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GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping has welcomed the improved relations between the United States and Cuba and urged Washington to remove the “out-dated and unjust trade and economic embargo” against the Caribbean country.
In a statement welcoming the decision of the United States to re-open its embassy in Havana after more than 50 years, the 15-member grouping said that it had “long supported this necessary step, and notes once again that the US Administration has restated its position in favour of such an action”.
US Secretary of State, John Kerry, the first US Secretary of State to visit Cuba in 70 years, described the Friday’s event as “historic”.
The re-opening of the embassy is a symbolic step in the warming of relations between the two countries and the US flag was presented by the same US marines who brought it down in 1961.
Last month, Cuba re-opened its embassy in Washington even as former Cuban president Fidel Castro criticized Washington for not lifting a trade embargo in place more than 50 years.
In an open letter on Thursday, Castro said Washington owed Cuba millions of dollars because of its 53-year-long embargo. The letter makes no mention of the reopening of the US embassy.
Kerry described the hoisting of the flag as a “historic moment” but also warned that the US would not stop pressing for political change in Cuba.
“The people of Cuba would be best served by a genuine democracy, where people are free to choose their leaders,” he told the ceremony.
In its statement, CARICOM said it was looking forward “to even more positive action in this regard and in particular to the United States Congress removing the out-dated and unjust trade and economic embargo against Cuba.
“This long overdue rapprochement has the potential to bring about a positive and welcome sea- change in the dynamics of hemispheric relations. In harmony with the principled position taken 43 years ago by four CARICOM countries, and its position over the years, CARICOM will continue to encourage both sides, with which it has close relations, to complete the normalisation process in the interest of regional and hemispheric harmony.”
Cuban leader Raul Castro and US President Barack Obama agreed to restore ties in December last year.
While trade and travel restrictions have been relaxed, the Republican-led US Congress has not lifted the trade embargo the US imposed on the communist-run island in 1960.
The Republicans have criticized President Obama with presidential candidate Jeb Bush saying the ceremony Friday was “a birthday present for Fidel Castro – a symbol of the Obama administration’s acquiescence to his ruthless legacy”.
