By: Staff Writer
May 16, 2023
This year’s Association of Caribbean States (ACS) council meeting in Guatemala this May saw high level foreign diplomats from around the world descend on the Central American country to continue the now growing dialogue with the Caribbean and Central American region.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has held a meeting with his Guatemalan counterpart Mario Bucaro, thanked him for the opportunity to personally address the Caribbean countries at the ministerial meeting of the Association of Caribbean States.
“First meeting in Guatemala with Mario Bucaro. I thank Guatemala for supporting our fight for freedom and providing the first-ever opportunity to address Caribbean nations in person at ACS ministerial. No matter the distance, true friends are always near. That is why I am here,” Kuleba said on Twitter.
Ukraine has been courting Caribbean countries vigorously since the start of the Ukraine/Russia War last year. What is becoming a known fact is that the Caribbean is more than just one entity, but an entity made up of several different countries that all have votes in the United Nations. Courting the bloc makes strategic geopolitical sense.
South Korean Foreign Minister, Park Jin, was also on hand and proposed launching joint maritime research projects between South Korea and Caribbean nations at a regional ministerial gathering held in Guatemala, his office said Friday.
The minister made the proposal to establish a joint South Korea-Caribbean maritime research center as part of efforts to strengthen ties between Seoul and the region.
Park, who attended the gathering as an observer nation representative, called for the strengthening of ties between South Korea and the ACS based on cooperative relations between the two sides throughout the past 25 years.
He also held separate meetings with ACS Secretary-General Rodolfo Sabonge and other key representatives at the meeting to discuss ways to strengthen ties with the respective governments of the region.
Ahmed bin Ali Al Sayegh, Minister of State in the United Arab Emirates, also participated
During his speech at the summit, Al Sayegh stressed the strength of relations and the many common interests of the UAE and the Caribbean region, including supporting economic growth, food security and sustainability.
Al Sayegh also highlighted the UAE’s hosting of the 28th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), which will take place from November 30 to December 12, 2023 in Dubai Expo City.
Al Sayegh emphasized that the COP28 conference will stress the importance of mobilizing the efforts of all concerned parties and the need for international cooperation in order to achieve a coordinated response on global climate action and achieve tangible progress in addressing the effects of climate change.
Also discussed on the agenda at the ACS was the need to support the Bridgetown Initiative for finance for climate change for small developing states as Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Philip Davis, called on all leaders to support this.
In addition to the BTI, the issue of the dreaded sargassum seaweed came up for discussion where Roberto Álvarez, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic, extended President Luis Abinader’s call from last April to the ACS to declare the uncontrolled arrival of sargassum as a regional emergency.