Yesterday, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Cuba celebrated the thirty-eighth anniversary of their relations. In 1972, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Guyana, and Jamaica decided to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba.

This gesture paved the way for other Caribbean territories to develop bonds of friendship and cooperation with the sister nation and later, in 2002, led to the implementation of the CARICOM-Cuba summits.

These meetings are carried out every three years to review and develop the projects of cooperation and integration in areas such as education, health, energy, and trade, among others. For nearly four decades, Cuba has awarded grants, technical assistance, personnel and medical assistance in natural disaster situations free of charge and a large number of partners provide services in the Caricom states.

The most recent sample of Cuba’s solidarity is the deployment of more than 1,200 doctors in Haiti to fight the cholera epidemic now plaguing the nation, leaving close to 2,210 deaths and 93, 222 infected since its start last October. For its part, the Caribbean group favors the cessation of the financial, commercial, and economic blockade that the United States has held against the island for close to half a century.

The fourth Caricom-Cuba Summit will take place in Trinidad and Tobago in 2011 and will have among its goals to increase cooperation programs and strengthen the links between the various countries.

For full article (in Spanish), seehttp://www.juventudrebelde.cu/internacionales/2010-12-08/cuba-y-caricom-festejan-38-anos-de-relaciones/