Jamaica welcomes US policy shift towards Cuba

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller says the Government of Jamaica enthusiastically welcomes the joint announcement in Washington and Havana today of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States of America and Cuba, and she has congratulated United States President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro on the historic development and for their bold and visionary leadership on this matter.

The Prime Minister notes that the move brings US and Cuban foreign policies in line with modern international diplomatic arrangements and vindicates the position taken repeatedly by the majority of nations of the world at the United Nations and in other international fora for an end to the US trade embargo and other attempts to isolate Cuba.

“This represents courageous action by the Governments of the United States and Cuba that will ultimately serve the best interest of the people of both countries and establish the foundation for the next required logical step of a total and formal end of the United States’ unilateral trade embargo against Cuba,” the Prime Minister said in a statement from Jamaica House on Wednesday, December 17.

The Prime Minister says Jamaica looks forward to the tangible benefits that the new engagement will bring for the Cuban people and the Caribbean region.

She added that: “The normalisation of the relationship between these two countries of the Americas is a victory for all the peoples of the Americas. It is also a vindication of the principled position of Jamaica, the Members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), as well as people across the globe who for decades have called for dialogue and mutual respect between the two countries, and for an end to the unilateral sanctions imposed against Cuba by the USA.

Prime Minister Simpson Miller says the policy shift is particularly heartening coming so soon after the CARICOM-Cuba Summit held in Havana on December 8 and the Declaration which emanated from that meeting again calling for the full involvement of Cuba in the various fora of the international community and for an end to the US embargo against Cuba.