Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre has insisted that Saint Lucia’s friendship with Cuba remains unchanged, despite the island’s decision not to participate in this year’s United Nations vote calling for an end to the United States embargo on Cuba.
The decision had raised questions, particularly given Saint Lucia’s support for the measure in previous years. It voted in favour of ending the embargo as recently as 2025, when 165 countries backed the resolution.
Pierre fielded questions from St Lucia Times on the change at Monday’s pre-Cabinet press briefing.
He maintained that the decision should not be interpreted as a shift in Saint Lucia’s relationship with Cuba.
“Our friendship with Cuba has not changed,” he said. “We are still very friendly to the people of Cuba, to the government of Cuba.”
The UN General Assembly adopted this year’s resolution on October 28, continuing a pattern that has lasted for more than three decades, marking the 34th time it had backed a call for the embargo to end in more than three decades.
Asked why Saint Lucia did not take part in this year’s vote, Pierre responded: “It was driven by our own interests at this time. We thought that the best thing for us this time was not to be present.”
He again stressed that the move did not signal any cooling of ties with Havana.
“But as I’m going to repeat to you, our situation, our friendship with Cuba has not changed,” Pierre said.
The resolution calls for an end to the decades-old US economic, commercial and financial embargo on Cuba.
Pierre also pointed out that the resolution was adopted despite Saint Lucia’s absence.
Asked whether he expected the decision to affect relations with Cuba, he said: “I don’t think it will. It will not impact because the resolution passed.”
