The PNCR has commended the OAS on its unanimous decision to lift the suspension of Cuba at its recent General Assembly, in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

In a statement, the party noted that the historic decision paves the way for Cuba to rejoin the American family of nations and signals, in no uncertain terms, the end of the attempts to isolate Havana in the region.

The PNCR added that it takes great pride in the fact that it played the leading role in initiating the process calculated to end the isolation of the Government of Cuba. Party founder leader  Forbes Burnham, the then prime minister, initiated talks with the Cuban government in 1971, to establish relations with Guyana and the English-speaking Caribbean in what the party called an “act of diplomatic prescience.”

Subsequently, in 1972, the governments of Guyana, Barbados and Jamaica recognised the Government of Cuba, which the party said is a memorable assertion of collective sovereignty. “The recognition of Cuba by these main Caricom states laid the foundation for the establishment of relations with the rest of the Caribbean Community and breached the ‘Cordon sanitaire‘ of isolation around Cuba,” the PNCR said, noting that former Cuban head of state Fidel Castro had acknowledged the gesture as a “challenge to imperialism” when Burnham later visited Cuba.