Dear Editor,
The Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom) observes, this week, the 50th anniversary since its founding on July 4, 1973. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will be the special guest at the historic anniversary commemoration in Port of Spain, Trinidad. Guests from the Commonwealth and other inter-governmental organisations from around the globe have also been invited.
Has the organisation lived up to its expectations on regional cooperation and people-to-people contact and on an open economy? I think not.
Caricom is a successor to the regional integration of British colonial territories called the British West Indies Federation. The Federation was formed in 1958, and collapsed in 1962, when the leaders of each territory could not come to an agreement on the way forward; each felt the others would be a financial burden on it. Independence was granted to Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago in August 1962, followed by Guyana and Barbados in 1966. Although independent nations, the leaders of each nation state spoke of the need for close political and economic cooperation.
The precursor to Caricom was Carifta, or Caribbean Free Trade Area, formed in 1966 and officially launched in 1968. It would take some eleven years after the collapse of the Federation, and five years after Carifta, for an agreement to be reached for the formation of Caricom. All Anglophone territories, independent or with a self-government, became members by 1971.
At the Seventh Heads of Government Conference in October 1972, leaders agreed to transform Carifta into a Common Market and establish the Caribbean Community of which the Common Market would be an integral part. The Treaty of Chaguaramas establishing Caricom was signed in Trinidad.
Initially, the Prime Ministers of: Barbados, Errol Barrow; Guyana, Forbes Burnham; Trinidad and Tobago, Eric Williams; and Jamaica, Michael Manley, signed the treaty. The leaders of other independent countries joined later.
At the Eighth Heads of Government Conference of Carifta, held in April 1973 in Guyana, a formal decision was taken to establish the Caribbean Community with the signing by 11 members of Carifta (the exception being Antigua and Montserrat). They also later joined the regional inter-government organization. The nations or territories have collectively come together to expand their trade and economic relations.
The Accord provided for the signature of the Caribbean Community Treaty on July 4, and its coming into effect in August 1973, among the then four independent countries: Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago.
The Guyana Accord also provided that the other eight territories – Antigua, British Honduras (now Belize), Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Montserrat, St. Kitts/Nevis/Anguilla and St. Vincent and the Grenadines would become full members of the Community by May 1, 1974. The Bahamas became the 13th Member State of the Community on July 4, 1983, but not a member of the Common Market.
Caricom has expanded, with other territories joining in various capacities. In July 1991, the colonies of British Virgin Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands became Associated Members of Caricom, followed by Anguilla in July 1999. The Cayman Islands became an Associated Member on 16 May 2002, and Bermuda on 2 July 2003. Suriname became the 14th Member State of the Caribbean Community on July 4, 1995. Haiti secured provisional membership on 4 July 1998, and on 03 July 2002 was the first French-speaking Caribbean State to become a full Member of Caricom. The Dominican Republic occasionally is invited to meetings of Heads of Governments.
Just prior to the entry of Haiti, a revised Treaty of Chaguaramas established the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME), and was signed by the Caricom Heads of Government on 5 July 2001 at their Twenty-Second Meeting of the Conference in Nassau, The Bahamas.
Since 2013, the Caricom bloc and the Dominican Republic have been tied to the European Union via an Economic Partnership Agreement known as CARIFORUM. The treaty grants all members of the European Union and CARIFORUM equal rights in terms of trade and investment.
The USA has also been working closely with Caricom member states, granting certain privileges in trade, doling out developmental assistance, and assisting with regional security. The region and the Caribbean diaspora look forward for Secretary Blinken’s feature address — what new benefits does he bring to the table when he addresses the Heads of Governments.
Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram
