Shortly after noon this Wednesday – one hour more than in Havana – the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and president of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, arrived on an official visit to Grenada, coming from Barbados.
This is the first official visit made by the head of state to the Caribbean island. Upon his arrival at the Maurice Bishop International Airport, he was received by the Grenadian Prime Minister, Dickon Mitchell.
After the official welcome ceremony, the Prime Minister invited the Cuban President to appreciate a plaque inside the terminal, which was unveiled by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro during his visit to Grenada in August 1998.
With this gesture, Granada pays tribute to the 24 Cubans who died in combat in this country during the US military invasion in October 1983. In a massive act held at the time in the Plaza de la Revolución, Fidel Castro said: "There, far from Cuba, where they contributed the noble sweat of their internationalist work for a poorer and smaller country than ours, they were also capable of giving their blood and their lives”.
This airport, stressed Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, is a sample of the “cooperation that exists between our countries; We are very grateful".
There is nothing to be thankful for, the Cuban president assured in response. We are brothers!
A colloquium of friendship, brotherhood and solidarity
Shortly before leaving for Granada, President Díaz-Canel had participated in the inauguration of the Colloquium for 50 years of Caricom-Cuba relations, at the University of the West Indies.
This was his last activity in Barbados, in which Prime Minister Mía Amor Mottley also participated, who highlighted the many contributions that Cuban professionals have left in her country, above all those in the Health sector.
Those are the bases of Cuba's relationship with the Caribbean, considered the prime minister. "Since its beginnings, the essence has always been to put people at the center," she valued.
The Cuban head of State then spoke of emotions, who confessed that "every meeting, every minute in Barbados, are of profound significance, they move our feelings a lot."
“This is a colloquium of friendship, brotherhood, solidarity; a colloquium that will provide from the vision of science the necessary approach to find the roots, origins and contributions of those who founded the relations between the Caribbean and Cuba”, said the president.
Those have been precisely, he reflected, the guiding threads of this visit: the legacy and solidarity. "Therefore, it is as if we are ending our unforgettable visit to Barbados with a pin of solidarity and friendship."
Díaz-Canel valued the meeting as extremely timely, necessary and contributing, in which Caribbean intellectuals participate to share essences about history, friendship and the many strengths that distinguish the relations of Cuba and the peoples of the Caribbean.
The Cuban dignitary spoke of the legacy of Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, who always worked to strengthen friendship with the Caribbean.
A friendship, he said, that is "constantly nourished, enriched, growing, and has not been left alone in solidarity, but has made it easier to take advantage of the talent of our peoples to carry out concrete actions and develop projects of common benefit."
These relationships, he pointed out, are not based on commercial interest, they are based on “sensitivity to everyone's problems and their understanding; to unite talents, forces and wills, and above all to do”.
"Thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to live so many emotions in Barbados", the Cuban president said goodbye to those present.