By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Caribbean region can wield global influence despite its small size through diplomacy, according to acting CARICOM Secretary General Lolita Applewhaite. “It is the force of ideas and creativity that are our strengths as we grapple with the issues and attempt to make a difference in the international arena,” she said Wednesday at the annual meeting of CARICOM’s Council for Foreign and Community Relations in St. Kitts. “It is the use of these strengths that give our small states a voice on equal terms with the most powerful states to advance those issues which are of particular concern to us.” CARICOM also released a statement on the death of Osama Bin Laden, saying it acknowledged his death with “sober satisfaction,” according to a statement released by Grenada’s Prime Minister, Tillman Thomas, who is the chairman of the conference of CARICOM Heads of Government.