ULP delegation visits Cuba

A four-member delegation of the Unity Labour Party, ULP, returned to the state last Sunday, February 3, 2008, after a one week stay in Cuba.{{more}}

The delegation was headed by General Secretary of the ULP Minister of Housing, Lands, Physical Planning and Informal Settlements Senator Julian Francis, and included Public Relations Officer of the ULP East Kingstown Constituency Council and Press Secretary to the Prime Minister Hans King, Executive Secretary of the ULP’s Woman’s Arm Nicola Evans and Executive member of the ULP Youth Arm, Crown Counsel Saboto Caesar.

The visit was at the invitation of the Communist Party of Cuba (Partido Comunista de Cuba, PCC), and saw the delegation meeting with several high ranking members of the PCC, including Head of the Caribbean Section of the Central Committee of the PCC Otto Marrero and President of the National Assembly and member of the Political Bureau Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada.

Meetings were also held with several branches of the PCC, including the Department of Organisation, the National Committee of the UJC (the youth arm of the party), the Federation of Cuban Women, the National Assembly of Peoples Power, the National Association of Small Farmers and the Trade Union Centre of Cuba.

The delegation visited the Memorial of Cuba’s National Hero Jose Marti and the Castellana Special School, at which they were treated to performances by persons with mental disabilities who also presented members of the delegation with gifts such as dolls and arts and craft which they did themselves.

The delegation also visited the Hospital Ophthalmologic Pando Ferrer, where many Vincentians were treated under the ‘Vision Now’ programme, which saw thousands receiving free eye surgery compliments the Government of Cuba.

The final leg of the visit took the delegation to Cienfuegos where meetings were held with the Provincial Bureau of the PCC and one of the area Committees for the Defence of the Revolution, one of two thousand such groups in the province prepared to defend Cuba and the Revolution. The hotel where some 57 Vincentians stayed under the Vision Now programme in Cienfuegos was also visited.

On the way from Cienfuegos, the delegation visited the nursing school where some 74 Vincentians are pursuing studies to become nurses over a 3 year period or earn a Bachelor’s Degree after 5 years. The delegation was treated to performances by the Vincentian students as well as students from Jamaica and St. Lucia who are among other Caribbean Students studying there.