Kingston, Jamaica, 31 July 2020. The President of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, sent congratulatory messages to the Governor General of Jamaica, the Most Honourable Sir Patrick Linton Allen, and to the Prime Minister of Jamaica, the Honourable Michael Andrew Holness, on the occasion of the upcoming 58th anniversary of the Independence of this sister Caribbean island, on August 6th. A similar message was sent by the Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, to his Jamaican counterpart, Senator Kamina Johnson-Smith.
Said messages served not only to congratulate the people and Government of Jamaica for such an important event, but also to reaffirm the Cuban authorities’ willingness to strengthen the long-standing ties of friendship and cooperation existing between the two countries.
Cuba and Jamaica have always been very close, both geographically and historically. Mariana Grajales, known as the Mother of the Cuban Homeland, was welcomed by and died in this land. Here she was visited by the Apostle of Independence, José Martí, when he was preparing the Necessary War. Recent historical investigations reveal that numerous Jamaican fighters joined the ranks of the Cuban Liberation Army... that is why it should not be surprising the courageous decision of Jamaica to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba at an early and tumultuous date as December 8, 1972. It is not surprising either the sustained support provided by Jamaica to the international demand for the lifting of the criminal economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States against Cuba; or Cuba’s cooperation in training hundreds of Jamaican professionals or, more recently, in the country’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.