Singh pressed on Cuba policy change
-at BBC World Questions programme
Appearing on the BBC World Questions panel at the New Pegasus Hotel, Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh was yesterday pressed on the Guyana Government’s recent switch in policy towards Cuba.
Audience member Ayodele Roach questioned the government’s stance on Cuba. “Are we being ungrateful by trading friends for the USA who gives us nothing but threats?” she asked. Pro-gramme moderator Jonny Dymond pressed Singh on the issue, noting that Guyana appeared to be “diverging from the majority of CARICOM” policy. When Singh cited Presi-dent Irfaan Ali’s call for “improvement in the lives of the Cuban people,” Dymond interrupted: “The suggestion he put, in fact, is that he supports the US policy of regime change… Does Guyana support regime change in Cuba?”
Singh denied the claim, stating, “We have no reference to regime change whatsoever,” and emphasized the President’s focus on the “status quo” and the “circumstances of the lives” of Cubans.
Speaking in a Fox News interview on March 7th President Ali agreed that there must be changes in Cuba to ensure democracy.
