Now an international conference centre, it has been the venue of several encounters on Caribbean policy issues in recent years.

One such was the Conference on "Cuba: Future Prospects and Integration into the Western Hemisphere" on October 18-20 last.

A moving spirit in the Conference was Ambassador Sally Cowal, formerly U.S.

Ambassador to several Caribbean countries, now President of the Cuban Policy

Foundation based in Washington D.C.

Ambassador Cowal, a Republican, is campaigning vigorously for the lifting of the U.S. Government's 40-year-old embargo on Cuba.

Her reasons are straightforward: the embargo is counter-productive politically as well as being economically harmful to the United States.

Lifting the embargo would provide significant opportunities for U.S. exporters in sectors like agriculture and pharmaceuticals.

The Foundation's research, funded in part by U.S. corporations with an interest in the Cuban market, has quantified such opportunities. The results are targeted to members of the U.S. Congress whose constituencies stand to gain from exports to Cuba.

Attending the Wilton Park Cuba Conference were senior Cuban officials and academics and key figures from Latin American and Caribbean think tanks, the

Washington-based financial institutions and the European Commission.

The setting was ideal for making the kind of informal contacts that often precede major policy developments.

In a paper prepared for the Conference, this columnist observed that the end of the Cold War has provided the context for Cuba-Caribbean relations to develop along pragmatic and businesslike lines.

In 1989 Cuba had formal diplomatic relations with only nine states of the Greater Caribbean region and no formal trade or economic agreements. Trade was almost entirely with the oil-exporting countries.

By 2002 diplomatic relations had been established with 24 regional states, trade and economic cooperation agreements had been signed with nine and with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) as a whole, and trade relations had been developed with most (see Table).

Cuba has also become a significant recipient of investment from Mexico in tourism and banking and from Jamaica, also in tourism.

In addition, over 6,800 students from the Greater Caribbean region are on scholarships in Cuban institutions, mostly in medicine, public health and sport.

Cuba-Greater Caribbean (ACS Members) Trade, 1990-1999. (in $US millions).

Country/ Year

ACS Subgroup 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

1998 1999

OECS

Antigua/Barbuda 0 0 0 0 0 3.6 2.18 7.64

0 0

Dominica 0 0 0 0 0 0.01 0.05 0.45

0 0

Grenada 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0

St.Kitts/Nevis 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.08 0

0 0

St.Lucia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0

St.Vincent/Gren. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

0 0 0

Total OECS 0 0 0 0 0 3.61 2.3 8.08

0 0

CARICOM

Bahamas 0 0 0 0 0 1.17 18.74 9.21 0

0

Barbados 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.14 0.04

0 0.1

Belize 0 0 0 0 0 4 19 0.01 0

32

Guyana 7 8 8 10 12 15 18 19 16

23.3

Haiti 0 0 0 0 0 16 17.36 21.21 0

0

Jamaica 0 0 0 0 0 2.73 3.36 4.38 0

0

Suriname 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.11 0.63

0 0

Trinidad/Tobago 42 5 13 11 7 22.05 28.04

31.47 0 16.7

Total CARICOM 49 13 21 21 19 64.56 107.4

94.03 16 72.1

CACM

Costa Rica 1 1 1 2 6 0 2 0

0 0

El Salvador 0 0 0 0 1 3 0.05 0.61

0 1

Guatemala 0 0 0 0 0 1.43 4.25

10.82 0 0

Honduras 0 0 0 0 0 0.15 2.24 4.79

0 0

Nicaragua 0 0 0 0 0 6.48 4.23 2.62

0 17.2

Total CACM 1 1 1 2 7 11.06 12.77

18.83 0 18.2

G-3

Colombia 22 22 19 25 51 39 43 52

18 37.2

Mexico 167 160 137 72 203 397 373 0 0

23

Venezuela 519 496 107 136 105 117 127 145

1 156.7

Total G-3 708 678 263 233 359 553 543 197

19 216.9

Non-grouped

Dominican Rep. 0 0 1 0 0 16.01 12.54

39.98 0 0

Panama 2 2 1 2 2 6.63 8.49 4.34 5

7.5

Total NG 2 2 2 2 2 22.63 21.03

44.32 5 7.5

Overall Total 760 694 287 258 387 654.9 686.5

362.26 40 314.7

The Association of Caribbean States (ACS), in which Cuba was a founding member in 1994, provided a broad multilateral framework for developing relations of functional cooperation with the entire region.

Cuba has chaired the ACS Committees on Tourism and on Transport and has provided leadership to major initiatives in sustainable tourism and air transport policy; as well as participating in others such as the protection of coastal ecosystems, language training, the Caribbean Environmental Strategy, cooperation in natural disasters prevention and mitigation, and the ACS Special Fund.

Heads of State and Government of the ACS have condemned the U.S. Helms-Burton Act, which seeks to tighten the embargo through extra-territoriality provisions.