HIS EXCELLENCY Julio Cesar Gonzalez Marchante, Plenipotentiary Representative of the State of Cuba, yesterday, presented his credentials to the CARICOM Secretary General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, at the Headquarters of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat at Turkeyen, East Coast Demerara.At the ceremony hosted to receive the credentials, Ambassador LaRocque related: “Excellency, it is my pleasure to receive today your Letters of Credence, accrediting you as Cuba’s fourth Plenipotentiary Representative to the Caribbean Community.

“CARICOM-Cuba relations have been a trailblazer in South-South Cooperation. The high level of collaboration at the political level is evidenced by the summits of CARICOM and Cuba Heads of State and Government, held every three years.

“Sir, it is perhaps in the field of human resource capacity-building that the people of the region are most keenly aware of the support of Cuba to their development. Indeed, among the Community’s external partners, Cuba is by far the largest contributor in this area through the generous offering of numerous scholarships.

“Excellency, I wish to reiterate the appreciation of the Community for the long-standing and mutually beneficial relations we have enjoyed with Cuba. It is in this tradition that I gladly accept your credentials.

“I formally bid you a warm welcome to the Community, and I look forward to working with you in order to further CARICOM-Cuba relations.”

Having presented his credentials, the Cuban Plenipotentiary Representative, His Excellency Mr Julio Cesar Gonzalez Marchante, responded to Ambassador LaRocque’s remarks as follows: “It is a great honour for me to represent the people, and to present, on behalf of the Government of Cuba, to CARICOM credentials.

“Today, Cuba enjoys with satisfaction the privilege to have diplomatic representation in almost all Caribbean nations; and over the last 41 years, has contributed significantly to the advancement of our relations, particularly in (the areas of) health, education, sports, culture, energy and construction”.

Completing his response with a quote from the former Cuban President Fidel Castro, Mr Marchante said: “We Cubans are proud of our Caribbean roots and the relations with the nations of the region. We appreciate the support we have received from the governments, and we are deeply committed to those we share this history with”.

The relationship between Cuba and the member states of the Caribbean Community is a unique one, which has been forged over several decades. Since that historic day of December 8, 1972, which saw the Caribbean states of Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba, the bonds of friendship and solidarity between CARICOM countries and Cuba have grown and deepened significantly; and December 8 is now celebrated annually as CARICOM-Cuba Day.
By Rebecca Ganesh-Ally