Last week the leaders of CARICOM and of the member countries of the Central American Integration System (SICA) held their first ever Summit. The meeting, which was also attended by the President of the Dominican Republic and a Cuban observer, was hosted by Belize, which is a member of both groups.

With its historical and cultural links to CARICOM and its geographical and growing cultural links to Central America, Belize is uniquely positioned to serve as bridge between the two sub-regions. This was also the first time that a President of Guatemala was visiting Belize—a significant event given the long-standing border dispute between the two countries.

The most important accomplishment of the meeting was that it took place at all. Foreign Ministers of CARICOM and Central America had met four times since 1992, but not since the disappointing encounter in Georgetown in 1999.

The banana dispute divided the two sub-regions in their relations with the EU and the WTO. Plans for a CARICOM-Central America free trade agreement were put on hold as energy was diverted to meet the pressing demands of extra-regional negotiations including the FTAA, the EU-ACP, and several others in which Central America has been involved. Functional cooperation in areas like tourism, transport and natural disasters was also developed within the framework of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS).

The Belize Summit could mark a new beginning in fomenting direct relations. The meeting mandated a study of the feasibility of an FTA; although many countries are still not inclined to give this priority because trade between them is limited ($200 million per year, less than 1 percent of total trade) and the trade negotiation agenda is already crowded.

But the leaders soon discovered that their commonalities of interest extend beyond the possibility of an FTA. A recurring theme was the vulnerability of small states in the face of the many changes accompanying globalisation—brought home dramatically by the consequences of September 11--and the imperative of cooperation.

Several leaders called for a strong and united stand on the treatment of small economies in the WTO and the FTAA and for concerted action in lobbying the US on the terms of the Trade Promotion Authority now being sought by the Bush Administration.

Every country in the Greater Caribbean is faced with an alarming upsurge in violent crime associated with international drug and arms trafficking. One leader proposed technical cooperation between the two sub-regions in information collection, storage and exchange, modeled on the recent CARICOM initiative.

Growing vulnerability to natural disasters is associated with global climate change. A proposal was tabled on formulating a united position on the protection and management of the Caribbean Sea at the upcoming Earth Summit in South Africa, which would also speak to the issue of the shipment of nuclear waste through the region.

The Summit Declaration addresses these and several other issues and instructs the foreign ministers to produce a Plan of Action.

The leaders also agreed to redouble their efforts to realize the objectives of the ACS and particularly for the establishment of the Greater Caribbean as a Zone of Cooperation. ACS Committees in trade, transport, sustainable tourism and natural disasters and its cooperation with CARICOM and SICA provide a ready-made institutional framework for much of the cooperation identified at the Belize Summit.

Professor Norman Girvan is Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States. The views expressed are not necessarily the official views of the ACS. Feedback can be sent to mail@acs-aec.org.

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February 6, 2002