Rome, Italy.- FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva received Cuba”s permanent representative to this United Nations organization, Jose Carlos Rodriguez.

At the meeting, Da Silva and Rodriguez, who is also his country’s ambassador to Italy, held ‘a frank and broad exchange on various issues of interest’ related to the Caribbean nation, said a note from the diplomatic mission.

Among the aspects discussed were Cuba’s links with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and its economic and social development, among whose strategic sectors is agro-industrial, in addition to other sensitive issues for Latin America and the Caribbean.

Da Silva expressed ‘great satisfaction at the increase in the amount of resources’ for cooperation between FAO and Cuba, which includes increasing technical capacity in agricultural practices.

He noted in particular, adds the text, the upcoming approval of two new projects of the international organization for the island, with resources from the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Fund.

The meeting also made it possible to address the dangers looming over Latin America and the Caribbean, particularly for its food security, based on external interference and the use of food for purposes of political pressure, according to the note.

The Cuban ambassador, for his part, pondered the importance of respecting and enforcing the provisions of the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, unanimously adopted at the second summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac).

The information circulated here also highlights FAO’s commitment to the Agenda for Sustainable Development and the goal of achieving the goal of zero hunger by 2030.

Similarly, the Director General of the UN specialized agency recognized the nexus between peace and development and the negative impact of the increase in conflicts in the world, which impedes sustainable agricultural development and the elimination of hunger and malnutrition.