The Prime Minister of Jamaica, Bruce Golding, is on to something in his caution, “that the existence of CARICOM, the only organisation dedicated to the economic interests of Caribbean countries, was at risk.”
When he goes on to say, "There are a number of things that are happening now that are destabilising and threatening the existence of CARICOM," and that, "The political integration that is being pursued by Trinidad and a number of countries in the Eastern Caribbean may very well be commendable, but I believe that it is at the detriment to the deepening and strengthening of CARICOM," this is a clear indication that something is already very wrong.
Warning against the support of a rival organisation, Golding said: "I believe that the membership of ALBA (Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas), which now engages three CARICOM countries, is going to have a destabilising effect on CARICOM. It is going to distract, it is going to divert and it is something that I believe that CARICOM leaders need to examine."
What is shocking about this statement is the fact that the Prime Minister saw it fit to raise these views at a public function and not in a private meeting of or with fellow CARICOM leaders. The PM can sense, like so many of us Caribbeanists, that the Caribbean agenda is going askew. This is a desperate and commendable plea by the Jamaican Prime Minister to his colleagues in CARICOM that the Caribbean ship, if not sinking, is at the very least sailing in the wrong direction. Or is it trying to sail in too many directions all at once!
In his conclusion the Prime Minister shared his most foreboding observation when he said, “I do not believe that any of us can believe that we are going to be better off trying to swim in this Caribbean sea on our own, but it is time for us to stop playing games, for us to stop mouthing integration and professing our commitment to this process when the pragmatic demonstration of that commitment is so often not being brought to the fore."
And so I too concur with all that PM Golding had to say. As a post-grad student of International Relations – Globalisation and Governance, and as someone who has worked at the EU Regional level for the past six years, I have found it extremely difficult to understand any linkages or alignment between the myriad of regional-integration initiatives being pursued by the Caribbean region at this given time. Today the main drivers of Caribbean regional-integration appear to be CARICOM, OECS, OECS+T&T, CSME and ALBA.
My every commentary for BBC Caribbean or for any other Caribbean News network has highlighted the confusion for the Caribbean citizenry to make sense of all of these different initiatives. As a senior policy person I find this totally confusing and disconnected. How then is the average Caribbean citizen supposed to make sense of these?
The obvious danger with all these different initiatives is not just the simple fact that they all lead down different paths and not towards a shared common goal or objective, but it is the fact that finite regional resources are having to be spread too thinly in servicing all these initiatives. Therefore no one initiative receives enough concentrated resource and focus to truly deliver real integration for the Caribbean. Because of the spread between and across CARICOM, OECS, OECS+T&T, CSME and ALBA, not enough time and energy are available to truly deepen any one of these to achieve real integration.
We are therefore left with a Caribbean region besieged with a plethora of good regional-integration intentions but no real substance and leadership to allow for true integration. Policy statements launching new regional initiatives coupled with haphazard attempts at a fragmented delivery does not make up for real regional-integration strategy/policy. I should know because I have been the Regional Economic Strategy Manager at a UK Regional Development Agency for the past six years.
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