Haiti will participate in the 5th Summit Caricom-Cuba, to be held in Cuba on December 8. In an interview with our colleagues of newspaper Granma, the Official Organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe answering a question about his perception of Haiti's relations with the countries of the Caricom, explained "Haiti has excellent relations with all the countries of CARICOM. There is one and a half year the President Michel Martelly has served as President pro tempore of the Community, which gave us the opportunity to discuss regional integration of Haiti and to better understand the complementarity tah tthe countriesof the bloc have with others. We believe it is extremely important that States work together and fight for a common future to improve the living conditions of the people. Caricom is the platform to achieve this dream of reaching to have an integrated world."

Regarding expectations of Haiti for the 5th Summit, he declared "We are excited to participate again because this Summit gives us the opportunity to be in Cuba, to share with our brothers of other nations and to work on a common program. We need to see how we move forward in the cooperation between Caribbean countries and discuss development issues in areas such as public health, foreign investment and mutual trade [...]" adding that during the summit various problems will be addressed "[...]such as climate change, which greatly affects the economies of vulnerable countries, the fight against extreme poverty and strategies to win this battle and we must also talk about how to improve and have a sustainability in the field of public health [...]" stressing "there is a lot of subject to be treated and they are all of great importance for the countries of the Community."

On the question of how he sees the role of Cuba in the region and the relations between the two countries, the head of the Haitian Government responded "Cuba has a very important role because it is a natural leader in the region. We have great respect for the people and the Cuban Revolution and our relationships are to the best. It is a disinterested relationship, which really helps our people, that improves the living conditions, in the field of the health of millions of Haitians, who live in often very difficult conditions. It is a relationship of solidarity."

SL/ HaitiLibre