By The Caribbean Camera Inc. on May 31, 2025
CARICOM now needs to strengthen and deepen neighbourhood relations -Tewarie
Dr. Bhoendrath Tewarie, Pro Vice Chancellor for Planning and Development at the University of the West Indies, has called on Caribbean nations to assert their collective will in the face of intensifying global power struggles.
He was delivering the keynote address at the opening of the Canadian Association for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CALAS) conference at York University last week.
Theme of the conference: “Boundaries and Disjunctures.”
Dr. Tewarie said that if a new world order is going to be crafted according to “America first” principles, narrow and sectarian in its conception, and, if everyone is going to concede to it by negotiating their best deal with power, then CARICOM would have no choice but to do the same, that is to say,” confer, consider, and negotiate in your best interest.”
In his lecture titled “Caribbean Options, Collective Will to Self-Sustainability, in the Geopolitics of the Western Hemisphere,” Tewarie outlined a ten-point case for the Caribbean to chart a path forward despite its size and economic limitations.
He suggested that it might be possible to argue and negotiate for the following:
– A comprehensive discussion to address guns, gangs, drugs, crime containment in the region and the entire range of security issues for the region
– To support a shared prosperity agenda through trade, investment, economic growth designed as a shared prosperity model and recognition of a regional Energy domain in the Caribbean and Latin America.
– Support of a comprehensive programme for citizens wellbeing in the Caribbean region
– Support for and respect of the principle of national and regional sovereignty even for small nations and to maintain the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace
– Support for a Sustainable Tourism industry, since it is the main source of income for most Caribbean and perhaps strengthening of the region washed by the Caribbean Sea as a Sustainable Tourism Zone.
– Disaster management collaboration in a disaster-prone region
– Visa free travel to the USA for temporary stays as is the case with Canada now for some countries
– A strategy for peace and prosperity in the hemisphere that demands mutual engagement of the USA with relevant individual countries
– Freedom to pursue trade, investment and development relations with all countries with whom member countries have diplomatic relation
– A road map for peace, security, stability and inclusion for all countries in the hemisphere.
Tewarie noted that “ CARICOM now needs, more than ever to strengthen and deepen neighbourhood relations among CARICOM member States and create a single market and economy.
“ CARICOM can easily expand that economic space through cooperation and collaboration with Central America, and with the rest of Latin America but certainly with the Coastal Latin American states and border States.
“Beyond that, CARICOM countries can begin to seriously engage the most populous Commonwealth state, India, with whom it has had long standing good relations.”
“The Western Hemisphere is undergoing a major geopolitical realignment,” Tewarie stated. “Small states like those in the Caribbean must navigate these tensions without losing sight of their sovereignty, stability, and development priorities.”
Source: The Caribbean Camera