Cuban Ambassador Jose Rencurrell. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer NEXT SUNDAY, December 8, Jamaica and Cuba will celebrate 30 years of diplomatic relations.
To mark the three decades of co-operation, Cubans locally will stage at the embassy in Kingston a display of nineteenth and 20th century Cuban masters - paintings belonging to businessman Wallace Campbell which have been loaned to the Cuban embassy for the celebrations.
This weekend also, all CARICOM heads of government and the CARICOM Secretary General will be invited to Havana for the commemoration of the start of regional relations. The Cuban embassy in Jamaica will also join in remembering the death of Latin American colonial hero, Antoneo Maceo on December 7 at the National Heroes Circle in Kingston.
Local ambassador of the Republic of Cuba, Jose Fransisco Piedra Rencurrell, comments that Jamaica took a very courageous decision in the unfriendly political environment of the 1970s to establish diplomatic relations with Cuba.
Following the decision by Prime Minister Manley in 1972, Prime Ministers Barrow and Burnham from the Caribbean and other Latin American nations did the same. "It was an expression of solidarity from our natural region," the ambassador said.
Cuba and Jamaica currently enjoy a high level of co-operation at the diplomatic level. In the area of health, at the request of the Ministry of Health, male and female nurses from Cuba are in the island to serve in health facilities where their skills are needed. Most of these nurses are based at the University Hospital of the West Indies, but others are to be found at the Bustamante Hositpal for Children, the Kingston Public Hospital and Bellevue.
A small team of doctors also serve in the rural areas of St. Ann, Portland and St. Mary.
In the area of education, there are 67 Cuban teachers who serve with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Culture. They are to be found in high schools, primary schools and as technical tutors with the Heart National Training Agency.
Other Cubans work as engineers and surveyors with the Ministry of Water and Housing and as civil engineers with the National Works Agency. In the area of sports, in an agreement which is shortly to be implemented, coaches have been contracted for training in swimming and boxing.
Cuba and Jamaica participate in an extensive scholarship programme. There are currently over 200 Jamaican students on scholarships in Cuba, with 71 of them being new intakes for the academic year 2002 - 2003. The students are pursuing studies in the areas of medicine, dentistry, architecture, engineering and other areas, both at university and technical levels.
Ambassador Rencurrell comments, "We are working to support our sister nation. We expect that this relationship will keep on growing stronger."
In the area of tourism, he says, there have been discussions regarding multi destination packaging. He also points to cross-training initiatives and the significant investment in hotel rooms made by SuperClubs and Sandals resorts.
- Avia Ustanny
