Members of the diplomatic corps came out on Friday, July 17, to say adios to a hard-working member.

Cuban Ambassador Gisela Garcia will be leaving after serving over four years. She joked that she had seen the terms of three governors general and three prime ministers. She said though she had a good time in Jamaica, it was time to go home. Her children are already back in Cuba.

She also quipped that she doesn't like her native food anymore, but preferred the Jamaican flavour. She said she felt blessed to have been here and that there were many things she would miss about Jamaica. She also 'warned' those attending that they had to visit her if they ever came to Cuba.

Cuban Ambassador Gisela Garcia (left) gets a goodbye hug from Senegalese Ambassador Dr Nafissatou Diagne.

Former Prime Minister of Jamaica P.J. Patterson (left) jokes with Arnold Foote, president of the World Federation of Consuls, at the diplomatic corps' farewell reception for Cuban Ambassador Gisela Garcia, held at Rosemarie Drive, Norbrook, on Friday, July 17. In the background is Trinidadian High Commissioner to Jamaica, Yvonne Gittens-Josephs. - photos by Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

"You will have, in me, a friend forever," she said. Preceding her reply, colleagues lauded her professionalism, humility and intelligence. Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Dr Ken Baugh remarked that she had engraved herself on the local landscape. He said her presence in Jamaica was strong and she dispelled fears that Cuba and this government would not get along. The toast of salud was not long in coming.

Guests out included: Canadian High Commissioner Denis Kingsley and wife Jo-Ann, French Ambassador Marc-Olivier Gendry, St Kitts and Nevis High Commissioner Cedric Harper, Trinidad and Tobago High Commissioner Yvonne Gittens-Joseph, Colombian Ambassador Ventura Emilio Diaz Mejia, Haitian Chargé d'affaires Max Alce, Paul and Angela Burke, Ramon and Deidre Corvera and April Jackson.

daviot.kelly@gleanerjm.com