Diplomats, foreign ministry officials and ministers from the Caribbean Community Caricom’s 15 members and the US State Department agreed to collaborate on a variety of subjects of common concern.
After the conference call, Caricom released a statement saying the two parties recognized the “inseparable relationship between both the Caribbean and the US, and appreciated the discussion panel as an early interaction between the inbound US Government and Caricom.”
The conference was attended by Belize Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, and Immigration Minister Eamon Courtenay, head of the Caricom Council for Foreign and Community Relations, American Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Caricom General Secretary Ambassador Irwin LaRocque.
“This conference is crucial because it symbolizes the restart of high-level dialogue between Caricom countries as a region and the United States. Conferences at this degree were a frequent element of our connection, I recollect,” LaRocque added.
Caricom officials are looking to meet with the new U.S. President, Joe Biden in the coming months, he said, saying, “I expect that today’s event marks the beginning of a revival of such meetings.”
Caricom, according to LaRocque, places a high value on “the strong and sustainable bonds of friendship” with Washington, indicating that a “spirit of cooperation has defined our friendship, and it has been characterised by cooperation on a variety of issues, including business and finance, security, health, power, disaster response, and environmental issues.”
“Nevertheless, there are concerns that we need to discuss as partners, such as bans, correspondent banking, and availability of concessional financing premised on susceptibility, particularly in this very difficult time for our area with COVID-19 and its economic effects, the La Soufriere volcano, which has effected St Vincent and the Grenadines, and the forthcoming hurricane season,” Caricom secretary general said.
