BELIZEAN, Dr. Carla Natalie Barnett, has been appointed as the first female Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and the eighth person to hold this position.
A statement from CARICOM’s Chairperson, Dr. Keith Rowley, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, indicated that Barnett, who will assume office officially from August 15, was unanimously appointed to the prestigious post during a Special Session of a CARICOM Heads of Government meeting hosted virtually on Tuesday.
“Dr. Barnett, a national of Belize, is the first woman and the first Belizean to be selected for the post,” Dr. Rowley noted.
The Secretary-General elect was also a former Deputy Secretary-General of CARICOM, and has previously held the position of Vice-President of the Belize Senate. She has also served in various ministerial capacities in her country’s government.
“Dr. Barnett has also served as Financial Secretary of Belize and Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Belize, as well as Vice-President (Operations) of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB),” Dr. Rowley noted in his statement.

He further said: “Dr. Barnett attained her Ph.D. in Social Sciences from the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus in Jamaica. She also holds a Master of Science degree in Economics from the University of Western Ontario in Canada, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from the UWI.”
The notable economist is set to replace Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, who is completing his second five-year term, having been appointed in 2011. LaRocque, a Dominican, has been of service to CARICOM since 2005, when he assumed the role of Assistant Secretary-General.
Earlier this month, Dr. Rowley commended LaRocque for his service, noting that he has served CARICOM with distinction over the past decade and more.
Since 1973, the seat of CARICOM’s Secretary-General has been held by Frederick Cozier of Barbados; William Demas, Trinidad and Tobago; Sir Alistair McIntyre, Grenada; Kurleigh King, Barbados; Roderick Rainford, Jamaica; Edwin Carrington, Trinidad and Tobago; and the outgoing, Irwin LaRocque, Dominica. Lolita Applewhaite of Barbados and Guyana’s Joseph Tyndall, have also acted in the capacity as Secretary-General.