00:00In honor of the 100th birthday of Fidel Castro, we are joined now by the
00:04president of the Cuba Grenada Friendship Association, Dr. Terence Merishaw.
00:08Welcome, doctor, to From the South.
00:18Doctor, can you hear me? I'm hearing it, but very very low. I'm gonna try to speak
00:25a bit higher. Doctor, for Commander Fidel Castro, the idea of fostering
00:30solidarity and exchange among peoples was fundamental. That is why one of his
00:34policies, revolutionary policies, was to train professionals in education, in
00:38health, in different fields of knowledge, to help the continent develop and the
00:44world as well. How do you believe that that vision of Fidel shaped the
00:47development of Latin America and other nations of the world?
00:54Let me say it also, thank you very much for inviting me to be part of this
00:58program. I redeem it an honor and a pleasure to have been invited to speak
01:03on the legacy of Fidel. I am a Grenadian medical doctor who had the privilege of
01:12studying in Cuba when the Grenada revolution triumphed in 1979. And I've had really
01:23first-hand experience. I'm a product of that solidarity, that experience that Grenada
01:31had when Grenada had a revolution and joined hands and hearts with Fidel and the
01:39Cuban revolution. I can say from our position here in Grenada that Grenada has benefited
01:48tremendously from that solidarity movement. It has shaped Grenada in ways that we cannot
01:57even calculate and will continue to shape Grenada in the future because the
02:02largesse of that particular period still resonates in Grenada society. Most of the
02:10key positions, top positions in government are today held by Cuban graduates. Most of
02:17the positions in health in the general hospital, in the field of dentistry, most of these are held by Cuban
02:28graduates and have been held by Cuban graduates over the last 30 years. And the difference between
02:34the graduates who have studied in Cuba and those who have studied in universities is that the Cuban
02:41graduates have remained in the country and have continued to build and contribute to the country in
02:49ways that have benefited the country over the last 30 to 40 years.
02:56This is not unique to Grenada, although in Grenada we have had probably the largest share of that
03:05solidarity because we had a revolution and at the very first instance of asking for help from Cuba,
03:15it was forthcoming without any strings attached. Cuba sent their doctors, their dentists,
03:22their construction workers, their construction workers, they constructed for us an international
03:26airport that we would never have been able to have had it not been for that solidarity and for the
03:33contribution of Fidel and the Cuban workers in Grenada society. So we got a whole international airport.
03:40Few countries in the Caribbean can boast of having an international airport after independence and
03:47few are struggling, quite a few are still struggling to build an international airport which a poor country
03:53like Cuba under sanctions for over 50-60 years at a time was able to provide for us. And Cuba
04:01has provided
04:01that kind of assistance throughout Latin America and the Caribbean in a very selfless and altruistic way,
04:10in ways that, you know, we can only appreciate long after it's gone because when we see the pressure
04:17now that is coming on Cuba to not provide that kind of, if Cuba disappears, as we know it, Cuba
04:27that,
04:27that revolutionary Cuba, that Cuba that is built on solidarity, that ever disappears. The entire Caribbean and Latin
04:36American region in the American region, we are going to suffer. There has never been a country like Cuba and
04:42there
04:42will never be another country like Cuba. There has never been a leader as Fidel and there will never be
04:49another
04:50leader as Fidel. A leader who really cares about people, a leader who not only cares about his people, but
04:59in spite of all of the odds that they are facing, in spite of an economic blocking,
05:02in spite of all of the tremendous economic difficulties that are imposed by the empire in the north, they have
05:12been able to help Latin America and the Caribbean to develop in ways that nobody else has helped us.
05:19Nobody else has been able to provide that help. Today, we see the pressure that is being put on Cuba,
05:27not to provide medical assistance to Latin America and the Caribbean, because they find that that is the only way
05:35that Cuba continues,
05:37despite everything that they have done, all of the coercive measures, all of the draconian measures that they have taken
05:42against Cuba, that Cuba still continues with the little that they have to provide assistance
05:49to Latin America and the Caribbean and they want to destroy it at all costs. And so we are saying
05:55here in the Caribbean that we want Cuba to survive. We want Cuba to be viable. We want Cuba to
06:01continue to provide and to play the role that it has played in Latin America and the Caribbean for the
06:08last 50, 60 years.
06:11And, you know, we need to join forces and to ensure that the empire does not destroy Cuba because Cuba
06:18has been good to us. And a world without Cuba, I just can't imagine what it would be like, because
06:27those that profess that they are rich and they are powerful, they never have.
06:34Instead, what they try to do is to destroy you and to prevent those who are willing to help you
06:40to destroy them as well. So Cuba has played a role in Latin America's and Caribbean development for decades, for
06:50decades. This is not just a Johnny-come-lately kind of thing.
06:55This is a country that has built its reputation on international solidarity, a country that loves people, a country that,
07:04with the little that they have, they share it with everybody who are willing to receive that help, especially countries
07:13that are not as developed as Cuba.
07:15And, you know, it bothers me, you know, that that same country is still being put under so much pressure
07:26instead of really being an example for the rest of America to follow, not just the Caribbean and America, because
07:35we have followed the example of Cuba.
07:37We are saying that it is time for America to learn from Cuba, with all the riches that they have
07:45and all the power and technology that they have. If they were playing the same kind of role that Cuba
07:50has been playing, what a different world we would have had.
07:54Really, when you consider if America just 90 miles away from Cuba is able to do so much, Cuba is
08:04able to do so much for us, that if the United States decides to lift that blockade and let Cuba
08:11breed, let Cuba develop as it should, the benefits for the entire Latin America and the Caribbean would be at
08:20a country level.
08:23Thank you, doctor, for your information, for all your inputs and analysis on the importance that Cuba has had and
08:30continues to have for Latin America and the Caribbean. Thank you very much for your time here in From the
08:36South.
08:37Yes, sir. Thank you very much. You're very welcome.
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