Luis Enrique Gonzalez, Special Correspondent
Bridgetown, Dec 8, 2005. (Prensa Latina) Cuban President Fidel Castro is in Barbados at the 2nd Cuba-Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Summit.
The Cuban leader was welcomed by CARICOM general secretary Edwin Carrington, Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur and current Caribbean bloc chairman Kenny Anthony.
The Cuban delegation is made up of Vice President Carlos Lage, Foreign
Minister Felipe Perez Roque, State Council secretary Jose Miyar and
member Carlos Valenciaga and Government Minister Ricardo Cabrisas,
among others.
Statements against terrorism and in favor of fostering the Caribbean
group's link with Cuba are among the main issues of the Barbados Declaration.
Cuba and the 15 CARICOM member nations will strengthen cooperation
in health, education, culture, sports, agriculture and environment,
among others.
Today's agenda also includes a special ceremony to remember the victims
of the terrorist attack on a Cuban plane off the Barbadian coasts on
October 6, 1976 that killed 73 people.
According to the Barbadian Foreign Ministry, dignitaries will have two working sessions before signing the final documents.
The Caribbean bloc is composed of Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Santa Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname plus Trinidad and Tobago.