Towards Barbados, Cuba has a special feeling, because there are several milestones in the history of our relations that mark us deeply; One of them was when this country, along with three other Caribbean nations —Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago— established diplomatic relations with us (December 8, 1972) in total defiance of the Yankee empire.
“Another moment was when the attack on the Cubana plane —on October 6, 1976—, which fell in the waters of Barbados, and we know all the honor that this people does every day to the victims of that terrorist act.”
The First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, visibly moved, referred to the deep ties between these two Antilles. It was during the afternoon-night of this Monday, when both official delegations analyzed, drew up and decided to develop actions that allow increasing economic, commercial, cultural, sports, and health ties, among other sectors.
After concluding an official visit to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, the Head of State arrived at the Grantley Adams International Airport in Bridgetown around 1:30 pm, where Prime Minister Mía Amor Mottley was waiting for him.
"All these years," Díaz-Canel added, "have been of a respectful, loving, exemplary relationship, cooperation, mutual aid, recognition, and that has allowed us to advance in a group of fields, and also, at the time, like good brothers, pain united us and pain helped us.
In the same scenario, Mottley pointed out that the relationship between Barbados and Cuba goes back many years before establishing formal relations, when artists from both sides established contacts and influenced each other, and when many Barbadians went to Cuba to work in the cane fields with the dream of having a better life.
In addition -she pointed out to his ministerial cabinet, meeting in full session with the Cuban delegation-, "we have to do what we must do at an institutional level to comply with those Caribbean leaders who had the courage to establish relations with Cuba when only Mexico was the only country in the region that did so. We also have to have that courage in these difficult times for Cuba and for our other Caribbean peoples."
TO ADVANCE FURTHER IN RELATIONSHIPS
After his arrival, Díaz-Canel paid a courtesy visit to the Barbadian President, Sandra Mason, and then held a first meeting with the Prime Minister at her official residence, from where they both went to the convention center where the two-sided meeting.
The delegation of the Greater Antilles is made up of the member of the Political Bureau and foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, and by the heads of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz; of Public Health, José Angel Portal Miranda, and of Science, Technology and Environment, Elba Rosa Pérez Montoya, in addition to the president of Biocubafarma, Eduardo Martínez Díaz, among other personalities.
In the context of his official visit to Barbados, Díaz-Canel will also participate in the VIII CARICOM-Cuba Summit, to be held this Tuesday, December 6 in the context of the celebrations for the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with these countries, at first, by the four newly independent nations whose leaders took that historic step: Errol Barrow (Barbados), Forbes Burnham (Guyana), Michael Manley (Jamaica) and Eric Williams (Trinidad and Tobago).
During the bilateral talks this Monday, President Díaz-Canel pointed out that in preparing for the visit one objective was to find how to advance mutual ties, beyond Public Health and sports, where there is solid cooperation, in addition of the high political dialogue that exists between both governments.
We were asking ourselves, he noted, “how could we find new ways, more breakthroughs? And I think that this meeting that we have had here today has exceeded my expectations," he said.
Moreover, in this exchange —he added— “above all, the willingness and commitment that we can do things and that we can find new fields and new areas of cooperation, development, complementarity has prevailed.
For her part, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley emphasized the need, urgency and convenience of strengthening economic, social, cultural and all kinds of ties with Cuba.
"I do not know where," he said, "we would be today without the Cuban medical brigade that for the last two years has worked to confront the Covid-19 pandemic in our country (...) and I would not know where we would be inside one year if we do not continue to maintain the collaboration of Cuban nurses, because our health system needs this additional support."
PURPOSES AND AGREEMENTS
The bilateral meeting concluded with official statements from Díaz-Canel and Mia Mottley in which they summarized the agreements and perspective work directions. A Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in biotechnology was also signed between ExportBarbados and Biocubafarma, which was signed by Mark Hill, executive director of the Barbadian organization, and Dr. Eduardo Martínez Díaz, president of the Cuban institution.
It was also agreed to promote the use of the biotechnological product Heberprot-p, the only one of its kind in the world, for the care of diabetic foot disease in the Barbadian population and to reduce the amputation of lower limbs in a country, where, it was pointed out, Diabetes has become an epidemic.
Furthermore, taking advantage of all the potential that Cuban biotechnology can offer, with its new products and vaccines, as well as to promote the development of these sciences and technologies in Barbados, were themes debated in the lecture.
At the beginning of the bilateral meeting, the Minister of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment, Rodrigo Malmierca Díaz, had expressed Cuba's commitment to CARICOM and Barbados, to develop close economic relations and reach a new level of cooperation.
Havana and Bridgetown thus decided to advance in sectors such as tourism, health, sports, agriculture, the environment, education and transportation, among other areas.
In the sports sector, it was agreed to increase the training of Barbadian coaches in Cuba, in disciplines where the Greater Antilles has a great development —which there are many—, as well as Cuban coaches in Barbados. It was also proposed to support Cuba in areas such as cricket and table tennis.
Another consensus was the need to advance, jointly with the countries of the region, in the establishment of stable air and maritime services, in order to favor commercial exchanges and encourage greater tourist interaction, especially multi-destination tourism. The Barbadian side proposed that Cuba promote Barbados as a second destination, and vice versa.
Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley explained that her country has made progress in this regard with several countries in the area and is in a position to designate a local carrier that includes movements to Cuba, and appointed her Minister of Tourism and Air Transport to investigate the possibilities that there is in this regard and implement it as quickly as possible.
The parties also agreed to develop exchanges in Education, such as language teaching, Cuba with Spanish and Barbados with English, both preparing language teachers from both countries, as well as granting scholarships.
In agriculture, among other purposes, it was proposed that the Greater Antilles support with its scientific potential, the recovery of the yields of sugarcane plantations in Barbados.
From the Cuban agroecological development, it was requested to work to favor the use here of biopesticides achieved by Cuban science, as well as biotechnology and pharmaceutical products for veterinary use.
There was agreement on the need to find payment systems that facilitate bilateral and Caribbean trade. We, Prime Minister Mía Mottley pointed out, are going to work quickly to find a mechanism that favors greater regional trade without having to depend on the United States of America and the obstacles imposed by the blockade of that country against Cuba, something that is embarrassing.
In the exchange between the Cuban delegation and the members of the Barbandos executive, collaboration in the fight against climate change was also analyzed, such as coastal protection and the restoration of reefs, among other challenges that weigh on the Caribbean islands and in which Cuba —it was said— he has been accumulating a great deal of knowledge, materialized in the State Plan for confronting climate change, known as Tarea Vida.
The success of the Greater Antilles in preventing and coping with extreme weather events, such as cyclones, was also praised, which has allowed it, said the Prime Minister, to develop a strategy that reaches the territorial level and that is unique in the world. Mottley requested to send a mission of Barbadian specialists so that they can learn about and learn from the Cuban experience in this area.
Besides, he reported the approval of an annual financing of one million Barbadian dollars, for a period of five years, to promote artistic and cultural exchanges between both countries, in such a way that it contributes to the formation and development of the potential of young people in arts such as dance, music and plastic arts, among others.