PRESIDENT Donald Ramotar, in answer to a question about Guyana’s position on the lack of a multi-party democracy within Cuba’s political system, dismissed the notion that Guyana has concerns with the status quo in that communist-ruled Caribbean island.

“You got to remember also that Cuba had a popular revolution. It wasn’t a one-man show. It wasn’t a few people. It was a mass uprising that changed the government in Cuba,” President Ramotar told reporters at a news conference he hosted at his State House residence on Saturday last.

As Head of State, Mr. Ramotar said he will not comment further on what is clearly Cuba’s internal affair.

In 1956, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara landed in Cuba with a small band of insurgents, known as the ’26th of July Movement,’ and began a guerrilla war against the government. In December 1958, Castro launched a full-scale attack and the then President, Fulgencio Batista, the American-friendly leader of Cuba, was forced to flee. In February 1959, Castro was sworn in as Prime Minister of Cuba.
President Ramotar did, however, point out that Cuba’s revolution was different from the uprisings in Brazil and Chile during the 1960s and 1970s.
He added that since then, Cuba has made significant contributions to developing states, particularly in the area of developing human capital, as is evidenced by Cuba’s partnership with Guyana to train over 300 doctors.
“Those are very, very important things that we have to look at, and Cuba’s contribution has always been very important in helping human development, and social and economic development of societies,” Mr. Ramotar said.
Guyana and Cuba have enjoyed close collaboration in health, education, culture and sports since the establishment of their diplomatic ties in December 1972. In 1974, the first Friendship Society between Cuba and Guyana was constituted; ten years later in 1984, appeared the Committee of Friendship and Solidarity Cuba-Guyana, and in October 2006 the Association of Friendship Guyana-Cuba was created but it was not officially registered. Last month the Guyana-Cuba Friendship Association was officially launched.

U.S. POSITION MAINTAINED
The United States of America, since the Cuban revolution, has expressed concerns time and time again over the political situation in island and maintains its half-century-old economic embargo on the nation.
Guyana’s position on the United States’ decades-old economic and financial embargo the Caribbean the regional body’s call for the U.S. to end its embargo on Cuba.
LaRocque was speaking at the presentation of letters of accreditation by Cuba’s plenipotentiary representative to CARICOM, Julio César González Marchante, at the CARICOM headquarters, Turkeyen, Georgetown.
The Secretary-General said, “Excellency, CARICOM knows well the value of unity on the international on Cuba remains unchanged, as has that of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
As recently as March this year, CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, reiterated front given that co-ordination of foreign policy is one of the pillars of our integration movement.
“We have, as a bloc, joined with like-minded states to both advance and protect our interests and support causes and initiatives of priority concern to us. This is why we have consistently supported United Nations resolutions aimed at ending the U.S. embargo on Cuba and will continue to do so.”
According to him, Cuba has demonstrated its support to the Caribbean Community time and time again, hence the Community’s consistent call for the removal of the U.S. embargo on Cuba.
LaRocque said, “Ambassador, the four CARICOM countries in 1972 broke the diplomatic embargo on Cuba in this hemisphere and Cuba’s active involvement and recent chairmanship of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) is evidence of the significant evolution of your country’s diplomatic role within the Americas.
“On behalf of the Caribbean Community, I congratulate Cuba on its successful pro-tempore Chairmanship of CELAC which saw several issues of importance to CARICOM being addressed at the Summit in Havana last January.
“These included recognising the special circumstances of small developing middle-income countries, reparations for native genocide and slavery, the role of information and communication technology in development, climate change and disaster preparedness, to name a few. All of these are topics actively being pursued on the Community’s programme of work.”
The Secretary-General also lauded Cuba’s calls for inclusiveness, when considering issues related to the UN Post-2015 Development Agenda.
He said, “The Caribbean Community is in full support of that call and it is my hope that we all take an active role in this global dialogue which will decide the future beyond the global development compact represented by the Millennium Development Goals. We must ensure that our Region’s interests are adequately and effectively addressed.”
Established in 1973, the regional body has become an important platform for its 15 members to promote regional cooperation and CARICOM-Cuba joint initiatives have caused the countries to grow closer and the region to become more integrated.
Written By Vanessa Narine