• Submitted by: manso
• International
• 03 / 25 / 2011

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10:47, March 25, 2011. Guatemala-Cuba relations have reached a new high, Guatemala's foreign minister said Thursday in Cuba while promoting Latin American and Caribbean integration.

Guatemalan Foreign Minister Roger Haroldo Rodas, who arrived Wednesday,said his three-day visit to Cuba aims to review the bilateral agenda. He also mentioned his government's interest in promoting Latin American and Caribbean integration to face challenges such as the economic crisis, climate change, drug trafficking and organized crime.

"Guatemala is very committed to the Central American integration process," Rodas said at a meeting with his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez on Thursday.

For his part, Rodriguez called the ties between the two countries "exemplary" and "a dynamic factor" for the integration process in the region.

He also thanked Guatemala for voting against the U.S. trade blockade against Cuba at the United Nations, and said Havana supports Guatemala's aspiration for a seat on the UN Security Council, "knowing that Guatemala made a substantial contribution" to the body.

Guatemala and Cuba resumed diplomatic relations in 1997, after decades of severed ties since Cuba's socialist revolution in 1959.

Source: Xinhua