Deepening OECS Unity – An urgent necessity

Even as the great powers of the world insist on taking actions which endanger the very future of mankind itself, the tiny islands of the Eastern Caribbean are turning their attention towards deepening their integration process as an essential aspect of their survival.

This week as the genocide and war in the Middle East occupies global attention, including ours via the international media, the OECS nations met on Vincentian soil to further cement the 45-year-old movement towards closer unity. Indeed, the global situation, whether in military terms or in harmful trade and economic policies, relay a singular message to all of us, “band together or perish”.

It is a message first communicated with the signing of the Treaty of Basseterre in 1981, albeit in a very different context. Then, the driving force came from the fear or small-island leaders of “revolution” given the developments in Grenada two years before which had ushered in an unelected but hugely popular government in Grenada. Egged on by the conservative and frankly imperialist governments on both sides of the Atlantic, our region experienced the horror of a full-scale military invasion by the US military juggernaut. The message to our leaders was “band together under our wings and we will protect you, come what may”.

But regional unity has long been a goal in the Caribbean, a

Caribbean Federation being the form of expression. So, though the Treaty of Basseterre may have appeared to be a mechanism for preserving the status quo, in and of itself, it had real value to the people of the region. Over the years, especially in the face of the ambivalence of some of the leading economies in the region aimed at placing narrow national and class interests before those of the region, the OECS had no alternative but to strengthen its own integration process.

As a result, for all its contradictions and imperfections, the OECS today leads the way in regional integration.

Yet, it cannot ignore the warning signs within its own ranks. Because the individual national units are riddledwith partisan political rivalry, contaminated with short-sided views of the world of today, at each national level, the fate of political parties in regularly scheduled elections remain paramount in many quarters. It often leads to parties being prepared to subject themselves to foreign influences as a means of attracting financial support for election campaigns.

This is a serious issue which undermines regional unity both at the OECS and at the wider CARICOM levels. However, our experience in the Eastern Caribbean has demonstrated undoubted advantages for integration. It is an ongoing process which has reached the stage that there can be no turning back. We must face the challenges head on, resolve the internal contradictions and put the fate of our people and the future of our youth above all else. There is no other way.