Latest update August 20th, 2026 12:07 AM
CARICOM will not only survive but will become more relevant to its people
Dear Editor,
Your columnist Freddie Kissoon in his column on Tuesday, October 13 argues that the zeitgeist (spirit of the era) which brought CARICOM (earlier CARIFTA) into existence is dead and that its final “death blow” was struck by “Reaganite power”.
To begin with, I disagree with Freddie that CARICOM is dying. CARICOM in my view is very much alive but has failed to put in place a sustained public education program which would provide for its citizens, especially the younger generation and the Diaspora, to better understand its work and how this impacts on their day to day lives. The same can be said of the Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations (UN). Of course, no person or organization is perfect and there is always room for improvement and in the case of CARICOM, there is plenty of room.
While Freddie may be quite right that there is no emotional embrace among CARICOM citizens for the regional grouping, that does not mean that the integration process is dying and/or is irrelevant. Former Foreign Minister Rashleigh Jackson has always maintained that “our unity in CARICOM does not preclude a plurality of outlook, it presupposes it.” So CARICOM unity does not mean that its member states have to agree on everything, there can be differences of opinion as there is in most of the most unified family units.
Freddie’s contention that Reganite power, whatever that means, hastened the death of the spirit of the era which made CARICOM relevant, is to me a flawed argument, for it was during the Reagan Administration that many initiatives were launched to support CARICOM development efforts. Foremost among these initiatives was the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), which initially provided a 12-year period for the duty free entry of a range of Caribbean products into the United States. It was during the period of Reagan’s presidency that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) initiated significant support for joint Caribbean investment promotion activities in the US, which led to the establishment of the Eastern Caribbean Investment Promotion Service (ECIPS), which provided for the collective effort on the part of the OECS countries. The investment promotion agencies of Barbados and Jamaica also benefited from the spirit of that era.
There was also the 806 program for textiles and the section 936 program facilitating collaboration between Puerto Rico and CARICOM member countries. All these initiatives were designed with the collective effort of the Caribbean in mind and for the most part were initiated through consultation and negotiation by CARICOM as a group. It was also during that period that the Friends of the Caribbean in Congress (US Congress) was birthed as a result of the active interaction between CARICOM and the United States.
Another of Freddie’s contentions is that there is not much trade among CARICOM member states. What is not much? There is significant trade among CARICOM member countries but there is room for much more.
As for his contention about CARICOM on the Venezuela/Guyana border controversy, that too in my view is flawed. CARICOM has always maintained that Venezuela must respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Guyana based on the 1899 Arbitral Award. CARICOM member states, like all other countries, have to base their foreign policy conduct on “enlightened self-interest” which requires at times a certain strategic ambiguity. If and when the time comes, CARICOM can never withhold its full and unambiguous public support for Guyana.
Can CARICOM survive the next 30 years? It will. It has to. It will not only survive but become more relevant to its people.
Wesley Kirton
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