The anniversary coincides with a visit by Barbados Foreign Minister Billie Miller Dec. 8-10 for bilateral meetings with Cuban Foreign Minister Roberto Robaina.

Of the three events in December, the Joint Commission meeting opening Monday is the most likely to produce something substantive.

CARICOM's Carrington has called it a ``very important meeting.'' Other high-ranking Caribbean officials will be in attendance for discussions of such items as development of trade and investment, maritime transport, financing of cooperative projects, development of human resources and enhancing CARICOM-Cuba cooperation.

Helms-Burton law

The agenda also lists an ``exchange of views'' on the Helms-Burton law that tightened U.S. sanctions against Cuba, and on the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas and its implications for the Caribbean.

Trade -- and the prospect of establishing an office in Cuba to facilitate private sector trade -- is expected to be the most sensitive item discussed.

The possibility of a free-trade agreement with Cuba had been rumored, but a CARICOM official said ``CARICOM is not as yet interested in any free trade agreement with Cuba.'' That ``would be going a bit far at the present time,'' the official said, suggesting that CARICOM's relations with the United States might suffer if that were to happen.

``The political realism is that the United States remains a very important factor in CARICOM relations,'' the official said.

Washington and CARICOM have essentially ``agreed to disagree'' on the issue of Cuba, Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Basdeo Panday said in a recent interview.

A pitch for closer ties

A ranking Foreign Ministry official from another CARICOM state made a strong pitch for closer ties with Cuba.

``The stability and security of the Caribbean is enhanced by engaging Cuba in constructive cooperation,'' said the official, who asked not to be named. ``The best thing for everybody would be to have Cuba in the Organization of American States. Then all the human rights and other agreements would be applicable to them.''

The official compared the regional group's position on Cuba to Washington's approach to China, suggesting that ``Cuba'' could be substituted for ``China'' in a recent statement by President Clinton, in which he said:

``The isolation from China is unworkable, counterproductive and potentially dangerous. Isolation would encourage the Chinese to become hostile and adopt policies in conflict with our interests and values.''

The annual conference of the Caribbean Council for Europe, which will bring together top government, trade and private sector officials from the Caribbean and Europe, is expected to focus on the impact of crumbling European trade preferences for the Caribbean and the recent Asia, Caribbean, Pacific (ACP) summit in Gabon.

Symbolic importance

As host to the meeting, the importance to Cuba is more symbolic than substantive. Ironically, many of the participants will be in Havana en route to Miami for the annual Miami Conference on the Caribbean and Latin America.

While none of the December events in Havana is expected to bring major breakthroughs in Cuba-Caribbean relations, they highlight the growing involvement of Cuba in Caribbean affairs.

In addition to the visits by the three Caribbean prime ministers, Foreign Ministers Clement Rohee of Guyana and Fritz Longchamps of Haiti also visited Cuba during the year.

Grenada's prime minister has invited Cuban President Fidel Castro to his island nation in early March to attend a CARICOM summit.

All 14 of CARICOM's independent member states now have diplomatic relations with Cuba and Cuba recently opened an embassy in Trinidad, its fourth embassy in a CARICOM country. The others are in Jamaica, Guyana and Barbados.