ROSEAU, Dominica – Dominica Monday observed its 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Cuba by urging the United States to end the decades old trade and economic embargo against Havana.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit“We believe it has been a relationship that has grown from strength to strength. We have been collaborating on a number of bilateral issues but also regional and hemispheric issues,” Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said.
“Cuba has been part of the PetroCaribe, ALBA (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America) cooperation and integration agreements, but also CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and they were very much involved in bringing about CELAC,” he added.
Skerrit said that bi-laterally, Roseau and Havana continue to work “on a number of fronts” in human resource development, education, health and wellness and that “on the international front we continue to stand in absolute solidarity with the government of Cuba”.
He said that his government along with the rest of the world have been calling for the removal of the embargo that Washington imposed on the Caribbean island since February 1960, in response to the coming into power of the Fidel Castro regime.
Washington has over the years tighten aspects of the embargo, but President Barack Obama sought to improve relations between the two countries, only for the former president, Donald Trump to reverse the measures.
“We believe that the embargo is unjust and should be removed without any delay. This has been the position of Dominica and the rest of the majority of countries across the world,” Skerrit said..
Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Kenneth Darroux, says the work of Cuba’s Medical Brigade should be recognized globally.
He said the Brigade has done “nothing but good for humanity and this has come to the fore especially during this COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic”.
He said prior to that Cuba has been able to assist in the Ebola outbreak in Africa “when a number of people dared not to venture in over in Africa.
“So, we welcome the relationship with Cuba and just recently we also renewed our medical agreement with Cuba…bearing in mind, the times that we are living in,” Darroux said, adding that he is hoping in the near future “very soon the leaders of the world will …develop the political will and testicular fortitude to really do something” regarding the embargo.
