Assistant Secretary General to Represent OAS at meeting of CARICOM Council of Foreign and Community Relations

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA – Assistant Secretary General Albert R. Ramdin arrived in Antigua and Barbuda Wednesday, May 7 to represent the Organization of American States (OAS) at the May 7-9 meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR), being hosted by Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer. Ambassador Ramdin will address the retreat of COFCOR—one of the four organs that assist the CARICOM Conference of Heads of Government and the Council of Ministers in carrying out their mission.

“It is an opportunity for the Organization of American States to share with this important subregion of the OAS concerning developments in general within the Western Hemisphere,” said Ramdin, prior to departing Washington. Among other priority issues, he said he would be updating the CARICOM officials on several hemispheric agenda issues including the OAS General Assembly session slated for Medellin, Colombia, June 1 through 3; the Haiti situation; the Ecuador-Colombia developments; and the situation in Bolivia.

Ramdin said he would also talk about initiatives surrounding the proposal for an OAS permanent committee on development, “which we think is relevant to elevating the discourse on development issues within the OAS’ political bodies.”

The Antigua and Barbuda meeting is also an opportunity to listen to the priorities and perspectives of the Caribbean foreign ministers on the Summit of the Americas, and to share with them information on OAS support to the government of Trinidad and Tobago, hosts of the 2009 Summit of the Americas.