Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Tangerine Clarke,
George Alleyne, Nelson King,
Vinette K. Pryce, Bert Wilkinson
GENERAL INFORMATION (718) 260-2500
Caribbean Life, F 10 ebruary 14-20, 2020
By Ding Ding and Inci
Otker
Ding Ding is Deputy
Division Chief, Caribbean
1 Division, Western Hemisphere
Department (WHD)
at the International Monetary
Fund (IMF), & Inci
Otker currently works at
the Western Hemisphere
Department, IMF and is
mission chief for St. Kitts
and Nevis & Trinidad and
Tobago and Division Chief
of Caribbean III.
WASHINGTON DC, Feb
7, 2020 (IPS) - The Caribbean
economies have long
recognized the value of
working together. Improving
regional integration—
for instance, through more
intraregional trade and
policy coordination—can
help the region’s smallsize
economies build greater
resilience and scale, as
well as enhance bargaining
power on the global stage.
According to the latest
IMF research, further liberalizing
trade and labor
mobility in the region can
generate significant economic
benefits—potentially
over 7 percent of the
region’s GDP in 2018.
While policymakers of
the Caribbean Community*
(CARICOM) remain
committed to further integration
and progress has
been made, the implementation
of integration initiatives
and policies toward
the goal of a regional economic
union has been slow
and needs to be accelerated.
Work in progress
Compared to other wellintegrated
regions, like the
ECCU and EU, the Caribbean
lags. The integration
indices, which measure
the degree of intraregional
economic and institutional
integration, suggest that
Caribbean community’s
integration has proceeded
in several waves, with periods
of integration followed
by slowdowns in progress,
including in removing
remaining tariff and nontariff
barriers to trade and
constraints on intraregional
labor movement.
Financial integration
has proceeded faster with
t ight ly-interconnected
financial systems across the
region, but capital markets
remain underdeveloped
and fragmented. Harmonizing
economic and structural
policies to support a
single economic space is
still work in progress, with
lacking harmonization and
coordination of investment
codes, tax incentives, and
macroeconomic policies.
Pain point
Why has progress in
regional integration been
slow for the Caribbean? A
combination of institutional,
political economy, and
structural factors underlie
the slower implementation
of integration policies.
The lack of a regional
body with powers and
accountability that can
help transform community
decisions to binding laws in
individual jurisdictions is
a key impediment. A decision
making process based
on unanimity principle,
where each member retains
its sovereign authority, also
hinders progress.
In the absence of a facilitating
regional architecture,
cooperation must rely
By Rickford Burke
On Feb. 9, 2020, United
States Members of Congress
Gregory Meeks and Yvette
Clarke, hosted a town hall
meeting in Brooklyn, to brief
the Guyanese-American community
on their recent fact
finding mission to Guyana.
The Congressional delegation,
which was led by Congressman
Albio Sires, visited
Guyana on Jan. 22, 2020.
At said meeting, I brought
to the attention of the legislators,
the following Sept. 19,
2019 joint statement by United
States of America Ambassador
to Guyana, H.E. Ambassador
Sarah-Ann Lynch, United
Kingdom High Commissioner
to Guyana, H.E. Greg Quinn
and the European Union
Ambassador to Guyana, H.E.
Ambassador Fernando Ponz
Cantó.
QUOTE: “The United
States, United Kingdom and
the European Union thank
the Guyana Elections Commission
(GECOM) for devising
a proposed elections timeframe
for conducting General
and Regional Elections. However,
we deeply regret that,
by surpassing September 18,
the Government is currently
in breach of the Constitution
following its failure to adhere
to the decisions of the Caribbean
Court of Justice (CCJ)
on 18 June and its subsequent
orders. This situation comes
at great cost to the people of
Guyana. The prevailing political
uncertainty undermines
Guyanese institutions, compromises
economic opportunities
and delays development
across all areas including
infrastructure, education,
health, and social services.
It also hinders our ability to
support Guyana’s development
needs. We therefore call
upon the President to set an
elections date immediately in
full compliance with Guyana’s
constitution.” END QUOTE.
The members of Congress
unequivocally disagreed that
the APNU+AFC coalition government
had breached the
Constitution of Guyana. They
contended that there was
no evidence of any constitutional
violation. Moreover,
the Members of Congress said
the United States ambassador
to Guyana had affirmed this
conclusion.
I raised this matter with
the Members of Congress
because there is indeed no
evidence of a constitutional
breach by Guyana’s coalition
government. No court in Guyana
or the Caribbean Court of
Justice made such a finding.
Therefore, the ambassadors’
statement is inexplicable. It
referenced no legal authority
for is shocking assertion,
which the nation perceived as
an attack on the democratically
elected government of
Guyana. This erroneous state-
OP-EDS
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR are welcome from all readers. They should be addressed care of this newspaper to the Editor,
Caribbean-Life Publications, 1 MetroTech Center North, Brooklyn, New York 11201, or sent via e-mail to caribbeanlife@
schnepsmedia.com. All letters, including those submitted via e-mail, MUST be signed and the individual’s verifiable
address and telephone number included. Note that the address and telephone number will NOT be published and the
name will be published or withheld on request. No unsigned letters can be accepted for publication. The editor reserves
the right to edit all submissions.
Continued on Page 11
Continued on Page 11
Founded 1990 • Published by Brooklyn Courier Life LLC
Corporate Headquarters: One Metrotech Center North, Suite 1001, Brooklyn, NY 11201
PRESIDENT & PUBLISHER: Victoria Schneps-Yunis
CEO & CO-PUBLISHER: Joshua Schneps
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Ralph D’Onofrio
EDITOR EMERITUS: Kenton Kirby
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Kevin Williams
This newspaper is not responsible for typographical errors in ads beyond the cost of the space occupied
by the error. All rights reserved. Copyright© 2019 by Brooklyn Courier Life LLC. Caribbean
Life is protected by Federal copyright law. Each issue of Caribbean Life is registered with the Library
of Congress, Washington, D.C. The Caribbean Life, its advertisements, articles and photographs, may
not be reproduced, either in whole or part, without permission in writing from the publisher except
brief portions for purposes of review or commentary consistent with the law.
Strengthening Caribbean
regional integration
CGID seeks clarification
from US ambassador
to Guyana
/schnepsmedia.com