President Díaz-Canel’s first day in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ended with an emotional meeting with the Cuban State Representatives, Cuban residents and members of the Solidarity Movement with the Greater Antilles. Photo: @PresidenciaCuba/Twitter.
Since we arrived in St. Vincent and the Grenadines this morning we have received a lot of love from this city; Along the way, people have come out of their homes with signs to greet Cuba, and that affection has a lot to do with the work you’ve done.
This was pointed out by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, during a meeting this Saturday afternoon with members of the Cuban State Mission in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, of the Medical Brigade and with representatives the Society of Friendship with the Greater Antilles and Cuban men and women who live here.
After congratulating the medical brigade on celebrating Latin American Medicine Day on December 3, Díaz-Canel asked about the attitude of Cuban health workers during the La Soufriere volcano explosion on April 9 last year.
Thanks to preventive and biosecurity measures, it was explained, the life and work of these specialists could be preserved, who immediately joined the emergency services and, among other gestures of humanity and altruism, welcomed affected children, especially those who were without and themselves child protection in charge of them.
There are currently 77 public health workers and four construction workers working together in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Since bilateral relations began in May 1992, 308 students have graduated in Cuba; of which 164 in MINSAP training centers, 125 in higher education, 16 in INDER and three in MINED.
A sea of solidarity
“Since we arrived in St. Vincent and the Grenadines this morning, we have received a lot of love from this city.” Photo: @PresidenciaCuba/Twitter.
During the exchange, different stories were heard describing the deep gestures of solidarity between both countries. Renwick Rose, a member of the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines-Cuba Friendship Society, stressed that this is one of the oldest solidarity associations in the region.
It was founded on July 26, 1976. Rose spoke of how Cuba was a beacon, a guide for young people during those years when national consciousness grew in his country like a sea that crystallized with independence on September 19, 1983.
The life and work of Fidel and Che was very important to us and had a great impact. Despite the isolation Cuba faced, the lies, a group of young people in their twenties sought the truth and we faced it.
At the meeting they also introduced the young man Fared Bernal, who will study dentistry in the Greater Antilles to maintain the legacy of his father Edduys Bernal, a Cuban who has been a resident here for many years. Her boy will study on the island as part of the scholarship program for children of Cuban expatriates.
Edduys spoke for his share of the commitment of the Cuban residents of St. Vincent and the Grenadines who, he said, “We are determined to represent our country with dignity”.
It was also announced that young Shamarr Morgan, who hails from these eastern Caribbean islands, graduated as a computer engineer from CUJAE this Friday, to which Díaz-Canel added that on a symbolic day, the 2nd, he has just graduated Graduated in December when this center for higher studies celebrated its 58th anniversary by Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz.
fulfillment of a debt
President Díaz-Canel’s first day in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ended with an emotional meeting with the Cuban State Representatives, Cuban residents and members of the Solidarity Movement with the Greater Antilles. Photo: @PresidenciaCuba/Twitter.
This visit has been scheduled since 2019, stressed President Díaz-Canel. It’s almost a debt, he affirmed, recalling that Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves had been to Cuba several times in recent years. The Caribbean, he added, is our beloved region, our natural region.
As we were planning these visits (which include official trips to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados and Grenada, and attending the VIII CARICOM-Cuba Summit on December 6 in Bridgetown), I said so to my colleagues—explained that Head of State – We wanted to leave the Caribbean to go to the Caribbean.
He emphasized that his visit coincides with the 30th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations. Ours – he stressed – are exemplary relationships; and between our countries there is a high degree of political dialogue and agreement on international issues. And now he added. we must deepen complementarity and cooperation, including the economic and financial aspects.
And I bring – he said – a greeting from the Cuban people, a thank you to the people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, who, moreover, have recently made many gestures towards Cuba. Your support and solidarity came during the Covid-19 pandemic, after the Saratoga Hotel accident and major fire at the Matanzas Supertanker Terminal, and now after the passage of a hurricane.
Díaz-Canel informed the Saint Vincentians and Cubans about the current situation in Cuba and the measures to overcome the difficult times, which is being achieved on the basis of the resistance of the Cuban people, but we are talking – he said – about a resilience creativity, to your solidarity contributes a lot, from associations like yours, which nourish this creative resistance with their actions.
during the meeting, The Head of State presented the Saint Vincent and the Grenadines-Cuba Friendship Society with the 60th Anniversary Commemorative Seal of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with Peoples (ICAP), awarded by this organization. The award was accepted by the President of the Association, Bernal Hamilton, who presented Díaz-Canel and through him to the Cuban people a work of art as a sign of the close ties that unite both nations.
In the exchange led by Cuban Ambassador here, José Manuel Leyva Ventura, Politburo member and Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla; the owners of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investments, Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz; for Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda; and from Science, Technology and Environment, Elba Rosa Pérez Montoya, as well as other members of the delegation.
President Díaz-Canel’s first day in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ended with an emotional meeting with the Cuban State Representatives, Cuban residents and members of the Solidarity Movement with the Greater Antilles. Photo: @PresidenciaCuba/Twitter.