Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley greets Cuba’s Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rogelio Sierra Díaz, at their courtesy call on Monday. (C.Pitt/BGIS)
Barbados and Cuba will continue their bilateral relations and explore possibilities for further cross-sectoral collaboration.
This was emphasised on Monday, during a courtesy call by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, Rogelio Sierra Díaz on Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, at Parliament.
Prime Minister Mottley outlined education, health, culture, heritage and tourism as areas ripe for cooperation.
Specifically, she discussed the possibility of Cuba assisting Barbados in its quest to help the nation’s youth become bilingual, and collaborating on nursing education, Alzheimer’s medical development, biotechnology and multi-destination tourism.
Ms. Mottley further suggested cooperation in heritage preservation and cultural exchanges, particularly in music, as she believed market opportunities needed to be explored for artists of both countries.
In turn, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, Mr. Díaz assured Barbados that it could continue to count on the friendship and support of Cuba, even though both countries are now under new leadership.
Extending congratulatory messages to Prime Minister Mottley on behalf of Cuba’s newly elected President of the Council of State, Miguel Díaz-Canel, he said, “Barbados and the Caribbean are still a priority for Cuban foreign policy.”
Noting that Barbados and Cuba should “take advantage of each other’s capabilities and talents”, he agreed that exploring a bilingual programme could assist both islands, as there was also a need for more Cubans to learn English.
Deputy Minister Díaz assured the Prime Minister that Barbados and other Caribbean countries had Cuba’s support in disaster risk management and in the fight for compensation and reparations against the damages of slavery. He also encouraged Barbadian businesses to explore investment opportunities in Cuba.
Barbados and Cuba established diplomatic relations in December 1972.