Press Releases

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) welcomes the news of the election of a new President of Haiti, Mr. René Preval. This has brought an end to the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the Presidential elections. The decision came after a review was undertaken of the vote count process in the face of troubling allegations of manipulation and other grave irregularities.

CARICOM has also received an official communication from the Interim Prime Minister of Haiti informing of the election of Mr. Preval. CARICOM wishes to congratulate Mr. René Preval and the people of Haiti.

The Eleventh Japan-Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Consultation was held at the International Conference Hall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo from February 16 to 17, 2006. The delegation of CARICOM was headed by Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite, Deputy Secretary General of the CARICOM Secretariat and that of Japan by Mr. Mitsuo Sakaba, Director General of the Latin American and Caribbean Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

  (CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Representatives from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Task Force on Crime and Security and the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force met with a team from the United Nations (UN) Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED) on Thursday 16 February in Georgetown, Guyana.

  (CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Representatives of the Regional Councils of the French Overseas Departments in the Americas (DFA’s), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Caribbean Forum of Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States (CARIFORUM) are meeting in Georgetown, Guyana, on Friday 17 February to discuss a framework for operational and functional cooperation.

The meeting comes as a follow-up to exchanges between the DFA’s and the CARIFORUM States last November in Martinique.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Ministers of the Caribbean Forum of Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States (CARIFORUM) and representatives of the European Union (EU) are meeting in Georgetown, Guyana to discuss the framework for future relations between the Caribbean and Europe.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Her Excellency Faith Doreen Radebe, the High Commissioner of South Africa to Jamaica will pay a courtesy call on His Excellency Edwin Carrington Secretary General of the Caribbean Community on Thursday 16 February at his office at CARICOM Headquarters, Georgetown, Guyana.

The High Commissioner is visiting the Secretariat with a delegation from South Africa to discuss issues related to the staging of the International Cricket Council Cricket World Cup 2007 which is being held in the West Indies.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community (CARICOM)-coordinated Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/AIDS (PANCAP) will host a Consultation on Universal Access to HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care and Treatment, 14 -15 February in Kingston, Jamaica.

The Consultation represents one of the ongoing activities being coordinated globally by the UNAIDS Global Steering Committee, with the aim of securing major policy changes at the United Nations (UN) Special Session on HIV/AIDS, scheduled for early June of this year.

The Seventeenth Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community was held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 9-10 February 2006 under the chairmanship of the Hon. Patrick Manning, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, and Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government,.