Early Cuban-Vanuatu relations must be considered within the scope of Vanuatu's resolutely independent foreign policy. Rejecting alignment with the
Western bloc during the late stages of the
Cold War, Vanuatu joined the
Non-Aligned Movement in 1983, and established diplomatic relations both with the
Soviet Union and (a few months later) with the
United States in 1986. More recently, in the 2000s, quasi-dormant relations between the two countries have been revived, in the context of
Cuba's regional engagement in the Pacific. Cuba currently provides medical aid to Vanuatu and other countries in
Oceania. As of September 2008, seventeen ni-Vanuatu are studying medicine in Cuba, with their expenses paid for by the Cuban government, and Cuban doctors are serving in Vanuatu. A representative of Vanuatu attended a multilateral Cuba-Pacific ministerial meeting in Havana in September 2008, where attendees discussed "strengthening co-operation in health, sports and education", and where Cuban authorities pledged to assist Pacific countries in coping with the
effects of climate change. == References ==