Cuba moving ahead

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

In January 1959, the victory of the revolutionary forces allowed the Cuban people to attain true independence and sovereignty.

As a result of more than five decades of revolution, and despite challenges including external aggressions of various kinds, Cuba is today a stable country, with a united, educated and healthy people convinced of the importance of globalising solidarity to build a better world.

In August 2011 the Cuban Parliament endorsed the Guidelines on the Economic and Social Policy of the Party and the Revolution, a document approved in April by the Sixth Congress of our party after a wide process of popular debate which confirmed the importance of preserving and improving socialism in Cuba.

Those guidelines constitute the compass for the gradual updating of Cuba´s economic model aimed at strengthening its revolution.

In 2011, despite being a blockaded nation also affected by the global financial crisis, Cuba´s economy showed an acceptable and sustained performance registering a 2.7 per cent growth in its GDP. For 2012, Cuba foresees a 3.4 per cent GDP growth.

Cuba managed to preserve important social achievements, which allowed my country to be ranked 51st in the 2011 UN Human Development Index. For example, Cuba ended 2011 with an infant mortality rate of 4.9 per 1,000 live births. We have an entire literate population with full access to all levels of education free of charge, while the country has already surpassed the figure of one million university graduates since 1959.

Cuba continues to enjoy an increasing international recognition maintaining diplomatic relations with over 180 countries. We have received the moral support of many governments and peoples in our denunciation of the

five-decade-old blockade, while solidarity is growing in the case of the five Cuban antiterrorist fighters unjustly imprisoned in US territory.

My country has continued to offer its modest cooperation to other sister nations of the south, including all Caricom countries.

We have just ended a dynamic year for the relations between Cuba and the Caricom countries, a fact that was recognised at the recently held Fourth Caricom-Cuba Summit in which our country's delegation was headed by President Raúl Castro.

During 2011 the friendly and cooperative ties between Cuba and Jamaica continued to strengthen. Over 150 Cubans participated in bilateral programmes implemented in Jamaica mainly in the fields of health, education and

energy-saving. Cuba´s scholarship programmes have graduated close to 600 Jamaicans so far, while around 250 Jamaicans are currently studying in my country.

The "Miracle Operation" Eye Care Programme continues to be implemented in Jamaica. Since 2005 to date, more than 60,000 Jamaicans have been screened under that programme, while more than 7,500 patients have undergone eye surgery free of charge, including over 2,500 patients at the Cuba-Jamaica Ophthalmology Centre.

Last year, Cuba was visited by Jamaican Government delegations including those headed by the then ministers of health, information, transport and national security, and various important cooperation agreements were signed.

Both countries continued to support each other in international fora. Last October, at the UN General Assembly, the Government of Jamaica again supported the resolution on the necessity of ending the US blockade against Cuba. That position was also shared by the House of Representatives of Jamaica. Cuba deeply appreciates that solidarity. We also thank those Jamaicans who have been involved in friendship groups with Cuba.

Jamaica celebrates its 50th anniversary of Independence this year, and in December we will commemorate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Jamaica and Cuba.

This year has already witnessed important bilateral activities such as the presence of a Cuban delegation, headed by HE Esteban Lazo, vice-president of the Council of State, at the recent swearing-in ceremony of Mrs Portia Simpson Miller as prime minister. A few days ago, our respective Ministries of Health signed a bilateral agreement to renew the technical cooperation provided by Cuba in the public sector of Jamaica.

I'd like to propose a toast to the 53rd anniversary of the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, and to the further strengthening of the longstanding friendship between the peoples and governments of Jamaica and Cuba.

The above is an edited version of a speech by Cuban Ambassador Yuri A Gala López at a diplomatic reception on January 25 to mark the 53rd Anniversary of the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution, officially commemorated on January 1.

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Cuba moving ahead