Felipe Perez Roque arrives in Belize
His name is Felipe Perez Roque, Cuba’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and tonight, he’s in Belize. His visit is marked as historic and precedes the anticipated arrival of his President, Fidel Castro. This morning, News Five joined the welcoming committee at the airport.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
Just after 9:00 this morning, Cuba’s Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez Roque arrived at the Phillip Goldson International Airport. He was met by Prime Minister Said Musa, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, David Gibson, Belize’s Ambassador to Cuba, Amalia Mai and Cuba’s Ambassador to Belize, Regla Diaz Hernandez. Minister Perez Roque told the Belizean press corp that his visit symbolizes Cuba’s commitment to building Belize.
Felipe Perez Roque, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cuba
“It’s a great satisfaction to accept this invitation, to exchange different points of view, to get to know the country and to exchange information with different authorities and the Government of Belize. I extend greetings as Caribbean brothers from us to the country of Belize. And I would like to reiterate that Belize can count on Cuba.”
After a brief discussion with Prime Minister Said Musa, the Foreign Minister was then met by Minister of Education and Sports Cordel Hyde and officials of the University College of Belize. Minister Perez Roque then addressed students of the university on a wide range of topics including trade relations and the Elian Gonzalez case. Roque stressed that even though the Cuban economy is not as strong as they would like, they would continue to assist Belize through scholarships and by sending medical practitioners to work in Belize. Perez Roque says that is the Cuban way.
Felipe Perez Roque
“There are some people in the world who do not even give what they have plenty of but that’s not our case. We would be willing to deprive ourselves of what we have to help other people who are brothers of Cuba.”
Janelle Chanona
“Earlier Minister you talked about Cuba’s relationship with Belize through education, supporting our development but it’s not too clear what Cuba expects from Belize. Is there anything to that?”
Felipe Perez Roque
“We look forward to the friendship and the warmth of the Belizeans. We look forward unselfishly to contributing and developing the people of Belize. In our cooperation, we do not see any means to increase our influence or to get any political gains. We are moved by feelings of friendship towards people similar to ours in its culture and its mixture of different races. We believe Belize will continue to expand and further enhance our relations. The trade between our countries is increasing. It’s still very little, but it’s growing and we have continue finding ways of increasing trade in all fields.
However, one question at the heart of Cuba-Belize relations is the effect, if any, on Belize’s relationship with the United States. Cuba’s Foreign Minister says he does not believe Cuba’s role in Belize’s development would influence the US to treat Belize differently.
Felipe Perez Roque
“We think that Belize is an independent government. Belize is a free independent country that decides its foreign policy and we believe that our cooperation and our spirit of expanding and enhancing our relations wouldn’t have led to a deterioration in the relations between Belize and the United States. We want Belize and the United States to have good relations. We want Belize and Cuba to have good relations and we also want to have good relations between the United States and Cuba. But it’s not that way right now, not because of us, but because of those people in the United States who do not want that to happen but at the end of the day, it will be that way.”
This afternoon, in addition to a tour of the Altun Ha Mayan temple, the Foreign Minister met with Minister of Housing Dickie Bradley at the CUBEL Housing Plant in Rockville and toured one of the completed homes in Belize City. The Cuban delegation also visited the Ladyville Community Health Center where Cuban doctors are presently working. This evening, the Prime Minister will host a dinner for Minister Perez Roque at the Radisson Fort George.