The Caribbean Community (Caricom) was established to deepen regional integration on July 4, 1973, some 50 years ago. The region will celebrate its 50th anniversary knowing that it is the oldest surviving integration movement in the developing world. Hon Philip Davis, Prime Minister of the Bahamas and current Caricom Chair said “…this milestone comes at a time when regional cooperation has never been more urgent and necessary. The shock of and response to the COVID-19 pandemic was a stark illustration of the limitations of working alone.”
The milestone is an opportunity for reflection to determine how the region has progressed since its formation, and its future direction and initiatives geared towards achieving sustainable development for the region. The challenges faced by the region in finding its place in the world abound. The economic challenges faced by small developing nations states, the perennial problem of inter-island transportation, energy security and food security remain whilst the world has become more complicated. Energy costs are a significant item as no economy has ever developed without access to affordable energy. Nor can social order be sustained if there is no food security.
Despite the rhetoric, Haiti remains the sick child of the region. It is not clear that any foreign intervention, military or otherwise, can alter Haiti’s desperate situation. Nor can any Caricom country. Haiti’s problems require long-term solutions and political will. However, the approach of the Bahamas to its Haitian refugee problem reflects that of developed western countries which the region has criticised in the past. Further, Guyana’s Minister of Natural Resources saying that Guyana was pressing ahead in building a refinery geared only to domestic demand is a telling rebuttal of the idea of regional energy security.
The bottom line is that no Caricom country has the influence to effect changes on the world scene on its own. We are vulnerable economically, geographically to climate change and hurricanes, and socially. Our populations are small. We have no military might and many of the region’s skilled nationals emigrate. US population census statistics alone show that in 2019 there were 2.2 million people who were born in Caricom but were living legally in the USA. Of these, 1.4 million came from Haiti and Jamaica.
While some Caricom countries may have natural resources, they are dependent on foreign technology and multinational firms to develop or exploit these resources. Our regional links have been weaker than our international linkages. We are highly dependent on a globalised world and that has shaped the foreign policy of individual countries. Except in a few notable instances, we have not seen the value of operating as a block as opposed to negotiating arrangements on an individual basis with the stronger powers.
There are a few lessons that the Caricom heads of government have yet to learn and incorporate into their approach to regional integration. The first is that the region can only move as fast as its private sector and that these sectoral links must be fostered and encouraged by developing the domestic private sector. Also, individual countries are still to learn the lesson that Caricom has more leverage voting as a bloc on the international stage than operating as individual countries.
A fiftieth anniversary is not merely a time for reflection. It is a time for change.