CUBA, May 8th, 2019: The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, held this Wednesday a fraternal meeting with the Heads of Mission of the member countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) who are accredited in Cuba.
At the meeting, Rodríguez Parrilla and the Caribbean diplomatic representatives held dialogue on the historical links between CARICOM and Cuba and the potential to continue expanding and the trade exchanges in mutually beneficial areas. They agreed on the importance of preserving the region of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace.
The Cuban Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed his appreciation for the constant invariable support of the Caribbean countries to the Resolution against the Blockade approved every year at the United Nations General Assembly. Likewise he rejected the singling out which several of the Caribbean islands are subjected to, described as so-called non-cooperative fiscal jurisdictions. He also supported the Caribbean’s call to receive just compensation and reparations for the slavery.
For their part, the representatives of the member countries of this organization recalled and remembered the traditional ties of friendship that exist between the block and Cuba.
Bilateral relations with CARICOM member countries date back to December 8th, 1972 when Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Guyana and Jamaica established diplomatic ties with Cuba, an action that constituted a brave and honorable decision in the face of the political isolation that Cuba was being subjected to by the United States.
From the year 2002, CARICOM and Cuba established a bilateral mechanism for exchange, harmonization and agreement, whose next editions will be the holding of the VI Ministerial Meeting in June and the VII CARICOM – Cuba Summit in December 2020.