Cuba advocates for Latin American integration

HAVANA, Cuba, Jun 27 (ACN) Cuba champions the promotion of science, technology and innovation in support of Latin American and Caribbean integration, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX).

Elba Rosa Pérez Montoya, Minister of Science, Technology and the Environment, reasserted Cuba’s efforts to this end as she addressed the Ministerial Meeting of Science, Technology and Innovation of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), attended by the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moros; the Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, in his capacity as Pro Tempore President of CELAC; the Foreign Minister of Venezuela, Yvan Gil, and other senior leaders of the South American nation.

The conference gathered representatives of Latin American and Caribbean countries who shared views about and discussed the need to promote science, technology and innovation for the benefit of regional integration and cooperation in general and CELAC’s priorities in particular, namely food security, health, the peaceful use of outer space, environmental preservation, the fight against climate change, and digital transformation, among others.

Pérez Montoya and her delegation confirmed the Cuban government’s intention to develop these three pillars despite multiple difficulties caused by the U.S. blockade and the inclusion of Cuba in the list of alleged State sponsors of terrorism.

The meeting should conclude today with the establishment of the Latin American and Caribbean Center for the Development of Science, Technology and Innovation, a regional initiative aimed at the realization of a model of open science accessible to all.