• by IPS Correspondents (kingston)
• Thursday, December 01, 1994
• Inter Press Service

KINGSTON, Dic 01 (IPS) - In an effort to prevent their special concerns being overlooked, the members of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) are seeking a refinement of the agenda and of the Summit of the Americas to be held in the U.S.city of Miami next week.

Accounting for more than one third of the number of countries invited to the meeting, the 13 nation community also wants the developmental problems of the small, emerging countries of the hemisphere to be reflected in the Plan of Action and the Declaration of Principles, two documents to be published after the three-day summit.

The Community is worried, however, that the U.S. administration has been slow in sending it final drafts of the two documents which should include indications of the summit's consideration of Caricom's special interests.

"We have sent our comments to the United States government, but so far we have not had a reply to them," said Owen Arthur, prime minister of Barbados and chairman of Caricom.

"The Community is concerned that it has not yet seen a revised draft of the Plan of Action and of the Declaration of Principles which will be published after the summit."

One specific issue which the community wants raised at the summit is the continuing attack on the preferential access to the European banana market for several of its members.

Eugenia Charles, prime minister of Dominica, an island whose economy is dependent on access to the European banana market, is threatening to boycott the summit unless the issue is raised.

"It will be a good time for this to be discussed," said a Jamaican foreign ministry official. "The Latin Americans and the United States which have attacked the banana arrangement will be at the same table with us."

The community supports the broad principles of the agenda for the summit, but feels that for it to be a worthwhile exercise, the meeting must discuss the economic problems which are peculiar to small developing countries, according to the officials and political leaders.

© Inter Press Service (2014) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

Where next?

Advertisement