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After a day and a half of negotiations, this morning Belize and Cuba officially endorsed a new agreement for partnerships in 2006. According to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Eamon Courtenay, Belize can never repay Cuba for its contributions to the areas of health and education.

Eamon Courtenay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade
“The relations between Cuba and Belize are marked by concrete manifestations of good works between two countries. The relations between most countries in the world is characterized by the niceties of diplomacy and the courtesies of talk. The work of the commission, mixed commission over the past two days is a true and clear manifestation of action. The points that we have agreed in agriculture, in home affairs, in education, in culture, in health are all of absolute importance to Belize. And indeed the fact that Cuba having regard to its present economic situation is able to help us in this way underlines for us true solidarity between our countries and our people. For which I would like on behalf of the government and people of Belize to regard our sincerest thanks and gratitude.”

“We stand ready as small as we are to provide assistance to Cuba in anyway we can. Your unconditional support for our struggle for independence, and your continued commitment to our territorial integrity and sovereignty is indeed another example of your solidarity with Belize on the international scene. We equal and match the commitment from Cuba by our unconditional respect for the right of the people of Cuba, and indeed the right for the people in any country.”

Loretta Blanco, Vice Minister, Foreign Trade and Cooperation
“We would like to have the commitment with the Belizean people and government that in continuing with the cooperation and contribution that Cuba has been rendering to this country. So this is a joint commitment. Though we are two underdeveloped countries, we should be engaged in continuing to develop these relationships so that in 2007, we will be in a condition to increase this cooperation.”

The signing ceremony between Courtenay and Vice Minister Loretta Blanco was part of official closing ceremonies for the ninth Belize Cuba mixed commission. Members of the local delegation included officials from the Ministry of Culture and representatives from the Social Security Board. Both are confident that bi-lateral relations with Cuba will benefit Belizeans in very tangible ways.

Andy Palacio, Deputy Administrator, NICH
“We welcome the corporation arrangement with Cuba very much because Cuba offers a lot of programmers and activities we can get involved in. There are several institutions that conduct the kind of work that our institutes here in Belize conduct and we can learn from their experiences and benefit from their expertise.”

Dalila Castillo, Assistant General Manager, S.S.B.
“What we are looking at mainly is one medical treatment for employment injury cases. You all know that Cuba offers very good medical care, and we sometimes need to send our patients that suffer employment injuries abroad for treatment. So that’s one area that we are looking at, and we are also looking at some technical assistants in training in certain areas that would support the improvement of the quality of services that are provided both to employment injury patients within Social Security and also the services provided through the N.H.I.”

Channel 5 Belize

organizing a Parade soon SIN? be a good way for you to celebrate!

When you're being run out of town, get out in front and make it look like a parade!

We Belizean celebrate things like these. Cuba has helped our small country in many ways. Being thankful does not mean that we agree with Catro's way of governance! I have a very good friend that is currently studying in Cuba to become a doctor. No where else in the world would he be able to get free schooling.

Sometimes I think that we are getting to involved with Cuba and this may harm our ties with the US but as a developing country we need all the help we can get. I try to see things from both sides!

Bzedoll,
Thank you for your point of view. A local's take on the situation is good to see on this board. You're the real deal.
Pam

Here are some facts...
You can find these facts in "The Cuban Economy" a publication by the United Nations and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) of 1997.

Cuba owes $18.3 billion dollars to Russia,(The Miami Herald 5/26/1998)
The province of Habana has 21% of the population and people from other provinces of Cuba are not allowed to cross into Havana.
The availability of public transportation decreased 70% between 1990 and 1996 .
Construction activity decreased 400% during the same period of 1990 and 1996.
Telecommunications is outdated and dates back to the 1930's and 1940's .
It is estimated that $8 billion dollars will be needed for the reconstruction of power in Cuba.
Sewer system is outdated and dates back to 1930 and 1950.
In 1959 there were 11 prisons. Today there are more than 300.
In the 1950's Cuba had 58 daily newspapers. Presently only one exists.
In the 1950's -Cuba ranked eighth in the world in number of private radio stations. Presently privatly owned radio stations are forbidden.
Cuba's infant mortality rate of 32 per 1,000 live births in 1957 was the lowest in Latin America and the 13th lowest in the world, according to UN data. Cuba ranked ahead of France, Belgium, west Germany, Israel, Japan, Austria, Italy, Spain, and Portugal, all of which would eventually pass Cuba in this indicator during the following decades.
Presently Cuba has one of the largest abortion rates in the entire world
Within Latin America, Cuba ranked second only to Venezuela in 1958 in number of automobiles per capita at 24 per 1,000. Today its transportation system is a complete disaster.
During the late 1950's, Cuba ranked second only to Uruguay in Latin America, with 169 radios per 1,000 people. (Worldwide, this put Cuba just ahead of Japan.)
In terms of television sets per capita, 1950's Cuba was far ahead of the rest of Latin America and was among the world's leaders. Cuba had 45 television sets per 1,000 inhabitants in 1957, by far the most in Latin America and fifth in the world, behind only Monaco, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
During the 1950's, the Cuban people were among the most informed in the world, living in an uncharacteristically large media market for such a small country.
In 1957, Cuba had more television stations (23) than any other country in Latin America, easily outdistancing larger countries such as Mexico (12 television stations) and Venezuela (10). It also led Latin America and ranked eighth in the world in number of radio stations (160), ahead of such countries as Austria (83 radio stations), United Kingdom (62), and France (50), according to the UN statistical yearbook.

FYI: The first to "invest in Belize" were The Baymen - ex pirates of strong moral/ethical behavior.

Get up a lil' earlier Beli-skin Bill.

SINno doubt

Cuba is doing great for not having the benifit of trade and aid from the richest country in the world. Per capita they graduate more scientist/doctors then most every country. (US is 14th) Obviously Castro isn't the best leader, but a lot of countries have that problem. Actually the first investors in Belize were the Mayans. And does anyone really think that any pirates were moral/ethical people...LOL

stay mellow. we have no reason to get nasty over this. personal insults, yuck.

if i want to keep a thread and there are a bunch of personal insults, i have to load each comment and delete them individually. i just spent too damn long deleting about 20 threads above.

spare me and others the personal crap. take it somewhere else.