Haiti Libre:

The Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe at the head of the Haitian delegation of high-ranking composed of Thomas Jacques, Minister of Agriculture ; of Marie Mimose Félix, Minister Delegate responsible for promoting the peasantry ; of Philippe Cinéas, Secretary of State for Public Works ; of Oswald Thimoléon, Secretary of State for Literacy ; Advisor Guy William and of Dr Jean Patrick Alfred Director of the Unit of Planning and Evaluation (UPE) of the Representative of the Ministry of Public Health, Thursday completed his official visit after an important meeting of coordination of the Haitian-Cuban cooperation attended by more than forty ministers, deputy ministers and program managers and dignitaries of Cuban regime.

At this meeting, agriculture, infrastructure, health and literacy was especially at the heart of discussions.

Agriculture is the theme that opened the meeting, Thomas Jacques, Minister of Agriculture discussed with his Cuban counterpart of strengthening of fisheries and aquaculture, two areas that already has the support of Cuba. We also believe developing shrimp production in the country indicated the Minister. Cuban cooperation will also extend to the field of animal health.

The topic of health was discussed by Dr. Jean Patrick Alfred, who represented the Minister of Health, Florence Duperval Guillaume. He expressed the wish to have more specialists in the field, a request welcomed by Cuban authorities who have made ​​a commitment to train Haitians and expressed interest in the development of traditional medicine in Haiti. In addition, he was asked to the Haitian government to create adequate conditions in order to integrate doctors trained in Cuba. Indeed, of 818 new physicians, only 600 work in the health system in Haiti.

Philippe Cinéas, the Secretary of State of Public Works discussed with the Cuban authorities of the supervision of the Cap Haitien airport (Hugo Chavez airport), built in cooperation with Venezuela and Cuba, and the construction of the terminal. He also discussed the construction of the airport of Les Cayes and Ile-à-Vaches.

Literacy is a priority for the administration Martelly-Lamothe was addressed by Oswald Thimoléon who asked an even greater involvement of the Cuban government in the fight against this scourge. Following this request, the Cuban authorities have renewed their commitment to help Haiti to eradicate illiteracy. By the next two months, 300,000 Haitians will incorporate classrooms across the country.

After the meeting, the Prime Minister Lamothe went to the Revolution Square in Havana, lay a wreath of flowers in honor of José Marti, Cuba’s national hero, before going to the Palace revolution for an official meeting with Prime Cuban Vice President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez. The official visit of the Prime Minister to Cuba, ended with a luncheon in his honor by the First Cuban Vice President Esteban Lazo and President of the National Assembly.

Lamothe, welcomed this visit and announced that from June, the Cuban authorities will send in the country several missions “[…] Haiti has a special place in his heart for Cuba […] Without Cuba, we would not be where we are today.” The Haitian delegation returned to the country on Thursday.