Dear Editor,
I learnt with substantial sadness of the passing of the Ex Cuban Vice President and Statesman, Jose Ramon Fernandez.
He was a man of immense stature, dignity, a great revolutionary, a patriot par excellence, a friend of people internationally and most of all, he was a friend admired by my wife, Dr. Jennifer Basdeo-Green and family.
Fernandez was one of the frontline leaders that defended his country in the ‘Bay of Pigs’ episode and the Caribbean people must honour him for helping to secure the integrity of small states. Something, we need to put in focus at this time as we observe certain activities near to our borders.
Whenever I visited the Republic of Cuba, we ensured arrangements were in place to meet with Fernandez.
Our conversations proved stimulating and helped one to understand the dynamics of the world in which we live.
I always looked forward to those exchanges with a man of great intellectual depth and one always felt comfortable and happy in his presence.
We have lost a good man, a General and a Gentleman in every sense.
On behalf of my wife, Dr. Jennifer Basdeo-Green and family, we offer sincere condolences to his family and the Leaders and People of the Republic of Cuba.
Yours faithfully,
Hamilton Green.
