Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque yesterday stressed that each action taken by the Community to help resolve Guyana’s elections crisis was “by invitation” and in an attempt to maintain regional grouping’s reputation as a bastion of democracy.
Speaking during a virtual conference for the handing over of CARICOM’s chairmanship from Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley to St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, LaRocque described the Community as a family that supports its members during times of danger, such as blacklisting or when there are threats to territorial integrity.
“That is not interference,” LaRocque said of such assistance. “That is the CARICOM family being there for each other. It is that family spirit that will get us through this exceptional time,” he added.