An Urgent Call for Caribbean Unity

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Suggested reading by Ras Jahaziel
Caricom Summit

Caricom Summit

URGENT CALL FOR PATRI­OTS AND STATES­MEN (David Commissiong – Parts I, II, III)

In this era of cri­sis, when vir­tu­ally every sin­gle Caribbean coun­try seems des­tined to end up in the clutches of the dreaded Inter­na­tional Mon­e­tary Fund, it would do well for the peo­ple and nations of the Caribbean Com­mu­nity (CARI­COM) to reflect on that phase in the his­tory of the United States of Amer­ica (USA) that has come to be known by his­to­ri­ans as the “Crit­i­cal Period” — the years between 1783 and 1789… continue reading

Are Caribbean countries facing existential threats? (Norman Girvan)

The hurricanes of the last few weeks in the Caribbean have reinforced in my mind a growing sense that Caribbean states may be more and more facing a challenge of existential threats. (I prefer this idea to the discourse of ‘failed states’, which I find rather obnoxious and patronising; being associated with a political agenda of ‘humanitarian interventionism’ and the contemporary incarnation of the doctrine of imperial responsibility.) By existential threats I mean systemic challenges to the viability of our states as functioning socio-economic-ecological-political systems; due to the intersection of climatic, economic, social and political developments…continue reading

13 thoughts on “An Urgent Call for Caribbean Unity”


  2. Globalization in its modern context has all but undermined our chances for a unified Caribbean. And we ought to ask ourselves: what are the benefits to be derived from a unified Caribbean in the age of this contemporary global economy?

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  3. The Richard Branson Centre of Entrepreneurship located in South Africa & nowJamaica aims at inspiring young business development in the region.

    SIR RICH* hopes to make this model a regional entity for the benefit of the Caribbean. This entrepreneurial venture hopes to provide young, aspiring business-minded individuals to access MENTOR-SHIP that will assist in growing their ideas FACTORY into tangible product base formulation and to incite a new breed of 21st century business developers that will create JOBS and income parity for themselves and their associates.

    The crux of political focus must be on inspiring the next generation of business people and Caribbean leaders must open the gates to make this dream a reality swiftly!

    If SIR RICH’s* work in South Africa & Jamaica is targeting indigenous communities and the potential of our people – surely our political leaders, civic leaders and others must recognize that the infighting and our short-sightedness must be disbanded in 2014 in order to drive forward the process of growing our internal economies as well as to target EXPORT-orientated possibilities and niches.

    BARBADOS cannot allow itself to left behind! Satisfied to be just wage earners or stuck in DEAD_END jobs with no possibilities for growth, creativity or mind expansion can no longer an option if we are to DIG ourselves out of the hole most Caribbean nation find themselves in.

    In 2014, we gotta’ grab the BULL by the horn!

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  5. A federal government imposing its will on the island states, don’t make me laught; it ain’t going to happen in our life time.

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  6. PLANTATION DEEDS FROM 1926 TO 2014 , MASSIVE FRAUD ,LAND TAX BILLS AND NO DEEDS OF BARBADOS, BLPand DLP=Massive Fruad on said:

    To much fraud and Islands want to keep their bad business to them self ,
    They dont want each other to see what they doing , All will be exposed and madness will be on the streets, No one wants to give up any type of power they feel they have in their own country , The courts cant even come together for the best of all,
    The lawyers and Minister want to make rules for self and to gain only for self , too step by the laws and to do as they please and wish ,

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  7. MEDICAL/Commercial CANNABIS is projected to a US$6 BILLION industry across the legalized states of North America and that does not include CANADA!

    With JAMAICA being the CANNABIS capital of the Caribbean – why are CARICOM officials so myopic in their VISION?

    Why is the Caribbean allowing America to upstage and upscale the final remnants of CANNABIS PROHIBITION with California eventually legalizing its use giving the product national exposure and use (both recreationally & medically).

    When are our leaders gonna’ get off their ARSES and legalize & TAX a product that is a US$15 billion industry – not forgetting the MEDICAL uses!

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  9. they tried to fool black population telling them jah jah dead
    jah no dead

    @DofBU
    that was a spoof article saying 37 dead
    must have fooled you

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  10. Maybe I’m ill- informed, because I cannot see the sense in an unified Caribbean. When the world is supposed to be moving towards a global – village! Now, I thought the concept of globalization entails a unified world economy, which dismantles trade barriers and encourages unrestrictive movement of people etc.

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  11. IS THIS A PEOPLE CAPABLE OF ESCAPING THE EARTHQUAKE AND THE STORM?
    The shallowness of mind with which these subjects are greeted tell us why there is such a great woe in Babylon.
    REPOSTED because of its great significance and relevance to the times we are living in.

    November 2, 2010
    Are Caribbean countries facing existential threats?

    Norman Girvan

    The hurricanes of the last few weeks in the Caribbean have reinforced in my mind a growing sense that Caribbean states may be more and more facing a challenge of existential threats. (I prefer this idea to the discourse of ‘failed states’, which I find rather obnoxious and patronising; being associated with a political agenda of ‘humanitarian interventionism’ and the contemporary incarnation of the doctrine of imperial responsibility.) By existential threats I mean systemic challenges to the viability of our states as functioning socio-economic-ecological-political systems; due to the intersection of climatic, economic, social and political developments.

    On Saturday 30 October the entire banana crop of St Vincent, the main export industry, was wiped out in the space of one afternoon. St Lucia and Barbados also suffered major economic damage. At the time of writing this, the weather system responsible is expected eventually to veer northwards and deal what will be another lethal blow to Haiti, where over one million people are living with only tented shelters to protect them as a result of the January earthquake. Another major human catastrophe may be unfolding before our very eyes, which we seem impotent to prevent. On the other hand, if the weather system stays on a westward course, it will deal further blows to Jamaica, which has not yet recovered from Tropical storm Nicole (J$20 billion damage), and probably Belize, which is still recovering from hurricane Richard.

    30 years ago, one expected to deal with major disasters of this kind, say, once every ten years. Nowadays, most islands expect at least one, and possibly two or three, every year. In other words this now has to be seen as a permanent, recurring phenomenon or integral feature of Caribbean development.

    When you combine acute climate change-related stress of this kind with (a) the acute economic stress arising out of trade preferences and the failure to develop a new “insertion” into the global economy, (b) fiscal stress due to unsustainable debt burdens and the impact of the global economic crisis; and (c) the seeming incapacity of governments to control the impact of transnational crime; one must wonder if we are not in fact experiencing an overlapping and interconnected series of challenges which in their totality, challenge the assumptions underlying the ‘national statehood’ dispensation of the region. Suppose, in other words, that we are not dealing simply with a series of ‘natural disasters’, but rather with a deeper, more systemic threat to the viability of our societies as functional entities in any meaningful sense of the word?

    Most of us are not likely to view our condition in such apocalyptic terms, of course. Governments and opinion-makers tend to see each such phenomena as disconnected events, each requiring its own specialised response by a dedicated agency or stakeholder. Our governments give the appearance of being in permanent crisis mode, like the captain and crew of a ship caught in a perfect storm desperately trying to work out how to survive the next monster wave (even as they assure the passengers that they can cope!). Crisis management is not a condition that lends itself to strategic thinking.

    Yet isn’t strategic thinking, that attempts to discern the connections among seemingly unrelated phenomena, not what is required? Indeed is it not a necessity for survival? I would think that the first step of such an exercise is for us to admit to ourselves that the problems we face are too wide in scopes and too vast in scale for any one Caribbean country to cope with by itself; that the thinking, institutions and structures we have no longer serve us well; and that no one—neither government nor opposition; public sector or private; civil society or academia—can singly provide the answers. Can we begin a conversation nationally and regionally—or rather, take existing conversations to a higher plane?

    November 1, 2010.

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