Grenadians came out in large numbers to greet Castro in 1998

In the 1970's, many left-leaning regional leaders did business with Cuba inviting Cuban workers and professionals to their territories.

This, however, in the face of the then-daunting Washington influence in the Caribbean Sea.

One casualty of this relationship often cited had been the removal of the late Guyanese leader Cheddi Jagan from office in 1964.

30 years later, with the release of official papers, it was clear that Washington and London had feared Jagan developing into "another Castro" and had backed his political opponents.

When Jagan returned to power as president in the 1990's, he said Caribbean countries were, by that time, less likely to take the lead from Washington in terms of their attitude to Cuba.

Grenada and Bishop

The most prominent casualty of the Cold War stance against Cuba, Castro and things communist had been the American invasion of Grenada in 1983.

The left-wing government of Maurice Bishop had been close to Castro's Cuba.

Over 20 Cuban workers were killed alongside Grenadians when the American forces of then president Ronald Reagan invaded.

It was also significant that the Caribbean leaders who had backed Reagan's invasion had been to the right of the Caribbean political spectrum.

Cuba's diplomacy

Fidel Castro, however, never stopped reaching out to his Caribbean neighbours.

	During a visit to Grenada, Castro made only a vague reference to the American 1983 invasion

In response, Castro said:

"Between them and us, we built it (the airport) by razing the hills and expanding into the sea.

"To the emotion we felt a few minutes ago when we landed on Grenadian land, with which we maintain strong and special ties, we now add the unveiling of this plaque commemorating those Cubans who gave the best of them to this Caribbean brother country.

"Their sweat, their efforts, their happiness, their enthusiasm, their spirit to fight and work, and their generous blood.

"However, I did not accept (prime minister Keith) Mitchell's friendly invitation to look back, lodge accusations, or make statements against anyone.

"Let history do so in its due time calmly and objectively."

Health tourism

But, by far the biggest Cuban influence across the rest of the Caribbean has been not a political but a pragmatic economic one.

Hundreds of Cuban doctors are to be found practising in English-speaking Caribbean countries.

Many Caribbean politicians and professionals seeking state-of-the-art health treatment go to Cuba.

Basic health indicators are comparable to the achievements of welfare systems in western Europe.

Education, science and health, the cornerstone of the 1959 revolution, are closely linked together in Cuba's development of an advanced medical sector.

The export of pharmaceutical products, vaccines and biotechnology helps to pay for the growing costs of funding medical research and a free health system with comprehensive coverage.

In 2002, the Cuban medical sector ranked sixth in terms of exports and services, providing the country with vitally needed foreign exchange that was worth $250m a year.

Since the end of Soviet aid in 1989, and the acute economic crisis of the 1990s, Cuba has seen the excellence of its medico-scientific institutions as a strategic resource for developing new medical products for export.

The country's first breakthrough in medical research was its discovery and patenting of meningitis-B vaccine in late 1980s.

It has been successfully exported to cope with epidemics in neighbouring countries.

In 2003, more than 5,000 foreign patients travelled to Cuba for a wide range of treatments including eye-surgery, neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's' disease, and orthopaedics.

Most patients are from the neighbouring Latin American and Caribbean markets.

Health tourism generates revenues of around $40m a year.

Cuba's economic potential

There is no doubt that a post-sanction Cuba could become one of the biggest economies in the Caribbean Sea.

The English-speaking trade grouping, the Caribbean Community (Caricom) and the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) regularly protest regularly at international session against US sanctions.

Fidel Castro's last tour of his immediate neighbours was in 1998.

The then Cuban President visited Jamaica, Barbados and Grenada.

Many saw that visit as the main attempt to break Cuba out of the diplomatic and economic isolation that US policy has attempted to impose on the island nation for nearly 40 years.

The tour had been the result of an intensive diplomatic campaign by communist-ruled Cuba to strengthen its political and commercial ties with its regional neighbours.

One columnist in Jamaica's Gleaner newspaper summed up Caricom's ambivalent position on Castro's Cuba at the time:

"Cuba under Castroism constitutes no particular addition to CARICOM...a redeemed Cuba could pose a serious threat to our national economy."

In the post-Castro era, time will tell whether Caricom's relationship had been with Cuba or Castro himself.