Expocaribe fair to mark 50 years of Cuba-Caricom relations

HAVANA, Cuba, Jun 20 (ACN) The 17th Expocaribe International Fair, scheduled for June 23-26 in Santiago de Cuba, will be dedicated to salute the 50th anniversary of relations between Cuba and the Caribbean Community (Caricom), said an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minrex).

In statements to the Cuban News Agency Dalay Lamat Perez, a specialist of the General Directorate of Latin America and the Caribbean, stressed that the trade event will allude to that exemplary solidarity and mutual cooperation, which began on December 8, 1972, when four nations: Guyana, Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago established diplomatic ties with Havana.

We are in the year of celebration of an event that will culminate in the VIII Caricom-Cuba Summit in December, and Expocaribe is part of the activities planned to reaffirm the brotherhood with the peoples and governments of the 14 member countries of the bloc, in each of which we have embassies and they in turn have representations in ours, she said.

She added that Cuba maintains close relations of cooperation and solidarity with all, and links with its peoples, governments and institutions are excellent and historical, she said, and recalled the recent presence here of the prime ministers of the Commonwealth of Dominica, Belize and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The diplomat reiterated the gratitude for the courageous and supportive positions taken by the majority of Caricom leaders in the U.S. city of Los Angeles, in condemning the decision of the United States to exclude Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from the Summit of the Americas.

They took advantage of the moment to reject the inclusion of our country in the unilateral list of nations that promote terrorism as well as demanded the end of the criminal economic, commercial and financial blockade against the island, she said.

Lamat Pérez highlighted how several Caribbean States were able to contain the advance and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic with the help of the medical brigades sent by Cuba, which with their experience and knowledge were in the most affected places and worked together with the local authorities and their doctors.

She specified that as part of its commitment to cooperate with Caricom "our government has expressed its willingness to support the vaccination campaign against COVID-19 in its nations, and the General Secretariat of the organization has been informed of the willingness to donate 72 thousand doses of the Cuban vaccines Abdala, Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus to immunize 24 thousand people".

At the same time, she said, Cuba ratifies its decision to continue providing aid to the Haitian people and calls for increased international solidarity with the Caribbean nation, which has been greatly affected by natural phenomena and with which it has collaborated in areas such as education, sports, agriculture, construction, water resources and the environment.

Finally, the Foreign Ministry official said that in Expocaribe, Cuba will present its portfolio of opportunities for foreign investment throughout the region, where through its embassies, in addition to promoting Cuban products and services for export, we are aware of the interest of individuals and institutions to establish business with the country, she said.