Caricom heads have condemned the manner in which St Vincent and the Grenadines PM, Ralph Gonsalves was accosted by persons purporting to be journalists on an aircraft and impeded by them.
According to a communiqué issued by Caricom following a February 18-19 meeting in Haiti, at the time of the incident, Gonsalves, his wife, and Ambassador Ellsworth John were on a LIAT airline en route to the 24th Inter-Sessional Meeting in Haiti. The Heads expressed their grave concern with the manner in which Prime Minister Gonsalves, a sitting Caricom Head of Govern-ment, was reportedly confronted.
“While fully supportive of the freedom of the press and the vital role played by a free, active and responsible press in governance and development, the Heads of Government emphasised that the dignity of the office of Head of State or Government within CARICOM is equal to that of any other nation, as are the attendant security concerns and expectations. This dignity and security concern of a Head of Government cannot be violated by unidentified representatives of a foreign press service who, for whatever reason, expect a level of access to CARICOM Heads of State or Government that they would not receive from Heads of State and Government in their countries of origin,” the statement said.
They further reiterated their individual willingness to be accessible to the media and responsive and forthcoming to reasonable requests from the press. “They recommitted to the values of transparency, good governance and the free flow of information, which undergird the free and independent societies of CARICOM,” the communiqué said.
