HAVANA, Cuba.- The 33rd Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), under way until Friday in Saint Lucia, sets out to achieve regional integration with regard to foreign policy.

In statements to ACN, Ofelia Arteaga, a specialist in economic policy with the Department of Latin America and the Caribbean of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment, specified that Cuba does not belong to this organization but that it acknowledges the importance of this meeting of countries with which it has fraternal relations since 1973.

Topics of common interest, like the approval of projects in the field of health, will be analyzed during the meeting, she commented.

The Summit’s agenda will also include debates on the implementation of a common foreign policy, the process of reform of the Community, support for Haiti, and the development of youth in the region, the Prensa Latina news agency reported.

A total of 14 heads of State and Government are expected to attend the meeting, the most important of this organization.

Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Montserrat and Trinidad and Tobago, make up the CARICOM.

The states in this area have ratified their support for the island and their rejection of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the US government on the island for over five decades now.