On Thursday 20th September 2018, St. Kitts and Nevis Ambassador, Her Excellency Verna Mills was the guest of honour at a brief ceremony held at the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), to commemorate the 35th Anniversary of the Federation’s Independence.
The event was hosted by ICAP’s Vice-President for Latin America and the Caribbean, José Prieto Cintado. Invited guests included members of the Diplomatic Corps, representatives of Cuban Institutions and Organisations, members of the Caribbean Chair of the University of Havana, the Caribbean Association of Cuba and officials and employees of ICAP.
José Prieto Cintado, in his remarks commended St. Kitts and Nevis for another milestone in the nation’s history and praised the quality of the longstanding relations between St. Kitts and Nevis and Cuba. He also thanked the Federation for its continued support to Cuba for the United States to lift the commercial, economic and financial embargo on Cuba.
Ambassador Mills, in her response, also lauded the strong bonds of friendship that exist between both countries and stated that St. Kitts and Nevis will always value its friendship with Cuba. She further commented that St. Kitts and Nevis commits to enhancing the ties with Cuba, not only at the government level but also at the people’s level.
Ambassador Mills admonished the gathering that “Being an independent nation comes with a cost – a cost of commitment from each individual to develop the country; a cost of time to educate our children to love abundantly, to have values, to be responsible, and patriotic; a cost of having a high level of discipline and service to continue building the land we call home.”
Ambassador Mills closed by thanking and expressing her appreciation to everyone for accompanying St. Kitts and Nevis in the activity and reiterated her gratitude to the ICAP Management team for organizing it.