PM Terrance Drew-led delegation attends 8th CARICOM Cuba Summit

St Kitts and Nevis: The Federation has sent its delegation to attend the Eighth CARICOM-Cuba Summit, organised in Bridgetown, Barbados, on December 6, 2022. Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew has led the delegation.

The Prime Minister has been accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Denzil Douglas; Permanent Secretary (Ag) in the Prime Minister’s Office, Naeemah Hazelle; St Kitts and Nevis’ Resident Ambassador to the Republic of Cuba, Verna Mills; Head of the Regional Integration and Diaspora Unit (RIDU) Larry Vaughn and Senior Assistant Secretary and RIDU Representative, Samuel Berridge.

The Programme of Work for the Summit included an overview of bilateral relations, multilateral cooperation, agriculture and food security, health, climate change and disaster reduction and other global issues. The programme also witnessed a discussion of the Adoption of the Joint CARICOM-CUBA Declaration.

Cuba and St Kitts and Nevis established diplomatic relations in May 1995. The relationship between both countries started on the basis of scholarships offered to students of medicine and engineering.

The Summit 2022 celebrated the 50 years of the establishment of CARICOM-Cuba diplomatic relations. The Summit is co-chaired by the President of the Republic of Suriname and Chairman of The Conference of CARICOM Heads of State and Government, Chandrikapersad Santokhi and President of the Council of State and Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez.

The connection between Cuba and the then-four independent Caribbean nations of Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago has grown dramatically since diplomatic relations were established in 1972.

The opening remarks by Dr Carla N. Barnett, Secretary-General of the CARICOM (Caribbean Community), Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, and Chandrikapersad Santokhi, President of the Republic of Suriname are just a few of the items on the agenda for the one-day Summit.