The Caribbean Community (Caricom) concluded its annual three-day summit in Saint Kitts and Nevis this Friday with economic alliance agreements between its members, cooperation with the United States and with the determination to find solutions for the humanitarian crises in Cuba and Haiti.
“This was a conference of action,” declared the current president of Caricom and prime minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Terrance Drew, in a press conference that he offered with details of all the agreements reached this week in the meeting that included the visit of the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
Drew said that Caribbean leaders discussed an update of the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME), which allows the free movement of goods, skills, labor and services between countries in the region.
In this sense, the leaders agreed to create a committee made up of the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, her counterpart from Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, to manage the financing of the community.
Task team for cooperation with the US
Drew reported that Caricom will establish a three-person team before holding talks with the United States “to really flesh out what this relationship would look like” of the cooperation framework with the United States that is “in the initial stages.”
The current president of Caricom described this progress as “significant” to “ensure that the strong relationship that exists with the United States continues.”
“There is already a long-standing partnership between the United States and the Caricom States to respond to common challenges,” Drew said.
Caribbean leaders see Marco Rubio’s message about greater cooperation as positive
Elections supported in Haiti
Within the framework of the summit, the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) appointed by Caricom and chaired by the former Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Kenny Anthony, presented a report on recent political developments in Haiti and on the humanitarian and security situation in the French-speaking country.
“Regional leaders reiterated Caricom’s strong commitment to restoring peace and stability in Haiti and expressed their support for the framework to improve security and holding elections presented by the Prime Minister of Haiti,” Drew said.
The UN is transforming the Kenyan-led multinational force into a Gang Suppression Force to help the Haitian Police regain control of the capital and key infrastructure.
In this context, the EPG expressed its “deep gratitude” to the Government of Kenya for its “unhesitating willingness to assume the leadership of the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission, which has now become the Gang Suppression Force (GSF)”, authorized by the United Nations Security Council.
Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé yesterday told his colleagues in the Caribbean Community (Caricom) that they have made progress in the fight against violent gangs and that he remains confident that elections will be held this year.
Haiti: in three years, gang violence has accumulated 16 thousand deaths, according to the UN
Haiti is a member of Caricom, a regional organization made up of 15 countries that has mediated between the Haitian parties to try to find a solution to the serious political, social and security crisis that the nation is going through.
Haiti is experiencing a serious political and social crisis and, according to the United Nations Integrated Office in the country (Binuh), almost 6 thousand people died and another 2,708 were injured in 2025 due to gang violence and the operations of security forces to combat them.
Support for Cuba and confidence in Justice in the face of territorial disputes
Likewise, the regional group reaffirmed this Friday in a statement its decision to support Cuba, in the face of its current economic and humanitarian crisis, increased by the siege from Washington.
“Aware of our very close relationship with Cuba and the United States” and “because of the way in which the region may be negatively affected,” Caricom “is willing to participate in any way that can benefit the Cuban people while the area remains stable,” the group said in a statement.
Finally, the community highlighted its “firm support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and security of Belize” in the face of its territorial dispute with Guatemala and Honduras.
Likewise, Caribbean leaders “reaffirmed their full support for the judicial process” of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to resolve the territorial dispute over the Essequibo that concerns Guyana and Venezuela.
Caricom members are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.
