SOUTH FLORIDA – The CARICOM heads of government summit which wraps up today in Montego Bay, Jamaica could conceivably end up being one of the most significant such conference.
This hope could reside in prime ministers like Barbados’ Mia Motley and Gaston Brown of Antigua and Barbuda, and statements they made at the conference.
Motley spoke to the possible savings if states rid themselves of bureaucracies which are duplicated in countries literally a stone’s throw from each other.
Brown called attention to how many nationals from across the region have been assimilated into his home country’s society.
I submit that these are, one a significant achievement and two, the potential for deeper cooperation while saving money and resources in small economies.
I am also submitting that this is a solution to regional challenges the region has sought to ignore of delay attending to.
Developments in the U.S. and for that matter in much of the western hemisphere suggest these regions will cease to be the safety valve they have been for countries like those in places like the Caribbean.
As the Antiguan Prime Minister has suggested, some countries have helped, unwittingly to ease pressures in other countries. Would it not be most ironic that a reactionary U.S. President, among others, is going to force the Caribbean to realize the dream of regional federation? At some level?
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Photo Credit: Leroy “Dreamy” Riley
