June 26, 2007—Hip-hop and reggae music blaring out across the Potomac River, a succession of stars on stage (Shaggy, Jimmy Cliff, Wyclef Jean), hundreds of fans waving Haitian and Jamaican flags, political leaders unexpectedly letting their hair down (among them, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Haitian President René Préval, and Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller)…
The Caribbean took center-stage in Washington on June 19-21 and not only at this free concert at the Kennedy Center.
For the first time ever, Heads of Government from fifteen Caribbean nations met in the U.S. capital with members of international institutions as well as policymakers, academics, private sector and civil society representatives from the Caribbean and the U.S. to examine the growth and development of the Caribbean Community and deepen U.S.-CARICOM relations.
The historic 3-day meeting, “Conference on the Caribbean: A 20/20 Vision”, which opened at the World Bank included such core issues as trade, investment, tourism, crime and violence, and physical and social infrastructure.
Graeme Wheeler, World Bank Managing Director, speaking at the Opening Session
"My colleagues and I come to Washington to express confidence in the region’s future and to urge the U.S. to join the region in a partnership for progress,” said Owen Arthur, Prime Minister of Barbados, in his keynote address at the opening session.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez hailed the CARICOM Single Market and Economy as a strategy which serves to strengthen ties and better prepare the region for the challenges of globalization.
“You know better than I the unique challenges that the geography of your nations present. But the U.S. is committed to an ongoing dialogue, and we are optimistic that the changes we see in the global economy, present opportunities for us all,” Gutierrez said.
Speaking on behalf of the World Bank, Managing Director Graeme Wheeler reminded the audience that the Caribbean’s future prosperity lies in greater integration. “Size is not destiny but regionalism is,” he said.
Participants at the Opening Session
The conference sessions, led by members of the Caribbean community, were structured in three parallel events: an Expert Forum hosted by the World Bank, a Private Sector Forum hosted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and a Diaspora Forum hosted by the Organization of American States (OAS). Over 1,000 people participated in the conference with over 750 at the opening session.
At the final plenary, each forum presented proposals on how to move forward:
• The Diaspora Forum recommended using information and communication technologies to promote communication among members of the Caribbean Diaspora in the U.S., and to link Caribbean youth with Diaspora youth.
• The Private Sector Forum suggested that CARICOM countries negotiate a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with the U.S., and develop joint ventures in areas such as energy and technology.
• The Experts Forum reiterated the importance of international action to address issues of drugs and guns which are sapping Caribbean growth and social development and where the Caribbean is a victim of its geography as a transshipment corridor for narco-trafficking.
Heads of Government of CARICOM and foreign ministers met with U.S. President George Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the House Ways and Means Committee, with discussions focusing in particular on trade, drugs, small arms trafficking, deportees, and the hiring of healthcare workers by the U.S. and other OECD countries.
Held during Caribbean American Heritage Month, the conference contained a strong cultural element, vividly illustrating Prime Minister of Belize Said Musa’s observation that, “Our secret weapon is the vibrant culture and creative imagination of the Caribbean.”
In addition to the free concert at the Kennedy Center, highlights included the opening of an official Caribbean Art Exhibition at the OAS by President of Haiti René Préval.
Caroline Anstey, World Bank Country Director for the Caribbean, picked up on an earlier remark by Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and the Grenadines that CARICOM countries had come to Washington not as supplicants but as partners who want to “paddle their own canoes.”
For Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, the event had an impact far beyond the confines of the conference rooms. “Washington may never be the same again after this conference,” he said.
The international institutions, she said, “would like to work with you to support Caribbean development but not in a canoe made by the World Bank or the IDB or the OAS, but in your own Caribbean-built canoe.”
President Jagdeo of Guyana welcomed the U.S. Administration’s undertaking to put in place a mechanism for follow-up of many of issues discussed, but spoke for many of his CARICOM colleagues when he said that “the success of the three-day Conference of the Caribbean will in part be measured by the pace of implementation of these initiatives.”
At the end of the conference, participants enjoyed an energizing performance by the Skiffle Bunch, a 25-drum steel band from Trinidad and Tobago (youngest member age seven) that flew in especially for the occasion.
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