Ties between the nations of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Cuba have remained cordial over the course of the later half of the 20th century. Formal diplomatic relations between the CARICOM economic giants: Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago have existed since 1972, and have over time led to an increase in cooperation between the CARICOM Heads of Government and Cuba. At a summit meeting of sixteen Caribbean countries in 1998, Fidel Castro called for regional unity, saying that only strengthened cooperation between Caribbean countries would prevent their domination by rich nations in a global economy. Cuba, for many years regionally isolated, increased grants and scholarships to the Caribbean countries.