(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) We of the Caribbean Community and Cuba meet on this auspicious day, 8 December 2011, which has been designated CARICOM-Cuba Day. Thirty-nine years ago on this date, the leaders of Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago took the bold step of formally recognising the Republic of Cuba, at a time when most of the countries in the hemisphere did not.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) When Caribbean Community (CARICOM) senior officials responsible for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) met in Grenada last week Thursday and Friday, one of their priority agenda items was to discuss proposals for a regional broadband policy that would facilitate greater access to internet in the Region.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Cuba will never forget the brave step in 1972 by the then four independent Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to establish diplomatic relations with their fellow Caribbean state.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The regional integration movement has become stronger as a result of the relations between the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Cuba.

Speaking at the Opening Ceremony of the Fourth CARICOM-Cuba Summit at the National Academy of the Performing Arts (NAPA), Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, the host Prime Minister the Honourable Kamla Persad-Bissessar said the Summit was proof that the vision of the founding fathers who went to Cuba in 1972 had been fulfilled.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Cuba meet in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on Thursday 8 December, CARICOM-Cuba Day.

All independent Member States of the Community will be represented with ten at the level of Head of Government. The Cuban delegation will be led the President, His Excellency Raoul Castro Ruz.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Member States of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), like Europe, are seeking to re-ignite growth, create jobs and ensure financial stability. We are therefore deeply concerned by the recent statements made by the President of France at the end of the G-20 Summit last month which identified Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago as “Tax Havens”.

​(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) It is my pleasure and privilege to welcome Directors of Culture and other officials to this Twenty-First Meeting of the Regional Cultural Committee (RCC) on behalf of our Secretary General, His Excellency Ambassador Irwin LaRocque. I also bring very warm greetings from the Officer in Charge of the Directorate of Human and Social Development – Mrs. Myrna Bernard, who sent her regrets that she was unable to join us today due to another conflicting engagement.

​(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) I would like to thank the Dominican Association of Exporters (ADOEXPO) for inviting me to address this gathering - my first engagement in the Dominican Republic as Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). I also address you in my capacity as the Secretary-General of the Caribbean Forum of African Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM), a co-operation grouping that includes the Dominican Republic.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) I would like to thank the Dominican Association of Exporters (ADOEXPO) for inviting me to address this gathering - my first engagement in the Dominican Republic as Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). I also address you in my capacity as the Secretary-General of the Caribbean Forum of African Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM), a co-operation grouping that includes the Dominican Republic.