St Vincent and the Grenadines-Cuba Friendship Society extends an unreserved and wholehearted welcome to Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel and his delegation on the occasion of this weekend’s visit to our country. Though Cuba is an integral part of the Caribbean, indeed the largest Caribbean island, the distance in geography and, since Cuba’s Revolution of 1959 have been such as to make our respective peoples doubt whether we would ever witness such an occasion. Today we have that privilege, exercising our rights as a free and independent nation.
Both countries enjoy close relations at a government-to-government level but from early in the 20th century, there has been contact and fraternal relations between the Cuban and Vincentian peoples. Vincentian workers were recruited to work in Cuba early in the 20th century and some even participated in the trade union struggles against the military dictatorships that dominated Cuba before the Revolution of 1959.
In spite of the anti-Cuba propaganda that became so dominant since the triumph of the Revolution, there were always Vincentians who were prepared to seek the truth and not afraid to engage with Cuba and Cubans. It was out of this desire to seek the truth and promote solidarity that our Society was founded on July 14th, 1976, more than 40 years ago.
Because of the efforts of this Friendship Society, Vincentian students seeking scarce tertiary education opportunities were able to pursue studies in Cuban institutions. Today we can boast of a significant contribution to our trained intellectual pool. Our unstinting support for the Cuban people and government paved the way for the courageous decision of our late Prime Minister Sir James Mitchell to end the years of hostility and isolation by establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1992. We applaud his courage and foresight.
Since then, government-to-government relations between our two countries have developed by leaps and bounds; but people-to-people relations must continue.
The governmental relations have brought tremendous benefits to our people in health, education and aviation among others. But people-to-people relations also encourage people to try and develop links, to understand the Cuban people and to extend solidarity with them. For example, in our unstinting call for an end to the unjust US embargo against that country which is hurting their people.
For all these reasons, we call on our people to extend a wholehearted welcome to President Díaz-Canel, the representative of the Cuban people.
LONG LIVE THE FRIENDSHIP AND SOLIDARITY BETWEEN OUR TWO PEOPLES!
