President Irfaan Ali yesterday told the UN General Assembly that CARICOM remained ready to help find a peaceful solution to Cuba’s difficulties, one that would allow Cubans to realise their aspirations.
“We reiterate our call for a viable solution for Cuba, one that is peaceful, people centred, development-focused and allows for the full aspirations of the Cuban people to be realised,” he said. “Guyana reiterates CARICOM’s offer to play a meaningful role in achieving this objective.”
Ali gave no details of what role the regional grouping might play or whether discussions with Cuba or the United States had advanced. He also did not explicitly call for the lifting of the US embargo in yesterday’s address, although he has done so from the same UN platform in previous years.
Stabroek News reported that Ali raised the lifting of the embargo in his 2025 General Assembly address. In 2023, he described the embargo as unacceptable and called for it to be dismantled. His latest appeal-maintained support for a solution for Cuba while placing the emphasis on a peaceful and development-focused outcome.
The speech came after a change in Guyana’s longstanding medical arrangements with Cuba. In February, Stabroek News that the government-to-government medical partnership had been terminated. The government indicated that scholarships for Guyanese students to study in Cuba would continue.
The medical arrangements had come under scrutiny after Washington expanded a visa restriction policy aimed at people it said were involved in Cuba’s overseas labour programme, particularly its medical missions. The Guyana government said in March 2025 that it would seek clarity from the United States about the policy and its possible implications.
Ali subsequently defended Guyana’s treatment of Cuban medical professionals, saying they were paid directly and worked under local labour laws. He said that position had been conveyed to the United States.
Discussion