AS CARICOM HEADS of Government begin their 36th regular annual meeting tomorrow with a ceremonial opening at Hilton Barbados, a really big question remains to be answered in their official communiqué expected by Saturday evening when the curtains are drawn on the three-day event.
That question is: Will the region’s people and,by extension the global community, be informed precisely on the way forward, this time around, of the specific new initiatives the heads have agreed to pursue to advance the much overdue “progress” to make a reality of what they keep “talking” about – inauguration of a CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME)?
Or would the communiqué reflect more of the familiar “words game” of earlier summits at which heads have divulged precious little information on required new “decisive actions”, while remaining long on rhetoric about this region’s economic integration movement, now in its 42nd year since inauguration in Trinidad and Tobago in July 1973?
It would be recalled that amid spreading cynicism and public criticisms that came from the region’s private sector and civil society organisations, CARICOM heads of government, accompanied by top advisers, as well as those from the Community Secretariat, held a special one-day meeting four years ago in Guyana to discuss how best to remove barriers for realisation of the full CSME.
For that meeting, then CARICOM chairman, Prime Minister Tillman Thomas of Grenada, had received a requested draft report on Re-energising CARICOM Integration. A primary author of that report was the now late distinguished Caribbean economist and renowned advocate for regional unity, Dr Norman Girvan.
Precious little was officially offered on the outcome of that “special” meeting. Among participants was current CARICOM chairman and host for this week’s summit, Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart. However, of significance was the disclosure that the heads had decided to place “on pause” plans for advancing the CSME while they committed themselves to pursuing other alternatives, as then reported. Indeed, the word “pause” was to become frequent usage among some heads in relation to inquiries/comments on the CSME.
The reality is that while the text of the official “words game” kept changing, heads were still to come forward with any original, concrete plan of action to launch the CSME – anytime soon – now more than 15 years after the preliminary outlines of a frequently promised “One Market, One Community, One People”.
For now some so-called “hot politics” issues seem likely to occupy the urgent attention of heads of government, most likely on Saturday. These would certainly include CARICOM playing a mediating role in the new and quite disappointing flare-up of an old, 19th century territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana.
The new tension between these border neighbours has erupted as a consequence of a surprising decree last May 27 by Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro. It unilaterally defined a so-called “Atlantic coast of Venezuela”, much to the surprise and hurt of Guyana, whose government lost no time in deeming this arbitrary action by Caracas a puzzling violation of defined territorial waters in the Atlantic Ocean.
Guyana became immersed in securing regional and international support. However, by this past weekend, strenuous initiatives by well-placed governments of the Caribbean/Latin America, known to be friendly disposed to both Guyana and Venezuela, were reported to have succeeded in moderating initiatives that resulted in new approaches for renewed peaceful dialogue between the neighbours.
A distinguished and surprising feature of Caracas’ new mood to quell the controversy was an expected official announcement yesterday to explain that the vexed ‘territorial decree’ was not intended for “public release” but in effect “a draft” that was circulated for “internal administrative purposes” and, therefore, not effective.
This new development would undoubtedly be welcomed by CARICOM and wider hemispheric blocs of countries that have been engaged in quiet diplomacy of their own.
The latest development, at the time of writing, was a likely special guest appearance by President Maduro in Barbados for the CARICOM Summit. He is expected to have separate informal meetings with Guyana’s new President, David Granger, and Prime Minister Stuart.
There is, of course, the ongoing race-based conflict of the Dominican Republic’s crude discrimination against black Dominican nationals of Haitian origin in obtaining new travel documents to freely depart and return to the country which, incidentally, has observer status with CARICOM. It’s time for CARICOM’s stand on this obnoxious, degrading human rights issue.
• Rickey Singh is a noted Caribbean journalist.
