Between 1961 and 2002, 1,085 students graduated in Cuba from countries that had gradually integrated into the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on August 1, 1973; They had graduated in more than 33 disciplines, 818 of them at university level.
The data were presented by Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz on December 8, 2002, during celebrations in Havana to mark the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with the region’s four independent English-speaking countries.
They had won sovereignty in the 1960s during the anti-colonial wave, to which the Cuban Revolution and its constant denunciation of the colonial status of territories in the Caribbean, Africa and other parts of the world made a bold contribution.
The irrevocable decision of the leaders of Jamaica (Michael Manley), Trinidad and Tobago (Eric Williams), Guyana (Forbes Burnham) and Barbados (Errol Barrow) that put an end to the isolation of Latin America and the Caribbean, which Cuba was part of one Part of the United States and subject to the OAS was completed on December 8, 1972.
That day, representatives of the four states and the Greater Antilles signed the formal agreement at parallel events held at the Jamaica Mission to the United Nations and Cuba’s diplomatic headquarters in Ottawa. Today all independent countries of the Caribbean Community have embassies in Havana and vice versa.
The education of young people from the region in Cuban schools continued to increase year after year. On December 8, 2002, the Commander-in-Chief reiterated that our college centers are available to thousands of them, including around a thousand medical students, free of charge.
Fidel added on this occasion today: “Cuba is sending 1,174 civilian workers to the CARICOM countries. Of these, 964 in health, more than two-thirds as donations of services “because some” sister countries did not have the financial means to pay for these vital professional services.
The relationship of solidarity and cooperation between our nations has been enduring and has continued to develop ever since, and this December 8, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, will lead the delegation to the VIII. Cuba-CARICOM Summit meeting, held in Bridgetown, Barbados, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of mutual relations and the 20th anniversary of the start of these meetings between heads of state and government.
In summary, as of the end of last June, 6,164 young people from the Caribbean community have graduated from Cuba’s study centers and another 869 are currently studying at our universities.
CUBA-CARICOM IS ALSO WRITTEN SOLIDARITY
Currently, 1,698 Cuban public health workers serve in 13 CARICOM countries and one non-independent territory. Of these, 351 are members of the Henry Reeve International Contingent brigades.
During the confrontation with the pandemic, Cuba deployed 17 Henry Reeve Brigades to 12 CARICOM countries and five non-independent territories for a total of 670 professionals. In addition to healthcare, today around 600 professionals from the Ministry of Education, INDER, construction and hydraulic resources, among others, work together in the Caribbean community.
Members of the Caribbean Community have maintained a vertical position in defense of Cuba. Their solidarity and unconditional support is shown, for example, in the US government’s continued condemnation of the economic, trade and financial blockade against the island and the bloc’s approval of the resolution that every year at the UN calls for an end to these arbitrary measures .
At the CUBA-CARICOM Summit 2020, held virtually between the different capitals due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Díaz-Canel pointed out:
“We appreciate that the close ties that CARICOM and Cuba have forged have been cemented and that they were personal efforts by Commander-in-Chief of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro Ruz and Army General Raúl Castro Ruz. The idea of our leaders to work together in solidarity, to support each other in the face of the challenges that the colonial past has imposed on us and to defend the essence of our friendship is still firmly defended by all of us.
«I thank once again the solidarity, respect and courage of the Caribbean in their relationship with our country. We are little giants in a world ruled by hypocrisy and cruelty.
There is also a trade and economic cooperation agreement between Cuba and CARICOM that covers the most diverse areas, both in health, education, sports, culture, and in areas related to tourist services, travel, transport, construction, telecommunications and information technology, and other.
The great solidarity between these countries is more than eloquent; There hasn’t been a hurricane, earthquake, volcanic eruption, or other natural disaster that Cuba hasn’t turned to its neighbors for help.
Examples of this abound over the last 60 years, including some little-known ones, such as that in 1997, when the Greater Antilles, following the eruption of the La Soufrière volcano that buried Plymouth, the territory’s capital, children and young people from Montserrat in Tarará accommodated. British overseas territory with 4,000 inhabitants.
The solidarity of the Caribbean with Cuba is also well known, such as the shipment of medicines, food and other resources during the pandemic caused by COVID-19 and in light of the recent natural and technological disasters on the island.