After accreditation…
THE Caribbean Community (CARICOM) strengthened its relations with Mexico and South Africa when representatives of those countries secured accreditation earlier this week.

CARICOM Secretary-General, Dr. Edwin Carrington holds up the credentials of Mexico’s first ever Plenipotentiary Representative to the Caribbean Community, Fernando Sandoval who is standing to his right. (Sonnel Nelson photo)

Secretary-General of CARICOM, Mr. Edwin Carrington received the credentials of the Mexican Plenipotentiary Ambassador, Mr. Fernando Sandoval and South African High Commissioner to Jamaica, Ms. Faith Radebe, at separate ceremonies in the Liliendaal, Georgetown Secretariat, on Thursday.

Acknowledging the decades long relationship that the region has enjoyed with Mexico, Carrington said it was as a result of the 1974 Joint Commission agreement between the region and the Latin American country.

He observed that the commission, which Mexico was the first to establish with CARICOM, remains the main mechanism for their mutual cooperation.

“Through the Joint Commission, CARICOM has benefited from projects which have resulted in the strengthening of its regional institutions; the enhancement of its human resources, particularly in the area of Spanish language training and the fostering of new research and development areas within the region,” Carrington pointed out.

He said the region is now looking forward to the fifth meeting of the CARICOM/Mexico Joint Commission, scheduled for later this year, in the hope that it will present opportunities for the further strengthening of the good relations.

Citing the active role that Mexico has played in the G-20 Summit, Carrington called for that country to identify the needs of the small, vulnerable and highly indebted economies of the region and voice their concerns in such fora.

He said that kind of support is crucial to many CARICOM member States which have graduated from access to concessionary loans from the international financial institutions and, as a result, are deemed ineligible for development financing, particularly at this time when it is most needed.

Carrington said that policy has the potential to severely stunt social and economic progress and the issue will be fully ventilated by CARICOM Heads of Government at the upcoming United Nations Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and its Impact on Development, convening June 24 to 26 at United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York.

He emphasised that Mexico’s position within the UN system, especially in the spheres of security, climate change and the millennium development, is one which resonates in CARICOM.

Carrington also commended the Mexican Government for its active participation in the drafting of the Convention against Transnational Organised Crime and its complementary protocols, in particular those that govern trafficking in persons; smuggling of migrants by land, sea and air and the illicit manufacture of and trafficking in firearms and drugs.

THREAT
“The threat of crime and insecurity, fuelled in large measure by the traffic in illicit drugs, is undoubtedly one of extreme importance to the CARICOM Region,” the Secretary-General stated.

He added: “Moreover, Mexico, through its membership of the Caribbean Development Bank, has contributed significantly to the promotion of regional integration in CARICOM. Mexico, therefore, is not only neighbour to one of our member States, Belize, incidentally now occupying the Chair of the Community, but has been a longstanding partner in development with CARICOM.”

Ambassador Sandoval, in his remarks, agreed that the joint agreement has afforded the region assistance in several areas of critical importance, such as disaster preparedness, language courses, environmental assistance, agriculture and agro-industry, technology and manufacturing.

He promised that the cooperation between Mexico and CARICOM countries will continue with him being accredited, improving and strengthening the relationship between the two.

“The Government of Mexico considers it significant not only to have more frequent meetings with CARICOM but also to raise issues of political relevance,” Sandoval said, pledging his Government’s active participation within the Caribbean Community.

Addressing the South African diplomat, Carrington said the ceremony is special, as it affirmed solidarity and fraternity between South Africa and CARICOM.

He alluded to South-South cooperation, which is one of the tenets of CARICOM’s foreign policy coordination as it takes another critical step forward for the region.

“Separated though we may be by an ocean, our region has maintained a keen interest in the African continent and South Africa in particular. The reasons for this interest are axiomatic.

“They are rooted in history, culture and shared interests and concerns. But it was perhaps the Community’s abhorrence of apartheid and the resulting fervent advocacy, within international fora, for the end of the ignominious regime and the release from prison of South Africa’s most iconic leader, Nelson Mandela, which most actively fostered the deep friendship between CARICOM and South Africa,” Carrington posited.

He said, although regional efforts to foster links in trade and investment between CARICOM and South Africa have not yet borne fruit, the tradition of dialogue and mutual support at the highest level will continue under South Africa’s new leadership.

Carrington commended the South African Government, as well, for the commendable role it played on the Haitian question in 2004 and the hospitality extended to the former President of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, at a moment of particular difficulty for him.

The Secretary General expressed the hope that the African country and the region can find ways to foster trade and investment and enhance greater people to people contact.

Radebe, after presenting her letters of credence to Carrington, had a brief interactive session with secondary school students who were present at the function.

She reiterated the need for greater bilateral collaboration in the face of the global financial and economic crises, which have impressed upon them cooperation demands never before seen.

Radebe said South Africa is ready to share its experience in the area of tourism, which has contributed significantly to that country’s development, in what she called “a mutually beneficial way” to see the sector developing further within the Caribbean Community.