SAINT GEORGE. Grenada is the southernmost of the Windward Islands. As an archipelago, it also includes some of the Grenadine Islands. Besides tourism and fishing, its economy is based on the production of species such as saffron, cloves, bay leaves, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, although its main product is nutmeg, of which it is the third world producer. That is why it is also known as the island of species.
Diplomatic relations between Cuba and Grenada were formalized on April 14, 1979, a month after the victory of the revolution led by Maurice Bishop at the head of a group of young Nueva Joya Party militants who put an end to the dominance of Eric Gairy, since 1954 in power when the country was still under the rule of the British Crown, which gave it formal independence on February 7, 1974.
The links ended after the invasion of the United States in October 1983, in which 24 Cuban colleagues who collaborated in that country lost their lives, where, among other things, they supported the construction of an international airport to contribute to the development of that nation.
The suspension of relations was maintained until 1992 when Prime Minister Nicholas Brathwaite managed to restore them.
On August 3, 1998, during a visit to that nation as part of a tour that included Jamaica and Barbados, and in response to an invitation from then Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, at a mass event at Aunty Recreation Ground, he said in Reference to strengthening relations since 1992:
“I must tell you that we are very happy that we were able to renew the cooperative relationship between Cuba and Grenada. It’s like a rebirth, like a spring green; of spring, as the poet would say, or as our famous calypso singer wanted to say, who should never know winter».
The current tour of Grenada by the Cuban leadership, this time led by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, is one of solidarity and mutual cooperation.
Cuba also appreciates Grenada’s support in the United Nations General Assembly, which has voted since 1995 for the resolution calling for the lifting of the economic blockade imposed by the United States; and Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell’s statements against the inclusion of the Greater Antilles on the list of terrorism-supporting countries.
Cooperation with Granada is currently developing mainly in the construction and healthcare sectors. Undoubtedly, President Díaz-Canel’s visit will deepen these friendly and cooperative relations.
A temple of solidarity between the two countries is also the memorial erected there in honor of the Cubans who died during the invasion and occupation of the United States in 1983, which stands on one of the areas occupied by the camps of the helpers working there during the construction of the airport.