Minister of Health of Barbados supports cooperation programs with Cuba.
The Minister of Health and Welfare of Barbados, Jeffrey Bostic, accompanied by his deputy minister, June Chandler, and several directors who make up his team, comprehensively reviewed various feasible programs for their implementation taking advantage of the cooperation that Cuba offers, using different modalities to introduce in the country several biotechnological products such as Heberprot-P and vaccines against cancer among other advanced medicines, applying a technical assistance program to deal with Alzheimer's disease, and developing health tourism as well.
Barbadian government recognizes Cuban sports cooperation.
The Barbadian government decided to recognize Cuban sports cooperation and for this purpose a trophy of recognition was extended for the sixteen years of the presence of Cuban coaches in disciplines like athletics, boxing, cycling, hockey, swimming, table tennis and volleyball. In an act held at the National Sports Council headquarters (NSC), which was attended by the members of the Cuban sports mission, accompanied by several Barbadian trainers and NSC officers, its executive director, Jerry Blenman, highlighted on behalf of the minister of Culture and Sports, John King, the excellent results of this cooperation given the effort and perseverance displayed, both at the level of primary and secondary schools in the country, and in advising national federations and clubs in the aforementioned different modalities.
Three Cuban coaches awarded for their excellent results
On behalf of the Minister of Culture and Sports of Barbados, John King, the Executive Director of the National Sports Council, Mr. Jerry Blenman, recognized the effort, dedication, humility and discipline of the Cuban coaches, whose valuable presence has been felt in the primary and secondary schools of the island as in the bosom of national federations and different clubs with which they have interacted. In particular, he highlighted the continuity of the work carried out during six consecutive years by three technicians: Felipe Alvarez (boxing), Mijail Santos (cycling) and Julio Madrazo (volleyball), who were awarded with a trophy with an autochthonous Barbadian symbol, a beautiful flying fish sculpted in precious wood. Their most relevant outcome is as follows:
The presence of Fidel in Barbados was recalled on Emancipation Day
When Commander in Chief Fidel Castro participated in the March for Emancipation Day on August 1, 1998, accompanied by then prime minister Owen Arthur, he closed his fiery speech with the following words: "To our brothers from the Caribbean and from Barbados, we tell you that Barbados and the Caribbean can count with Cuba as a tree counts with the sap that flows through his veins", and twenty years later the Cuban ambassador, Francisco Fernández, resumed those words to thank the invitation by the Pan-Africanist movement to share the celebration of the date. Before the crowd gathered at the monument erected to the National Hero Bussa, the Barbadian slave who led the first Caribbean anti-slavery revolt on April 16, 1816, recalled the validity of the ideas expressed by the leader of the Cuban Revolution about the necessary unity of the Caribbean nations to face the current common challenges to their development, and also highlighted the historical coincidence existing on April 16 in Cuba, when in 1961 our people starred in Playa Girón another heroic battle for freedom and independence.
Significant July 26th joint celebration between Barbados and Cuba
With the presence of Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, two heroic events coinciding in the history of Barbados and Cuba took place in a joint political-cultural event on July 26: the Barbadian National Day of Significance and the Day of Cuban National Rebellion, the first one commemorating the workers' rebellion led in 1937 by today's National Hero Clement Payne and the second recalling the armed uprising against the Moncada and Céspedes barracks, led by the historical leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro.