It is with a sense of deep loss that the Caribbean Community awoke yesterday to the news that the Hon. William G. Demas, OCC - former Secretary-General of CARICOM - died on Saturday, 28 November. This follows news of the death, some 48 hrs earlier of another former Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, Dr. Kurleigh King of Barbados.
The Caribbean Community has learned with great sadness of the recent death of former Secretary-General of CARICOM, Dr. Kurleigh King of Barbados.
The Fifth Meeting of the CARICOM-Cuba Joint Commission chaired by Mr. Edwin Carrington, the Secretary General of the Caribbean Community, and the Honourable Ricardo Cabrisas, Minister of Foreign Trade of Cuba, was held 18-19 November, 1998 in Georgetown, Guyana.
Hon. Prime Minister
Hon. Michael Shree Chan, Acting Minister of Finance
Mr. Eudoxie, Chairman of the Caribbean Association of Indigenous Banks
Distinguished Guests
Delegates
Members of Diplomatic Corps
Ladies and Gentlemen
The Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Mr. Edwin Carrington, despatched messages of condolence and support to Honduras and Nicaragua last week, on behalf of the Community and the Secretariat, following the passage of Hurricane Mitch through Central America.
The Secretary-General also extended condolences to the Government and people of Honduras on the untimely death of the Mayor of Tegucigalpa, His Excellency Cesar Castellanos, whose helicopter crashed while he was viewing the devastation wrought by the hurricane.
The need for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to move faster towards improving competitiveness and diversification of their production and exports, is one of a series of measures identified by CARICOM Secretary-General, Edwin Carrington to lessen the impact of the Asian and global financial crisis.
At a meeting of the political dialogue between the parties thereto, the PPP/C has complained about what they have termed as Mr. Hoyte's intemperate language in describing the process of the political dialogue as a farce during the course of a political meeting held at Victoria. I have had an opportunity to listen to a tape of part of that Meeting. I have had the tape transcribed. I have read and reread the transcript. Mr. Hoyte was rather caustic in his choice of language for criticising the dialogue, but he indicated and repeated that it was his view.
Cuba's Minister of Foreign Trade, the Hon. Ricardo Cabrisas will lead his country's delegation of public and private sector officials to the Caribbean-Cuba Trade and Investment Symposium to be held in Guyana on November 20-21.
The Bureau of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community today urged all parties in Guyana to do everything possible to meet the deadlines of the Herdmanston Accord particularly the provisions relating to the staging of elections under a new constitution by the year 2000.Â
After coming together for three weeks in The Bahamas and Barbados, representatives of Caribbean Youth have come up with a Vision for the Region in the 21st Century; four parliamentary resolutions and a Declaration and Regional Action Plan on Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights.