Summit hails 'unity' and 'progress'
By Rickey Singh
Guyana Chronicle
July 9, 2004
ST.GEORGES - The 25th annual Caribbean Community Summit has concluded in the spice isle of Grenada with leaders hailing the triumph of "unity" over dissent and pointing to significant areas of "progress".
The Head of Government most anxious to telegraph such a message was the new chairman of the Community and host for the four-day conference, Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, currently battling fierce opposition over the controversial private funding of an overseas business mission he had led.
But embracing similar sentiment in comments to the media were also the Prime Ministers of Barbados (Owen Arthur), Trinidad and Tobago (Patrick Manning), and the new Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda (Baldwin Spencer), who handed over the chairmanship, after just three months, to Grenada's Mitchell.
Both Manning and Mitchell spoke variously of the sense of "unity and purpose" exhibited by all of their colleagues and said that even in the differences of opinion that emerged over some "contentious issues" (e.g. Haiti), were overcome in a "spirit of compromise" that ensures the "strength of CARICOM".
Talk of the triumph of the spirit of unity and solidarity in the interest of CARICOM was evidently as a result of the consensus that finally emerged from some sharp differences and tense moments in the formulation of new approaches to engage the interim Haitian regime in Port-au-Prince while remaining committed to constitutional governance and the rule of law.
By the close of the final plenary session of the four-day summit at the Grenada Convention and Conference Centre the Prime Ministers of Jamaica (P. J. Patterson, St. Lucia (Kenny Anthony) and St. Vincent and the Grenadines (Ralph Gonsalves) had already left, the first two because of respective state funeral arrangements.
Sharing the final press briefing on the outcome of the summit with Prime Minister Mitchell were Prime Ministers Manning and Spencer in a packed room that had a surprising batch of observers in the persons of foreign diplomats and officials working in the region.
Among them were the Georgetown-based recently accredited United States ambassador to CARICOM, Roland Bullen, who is Ambassador to Guyana; and the Canadian High Commissioner based in Trinidad and Tobago, Simon Wade.
They both demonstrated keen interest in fostering healthy relations with the Community and were in frequent informal discussions on the rim of the conference with some Heads of Government, ministers and diplomatic personnel.
So also was a group of Cuban diplomats and officials who were involved in bilateral talks with CARICOM ministers and officials and attended the media briefing as well.
CARICOM's new initiative to engage the interim regime in Haiti evoked much interest, resulting in the decision to send a five-member ministerial mission to Haiti next week for an "assessment".
The outstanding areas of "progress" reported were the advancement reported on arrangements for the inauguration of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the related new institution of a Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), the latter to be ceremonially inaugurated in Port-of-Spain in November.
Prime Minister Arthur of Barbados said that the work of the summit encouraged his optimism for the realisation of the CSME in 2005 and coming preparatory technical and special meetings of Heads of Government would further enhance the process.
Prime Minister Patterson who had earlier warned that "disunity is not an option" for the Community at this period of tremendous challenges, said that were good reasons to believe that CARICOM remains on track in pursuit of its major objectives for the benefit of the peoples of the Caribbean.
Guyana's President Bharrat Jagdeo said he was particularly pleased with the deliberations and decisions on the trade and economic issues and feel that the unity demonstrated on the preservation of preferential markets for sugar, for example, could only further boost levels of commitment for the continued strengthening of CARICOM.