Remarks by Ambassador Jerusa Ali, Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Bahamas on the Occasion of the 51st Anniversary of Independence and the 50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations
(L-R) Anayansi Rodriguez Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Jerusa Ali, Director General, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Bahamas, Yamila Peña Ojeda, Attorney General of the Republic of Cuba, HE Dr. Ellison Rahming, Bahamian Ambassador to the Republic of Cuba
20th July 2024
Your Excellency, Yamila Peña Ojeda, Attorney General of the Republic, Your Excellency Anayansi Rodriguez Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Members of the Diplomatic and Consular Corps, Ambassador Carlton Wright and family, Ambassador Alma Adams family, senior government official, colleagues, students, musicians and cultural performers and friends,
Good evening. Thank you to the Republic of Cuba and its Foreign Ministry for welcoming our small delegation from Capital. ‘Muy agradecidos’
I am joined by Antonio Bulter, Head of Bilateral and Regional Affairs. Both of us would have had the honour to engage on issues of mutual interest with your Cuban delegation to the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement and G77 held in Kampala, Uganda in January of this year.
A well-known proverb reads “El abrazo de un verdadero amigo no tiene precio”
In our language, this verse is best stated as ‘You can’t Put a Price on True Friendship.”
In recognition of our friendship, the Hon. Fred Mitchell, Minister of Foreign Affairs, sends warm greetings on the occasion of our 51st anniversary of independence 50th anniversary on diplomatic relations.
For the past fifty years, The Bahamas and Cuba have been the living embodiment of this proverb, and proof positive that there is room in global affairs for sovereign nations with unique systems to establish and to maintain friendly relations.
Ambassador Ali giving remarks
Cuba and The Bahamas, share two key pillars of foreign policy:
1. The right to self-determination
2. The principle of non-intervention in national affairs
The Bahamas seeks to strengthen its foundation in these principles in the multilateral sphere, and looks to deepens its relations with Cuba, a friend and ally.
The Bahamas offers a small, but vehement voice against the injustices against Cuba sponsored by larger nations. For example, our small nation has consistently joined others to vote to end the economic blockade of Cuba.
The Bahamas contributed to a communiqué issued by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)’s Council on Foreign and Community Relations in May of this year critiquing Cuba’s mistreatment by intervening powers.
The Bahamas stated that it: “…reaffirms its rejection of the unilateral imposition by the United States of America of the economic, commercial, and financial embargo against Cuba. Both the designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism and the 62-year-old embargo are unjust and wrongly imposed upon the Cuban people and must be terminated.”
In the light of recent events in Europe, Asia, Middle East, and South America, we are all more aware that good neighbours are increasingly hard to come by, and such loyal relationships should be nurtured.
The Bahamas is climate vulnerable, and despite having an open economy, faces the spectre of food and livelihood insecurity. The Bahamas has set out ambitious development goals for itself. The Bahamas Government has adopted the goal of becoming self-sufficient and reducing its food imports.
We will seek the advice, and experience from you here in Cuba, who have a long history of meeting similar goals. I highlight this as just one example of the lessons to Cuba has to share with its neighbours.
Over our fifty-year history of relations with each other, The Bahamas has been able to find sound guidance in Cuba in many fields by way of technical assistance and mutual cooperation; including K9 training, drug interdiction, poaching and overfishing, just to name a few.
We have before us a number of bilateral agreements that we intend to negotiate and sign this year. Thank you Ambassadors Dr. Ellison Rahming and Julio Ceésar González Marchante for working hard towards this goal.
One area whose brilliance cannot be dimmed, is that of the Cuban medical sector and its related academic institutions. Countless Bahamian medical professionals have been trained in Cuba, and many Bahamian citizens have come to Cuba for the high-quality healthcare for which Cuba is so widely known.
In reciprocation, The Bahamas, has employed teams of Cuban nurses and doctors, and educators, a testament to the mutual benefits that our neighbourly relations bring.
As our country celebrates its 51st year of independence, much hangs in the balance: climate change, food security, economic shocks, the staples of a thriving developing country. As The Bahamian Government works to ensure all goes smoothly at home, we count ourselves blessed to have friends abroad, like Cuba.
Please allow me to propose a toast: to friendship, mutual respect and positive relations, Cuba, we thank and salute you. ¡Hasta ahí!¡ Muchas gracias!
!