CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY (CARICOM) governments are still waiting for the United States to soften its position on Cuba.
This is one of the messages coming out of yesterday’s meeting between CARICOM foreign ministers and United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Barbados.
Dominica’s Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, chairman of the CARICOM Heads of Government, told reporters he raised the issue of Cuba being kept out in the cold by the United States.
He suggested that it was time the United States lift its trade embargo against the island.
St Vincent and the Grenadines’ Deputy Prime Minister, Sir Louis Straker, told the WEEKEND NATION that the meeting, however, did not debate the matter and that there had been no comment from Clinton.
He said he was disappointed that the issue, raised towards the end of the meeting at Hilton Barbados, had not discussed the Cuba situation.
He complained that the embargo had been damaging to Cuba’s trade and development, hurting the country’s potential.
He said there was a lot of international support for an end to the embargo and for Cuba to return to the Organisation of American States (OAS) – moves opposed by the United States.
Nevertheless, CARICOM ministers were upbeat about the outcome of the wide-ranging talks, after which Clinton announced nearly US$300 million in aid for the Caribbean. (TY)
