00:00Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Brown says his country has never questioned
00:06the sovereign right of any CARICOM member to conduct its bilateral relations as it sees fit.
00:14Responding to Prime Minister Kamala Passat-Bissessa calling CARICOM an unreliable partner on Saturday,
00:20he said that is difficult to reconcile given the economic record.
00:24Brown says in 2024 alone, TNT earned more than U.S. $1.1 billion in foreign exchange from trade with CARICOM,
00:34comprising approximately U.S. $785 million in domestic exports and U.S. $501 million in re-exports to CARICOM states.
00:46CARICOM, he says, was Trinidad and Tobago's second-largest export market, exceeded only by the United States.
00:56Prime Minister Brown says in 2024, CARICOM countries collectively forwent approximately U.S. $143 million in customs revenue
01:07as a result of sourcing goods from Trinidad and Tobago under the Common External Tariff Protection,
01:14an economic sacrifice borne by Caribbean consumers in the spirit of regional solidarity.
01:20But Brown says CARICOM's reliability has extended well beyond trade,
01:25as TNT faces some of the highest levels of organized crime in the Caribbean,
01:30and regional cooperation through CARICOM security mechanisms, intelligence sharing,
01:35and coordinated law enforcement initiatives has been an essential pillar of the response.
01:42CARICOM, he says, is a partnership rooted in shared history, shared bloodlines, shared struggle for independence,
01:50and small states are stronger when they act together.
01:54Respectful dialogue with international partners is not subservience, nor is regional consultation disloyalty.
02:04Antigua and Barbuda, he says, will continue to engage the United States responsibly and transparently in full cooperation,
02:13while remaining fully committed to CARICOM.
02:16He also categorically rejected the assertion that CARICOM's leaders have bad-mouthed the United States,
02:23saying, on the contrary, Antigua and Barbuda maintains a record of close collaboration with the United States.
02:33Cindy Raghuva, Tika Singh, TV6 News.
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