BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Cuban and CARICOM leaders have ended their one-day summit here on Tuesday with Havana saying that the deliberations had “exceeded our expectations”.
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Cuban President, Miquel Diaz-Canel , Suriname President Chandrikapersad “Chan” Santokhi and CARICOM Secretary General Dr. Carla Barnett at news conference (CMC Photo)CARICOM chairman and Suriname President, Chandrikapersad “Chan” Santokhi, told a news conference that “we can look back, to insightful and fruitful deliberations” and that the summit, which coincided with 50 years of diplomatic relations between Havana and four CARICOM countries “certainly solidifies the strong partnership, between CARICOM and Cuba”.
He said the summit had adopted a “Conference Declaration” which he said “is further testimony, of our commitment, to further this partnership.
“Among other things, we highly appreciate, that the Declaration, calls for simplifying and streamlining access criteria, across donors and multilateral funds, to accelerate climate finance, to the region, taking into account the unique and special circumstances of SIDS (Small islands Developing States),” Santohki told reporters.
He said CARICOM, remains committed, to working with Cuba, to ensure, that the deliverables of the Declaration, are achieved.
Santohki said that the text of the Declaration will be distributed later and Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel told reporters that the summit had “exceeded our expectation”.
He said there were new proposals submitted for consideration, adding “we had a most productive meeting.
“We pledge to continue strengthening our existing relations among our governments and the strong beliefs that our links cannot be broken,” he said, adding that Havana had re-affirmed “our willingness to cooperate, within our ability with our sister nations of the Caribbean”.
He said Cuba also re-affirmed its commitment to help the Caribbean in its quest to obtain reparation for slavery and ‘we also ratified our call for preferential treatment of the small islands states in the Caribbean”.
President Diaz-Canel said the summit also discussed “the serious challenges of climate change” and its impact on the development of the region.
“In this respect we also presented a proposal for mutual benefit in the area of mitigation, climate change, disaster reduction. We also ratified our offer in the area of human resources, training and medical assistance that make a contribution to the development program of CARICOM,” he said.
