Hon. Julian Hunte President of the United Nations General Assembly and (UNGA) Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Civil Aviation of Saint Lucia
Colleague Ministers
Secretary-General
Delegates
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
I want to first thank the Government and people of Belize for hosting this meeting and their hospitality which I have enjoyed. Let me immediately endorse the proposal for a retreat and perhaps before closure a Member State will offer to host such a Retreat. Batting one down has always had its trepidation but after such a blazing display by the opening batsman, I have been put under more pressure in order to maintain the pace – more so as today’s match is a one day game!
For the past nine months, Jamaica has been in the chair of this most important Organ of the Community. It has for me personally been a most rewarding experience to be literally at the centre of CARICOM’s efforts at building a viable and sustainable society for the benefit of its citizens.
I say at the centre because as the Secretary-General correctly pointed out this body is surpassed only by the Conference of Heads of Government in the institutional order of the Community. It serves as the main conduit between the Ministerial Councils, COTED, COFCOR, COFAP and COHSOD and the Legal Affairs and Budget Committees, and the Conference. It is at one and the same time a buffer and an initiator.
The role of this Community Council of Ministers is coming under increasing scrutiny and colleague Ministers, we must therefore examine honestly whether we have fulfilled the expectations outlined in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas for this one of only two Principal Organs.
Are we involved enough in the running of our Community? Are we providing the strategic direction? These are questions we may not be able to answer today given the agenda for the Meeting but these thoughts must occupy us as this Community looks to restructure itself to meet the demands of today’s world.
Events of recent weeks have thrown the Region and CARICOM in particular into the full and uncompromising glare of the global spotlight. In the case of Haiti, it has been made clear how the big powers view us. However if small states like ours do not fight to uphold the principles of international law and constitutional propriety, the law of the jungle will ensure that we are picked off and swallowed by the eagles and the lions.
Now more than ever we have to consolidate and optimise the limited resources at our command and use them in our best interests. Externally, we must broaden our friendships and deepen our alliances. Old friends and ourselves must seek to strengthen the bonds not to create schisms where none need exist. We seek at all times to build bridges of understanding but with an unwavering commitment to the principles on which this Community is built – respect for the rule of law and an abiding commitment to the preservation of the democratic ideal.
During my tenure, we have reached out to India and Africa and had positive responses.
The way forward may not be entirely clear but everything we have learnt over the past thirty years of CARICOM and more than seventy years of attempts at integration points to the fact that we either hang together or we will surely be hanged separately.
I thank you.
