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00:00The cracks that appeared in recent months resurfaced on Tuesday night as the Caribbean community CARICOM leaders gathered under a
00:07drone-style facility for the ceremonial opening of the 50th regular meeting.
00:13Jamaica's Prime Minister Andrew Holness set the ball rolling by reminding his colleagues as well as the international community that
00:21the 15-member CARICOM is and has never been claimed to be a political union.
00:26As a result, he says, the CARICOM treaty does not mandate a singular foreign policy or a supernatural authority.
00:36The question before us, therefore, is not whether CARICOM can endure, for we have and we will,
00:46but whether it can deliver for our people with urgency and relevance in a rapidly changing world.
00:58For decades, an idealized narrative around Caribbean integration, while well-intentioned,
01:06has framed perhaps unrealistic expectations within our respective populations.
01:16It has also, perhaps unintentionally, diminished the genuine strengths of our existing arrangement.
01:26An association of independent states bound not by uniformity, but by shared purpose, mutual regard, and a deep history of
01:41collaboration.
01:43CARICOM is not, and has never claimed to be, a political union.
01:51Our treaty does not mandate a singular foreign policy or a supranational authority.
02:01And because we are sovereign states, each accountable to our own electorates,
02:08we will, at times, assess risks differently, sequence priorities differently,
02:16or interpret geopolitical opportunities differently.
02:21That is not evidence of the weakness of our association.
02:27This is the natural expression of sovereign democracies navigating an increasingly turbulent global environment.
02:40In recent months, the Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister, Kamala Persad-Bissessa,
02:45has described CARICOM as not being a reliable partner,
02:50citing poor management, weak accountability, among other issues.
02:55Her address, therefore, to the summit was the most anticipated,
03:00particularly given her open public support for the United States
03:05and its military action in the region in dealing with the illegal drugs trade.
03:10The military action by the American military in the Caribbean caused,
03:18you know what happened in our country?
03:20Caused our murder rate to decrease by 42%.
03:25You know what that meant?
03:27There were 257 less murders in TNT.
03:31I can say thanks again to President Trump and thanks again to Secretary Rubio, Marco Rubio.
03:38I thank them and the U.S. military for the cooperation and what is shared with us for national security
03:44matters.
03:45Maybe in your islands you don't have the kind of crime we have.
03:49I know, Prime Minister Hauser, as we tried to pass the Oslo Bill in Trinidad,
03:53we were not as 14 as you in the Parliament, but I know you have done well with your murder
03:58rate.
03:59So some of us, the crime is so bad.
04:02I cannot depend on just my military, my protective services,
04:06and certainly from you in the CARICOM, many of you do not have military or large police services to help
04:15us down there.
04:16So again, I repeat, you know, Trinidad is saying, who vexed Los?
04:20But we gained, we gained from the help, I'm saying, that military help, and I will welcome them again.
04:27So we changed the policy and we were able to bring those murders down by 42%.
04:33As I said, that's 257 less people who would have been dead had we not taken that course of action.
04:41But she widened her comments to deal with the situation in Cuba,
04:46where she believes the absence of democracy and not U.S. policies are behind the current situation facing the Cuban
04:54population.
04:55Let me remind me and us, every single leader in this room was elected by a free and fair democratic
05:04election.
05:05Everyone, everyone in our countries.
05:08And so I ask, why do some CARICOM governments and political parties believe
05:14that they and their parties and their supporters should have the right to contest democratic elections,
05:21to choose them as leaders, where the Cuban citizens have no right to a free and fair election?
05:27And whilst I talk with you, Prime Minister Hollis,
05:31I empathize with the people, the good people of Cuba,
05:34but there is a regime that is a dictatorial one, and none of us want that in our country, not
05:39one of us.
05:39Otherwise, we wouldn't be here today.
05:41We were all elected by free and fair elections.
05:45And so we cannot advocate for others to live under communism and dictatorship,
05:51but we want to live here in our CARICOM region under democracy and capitalism.
05:57That's an oxymoron.
05:59It's a contradiction.
05:59For ourselves, we want free democracy, but tell the Cuban people, okay, we feel sorry for you.
06:06It can't work.
06:08And as you said, Prime Minister Hollis, we have to find a mechanism
06:11for the humanitarian efforts of the people of Cuba.
06:15But at the same time, we cannot, and I will not,
06:18and I will not support a dictatorship in Cuba or anywhere else.
06:23Among the guests attending the ceremonial opening of the CARICOM summit on Tuesday night
06:28was the Trinidad-based Caribbean political analyst, Derek Ramsemouj.
06:33And I asked him to put into context the statements made by both Prime Minister Hollis
06:39and Prime Minister Passat-Bissessor.
06:43I think we have witnessed a conversation that shows the contradictions amongst the CARICOM leaders.
06:53Clearly, their position of being independent sovereign states above and beyond any sort of U.S. influence
07:02is what is certainly being questioned today.
07:06We did have some commonalities when it comes to the environment, climate finance,
07:13investing in human capital.
07:15So there were some common themes.
07:17However, it is clearly evident the U.S. is influencing the position.
07:24We saw a lot of political spin by certain Prime Ministers trying to justify a position.
07:31I suspect there are many detailed conversations behind closed doors.
07:39And I think the Caribbean will be tested in the next 48 hours as we expect the U.S. influencers
07:47to arrive.
07:49And do you expect, coming out of that meeting with Marco Rubio on Wednesday,
07:55do you expect the Caribbean to be much more fragmented?
07:58The question is not fragmented, and that's what was put forward.
08:03The question is whether they can maintain their sovereignty as individual states
08:08and have any sort of CARICOM consensus.
08:12That is what is at risk.
08:14Whether or not you can have CARICOM consensus, you're talking about Cuba,
08:20but you have failed in Haiti.
08:22You have failed to basically deal with the poverty, deal with the governance in Haiti,
08:27who is a full member of CARICOM.
08:31And the migration issue next to Jamaica from Haiti is also a real and present danger.
08:39So there's a level of mixed messages expressing concern over Cuba
08:45and wanting to deal with those matters, but abdicating a sense of a solution.
08:50Yes, you can say that solutions were tried, and they have not succeeded.
08:56But that doesn't mean you cannot restructure how you deal with the CARICOM matter.
09:04But even as he made clear he was not getting involved in the politics,
09:08the CARICOM chair and prime minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. Terence Drew,
09:14urged his fellow leaders to come to the aid of Cuba.
09:18Cuba's population is anywhere from 9 to 12 million people.
09:24Excluding Haiti and the rest of CARICOM does not amount to 10 million people.
09:29Therefore, if a state within our community is so destabilized,
09:36it will affect all of us in the region.
09:39And as a matter of course, it is important that the community
09:43looks at the humanitarian issue in Cuba,
09:46treats it extremely seriously,
09:50and the community must serve as a conduit
09:53to ensure that there is communication and dialogue
09:57between the forces that be,
09:59so that the best opportunity can be had.
10:03And so I ask the community that even though the situation might be daunting,
10:09we have a collective effort to make to stabilize our region.
10:21I must give full disclosure.
10:23I studied in Cuba.
10:26I lived in Cuba for seven years.
10:30I have friends there.
10:32I have people who are like family to me.
10:35They reach out to me and tell me of their difficulties.
10:42Food has become terribly scarce for some.
10:48Access to water has been challenging.
10:54Garbage fill the streets.
10:59Houses without electricity.
11:04I can only feel the pain of those
11:06who treated me so well when I was a student.
11:11I can feel their challenges and their difficulties.
11:16I do not get involved in their politics.
11:20But as a matter of humanity,
11:25it is challenging.
11:27I will say it is almost impossible
11:30not to feel the pain
11:32that is conveyed to me
11:36in messages and calls.
11:39The U.S. Secretary of State
11:41is expected to hold a bilateral meeting
11:44with Prime Minister Persad Visesa
11:46after meeting collectively
11:48with the other regional leaders
11:50during his two-hour visit.
11:51is the U.S. Secretary of State
11:51is the U.S. Secretary of State
11:51is the U.S. Secretary of State
11:51is the U.S. Secretary of State
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