Cuban Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rogelio Sierra, laid a wreath at the Monument to Emancipation, where the statue of National Hero "General" Bussa rises, who led in 1816 the first rebellion of slaves in Barbados and in the Caribbean then dominated by the British Empire; accompanied by the acting Deputy Minister of Culture, Terry Bascombe, the newly appointed Chargé d'Affaires in Cuba, Philip St Hill, and several Barbadian friends of the Solidarity Movement with Cuba and local Pan-Africanist organizations, Deputy Minister Sierra gave statements to the media highlighting the visit made to this monument by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro on August 1, 1998, when he participated in the March for Emancipation Day and delivered a beautiful allegorical speech to the struggle of the Caribbean nations for independence and against slavery; the Vice Minister's words were widely disseminated, highlighting this act as a symbol of friendship among our peoples and a good omen for the future of bilateral relations. (Cubaminrex – Embacuba Barbados).