THE ACS TOWARD THE SUMMIT

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the member countries of the ACS are meeting today in Panama. It is a preparatory meeting for the 4th Summit of Heads of State and Government that will be convened on Friday 29th in the very same city.

This 4th Summit has been highly anticipated by the Association’s members, since it coincides with the ten year anniversary of its inception.

The Greater Caribbean is a political concept created by this assembly to lay the foundation for unity among ACS member countries. With this concept, the most inclusive of those that define the zone bordering the Caribbean Sea, emphasis is placed on the common historical, social and cultural characteristics of its members. Geographically, it links the Antilles and numerous countries whose territories are not entirely Caribbean, but who share them with other zones like Central America, North America, Andean countries and other areas of South America.

When the decision was taken to create the ACS, there was an awareness not only of what was to be united, but also the difficulties it involved, with the prevailing desire to satisfy the need to strengthen the negotiating strategy of the Greater Caribbean, within multiple international scenarios, including the trade and political negotiations demanded by the challenges imposed by the development of globalisation.

At that time, many of our leaders only had distant references among them, as a Caribbean colleague would say, they were “indifferent neighbours”. However, from 1994 to the present, much has been achieved in terms of rapprochement among countries and although we still cannot speak of the miracle of Caribbean unity, we can say that relations have deepened and we have at least left the “indifference” behind, showing interest in common problems and one another’s issues. It is fitting to recognise that the leadership of the Greater Caribbean has brought about an historic event, having succeeded in bringing together what five centuries of history had denied us. For that reason, I have been saying that the single fact of having maintained a unified dynamic during this decade, is an extraordinary achievement, since before 1994, it was inconceivable to display the familiarity with which Heads of State and Government deal with one another and in general. This has facilitated among other things, greater rapprochement among our peoples, increasing solidarity and the joint negotiation of co-operation agreements and projects to support social development.

To arrive at this juncture, we have overcome language barriers, territorial, populational and economic asymmetries, and even political differences have been settled without division or isolation. In other words, the political will to preserve this unified space as an instrument for co-operation has prevailed.