CARICOM – A time for reckoning

Two events dominate the onset of the second half of the year annually in the Caribbean. The first of these is our own “July in the Sun” Carnival, beginning in June and climaxing in the first week of July.{{more}} The second major regional event is often missed by most revelers in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, too busy with the partying to take note of more mundane, but yet critically important matters affecting the people of the region. That event is the annual anniversary Summit of the Heads of Government of CARICOM.

For those who choose the self-styled ‘hottest Carnival” in SVG as their focus area to kick off July, missing the details of the CARICOM Summit, it may well be a blessing in disguise. That Summit, nearly always with a bloated and over-ambitious agenda, has a history of promising much more than it actually delivers, leaving a trail of frustrated hopes and ambitions. Even the Heads themselves, who go through the annual ritual, do not mince words during the rest of the year in “dissing” the value of the Summit’s accomplishments.

If our leaders are themselves not sure of the real worth of their gathering, then what should the region’s people think? The Summit was timed to coincide with “the” big anniversary in the Caribbean Community, the founding of CARICOM itself. The first Monday in July is supposed to be celebrated throughout all CARICOM countries as a public holiday to mark CARICOM DAY and the Heads of Government Summit is organized around this time. How many people in the region are actually aware of this holiday? How many countries observe this? It must be the least-known public holiday in the entire region!

Given this scenario, it is difficult for the people of the Caribbean to conceive ourselves as one community. So, what our individual leaders do has far more relevance to us than what they do, or rather say, collectively. In turn, the leaders do not seem to feel accountable to the people of the region as a whole for their collective decisions, or failure to implement them. The CARICOM Summits and various Heads of Government Inter-sessionals appear to be merely routine. Several leaders have themselves openly questioned the seriousness of commitment to the regional integration cause.

Not surprisingly, this never-ending quest for regional integration is on the agenda once again. But it is as though those who represent us cannot make up their minds. Time and again deadlines and goals are set, only for this or that leader, once back on home territory, to pander to all sorts of petty nationalist or narrow interest causes. We make more firm commitments to extra-regional bodies, such as the European Union, than to each other. Are we going to consummate this Caribbean Single Market or not? Is the Single Economy still a goal we wish to pursue?

As our leaders grapple with the mechanics of economic integration, they will also have to situate within it the freedom of movement issue. Regrettably, it is not the right of Caribbean people to move freely within the Community which is highlighted; rather, they talk about immigration, illegal immigration to be exact. People migrate to countries where they perceive that there are opportunities for advancement. These poles change from time to time, depending on circumstances. A glance at our history will show that these poles have shifted depending on economic circumstances. So, our forefathers went to Cuba, then Panama, Santo Domingo, Aruba and Curacao during the last World War. We make noise today about Guyanese migration but we either do not realize, or forget conveniently, that at one time, Guyana, B.G. as it was called (for British Guiana), was the land of opportunity. Today it might be Antigua, Barbados and Trinidad (for English-speakers) and Martinique and Guadeloupe for the people of St. Lucia and Dominica, but who knows about tomorrow?

Yes, states have legitimate concerns, especially about pressures on their social services, and these must be recognized, but as long as we continually fail to develop a Regional Economic Plan which will generate and sustain development throughout the entire region, we will have such imbalances. It is what takes place at a national level between town and country, growth areas and areas of stagnation. We cannot forget, too, that we make representation to other countries about the treatment of Caribbean citizens who have migrated there, legally or otherwise. Just as we depend on remittances from North America and the UK, we must remember that the families of migrants, in their country of origin, also depend upon them for support. If these broader perspectives are borne in mind, if the right of all people to move freely throughout the Community is upheld, and if all this is placed in the context of the absolute necessity for regional integration, all levels, then it becomes less difficult to find solutions.

That absolute necessity is created by the worsening economic crisis. Just this week, Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Governor, Sir Dwight Venner, spoke of the difficulties facing the countries of the Eastern Caribbean. Those circumstances are not unique to the small states; the entire Caribbean community is threatened. That must be the basis on which responsible leaders should meet, discuss, agree and implement. Otherwise, we are into yet another wasted Summit.

Renwick Rose is a community activist and social commentator.