Cuba thanks ECLAC for Caribbean support in fight against US blockade
Santiago de Chile, April 17 (Prensa Latina) Cuba today thanked the Caribbean countries for their support in the fight against the United States blockade, during a meeting of ECLAC from Small Island Developing States (SIDS) on the 2030 Agenda.
Carlos Fidel Martín, head of the Cuban delegation to the event held at the Chilean headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, recalled the historical and cultural ties that unite his country with its Caribbean brothers.
We also share common challenges, which in the case of Cuba are increased by the impact of the siege imposed by Washington for more than 60 years, intensified in the context of the pandemic and with the unfair inclusion in the list of alleged sponsors of terrorism, he expressed.
The director of International Economic Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Foreign Investment recognized the support of the region in demanding the cessation of these unilateral coercive measures year after year at the UN.
Likewise, he expressed his country’s willingness to continue working with Caribbean brothers to strengthen alliances, economic complementarity and cooperation in the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
A strategic approach to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda must focus on the transformation of current production and consumption patterns towards more resilient models.
Access to financing on favorable terms and a profound reform of the international financial architecture that provides stability to address the challenges of small island states is also required, he said.
During her participation in the meeting, the director of ECLAC’s subregional headquarters for the Caribbean, Diane Quarless, listed the problems that undermine progress in the region, including exposure to external shocks and the impact of climate change.
Added to this are the consequences of Covid-19, an external debt that represents between five and six percent of the Gross Domestic Product, high poverty rates, low job creation, migration of skilled people and an aging population.
All of these issues will be addressed at the fourth conference on sustainable development, which will take place in May in Antigua and Barbuda.
The meeting in ECLAC is part of the seventh forum on the 2030 Agenda, in which about a thousand representatives of governments, international organizations, civil society, and other actors participate.
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