SVG/Cuba Friendship Association advocates for Peace and the Saving of Lives

The SVG/Cuba Friendship Association, through its Co-ordinator, Bernard Hamilton, has issued the following statement:

“The SVG CUBA Friendship Association notes that the United States’ Department of State, via its official websites, declares that “government officials in St. Vincent and the Grenadines have been cooperative and responsive to human rights organizations. The US also supports the government’s efforts to improve the standard of living for its citizens.”

Given that context, it is perplexing that this same Department of State has issued recent threats of the denial of visas to government officials simply because our government employs Cuban medical personnel.

Cuba, the largest and most developed of the Antillean chain, is a sister Caribbean nation which has long demonstrated the willingness to share its human resource capital with not only the rest of the region, but with Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Cuba has long been recognized for its assistance to St Vincent & the Grenadines in broad areas such as education, culture, agriculture, engineering and medicine. That nation’s advances in the sciences, in medicine and biotechnology particularly, makes Cuba stand out in the region and the world. Cuban universities also train a workforce of medical doctors often referred to as “the Army of White Coats” who provide needed healthcare to rural communities in many parts of the world; communities which rarely otherwise see medical doctors or health personnel.

The presence of Cuban medical personnel in SVG is both well established and appreciated by the majority of Vincentians. No longer do Vincentians have to resort to fundraisers to acquire monies for travel abroad, these days a simple visit to a nearby polyclinic, or to one of our hospitals would suffice for specialized care to be accessed at a fraction of the cost charged abroad.

“Today, SVG boasts of a cadre of doctors, qualified in specialities which, a few years ago, would have been unthinkable and out of the reach of the majority of our population. Additionally,

Vincentian doctors, educated in the Cuban medical system, work alongside doctors trained at the UWI, US offshore medical colleges and other parts of the world and increasingly function in harmony with specialist nurses, doctors or other medical professionals from Cuba. “They all have one common goal, the saving of human lives.

It goes against good sense and the spirit of brotherhood that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a first generation US citizen of Cuban parents, seeks to continue a Cold War practice of demonizing the assistance of Cuban medical personnel to underdeveloped nations.

“Attempting to extract a proverbial pound of flesh from the Government of Cuba at all costs is just plain ridiculous.

“It was under former President Barack Obama that the US re-established diplomatic relations with the Republic of Cuba. This was welcomed by the majority of member countries of the United Nations. In fact, that Obama period actually saw for the first time, the United States of America abstain when the annual vote for lifting the embargo on Cuba was debated at the United Nations.

“The presence of Cuban medical personnel in SVG saves lives. The Cuban doctors and other medical specialists work hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder when United States of America medical teams, such as the World Paediatric Mission, visit to help save lives. There is no forced labour of Cuban medical personnel in our midst. These Cubans are welcomed and live freely among our people. The brutal politics of the Cold War era has no place in today’s world.

“It is unfortunate that Secretary of State Rubio has, since assuming office, increased measures meant to make life harder for Cubans by declaring Cuba ‘a state sponsor of terrorism’.

“This designation goes against the grain of reason.

These are times of peace; times, when providing quality healthcare and saving lives must be the priority of all governments. The SVG/ Cuba Friendship Association therefore welcomes the efforts of the Cuban medical brigades in our nation to assist us in this noble effort.

“The efforts of the government of the United States can better be focused on seeing how it can help improve our provision of healthcare. Indeed, rather than threaten punitive measures, the new US regime may consider offering scholarships to Vincentians and other CARICOM nations, just as the Republic of Cuba has done since the 1970s. It would put us all on the road toward becoming more self-sustaining in terms of medical professionals. That should not be beyond the reach of the most powerful nation on the planet; one which boasts the most billionaires per capita.

“The SVG Cuba Friendship Association therefore calls on the US State Department to reconsider the threats of punitive actions against our officials and to instead look for areas where cooperation in healthcare can be better provided for our peoples. This is a time for cooperation and saving lives.”