Address by the Hon. Sam Condor on the Occasion of the 38th Annual CARICOM-Cuba Day.
( 8th December , 2010)
Fellow citizens, residents:
I bid you a pleasant evening, and crave your attention for a few minutes to address you on what I consider to be a most significant political imitative for our CARICOM Region; and that is CARICOM – Cuba Day, which is celebrated on December 8th annually.
Perhaps as a Region we could have done and should do more to inspire greater Caribbean Consciousness regarding the importance and relevance of this initiative and to find increased and creative avenues to further strengthen bilateral and multilateral relations between Cuba and CARICOM.
It was on the 8th December 1972, at the height of the Cold War, that (4) four of our Caribbean great political visionaries acted in utter defiance of US Isolation Policy toward Cuba. Being firm in their belief that as one people of one Caribbean, with much diversity but sharing similar aspirations, they took the unprecedented step jointly, to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba.
It was that demonstration of clarity of vision, boldness, acceptance of our own and an understanding of the value of diversity that the CARICOM Leaders and President Fidel Castro wished to have perpetuated and celebrated when they signed the Havana Declaration on December 8th, 2002, declaring every 8th December, CARICOM-Cuba Day.
As a Caribbean Community we use this day to express our appreciation to the Government and People of Cuba for the technical and other forms of assistance provided to Member States at both the National and Regional levels.
Without a doubt, tangible contributions have been made to development of our Human Capital. The Scholarship Programme has enabled many CARICOM Nationals to complete undergraduate Studies in a wide range of disciplines, such as Medicine, Primary Education, Engineering, Architecture, Agronomy, Art, Finance, Physical Education, Nursing etc.
And so that decision of 38 years ago, by Prime Ministers, Errol Barrow, Michael Manley, Eric Williams and President Forbes Burnham later enjoined by the entire CARICOM Membership continues today to yield dividends on both sides. Caribbean Nationals from all walks of life have benefited greatly through avenues for further education, highlighted earlier, also through the promotion and presentation of our culture, through their cultural exports and institutions. Carifesta and the travelling film festival are two of the shared events emanating.
The common Caribbean identity shared between Cuba and the Community it is felt has been integral in encouraging south-south co-operation which is facilitated through groups such as G77; where Cuba and CARICOM collaborate to ensure cohesive articulation and promotion of collective economic and development interests.
It is important to note that CARICOM has in gratitude, reciprocated in areas of annual support at the United Nations General Assembly, of the Cuban–sponsored resolution “necessity of ending the economic commercial and financial embargo imposed by the USA against Cuba. We continue also to use every opportunity at appropriate fora to appeal to the USA to bring an end, to what we consider to be unfair suffering of our Cuban neighbours and friends, resulting from this decades-old embargo.
As we show appreciation and love on this CARICOM-Cuba Day 2010, and contemplate the profound impact Cuba has had on our Region in general and our Nation in particular, we think of Cuba’s continued assistance to Haiti in the aftermath of the January 12th Earthquake and the Cholera Epidemic. We think of the many medical and other health practitioners deployed in hospitals and other medical institutions, rehabilitation centres. Those technical specialists in agriculture, in sports, in culture across our islands; and the development of institutions and peoples in the process.
The works of their extremely skilled sculptors adorn many villages, towns and historical sites throughout the islands. I pinpoint in our own island, the bust and full body of our first national hero the Rt. Excellent Sir Robert L. Bradshaw at the Airport and St. Paul’s Memorial Park respectively; and the Bust of C.A. Paul Southwell at the Industrial Park named in his honour.
Permit me to acknowledge the invaluable assistance and contributions of the Cuban Resident Ambassadors over the years inclusive of the current Ambassador, His Excellency Jorge Payret, who continues the legacy of successfully facilitating technical, political and diplomatic exchanges between our two Governments and ensuring the maintenance of a close bond of family and friendship.
This bond is what we celebrate every CARICOM-Cuba Day. A bond that bears stark resemblance to our heritage, ties of the past. Let us celebrate also that memorable day of July 4 1973, when CARICOM was inaugurated, as the world’s smallest economic integration movement.
Today, with all its real and imagined weaknesses, CARICOM stands as a very encouraging example of what we are capable of doing better, when we work together as one. So as we rejoice in the ongoing cooperation between CARICOM and Cuba and the possibilities that exists for strengthening and developing this bond of friendship, we celebrate also our oneness in diversity.
I ask that we allow ourselves to see the merit, the dividends that can accrue, when, like Barrow, Williams, Burnham and Manley we come together as one.
---- King Konris says, we would be “an unstoppable force.” (1)
May God continue to guide us along the way.
Long live CARICOM-CUBA relationship as God continues to bless and prosper our Lands and our Peoples.
---Konris Maynard, or King Konris born 8 July 1983 on the island of St. Kitts, is most notable for having won the Saint Kitts and Nevis National Calypso Show four times in succession, a record only he holds. Maynard also won a fifth crown, to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of the Independence of Saint Kitts and Nevis. On August 2010 he became the first person to win the Leeward Islands Calypso Monarch Competition two years in a row.
(Cubaminrex-Embacuba San Kitts y Nevis) |