressure, especially for smaller and newer independent states.” “That day the diplomatic and commercial barrier against Cuba began to undo itself in the region. “This policy of isolation directed to attempt to break the will of the Cubans started to fall to pieces. “The relations between Cuba and the neighbouring Caribbean countries began to strengthen,” he declared.

The Ambassador said the major challenge faced by all small countries was that of “surviving imperial politics and a profound crisis under which all orders our hemisphere lives and that threatens to destroy our identity.” Rojas said this “difficult reality” can only be confronted through regional integration and cooperation and this was why fora such as the Association of Caribbean States and Caricom are so important. Rojas said TT and Cuba have maintained excellent relations which started under TT’s first prime minister Dr Eric Williams but “during recent years these relations have reached an outstanding level of closeness that is visible between the two countries in every area.” He said evidence of the strength of Caricom-Cuba relations is the fact that to date, over 1,000 students from 14 Caribbean nations have graduated from educational institutions in Cuba “and the number of graduates will continue to grow.” The Ambassador added that yesterday marked the first time that the exhibition was being presented outside of Cuba.