Cuba Continues to Strengthen Ties with Other Countries of the Americas

Cuba has always worked to strengthen its political, economic, cultural and other ties with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. This unity has become even more important these days in light of renewed attempts by the United States to isolate Cuba from its neighbours.

After the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April from which Cuba was excluded, the U.S. attempted to pass a motion at the United Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) censuring Cuba as an anti-democratic country. That motion was defeated. A couple of weeks later, the U.S. itself was voted off the UNHRC for the first time in that institution's 54-year history. In early June at the 31^st General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Costa Rica, the U.S. failed in its attempt to impose a "Democracy Charter" on the OAS countries. Cuba is not a member of the OAS.

For its part, Cuba continues to host many inter-American conferences and events. The UN Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean was held in Havana recently, The main topic of discussion was the Middle East. The Conference concluded on June 14 with a 10,000-strong rally of unequivocal support for the rights of the Palestinian people.

The previous week, the Latin American Parliament or PARLATINO, representing 12 countries, met in Havana and concluded that the integration of the region is an historic necessity.

On June 7, Cuba was elected to the Executive Council of the World Health Organization. The appointment was made in recognition both of Cuba's advances in the field of public health and the medical teams it sends to developing countries to assist their struggling health care systems.

Cuba also continues to provide scholarships to disadvantaged students from around the world, with the majority coming from Latin America and the Caribbean. For the upcoming school year, just under 1,500 scholarships are being provided, including, for the first time, for eight students from the United States. Nearly one-half of foreign students studying in Cuba do so at the Latin American School of Medicine, where they take a six-year course to become physicians. The only condition placed on them is that they return to their home countries to practice medicine for ten years among the neediest populations.

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