The Secretary-General and Staff of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat have learnt with shock and great sadness of the passing of Leonard "Tim" Hector, the well-known Caribbean cricket commentator, journalist, political activist and historian from Antigua and Barbuda.

Tim was a true Caribbean man whose commitment and passion for the Region, its people and for those things which mattered most in their lives such as cricket and politics, made him a great force in his nation=s life and in the arena of Caribbean life as well.

Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) His Excellency Bharrat Jagdeo, the President of Guyana, is planning to lead a mission to Haiti, the Community's newest Member State, in early December.

The Mission will include representatives of both Government and Private Sector as a means of familiarising key Community stakeholders with Haiti. Heads of Government at their Meeting last July in Georgetown agreed that the Chairman should visit Haiti to mark its accession to the Community which was formalised during the July meeting. 

The Fifteenth Meeting of the Bureau of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) takes place on Monday, November 11, in Bridgetown, Barbados.

The Bureau comprises of the Chairman, President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana, Prime Minister Said Musa of Belize,(the immediate past chairman); Prime Minister Pierre Charles of Dominica (the incoming chairman); and the Secretary-General, Mr Edwin Carrington.

The Sixth Meeting of the Regional Task Force on Crime and Security of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) was held in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago from October 30 to November 01, 2002.

It was presided over by Mr. Lancelot Selman, Chairman of the Regional Task Force on Crime and Security for the Caribbean Community.

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has followed with great concern the events currently unfolding in Venezuela, which call into question the legitimacy of the democratically elected Government.

The Region has been asked to eradicate the stigma attached to the HIV/AIDS virus, in order to create a more supporting environment for persons infected with the disease and furthermore to encourage the general public to get tested.

At the just concluded second annual meeting of the Pan Caribbean Partnership (PANCAP) for HIV/AIDS, held this week, in Georgetown, Guyana, members noted that HIV/AIDS discrimination was the single most devastating factor contributing to the social isolation of victims and thus increasing the spread of the epidemic.

Mr. Chairman, Ambassadors, Members of Delegations. . . .

I want to discuss with you how the CARICOM region views the issue of regional security, the approaches the region is taking in respect to its application, and the problems which impact it at this current historical period.

Let me, first of all, give a historical perspective of some aspects regarding the evolution of the traditional form of military security for the protection of sovereignty in the CARICOM region.

The Project Management Group (PMG) for the project  “Strengthening the Institutional Response to HIV/AIDS/STI in the Caribbean” (SIRHASC) is due to meet later this week in Saint Lucia to assess efforts at building the Region’s  capability to combat the dreaded diseases. The Project Management Group of five regional institutions will also fine-tune a range of activities slated for next year, completing the three-year programme of cooperation among these institutions.

The Caribbean should expect increased assistance from Canada as relations between that country and CARICOM have recently been strengthened with the appointment of its first Plenipotentiary Representative, His Excellency Serge Marcoux.

The Seventh Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) was held at Le Meridien Pegasus, Georgetown, Guyana on 23- 25 October 2002.

The Hon. Walter Sandriman, Minister of Education and Community Development, of the Republic of Suriname and Chairman of the COHSOD, presided over the proceedings.