A unified position on the political crisis in Venezuela was one of the requests made by the Prime Minister of Grenada Dr. Keith Mitchell as he opened the 38th annual summit of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders in Grenada late Tuesday.
Mitchell, who is the current chairman of the 15-member regional grouping told his colleagues that the Caribbean must be committed to a unified position in the South American nation that shares maritime borders with the Caribbean.
“We cannot ignore what is going on in a country with which all our member states have strong historic ties and one with which countries such as Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago share maritime borders,” said Mitchell during the opening ceremony.
“We must stand united to condemn violence – from whichever quarter it comes,” said the Caribbean statesman.
However, the issue concerning Venezuela is not an item for the three-day summit.
Other pressing matters up for discussion include an assessment of trade performance under the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) that allows for the free movement of goods, services, labor and skills across the region.
In his first CARICOM meeting, newly elected Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Dr. Hubert Minnis called for closer collaborations on policies that would advance the regional integration movement so that the region could “speak to the world as one voice.”
He noted that the Caribbean is the most tourism-dependent region in the world and said it was therefore important to be focused on finding ways of getting much more value for the sector.
The Conference of Regional Heads of Government is held yearly on July 4 – in honor of the birth of Jamaican National Hero, Norman Manley and the anniversary of the signing of the original Treaty of Chaguaramas that led to the formation of the regional grouping.
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