CARICOM Leaders Also To Be In Attendance
Basseterre, St. Kitts – Nevis
February 22, 2010 (CUOPM)
St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas is among leaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM who arrived on Sunday at the International Airport in Cancun, a resort city on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, for the two summits to be held in nearby Playa del Carmen.
Prime Minister Douglas, joined other Caribbean leaders including Hon. Patrick Manning, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago; Hon. Baldwin Spencer, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda; Hon. Tillman Thomas, the Prime Minister of Grenada; Hon. David Thompson, Prime Minister of Barbados, and Ambassador Colin Granderson, CARICOM’s Assistant Secretary-General in Port of Spain, Trinidad on Sunday.
The leaders arrived in Mexico early Monday morning, after His Excellency Rene Preval, President of Haiti and Jamaica’s Prime Minister Hon. Bruce Golding.
Prime Minister Douglas is accompanied by Minister of Housing, Public Works, Energy and Utilities, Dr. the Hon. Earl Asim Martin; His Excellency Ambassador Errol Maynard and Assistant Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Mr. Crios Freeman.
A foreign media report said the leaders of more than 30 Latin American and Caribbean nations are meeting in Mexico from Monday to launch a group that will serve as an alternative to the Organization of American States.
The main difference between the OAS and the yet-to-be-named organization will be that the United States and Canada will not be members.
Leaders of Latin American countries have been meeting almost every year since 1986 when the Rio Group was created by countries including Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela. This year’s summit is intended to take the Rio Group to a new level by creating the organization.
Among the main topics to be discussed at the summit is whether to recognize Porfirio Lobo as the legitimate president of Honduras.
Lobo, who took office in late January, was elected under a de facto government that resulted from a coup in June against then-president Manuel Zelaya. The ousted leader was then forced out of the country.
Other topics on the agenda include the creation of a long-term plan to help Haiti recover from the devastating effects of the earthquake and Argentina’s conflict with Great Britain over oil drilling offshore from the Falkland Islands.
The Unity Summit of Latin America and the Caribbean will be held in Cancun.