PRIME MINISTER HARRIS ACCEPTS CREDENTIALS OF NEW CUBAN AMBASSADOR TO ST. KITTS AND NEVIS

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, January 25, 2022 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – At a brief ceremony held earlier today (Tuesday, January 25, 2022), Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris accepted the credentials of the new Resident Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba to St. Kitts and Nevis, His Excellency David Rivero Perez.

In the meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Government Headquarters’ office, Prime Minister Harris congratulated Ambassador Rivero on assuming his new post, noting, “I hope that your tenure here with us will be very productive for both of our countries.”

Dr. Harris then told the Cuban Ambassador that “St. Kitts and Nevis and Cuba have enjoyed a good relationship over the years, and many of our citizens have pursued studies of one kind or another in Cuba. They return with love for your country, appreciation for its capacity and its great potential and they return home too as unofficial ambassadors of your country because they can speak to it, they can promote it and they can defend it and over the years the number has grown into the hundreds.”

Ambassador Rivero conveyed to Prime Minister Harris the warmest regards of the Government and people of Cuba and expressed his intention of working closely with the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis to advance the relationship between both nations.

“I would take this opportunity to express the will of my Government and people to continue working together in order to promote the bilateral relations in areas of common interest. We have some common interest in climate change, natural disaster [and] we have to work together in regional integration as we have been doing. Of course, I want to express the gratitude of my Government for the solidarity that we have received from the people and Government of St. Kitts and Nevis and of course for your support in our battle every year against the blockade under the Government of the United States,” the ambassador said.

Looking ahead, Prime Minister Harris informed Ambassador Rivero that while the St. Kitts and Nevis Government is extremely grateful for the learning opportunities afforded to its citizens and residents, he would like to see more scholarships being offered in areas of specialization.

“So instead of more scholarships, for example, in general medicine, we want to find those areas where we have a great need to get our people to come as specialists being able to contribute more. As a small country, we will always have a challenge of man power, particularly at the level of specialist engagement because again the pool from which we draw is, by nature, small,” Dr. Harris said.    

Prime Minister Harris also used the opportunity to express, through the ambassador, his Government’s gratitude for Cuba’s assistance in the form of the medical brigade that was dispatched to assist the twin island Federation early on in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prior to his meeting with the prime minister, Ambassador Rivero presented his credentials to His Excellency the Governor General, Sir S.W. Tapley Seaton on January 12, 2022.