Cuban Ambassador Patricia Lázara Pego Guerra met Sri Lanka’s Speaker Jagath Wickramaratne in Parliament recently to discuss bilateral cooperation, even as Havana faces an intensified US economic blockade under the Trump administration that targets the island’s energy and trade networks.
Sri Lanka has not issued any statement condemning the renewed US action, EconomyNext reported, although it has historically voted in favour of UN General Assembly resolutions calling for an end to the blockade.
A Parliament statement said Wickramaratne expressed appreciation for Cuba’s consistent support for Sri Lanka at multilateral forums, particularly at successive sessions of the United Nations Human Rights Council where Cuban statements have backed Colombo.
Cuba has previously assisted Sri Lanka in combating dengue outbreaks, donated medicines and vaccines, and deployed doctors to local hospitals. Wickramaratne sought continued support in developing Sri Lanka’s healthcare sector, particularly access to advanced Cuban medical technology, and floated the potential for wider bilateral cooperation across multiple sectors.
Ambassador Pego Guerra reaffirmed Cuba’s friendship and invited the Speaker to visit Havana with a parliamentary delegation. Education, sports and collaboration in the plantation industry were also discussed.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of Trump-era measures broadening sanctions on Cuba, which President Donald Trump floated extending physically in early May when he joked about the US Navy “taking over” Havana en route home from Iran. Cuba called the executive order tightening secondary sanctions on banks dealing with Havana “collective punishment.”
Sri Lanka’s own engagement with Cuban-themed business networks — including the locally branded Ceylon United Business Alliance (CUBA) industrial lobby — remains a separate domestic procurement track.
Source: EconomyNext.
