Georgetown : The latest move by the United States of America’s President, Barrack Obama, to establish formal relations with Cuba has been welcomed by President Donald Ramotar who described it as “a major step forward in the right direction”.
President Ramotar in an invited comment by the Government Information Agency (GINA) said it was the culmination of struggles against the Cuban blockade, which began decades ago, one which few leaders dared to oppose. Dr. Cheddi Jagan, even though Guyana was still a colony, was one who voiced his support for the Cuban Government and its people and moved to break the blockade, the president noted.
“He traded with Cuba, with rice and sugar, and timber”. It was the struggle of the People’s Progressive Party, along with other progressive regional forces; he added that led to four Caribbean countries, formally recognising Cuba in 1972. “This was a very important step towards breaking the isolation of Cuba in the region”.
Cuba and the United Sates must be congratulated for the steps being taken at present, the president said, as it was “long overdue, but better late than never”.
The change in the US’s stance will be important to the region too as the Caribbean nation has contributed a great deal to human resource development within the region, in all the countries of the region and Latin America, President Ramotar emphasised. He said Cuba has helped to train people so that Guyana could have the technical skills, “so this is a victory for the hemisphere, Latin America and the Caribbean”.
The US and Cuba have agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations and open economic and travel ties, marking a historic shift in U.S. policy toward the communist island after a half-century of enmity dating back to the Cold War, American officials said Wednesday.
The announcement came amid a series of sudden confidence-building measures between the longtime foes, including the release of American prisoner Alan Gross and a U.S. spy held in Cuba and the freeing of three Cubans jailed in the U.S.
