The healthy relationship that our countries enjoy after five decades of diplomatic ties has been possible due to mutual respect for sovereignty, self-determination and non-interference in internal affairs, as well as the collaboration developed for the benefit of our peoples and governments.
It is worth remembering that the Commonwealth of The Bahamas joined in 1974 the brave decision of four small independent Caribbean states (Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago) that, in 1972, established diplomatic relations with Cuba, breaking the isolation that was intended impose on the Island by its northern neighbor.
Since then, our nations have worked together in a friendly manner in areas of common interest such as: education, health, culture, agriculture, climate change, natural disasters, migration and security, just to name a few.
The links have been developed at the highest levels. Among the most recent are the official visits to Cuba of Prime Minister Philip Davis in December 2022, and again in September 2023 to attend the Summit of the Group of 77 plus China, temporarily chaired by Cuba, on both occasions accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Frederick Mitchell, among other ministers and officials.
For its part, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz visited The Bahamas in August 2022 on the occasion of the Regional Meeting of Heads of Government of the Caribbean, preparatory to the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 27); and in July 2023, Deputy Prime Minister Inés María Chapman Waugh represented our country in the festivities for the 50th Anniversary of the independence of The Bahamas.
Likewise, the reciprocal will and interest embodied in the signing of agreements, treaties, memorandums of understanding and other protocols have strengthened the legal basis of relations between the two countries in various sectors. Among them: the one referring to the establishment of diplomatic relations; one of technical and economic cooperation; the one relating to cooperation to combat the illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances; the one concerning the return of Cuban illegal migrants; that for the transfer of convicted people; that of air services; that of exemption from visa requirements, and one on the dividing line between maritime spaces. Other draft agreements and conventions that will contribute to deepening current ties remain under negotiation and pending ratification.
Cuba appreciates the possibility given by The Bahamas to provide and contribute with what is within our reach to train human resources. Thus, the scholarships offered for decades have allowed hundreds of Bahamian professionals to graduate, especially in medicine, among other specialties, and have also prepared experts in specific areas such as canine training.
In terms of health, the following stand out: in 2009, the so-called Operation Miracle restored or improved the vision of many Bahamians; in 2016, an agreement was signed between the Public Hospital Authority and the Cuban Medical Services Marketing Company S.A. that allowed 36 Cuban health professionals to work in institutions in the country; in 2019, 5 pharmacists and 2 biomedical engineers remained from that group, who gave up their annual vacations in Cuba to continue working during the COVID-19 pandemic; in 2022, 50 nurses from the Henry Reeve Brigade joined the mission, as part of an Inter-Ministerial Cooperation Agreement for the care of the COVID-19 emergency in the Bahamas, a medical contingent that worked for a year in an outstanding manner and was recognized by local authorities and its people. In 2022, 4 biomedical engineers and 6 pharmacists joined the Cuban Medical Brigade; in October 2023, 4 Collaboration Agreements on health matters were approved between Cuba and The Bahamas with some 40 specialists and technicians working in different areas.
On the other hand, the hiring of Cuban education personnel has allowed, for more than twenty-one years without interruption, to contribute to the training of nationals, at different levels of education, in technical and professional training, as well as in special education. Today, 133 teachers work on 10 islands of the archipelago.
Such experiences in cooperation have contributed to the training of our professionals and to the fact that Cubans feel great satisfaction and gratitude for the possibility offered by the authorities and the Bahamian people to strengthen our ties and contribute to unite our peoples in these five decades of diplomatic relations.
Much has been done within the framework of regional and multilateral organizations.
We have struggled together to defend the just causes of developing countries and to confront the injustices of developed powers that, for example, with unilateral coercive policies and spurious lists of countries, ignore the right of peoples to self-determination and sovereignty and violate international law. We also demand restitution for the damage caused by colonial powers to our peoples as well as for the unjust international economic order imposed on our nations.
Although Cuba is not a member of the Community of Caribbean States (CARICOM), we maintain close work with this group of nations, and we periodically hold meetings at the level of Heads of State or Government or at the level of Foreign Ministers to strengthen our ties and relations in the most diverse spheres.
Diplomatically, we unite common positions in defense of our mutual interests on sensitive issues such as the environmental problems and energy; in the economic framework, we create mechanisms for economic association, trade and collaboration that provide facilities to Cuba and the CARICOM bloc respectively, and in many other fields we work for the aspirations of our peoples.
We also coordinate positions in other regional mechanisms like the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) or the Association of Caribbean States; and, through other entities such as the Group of 77 and the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).
In the context of the most representative of world organizations, the United Nations Organization (UNO), we highlight the joint work and support in battles such as that for climate change that threatens the survival of humanity and especially our little nations and small island developing states, which are the ones that contribute the least to the impact but are the most harmed and unprotected. We support each other in candidacies of mutual interest for membership in principal, subsidiary or other bodies of this Organization.
We must be grateful for the support we have received from the Bahamas in the battle to lift the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by successive US administrations for more than six decades on the Cuban people, a genocidal and criminal policy that seeks to change the destiny that the Cuban people have decided to give themselves. Despite the fact that a Cuban resolution calling for an end to this policy has been presented 32 consecutive times in the framework of the United Nations General Assembly, which is supported by the almost universal membership of that Organization, the US government ignores this and reinforces this blockade and its extraterritorial nature, in order to achieve its disastrous goal of trying to subdue the Cuban people and make them renounce the project that they adopted based on the principles of self-determination and sovereignty.
We also appreciate the contribution of the Bahamas to the Communiqué of the Council on Foreign Relations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) issued last May, where, in addition to reaffirming the rejection of the blockade, it was said that this unjust and erroneous imposition on the Cuban people, as well as its designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, must be ended.
It is worth highlighting the recent words of the Prime Minister of the Bahamas who, as head of his delegation at the 79th UNGA, in his special segment, reiterated his call to eliminate this policy that affects and deprives the people. And he urged everyone to join together to persuade those who apply it to put an end to it.
Historical and cultural ties also unite us as neighboring nations.
For centuries there have been exchanges in the field, for example, of the arts. The monument erected in 2013 to the Cuban national hero, José Martí, which remembers his time in Inagua during his journey from the Dominican Republic to Cuba in 1895, in order to join the Cuban War of Independence against Spanish colonialism, who in 1898 fell in combat and whose legacy is still valid, has allowed generations of Bahamians to learn about the history of this giant of the Greater Antilles, as well as the historical friendly relations between both countries.
We, Cubans, have also learned in recent years from the teachings of the forgers of Bahamian independence such as Linden Pindling, considered the father of the nation, who also developed a very special brotherhood with the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, and contributed to battles not only for their respective peoples, but also for those of other peoples of the world such as Africans; to remember one in particular, the liberation of Nelson Mandela and the independence of Angola and Namibia. And we have counted on the work, support and will of successive prime ministers such as Hubert Ingraham, Perry Christie, Hubert Minnis and Philip Davis, currently, who forged and continue to forge together with the peoples who represent bonds of brotherhood and solidarity between our nations.
This happy celebration of 50 years of diplomatic relations that we have built together on respect and solidarity, should continue to inspire us to strengthen bilateral relations and in the international arena. I reiterate on behalf of the people and the government that Cuba and its children will always be willing to march together with you. The Bahamas will always be able to count on Cuba, as it has been until now and will continue to be.