Georgetown, February 25 (EFE). – Heads of government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) begin their annual summit this Sunday, with the internal market, the climate crisis and food security as main topics on the agenda.
The forty-sixth meeting of the Caribbean Regional Body will last four days and will take place in Guyana's capital, Georgetown. The President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, will be present as a special guest.
Speeches at the opening this Sunday will be given by the President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali; Caricom General Secretary Carla Barnett; and the organization's outgoing president and Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit.
Starting Monday, government leaders will hold closed-door meetings at the Marriott Hotel in Georgetown to discuss progress on the implementation of the Caricom internal market and economy, as well as the free movement of all Community nationals.
Other issues on the agenda include the region's rising food import bills, improving intra-regional trade and transport, and climate finance, according to a Caricom statement.
With regard to regional security, Caribbean leaders will discuss the crisis in Haiti and the border dispute between Guyana and Venezuela over the Essequibo region, which has worsened in recent months.
Caricom has mediated between the various political actors in Haiti to help conduct elections in the country, and several members of the organization – the Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda and Jamaica – have expressed their intention to support the planned multinational force Command.
Other special guests at the summit include Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) President Ilan Goldfajn; the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Special Envoy for Climate of Saudi Arabia, Adel al Jubeir, and the Minister of State for International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates, Reem al Hashimy.
Caricom members include Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. EFE
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