CARICOM members should continue to pursue all opportunities for social and economic development such as the alternative plan being pushed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, foreign ministers said at a recent meeting in Antigua.
The CARICOM ministers also highlighted the importance of the Rio Group, in which Guyana, Belize and Haiti are full members, underscoring its role in promoting greater outreach within the hemisphere while providing the region with access to South-South cooperation.
In this context, the ministers welcomed the offer by Jamaica to represent those CARICOM member states which are not currently members of the Rio Group, according to the communiqué issued at the Eleventh Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) held in Bolans Village, Antigua and Barbuda from May 7-9. Guyana was represented by newly-appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs Carolyn Rodrigues.
Ministers examined the geopolitical and economic changes taking place at both the hemispheric and international levels and the resulting challenges.
These changes were considered in the particular context of the redistribution of power on the global stage; the shifting priorities of traditional partners; the increasing presence of non-traditional actors in the Caribbean region; and geo-political changes in neighbouring regions and states.
They also considered non-geopolitical issues having an impact on the Community including climate change, rising food and fuel costs and crime and security.
ALBA
In this context, the communiqué noted, ministers considered policy responses to these changes and challenges as well as new initiatives which have emerged and could assist countries of the region in meeting these challenges, among them the Bolivarian Alternative for the Peoples of our America (ALBA).
Moreover, ministers agreed that member states should continue to pursue and explore all opportunities available to them for their social and economic development while recognising their obligations under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.
They noted too that rising commodity prices (food and fuel) is one of the non-geopolitical challenges to which the Community needs to pay attention. And in this regard, the ministers encouraged member states to explore measures to enhance the possibilities of regional food production.
Ministers also expressed particular concern over the impact of high fuel costs on aviation services and consequently the tourism sector which is of critical importance to so many of the economies of CARICOM member states.
Foreign policy
coordination
The COFCOR, the communiqué said, emphasised the importance of coordination of the region’s foreign policy, given the small size and vulnerability of CARICOM states and the constantly changing nature of the international system.
The COFCOR also agreed to measures aimed at enhancing coordination by ensuring that decision-making procedures were fully responsive to developments on the international scene and increasing the effectiveness of the Bureau of the Council, among other steps.
Ministers were informed that the governments of Belize and Guate-mala, along with the active participation of the government of Honduras, met over a period of 18 months under the auspices of the OAS in an effort to identify a possible delimitation of the maritime spaces in the Gulf of Honduras as part of a definitive solution to the Belize-Guatemala territorial issue.
After several meetings, it became clear that no progress was being made and that an agreement could not be reached. This led to the Secretary-General of the OAS, in accordance with the Agreement on a Framework for Negotiations of 2005, to recommend to both parties that they should seek to resolve the dispute by juridical means through the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Both Belize and Guatemala have agreed to the recommendation of Secretary General Insulza to take the dispute to the ICJ and initial steps are now being taken towards that end.
However, the confidence building measures between Belize and Guatemala with the assistance of the OAS still continue.
Meantime, ministers took note of the efforts by Guyana and Vene-zuela towards the maintenance of good relations between the two countries, and expressed the hope that the Good Offices Process of the United Nations Secretary-General within the ambit of the Geneva Agreement, to which both countries remain committed, would be soon resuscitated towards finding a peaceful settlement to the border controversy.
The ministers also reiterated their full support for the maintenance of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Guyana.
Zimbabwe
And the meeting also expressed grave concern that the results of Zimbabwe’s national elections were made public only after weeks of delay, raising serious doubts over the integrity of the process.
The communiqué noted that member states of the Caribbean Community were at the forefront of the international campaign against apartheid and continuing colonialism in Southern Africa in the latter half of the twentieth century.
Consequently, they feel compelled to call on Zimbabwe’s authorities, with the assistance of that country’s close neighbours in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), to do all in their power to ensure that Zimbabwe’s electoral procedures as well as the civil and political rights of Zimbabwe’s citizens are fully respected in order to make certain that the will of all Zimbabweans is reflected in the final outcome of this electoral process.
A fair resolution to the electoral impasse will pave the way for political equity and socio-economic development in the country, the communiqué added.
Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community Edwin Carrington, in remarks at the opening ceremony, lauded the success of the Community in the coordination of foreign policy, which he noted has been one of the greatest strengths of the Caribbean Community and has been a widespread source of admiration by many.
The Secretary-General highlighted the changed priorities of many of the Community’s traditional partners, citing the shifting emphasis towards security in the case of the United States and the move from a preferential to a reciprocal trading relationship in the case of the United Kingdom, as part of the European Union-CARIFORUM Economic Partnership Agreement.
Referring to Canada, Carrington highlighted the Community’s historical ties with that country and the recent decision of the Canadian government to significantly enhance its support to the region through some Cdn$600M in technical assistance over the next decade with a much stronger emphasis on the integration process.
