Above: St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr Denzil Douglas (UN Photo/Evan Schneider)
By the Caribbean Journal staff
CARICOM must continue to adapt and reinvent itself in the way it functions and operates, according to St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr Denzil Douglas.
“We must not only take account of our failures, but permit new energy to infuse our possibilities,” he said, speaking at the CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting in Paramaribo, Suriname last week. “CARICOM integration, the full realization of the Treaty of Chaguaramas must not be about paper — agreements and protocols — it must live.”
Douglas, who was Chairman of CARICOM before current Chairman [and Suriname President] Desi Bouterse, said that while the community’s undergirding values, purpose and principles must not change, CARICOM must have a sharper focus on being more “results-oriented” as it seeks ot inject new vigour in the advancement of regional integration.
The meeting covered a range of issues from the Taiwan-Grenada dispute to the current problems in West Indies Cricket. CARICOM also welcomed what it called “fruitful discussions” held with Haitian President Michel Martelly during a visit by a CARICOM delegation to Port-au-Prince last month.
Also on hand at the meeting was Chilean President Sebastian Pinera Echenique, who called for strengthening relations between the region and Chile through enhanced cooperation and the adoption of common positions.
Chile has said it will advocate for CARICOM countries at the upcoming G-20 Summit in Mexico on issues of concern to small, vulnerable economies.