During a meeting with Caribbean foreign ministers, from 34 member countries, at the 35th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) last week US Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, has pledged to work with Caribbean leaders on a regular basis.
Secretary Rice has committed to future meetings in hopes of addressing issues concerning the Caribbean region, with the most pressing issue, restoring stability to Haiti being the consensus of the group.
Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Senator Delano Franklyn who headed Jamaica’s delegation said that, “Secretary Rice’s response was most encouraging in responding to the Caribbean leaders’ proposal to have more regular talks with the US, with the earliest being a meeting during the United Nations General Assembly in September.”
Other issues discussed at the meeting were, security in the region, the vulnerability of Caribbean nations during natural disasters and strategies to look into preventive and recovery measures, passport issues and the impact of the deportees to the region.
Jamaica’s delegation also included His Excellency, Ambassador Gordon Shirley and Jamaica’s Consul General to the Southeast USA, Ricardo Allicock, officers of the Caribbean and Americas Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ms. V. Montague and Ms. Ann Scott.
