PRIME Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday said she personally offered an apology to Cuban President Raul Castro after her Government was forced to relocate the Fourth Caricom/Cuba Summit.
“When I met His Excellency, President Castro, I said to him that I’m sorry about what had happened. I told him that to his face. He said he understands and it’s not the first time he has faced a blockade from the US and they have been living under that for many, many years,” Persad-Bissessar told reporters at the Prime Minister’s Children’s Christmas Treat at Skinner Park, San Fernando.
Persad-Bissessar said when she apologised to Castro, the Cuban leader assured her he had not been offended by the decision to relocate the Summit, reiterating that his country had been blockaded for the past 50 years.
“So he was very happy to be here. His visit was very beneficial for us and I do believe for Cuba as well.”
Persad-Bissessar’s comment came hours after former prime minister, Patrick Manning, had called on the PP Government to formally apologise to Castro for the situation, saying one of the country’s key allies had been embarrassed.(See page 20)
Government was forced to hold the two-day summit, which concluded on Thursday, at the National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), when it did not get permission to use the initially selected venue, Hilton Trinidad, after its proprietors in the United States intervened.
Persad-Bissessar also commented on the threat by the trade union movement to engage in a national shutdown, saying she did not believe the nation would be brought to a complete halt by the labour movement.
“I heard people threatening to shut down the country. It has not shut down yet. I am not of the view that the country will be shut down, but the unions are entitled to act within the law to further their interests,” Persad-Bissessar said.
Persad-Bissessar also said the country’s economy was performing “very well”, in spite of the global economic crisis which had crippled several countries.
NEWSDAY
