February 10, 2023
The CARICOM 44th Regular meeting will be held in Nassau, Bahamas next week. It will most likely be more of the same. They are going to talk about Haiti for a bit, the blather on about climate change and all of the efforts they are putting in for climate resilient projects and infrastructure- Someone will also say a few lines about carbon credits and carbon bonds. Yea, this is most likely how things would go.
We may also hear a few bits and pieces about agriculture and how we need to increase food production around the region. This is good, because this is needed indeed.
Another issue bubbling up to the surface is the proliferation of guns coming in from America into the region. This has caused untold pain and suffering for the people of the Caribbean and Central America. The guns are being fuelled by the drug trade and the demand for these drugs in the USA, so we have a vicious cycle that is part to do with us but also dependent on the USA being more diligent on how guns leave their country and also how dependent their people are on drugs.
What these meetings always seem to miss is the need to increasing economic opportunities for the many. They always seem to gloss over this. Perhaps they are clueless to the matter. But, it is something they need to put their minds around because a strong Caribbean is one where the people can decide their own future based on the purchasing power they have in their pockets.
There are no fireworks set to happen at this meeting. Not like how it was last few years when it was about the pandemic. The COVID-19 has relatively left us and we are chugging along back to the old problems, so expect to hear the rehash of the old problems.
At the end of the day, we hope something brand new will come out of these meetings to give us something to pin our hopes on. Whether these people know it or not, the people set their lives to the very things they say. They need to take their positions seriously.