Editing Foreign relations of Cuba (section)

=== Caribbean Community (CARICOM) ===

Ties between the nations of the [[Caribbean Community]] (CARICOM) and Cuba have remained cordial over the course of the later half of the 20th century.<ref>[http://www.nationnews.com/story/284896411769321.php Arthur points out ties that bind] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222071701/http://www.nationnews.com/story/284896411769321.php |date=2012-02-22 }} ''The Nation'' newspaper</ref> Formal diplomatic relations between the CARICOM economic giants: [[Barbados]], [[Jamaica]], [[Guyana]] and [[Trinidad and Tobago]] have existed since 1972,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/NewViewNewsleft.cfm?Record=23679 |title=Advocate |publisher=Barbadosadvocate.com |access-date=2012-03-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215152242/http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/NewViewNewsleft.cfm?Record=23679 |archive-date=2012-02-15 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20051207t210000-0500_94154_obs_all_set_for_cuba_caricom_summit.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080228073721/http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20051207t210000-0500_94154_obs_all_set_for_cuba_caricom_summit.asp|url-status=dead|title=All set for Cuba/Caricom Summit – JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM|archive-date=February 28, 2008}}</ref> and have over time led to an increase in cooperation between the [[CARICOM Heads of Government]] and Cuba. At a summit meeting of sixteen Caribbean countries in 1998, Fidel Castro called for regional unity, saying that only strengthened cooperation between Caribbean countries would prevent their domination by rich nations in a global economy.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/156312.stm | title = Castro calls for Caribbean unity | publisher = BBC New | access-date = 2006-05-21 | date=1998-08-21 | location=London}}</ref> Cuba, for many years regionally isolated, increased grants and scholarships to the Caribbean countries.

To celebrate ties between the Caribbean Community and Cuba in 2002 the Heads of Government of Cuba and CARICOM have designated the day of December 8 to be called 'CARICOM-Cuba Day'.<ref>[http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/2004/12/07/sanders.htm Caribbean Net News: CARICOM-Cuba Day: 8 December – A time for Celebration] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080226133925/http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/2004/12/07/sanders.htm |date=February 26, 2008 }}</ref> The day is the exact date of the formal opening of diplomatic relations between the first CARICOM-four and Cuba.

In December 2005, during the second CARICOM/CUBA summit held in Barbados, heads of CARICOM and Cuba agreed to deepen their ties in the areas of socio-economic and political cooperation in addition to medical care assistance. Since the meeting, Cuba has opened four additional embassies in the Caribbean Community including: [[Antigua and Barbuda]], [[Dominica]], [[Suriname]], and [[Saint Vincent and the Grenadines]]. This development makes Cuba the only nation to have embassies in all independent countries of the Caribbean Community.<ref>[http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000008/000823.htm Caribbean Net News: Cuba opens more Caribbean embassies] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415220746/http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/cgi-script/csArticles/articles/000008/000823.htm |date=April 15, 2009 }}</ref> CARICOM and Canadian politicians<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.caricom.org/jsp/pressreleases/pres21_98.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080302020536/http://www.caricom.org/jsp/pressreleases/pres21_98.htm|url-status=dead|title=New focus on CARICOM/Canada relations|archive-date=March 2, 2008}}</ref> have jointly maintained that through the International inclusion of Cuba, a more positive change might indeed be brought about there (politically) as has been witnessed in the [[People's Republic of China]].

Cuban cooperation with the Caribbean was extended by a joint health programme between Cuba and Venezuela named [[Operación Milagro]], set up in 2004. The initiative is part of the Sandino commitment, which sees both countries coming together with the aim of offering free ophthalmology operations to an estimated 4.5 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean over a ten-year period.<ref>[http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=2305142005 Havana's Operation Miracle helps eye patients see light] News. Scotsman</ref> According to [[Denzil Douglas]], the prime minister of [[St. Kitts and Nevis]], more than 1,300 students from member nations are studying in Cuba while more than 1,000 Cuban doctors, nurses and other technicians are working throughout the region. In 1998 Trinidadian and Tobagonian Prime Minister [[Patrick Manning]] had a heart valve replacement surgery in Cuba and returned in 2004 to have a pacemaker implanted.

In December 2008 the CARICOM Heads of Government opened the third Cuba-CARICOM Summit in Cuba. The summit is to look at closer integration of the Caribbean Community and Cuba.<ref>[http://www.cananews.net/news/131/ARTICLE/32294/2008-12-08.html TIES THAT BIND: CUBA/CARICOM leaders talk closer cooperation]{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} – Caribbean News Agency (CANA) – Monday, 08 December 2008</ref> During the summit the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) bestowed Fidel Castro with the highest honour of CARICOM, [[Order of the Caribbean Community|The Honorary Order of the Caribbean Community]] which is presented in exceptional circumstances to those who have offered their services in an outstanding way and have made significant contributions to the region.<ref>[http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2008/diciembre/mar9/50orden-i.html]{{dead link|date=March 2012}}</ref><ref>[http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161410291 Caricom's highest honour for Fidel]{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} – Trinidad and Tobago Express Newspaper – December 7, 2008</ref>

In 2017 Cuba and the [[Caribbean Community]] (CARICOM) bloc signed the "CARICOM-Cuba Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://caricom.org/Document-Library/view-document/caricom-cuba-trade-and-economic-cooperation-agreement|title=CARICOM-Cuba Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement}}{{Dead link|date=December 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>