Honourable Baldwin Spencer, Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda, and Chairman of CARICOM:

Honourable Prime Ministers and Presidents of the sister nations of CARICOM:

Honourable Edwin Carrington, Secretary General of CARICOM:

Distinguished heads of delegations, ministers, representatives of regional institutions and special guests:

It is an honour for me to extend to you an official welcome to the heroic city of Santiago de Cuba, a paradigm of rebelliousness for our people.

On behalf of the Cuban government and people we wish to express to the Caribbean nations our appreciation for the solidarity messages and the material assistance given to Cuba to face the damages caused by the three hurricanes which battered our country in recent months.

This meeting is held in compliance with the agreement reached at the Havana Summit of December 2002, where we commemorated the 30^th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba by four Caribbean nations which acceded to their independence in 1972.

This is also a continuation of our second meeting held in Barbados on December 2005, where comrade Fidel said: "To the neoliberal and selfish globalization and to the anti-democratic international political and economic order we should respond with unity and with the globalization of solidarity, the promotion of dialogue and genuine integration and cooperation."

Today, we can be proud of our contribution to greater exchanges and closer relations among our peoples as well as to the promotion of a more effective cooperation between Cuba and the Caribbean Community.

We are meeting at a time of uncertain economic realities. In previous occasions we had stated the enormous challenges faced by our peoples in their just endeavour to attain a sustainable development. Today, we are dealing with the failure of the neoliberal policies which have ruled international finances, credit relations, commercial and capital flows, payments and reimbursements and the value of hard currencies.

The entire system of the financial apparatus has collapsed. The rules and regulations imposed by the economic power centres to small countries -such as the Caribbean nations- are in a crisis, while waste by an aristocracy of financial speculators prevails combined with the voracious appetite of multinational corporations.

During this crisis, whose scope and depth can hardly be foreseen, the most vulnerable stand to pay the highest costs: In the developed nations it will be the poor; worldwide, the developing nations will have to carry the brunt of the burden. One way or another, the reckless disaster caused by speculation, individualism and greed will hurt the Caribbean economies.

Under these circumstances, the commitments we have made in recent years, turning cooperation and solidarity into the pillars of our relations, acquire additional relevance.

The projects we have fostered, and that we intend to continue strengthening, are not based on the rules of neoliberalism, which is collapsing today like a house of cards. They are not aimed at taking a comparative advantage or maximizing profits, but rather at promoting development, justice, equity and the welfare of human beings.

Despite the present conditions, these elements enable us to have confidence in the continuity and the strength of our bonds and in the possibility to continue developing our cooperation as an essential component of Caribbean integration. As we proceed with every project and programme -with the exchange of skilled personnel and the transfer of technology, with the training of health professionals or the offering of health services- we are closer to the integrated region it is our aspiration to build.

Since we met in Barbados, 1,305 Caribbean students have graduated from our universities and technical schools in over 33 specialties; 567 of them are medical doctors. Today, 2,927 are being trained here; of which 1,478 are medical students.

The abovementioned economic realities and the additional difficulties brought about by the hurricanes notwithstanding, Cuba shall continue to carry forward this significant effort. By 2009, we shall be offering our Caribbean brothers and sisters 480 scholarships, including 150 to study medicine.

Our healthcare programmes will still be a priority. Up to the present, over 4,000 doctors and healthcare technical personnel have provided services to the Caribbean nations. Today, 1,115 of them are working in the region and this figure will grow with the opening of new services.

As of July 2005, over 56,000 people from 13 CARICOM member countries have either improved or recovered their sight, under the auspices of Operation Miracle. In order to secure the continuation of this programme, and in addition to the two already operational centres in Haiti, we confirm our pledge to accomplish -together with the Caribbean authorities- the opening of three new centres in Guyana, Saint Lucia and Jamaica. These will provide the Caribbean region with an extensive cover of ophthalmology services and create the capacity to operate on 215 patients a day.

Dear colleagues:

This hurricane season has confirmed with ravaging eloquence the inescapable duty to prepare ourselves. We should boost our forecast capacity and timely adopt the necessary measures to protect the population, the economy and the natural milieu. We should also try to recover from the damages in the shortest time possible.

Haiti has been the most complex case and its population has sustained the worst ravages.

The energy sector has raised equally urgent challenges. The energy crisis is essentially the result of the unsustainable consumerist and squandering model imposed by the rich countries.

The first step to take in order to tackle this crisis should be to save as much oil as possible while simultaneously looking for clean and renewable sources.

We do not think that using food for fuel production can be the solution in our world where more than 900 million people are going hungry.

We, Cubans, are proud of our Caribbean roots and of our relations with the nations in the region. We shall always be grateful for the support and solidarity received from your governments and peoples. At the same time, we feel deeply committed to those with whom we share these warm waters and a dramatic Antillean history.

But our region is larger; we are all part of the great geographic and social layout extending south of the Bravo River, with its population of over 500 million, its enormous resources and its rich culture. Today, the opportunity exists to advance towards a greater integration of this vast region whose success, including its survival, depends on the work of every country and people, be they big or small, rich or poor; this, without relinquishing our national or Caribbean features.

We have the possibility to take active part in the construction of a wide and diverse regional model, which recognizes the right to the special and differentiated treatment deserved by the smallest economies, one which is based on solidarity and aimed at establishing a common defence of the huge Latin American and Caribbean natural and cultural heritage to be enjoyed by our peoples. Cuba intends to work steadily towards this major goal.

Your Excellencies:

You have come to our country at an especially complex time when the impact of the genocidal economic blockade imposed by the U.S. administration combines with the unavoidable effects of the world economic crisis and the devastating consequences of the three hurricanes which hit our country barely two months ago. But, adversity will not break our people or make it renounce its commitments to our sister nations.

As we open this 3^rd Summit of Cuba and the nations of the Caribbean Community, allow me to extend to you a fraternal welcome on behalf of all Cubans, particularly the "Santiagueros" and the people from the other eastern provinces who are receiving you in this indomitable land -the most Caribbean of the island- with their well known hospitality and affection, and especially on behalf of comrade Fidel, a resolute promoter of unity among our peoples.