BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, December 09, 2020 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis has reaffirmed its commitment to continuing its strong and mutual partnership that it currently shares with the Government and people of the Republic of Cuba.
Thisreassurance was given by Ambassador His Excellency Vance Amory, who represented St. Kitts and Nevis, on behalf of Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, at the 7th CARICOM-Cuba Summit held via videoconference on Tuesday, December 08.
AmbassadorAmory noted that, “St. Kitts and Nevis recognizes the importance of this ongoing cooperation and collaboration between Cuba and our CARICOM countries generally, and also the bilateral arrangement which has been part of the Cuba-St. Kitts and Nevis arrangement over the years. St. Kitts and Nevis truly values these relationships.”
AmbassadorAmory was supported in Tuesday’s meeting by His Excellency Sydney Osborne, St. Kitts and Nevis’ Ambassador to CARICOM and His Excellency Ambassador Michael Powell, Special Envoy in the Office of the Prime Minister.
HisExcellency Amory used the occasion of the summit to renew St. Kitts and Nevis’ call for an end to the decades-old economic embargo placed on Cuba by the United States of America.
“We support [Cuba’s] efforts to be part of the international marketplace without the discrimination which the U.S. embargo has placed on them. St. Kitts and Nevis will always support Cuba and will always call for the removal of those unfair measures which impose pressures not on just the people of Cuba but of the region, because if one part of the region suffers then the whole region suffers,” the ambassador added.
Additionally, Ambassador Amory expressed appreciation on behalf of the people of St. Kitts and Nevis to the Government of Cuba for its continued assistance in development of the Federation, particularly in the area of health and healthcare delivery.
Henoted that this assistance by the Cuban government has “enabled us to improve the provision of healthcare in St. Kitts and Nevis.”
The7th CARICOM-Cuba Summit was held in commemoration of the 48th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between the four CARICOM independent States and Cuba and the 18th anniversary of CARICOM-Cuba Day.
OnDecember 08, 1972, Cuba established diplomatic relations with the four newly independent CARICOM Member States, namely: Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. CARICOM-Cuba Day was officially established in 2002 to celebrate the ties that continue to exist between Cuba and the Caribbean Community.
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