From the Barbados Nation News:
AGAINST the backdrop of a beautiful sunset reflected on the calm waters of the west coast, four heads of state paid their respects yesterday to those who died in the Cubana Airlines aircraft crash off Barbados in 1976.
One after another, St Lucia's Prime Minister Dr Kenny D. Anthony; President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana; Cuba's President Dr Fidel Castro then Prime Minister Owen Arthur, each solemnly laid a wreath at the step of the monument set up at Paynes Bay, St James, commemorating the deaths of the 57 Cubans, 11 Guyanese, and five North Korean businessmen.
The high-security ten-minute ceremony was attended by many Cuban ministers, recently re-elected Prime Minister of St Vincent Dr Ralph Gonsalves and local Government ministers.
Without any speeches and very little fuss, two minutes of silence were observed as a mark of respect for the 73 victims, which was followed by the playing of the steelpan rendition of the Guyanese National Anthem and the Cuban Anthem which was sung by every Cuban in attendance.
http://www.nationnews.com/story/1619340099025.phpMore on Castro's speech to the Caricom/Cuba summit taking place in Barbados
In an eagerly anticipated keynote address at the start of the Second Cuba-CARICOM Summit at the Barbados Hilton, Castro said the feverish consumerism of the rich countries was leading to the alarming shortage of hydrocarbons, a vital source of non-renewable energy.
With proven and unproven reserves being depleted and a market price only within reach of wealthy societies, Castro said, hydrocarbons were inaccessible to the overwhelming majority of peoples in the Third World.
The Cuban president told the heads of state and government, ministers, diplomats and others assembled in the high-ceilinged Needham's Ballroom, that the colossal wastage by consumerist societies not only affected the world economy but also posed a serious threat to the environment.
"How will our countries face the damages of the next hurricane season," he asked, "and those of the next ten years, and who will help us pay for them?
http://www.nationnews.com/story/50164108662382.php