President of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel, has expressed his deep appreciation to Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and the Government of Barbados for hosting the Eighth CARICOM-Cuba Summit with a promise of continued assistance to the region as needed.
He gave the undertaking yesterday afternoon during a closing press conference following the opening ceremony and plenary sessions at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Two Mile Hill, St. Michael.
President Díaz-Canel said the leadership of the four Caribbean giants gave rise to the continuity of the process of the principles of solidarity that had begun decades ago.
Pledging to build on previous commitments made in other CARICOM-Cuba Summits, he stressed: “Cuba will continue to share what little resources we have. Every problem that you have in the Caribbean becomes ours.”
He continued: “Over the years, new areas of cooperation have emerged while other areas have been reinforced. We reaffirm our readiness to cooperate to the extent of our ability with the sister nations of the Caribbean.”
President Díaz-Canel added that the summit afforded officials the opportunity to discuss the challenges of climate change, the consequences of which are affecting the development and well-being of Caribbean citizens.
In this regard, the Cuban President said his government presented proposals of mutual benefit to the region in the area of mitigation, climate change and disaster deduction among other areas.
“So, this [Summit] was a pleasant feeling to find among the participants, several graduates… who had started in Cuba, and some of them are already holding senior responsibilities such as Prime Ministers in their nations,” he stated.