Prime Minister Allen Chastanet lauded countries like Cuba and Taiwan for their assistance in helping Saint Lucia combat the coronavirus and called on the United Nations to lift the economic embargo on Cuba and to give Taiwan recognition as a sovereign country.
Chastanet highlighted the two countries at last Saturday’s 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York offering gratitude and commendation to the two countries which he said “stepped up to the challenge, in the truest spirit of solidarity to assist states like my own, to cushion the pandemic’s blow to our socio-economic landscape.”
“This support has been immeasurable. Some of the countries who offered support and continue to do so, themselves are grappling with a multilateral order that systematically stymies their development prospects,” Chastanet said.
He then called on the United Nations to lift the economic embargo on the government and people of Cuba, adding that it is time to do so.
“Not only has it affected the people of Cuba but it has also affected the entire Caribbean region. It is time to, once again, give states like Taiwan recognition so that they can meaningfully engage in global processes and share their best practices. Even as China and Taiwan have their own differences and while this is being addressed, Climate Change and the Covid-19 pandemic are stark reminders that Taiwan should not be left out of the discussions. Taiwan has its own elections, its own currency controls its own airspace and has its own military force. A population of almost 24 million people is too many to be left off the table,” Chastanet said.
He noted that the continued exclusion of Taiwan, calls into question the very principles the UN was established on.
“We must also recognize that as the world grapples with the Covid-19 pandemic Taiwan has demonstrated impressive leadership, not just by their own success with managing the spread, but by coming to the aid of nations such as Saint Lucia and many other countries to provide medical resources and technical advice. The pandemic which has touched every country is a potent reminder of the interconnectedness of human societies and more reason why in building our new world economic order, we must leave no one behind, no people, no country should be allowed to fall through the cracks. Saint Lucia would never have done as well as we did with managing the pandemic without friends like the people of Taiwan and Cuba,” Prime Minister Chastanet said.
