The new Ambassador of Cuba to the Republic of Botswana and Special Representative to SADC, Her Excellency Patricia Pego Guerra presented her letters of credence to the Executive Secretary of the SADC Secretariat, Her Excellency Dr. Stergomena Lawrence Tax on 8th June 2017 at the Secretariat’s Headquarters in Gaborone, Botswana.
H. E Guerra highlighted that Cuba has long standing relations with the government of Botswana and many of the SADC Member States, and was looking forward to establishing a cooperative agreement at the regional level through the SADC Secretariat.
The Ambassador noted that Cuba’s cooperation with SADC Member States was in the areas of Health, Science, and Education. “We have many Cuban medical doctors working in SADC countries under bilateral agreements in the area of health, and would like such cooperation to be extended to the regional level through SADC Secretariat”, Ambassador Guerra said.
She added that Cuba also has strong science biotechnology institutions specializing in the management of cancer and diabetics; and strong civil defense structures and expertise to manage disasters risk reduction and minimize loss of lives in the event of calamities, among others.
Dr Tax welcomed the Cuban envoy to the SADC Secretariat, and thanked Cuba for the long historic relationship with SADC Member States. She hailed the idea of establishing cooperation at the regional level to enable the SADC region to benefit from the technical expertise from Cuba.
Dr Tax said the Secretariat will collaborate with Ambassador Guerra and develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to guide cooperation in the areas of health, education, empowerment of women, genetic engineering, science biotechnology and disaster risk reduction as proposed by Cuba, and this MoU will be aligned with SADC priorities.
