Press Releases

The Secretary General of the Caribbean Community, Mr Edwin Carrington has embarked on a series of overseas meetings that will place on the international stage a range of issues facing the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

Chief among these are issues arising from the US-Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act (CBTPA) which are expected to have a major impact on the Caribbean Basin beneficiaries (Caribbean and Central American countries). The CBTPA is part of the US Trade and Development Act 2000 recently approved by the US Congress.

Government and other public functionaries, Members of the Diplomatic Corps and members of the public generally will have an opportunity of extending condolences to the memory of the late Sir Lynden Pindling, KCMG, former Prime Minister of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member State, The Bahamas, for nearly 26 years.

A condolence book will be opened at the CARICOM Secretariat Headquarters in the Bank of Guyana Building in downtown Georgetown in the foyer of the third floor from 1_30 p.m. today, 29 August, 2000 and continuing throughout the week to Friday 1 September, 2000.

It is with profound sadness that I received the news of the passing on Saturday, 26 August 2000 of the Rt. Hon. Sir Lynden Pindling, KCMG, former Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. He was one of the longest serving and most influential Head of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

The twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis is embracing its Caribbean brothers and sisters from Member countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and beyond, as some twenty countries from the Region have converged on the host country of CARIFESTA VII to share in a milieu of activities portraying the arts and culture of the Caribbean.
 

Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Mr. Edwin Carrington, has appealed to Caribbean artistes participating in CARIFESTA VII in Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis to take advantage of new technologies to enhance the effectiveness and the economic profitability of their cultural product. Speaking at the official opening ceremony of the Region's premier cultural festival on August 17, Mr.

Welcome again to the smallest country to host this Region's greatest exposition of Arts and Culture! This reference to our size is not an excuse by any means ... please feel free to consider it a boast that small as we are... our pride and joy at having you here cannot be surpassed. Over the next ten days, you will find yourselves immersed in activities designed to make you proud of yourselves as people of the Caribbean, activities that are educational, culturally stimulating, and highly enriching. Thank you for coming.

Attorneys-General and Presidents of Bar and Law Associations from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member States will meet in Saint Lucia on 16 August, 2000 to discuss the proposed Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).

The one-day meeting will provide an opportunity for dialogue between the leaders of CARICOM and the legal profession on the Court that is proposed to replace the Privy Council in England.

Mr. Chairman,
Mr. Assistant Secretary General,
Distinguished Colleagues,
Delegates,

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has been closely monitoring the political and electoral events in Haiti leading up to and following the elections on 21 May and 9 July 2000.

Mr Chairman, Dr Martin Boodhoo
His Excellency Mr Jacques Crête, High Commissioner of Canada to Guyana
Justice Donald Trotman, President of the UN Association of Guyana
Justice Rudolph Harper, Chairman of the Law and Justice Committee of the United Nations Association of Guyana
Members of the UN Association of Guyana
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Members of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen