A&B reaffirms support for Havana

On the heels of the conclusion of a recent trade deal with Cuba, the government of Antigua & Barbuda has indicated that bilateral relations between the two Caribbean islands are growing stronger.

According to Minister of Trade E Paul Chet Greene, Antigua & Barbuda “will continue to support Cuba with respect to its isolation by the [United States] embargo”.

“Cuba would have trained hundreds of Antiguan and Barbudan young people, providing education in multiple fields – dentistry, various medial fields, you name it.  We have benefited a lot,” Greene said.

Since the 1960s, successive US administrations have maintained a policy of economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation of Cuba due to its longstanding socialist government policy and prior relations with the then United Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

On September 27, US President Barack Obama announced career diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis as his choice to become the first US ambassador to Cuba in more than a half-century. The move is just one of a series of policies aimed at regularising relations between the longtime nemeses.