Fidel expected at Caribbean-Cuba summit
Campaign News | Monday, 5 December 2005
Second CARICOM-Cuba conference to discuss deepening ties
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados 4 Dec: Relations between the 15-member CARICOM grouping and Cuba, its most north-westerly Caribbean neighbour, are expected to be further strengthened when the Second CARICOM-Cuba Summit convenes here in Barbados this week at the Barbados Hilton.
The December 7 to 8 meeting will bring together President Fidel Castro and the Heads of Government of CARICOM to deliberate over a number of regional and international matters.
It follows on the first such summit, which was held in Cuba in 2002, and an undertaking to meet triennially.
December 8 is observed throughout the region as CARICOM-Cuba Day and is the anniversary date of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago in 1972.
A meeting of the region’s Foreign Ministers on Wednesday, December 7, will precede the main discussions by the Heads the following day. The official opening on Thursday will feature addresses by the host of the meeting, Prime Minister Owen Arthur of Barbados, and the two co-Chairs, Dr Kenny Anthony of St Lucia, the current Chairman of CARICOM, and the President of Cuba, Dr Fidel Castro.
A number of official working sessions are also slated for Thursday, as well as a wreath laying ceremony at the Cubana Monument in St James, the signing of bilateral agreements, and an end of summit press conference.
http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/2005/12/05/begins.shtml
