Raul Castro: Cuba Will Meet Its Commitments to Fellow Nations

SANTIAGO DE CUBA, Cuba, Dec 8 (acn) Cuba will not give up nor abandon its commitments to its fellow nations, said Cuban President Raul Castro when inaugurating the Third Cuba-CARICOM Summit in this city.

Raul Castro told the Caribbean leaders attending the meeting that Cuba will overcome the US economic blockade, the effects of the world financial crises and the impact of three hurricanes, continuing with its efforts towards integration and finding new means of cooperation.

As part of this, the Cuban president referred to the 480 scholarships that will be offered for university studies in the coming year to the countries of the region. Of them, 150 are for medical schools, explained Raul Castro. He also highlighted the continuity of programs for health assistance, including the Operation Miracle eye-surgery project.

Since 2005, more than 56,000 people improved or fully recovered their sight (through Operation Miracle), noted Raul Castro and added that the figure of people benefiting from the eye-care project will increase still more with the opening of three more eye clinics in Guyana, Saint Lucia and Jamaica.

Meanwhile, over the past three years, more than 1,300 Caribbean students have graduated in Cuba from 33 university or technical school courses and 567 from medical institutions.

Today, more than 2,900 people from the Caribbean are currently studying in Cuba, of them 1,478 are being trained as doctors, said the Cuban leader.

Raul reaffirmed the Cuban stance in favour of regional integration and pointed out that every single project, program, exchange of skilled labour, technology transfer, educational or health initiatives led by Cuba is a new step towards integration.

In his speech, Raul Castro also spoke about the importance of the Summit taking into account the economic uncertainty generated worldwide as a result of failed neo-liberal policies and a serious world crisis, "whose scope and circumstances are yet to be predicted," he noted.

The first step to face such crises, he said, would be taking actions to reduce oil consumption as much as possible at a time that renewable and clean fuel sources are being searched for, and on which Cuba has been seriously working.

The Cuban president repeated the official welcome to the participants in the summit on behalf of the Cuban people and especially those from Santiago de Cuba, the host city, and the rest of the eastern provinces. He passed on a message of greetings from Fidel Castro, whom Raul said was the main promoter of the unity among "our peoples."

During the opening ceremony, it was announced that CARICOM's highest award, the Order of Honour of the Caribbean Community had been bestowed on Fidel Castro, the first such honour granted to a non-CARICOM leader.

Raúl: cuba cumplirá sus compromisos con pueblos hermanos