Honourable Ministers of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations
Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba
Your Excellency the Secretary-General of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS)
Your Excellency the Assistant Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States
Your Excellency the representative of Panama
Delegates
Members of the Media
It is a privilege for me to call to order this Third Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR) with the following very brief remarks. As Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community I do so with great pleasure as I have had the good fortune over the years of witnessing the growing of the Community’s efforts towards the coordination of the foreign policy of its Members States.
It was with pride that I witnessed in the immediate past, our smallest Member State St.Kitts and Nevis conduct the reins of foreign policy coordination through chairmanship of the COFCOR. St Kitts and Nevis is currently chairing the Conference of Heads of Government and will no doubt do so with as much enthusiasm and skills of leadership.
At this time Honourable Ministers I am therefore all the more saddened by the fact that the Honourable Terrence Sam Condor, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of St. Kitts and Nevis is not with us today, at what would have been his first attendance at a meeting of the COFCOR since having been recently assigned the portfolio of Foreign Affairs. He would have been charged with delivering remarks as the Outgoing Chairman, His absence derives from the period of mourning into which St. Kitts and Nevis has been thrown by the loss of one of its eminent sons, a person who has contributed much to the establishment and development of the Caribbean Community. His Excellency Lee More, Permanent Representative of St. Kitts and Nevis to the United Nations and former Head of Government and Attorney-General of St. Kitts and Nevis. H.E. More was a true stalwart in the Community. As recently as last year, he led the team which dealt with the question of the conditions of service for the staff of the Secretariat. We at the Secretariat owe him a very special debt of gratitude.
Lee More was an erudite scholar and a man of integrity.
At the same time, we as a Community have also noted the passing of His Excellency Mike Mena, Ambassador of Belize to Guatemala. Ambassador Mena contributed much to the development of relations between Belize and Guatemala. Even as recently as February this year, he participated in discussions and negotiations to alleviate the tensions which had developed between the two countries when a number of Belizean security personnel were held in Guatemala. We will all remember him for his diplomacy and the determination he so exhibited even to the end.
On behalf of the Community, I wish to extend condolences to the families of these two gentlemen. Their countries will miss them. The Community will miss them.
Honourable Ministers, you will be considering over the course of today, a number of issues which are aimed primarily at the strategic positioning of the Region in global political and economic developments and which should see the Region advance substantially in the coordination of the foreign policies of our Member States. You will also be dealing with issues of a Community nature, part of your remit being to promote the development of friendly and mutually beneficial relations among the Member States. I am also aware that other activities in which you as Ministers will be taking part will severely constrain our discussions to just one and one half days.
Without further ado therefore, I invite His Excellency Ambassador St. John Payne to address you on behalf of the Honourable Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of St. Kitts and Nevis in his discharge as outgoing Chairman of the Council for Foreign and Community Relations.
