BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Cuban and Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders have ended their one-day summit here on Tuesday, with Havana saying that the deliberations had “exceeded our expectations.”
CARICOM chairman and Suriname President, Chandrikapersad “Chan” Santokhi, told a news conference that “we can look back to insightful and fruitful deliberations” and that the summit, which coincided with 50 years of diplomatic relations between Havana and four CARICOM countries, “certainly solidifies the strong partnership, between CARICOM and Cuba.”
He said the summit had adopted a “Conference Declaration,” which he said “is further testimony of our commitment to further this partnership.
“Among other things, we highly appreciate that the Declaration calls for simplifying and streamlining access criteria across donors and multilateral funds to accelerate climate finance to the region, taking into account the unique and special circumstances of SIDS (Small islands Developing States),” Santohki told reporters.
He said CARICOM remains committed to working with Cuba to ensure that the deliverables of the Declaration are achieved.
Santosh said that the text of the Declaration would be distributed later and Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel told reporters that the summit had “exceeded our expectations.”
He said there were new proposals submitted for consideration, adding, “we had a most productive meeting.
“We pledge to continue strengthening our existing relations among our governments and the strong beliefs that our links cannot be broken,” he said, adding that Havana had reaffirmed “our willingness to cooperate, within our ability with our sister nations of the Caribbean.”
He said Cuba also reaffirmed its commitment to help the Caribbean in its quest to obtain reparation for slavery, and ‘we also ratified our call for preferential treatment of the small islands states in the Caribbean”.
President Diaz-Canel said the summit also discussed “the serious challenges of climate change” and its impact on the development of the region.
“In this respect, we also presented a proposal for mutual benefit in the area of mitigation, climate change, and disaster reduction. We also ratified our offer in the area of human resources, training, and medical assistance that make a contribution to the development program of CARICOM,” he said.
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