Regional Integration Processes in the Caribbean: CARICOM, ACS and OECS

1. Topic 5
Regional Integration Processes in the Caribbean
Dr. Jacqueline LAGUARDIA MARTINEZ
INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES

2. What is Regionalization,
Regionalism and Regional
Integration?

3. Regionalization Regionalism
• “The increase in the cross-border flow of capital,
goods, and people within a specific geographical
area. It develops from the bottom up through
societally driven processes coming from
markets, private trade, and investment flows,
none of which is strictly controlled by
governments. The core players are non-
governmental” (Hoshiro).
• “Process of closer transnational cooperation
among neighbor states caused by non-political
forces” (Alfred Gerstl, Dominik Zotti & Anna
Scholik).
• “Regionalization is understood as the tendency
or process of a region formation at the official
level and by means of official mechanisms”
(Shadrina, 2006).
• Regionalization is the process of configuration
of large regional spaces, which mobilize
economic, social, political, military and cultural
forces. It has been understood as opposed or
complementary to globalization.
• “Regionalism is defined as a political will to create a formal
arrangement among states on a geographically restricted basis.
Since its main participants are governments, it can be expressed
as an artificial, top-down process” (Hoshiro).
• “It is the proneness of the governments and peoples of states to
establish voluntary associations and to pool together resources in
order to create common functional and institutional
arrangements” (Kacowicz, 1998).
• “It is a normative concept referred to share values, norms,
identity, and aspirations” (Kim, 2004).
• “Mental and/or physical orientation towards forming a regional
identity, which, in turn, leads to further regionalization” (Hurrell
et al., 1995).
• “The expression of a common sense of identity and purpose
combined with the creation and implementation of institutions
that express a particular identity and shape collective action
within a geographical region” (Camilleri, 2003).
• “Regionalism is a political discourse which’s finality is federalism”
(Andrei, 2016).
• “The attempt to deliberately steer the process of regionalization
politically” (Gerstl, Zotti & Scholik).

4. Regionalism in IR
(Panke and Stapel, 2016)
• 1950s-1960s (after WWII): Why and
under which conditions states create
regional organizations.
• 1960s-1970s: Dynamics driving the
development and evolution of
regional organizations.
• The study of the interaction between
state and regional levels, focusing on
how regional policies are made and
how a regional organization impacts
its member states.
Regional Organizations
(Panke and Stapel, 2016)
• “Institutions (with a set of primary
and secondary rules, headquarters
or a secretariat) in which states
cooperate on a regular basis on
more than one narrow issue area
and in which membership is based
on criteria related to the
geographical location of the
applicant state.”
• “Regional Organization
membership is not exclusive; thus
states can join several Regional
Organizations.”

5. REGIONAL INTEGRATION ≥ COOPERATION
• Regional integration is the process whereby political actors in distinct national settings
are persuaded to shift their loyalties, expectations and political activities toward a new
center, whose institutions possess jurisdictions over national states (Haas, 1958).
• Regional integration involves states giving some authority and sovereignty to a
regional arrangement (Lingberg, 1963). Integration should be considered by examining
its various components: economic, social, and political integration, and how these
interact with and are interdependent on one another (Nye, 1968).
• Regional integration is a process whereby countries in a geographic region cooperate
with one another to reduce or eliminate barriers to the international flow of products,
people, or capital.
• Regional integration is a vehicle for regionalism and regionalization.
• There is formal and informal integration.

6. http://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Global_economics/Economic_integration.html
https://www.civilsdaily.com/what-is-economic-integration-and-what-
are-the-different-types-of-trade-agreements/
Classic stages for regional economic integration

7. https://sites.google.com/site/ibwvietnam/regional-economic-integration
Regional integration
based on the
European experience
expect economic
interdependence to
go together with
regionalism.
However, regional
integration in other
regions do not show
that economic
interdependence and
regionalism are
interrelated.
Regionalism in the
rest of the world
deviated from the
European integration
experience.

8. Söderbaum, 2016, p. 34

9. Benefits
• Creation and diversion of trade
• Creation of regional value
chains
• Possibilities to maximize
national capabilities
(economies of scale)
• Job creation
• Higher levels of consumption
• Unified regional voice and
more negotiation power
• South-South Cooperation
• Insufficient infrastructure
• Lack of transportation alternatives
• Competition in instead of
complementarity
• Not enough policies for the less
developed countries
• Not enough participation of non-
state actors
• Insufficient financial
institutions/mechanisms (no real
possibilities for a common currency)
Obstacles

10. Source: Connecting the Dots: A Road Map for Better Integration in Latin America and the
Caribbean, Special Report on Integration and Trade by the IDB, 2018
Network of Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs)

11. Landscape of Regional Groupings with Caribbean membership
(Byron, 2022)
Greater Caribbean States and
territories as members
Central American states
with/without the Dominican
Republic
Caribbean and Latin American
membership
CARICOM (1973) SICA (1960) CELAC (2010)
OECS (1981) CAFTA/DR (2004) UNASUR (2008)
CARIFORUM (1991) ALBA (2004)
ACS (1995)
PETROCARIBE (2005)

12. https://www.cepal.org/sites/default/files/presentations/4ana_sanjuan.pdf https://es.qwe.wiki/wiki/Organisation_of_Eastern_Caribbean_States
Overlapping Regionalism

13. Opportunities and Challenges of Multiple Groupings and
Memberships (Byron, 2022)
• Reasons for increased range of regional projects: Region’s diversity and
geopolitical characteristics; new global challenges and regional development
imperatives; need for new platforms and structures of cooperation in a widening
neighbourhood.
• Advantages in scope and variety of cooperation: Access to additional resources,
increased regional/global voice and visibility, leverage, deeper hemispheric
integration.
• Challenges: Limited communication, competition rather than cooperation;
diminished resources distributed among larger number of regional projects,
limited results. Most of the more recent regional projects have not consolidated
their institutions.

14. Regionalism in the Caribbean (Byron, 2022)
• Caribbean developmental regionalism focuses on regional governance,
economic growth strategies, access to development resources, the provision of
public goods, improving social well-being and to some extent, multidimensional
security.
• Both CARICOM and OECS fit the developmental regionalism profile. Often
described also as examples of “defensive regionalism” or “small state dependent
regionalism”.
• Their origins lie in decolonization processes and the accompanying search for
appropriate governance structures and viability as very small states. When OECS
was established, 3 of its 7 founding members were not yet independent. All
three major regional groupings in the Caribbean, CARICOM, the ACS, the OECS
are open to the participation of non-independent territories in their regional
cooperation arrangements.

15. Features of Developmental Regionalism
(Adejumobi and Zebulun Kreiter, 2020)
1. A strong institutional architecture and capacity to drive the regional integration agenda;
2. A clear articulation of goals, objectives, essence, nature and direction of the regional
integration project, and the benefits of regional integration as mechanism for facilitating
regional development;
3. Ensuring peace and security as a composite and foundation of a regional integration
agenda;
4. Evolving complementary and symmetrical benefits for all member states involved in the
regional development project;
5. Articulation of regional public goods and development priorities necessary for facilitating
economic transformation in the region including on infrastructure, trade, agriculture and
food security, private sector development and industrialization;
6. Evolving a bond of common regional citizenship and identity necessary for regional human
capital mobilization; and
7. A regional development financing mechanism that is inward looking and self-sustaining.

16. • In the British Caribbean, initiatives to promote the union of the British
dependencies came from the UK following a logic of achieving a more
efficient colonial administration.
• The first mention of a West Indian Federation is found in 1860.
• In 1882 a proposal presented to the British Prime Minister William
Ewart Gladstone included the creation of British West Indies to deter
the annexation ambitions of the United States in the Caribbean.
First attempts of regional integration
in the English-speaking Caribbean

17. Integration in the English-speaking Caribbean after WWII
• 1942: Creation of the Anglo-American Caribbean Commission to coordinate U.S. and British
policies in the region during the war
• 1946: The Commission was renamed the Caribbean Commission and included France and
the Netherlands to establish a common regional policy
• 1950: British Caribbean Currency Board
• 1958 – 1962: West Indies Federation
• 1965: Eastern Caribbean Currency Authority
• 1967: West Indies Associated States (WISA)
• 1967: Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
• 1968: Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA)
• 1968: East Caribbean Common Market (ECCM)
• 1969: Caribbean Development Bank
Political independences in the
English-speaking Caribbean
began in the 1960s with Jamaica
and Trinidad and Tobago in 1962,
followed by Guyana and
Barbados in 1966.

18. http://mundinews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Caricom44.jpgç

19. https://energy.caricom.org/member-states-2/
• Established in 1973 by Barbados,
Guyana, Jamaica, and Trinidad and
Tobago.
• 15 Members (14 independent states)
• 5 Associate Members
• It is a Community of Sovereign States
(no supranational authority).
• Pillars of the regional integration
project
I. Common market for goods
(economic integration)
II. Foreign policy coordination
III. Functional cooperation
IV. Security

20. • Treaty of Chaguaramas in 1973.
• To promote economic integration and foreign policy coordination.
• CARICOM was designed after the European model of regional integration.
• The initial idea was to create a Common External Tariff -to promote economic
growth and industrialization as part of the import substitution strategy (ISI)- and a
Common Market to promote intra-regional trade and investment projects for
industrialization to take advantage of economies of scale and use scarce resources
more efficiently.
• Mission Statement: To provide dynamic leadership and service, in partnership with
Community institutions and Groups, toward the attainment of a viable,
internationally competitive and sustainable Community, with improved quality of
life for all.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM)

21. Why regional integration in the independent
English-speaking Caribbean?
• The geographical proximity of small island territories.
• History of commercial and demographic exchanges (regional migrations).
• History of colonization and slavery (Caribbean identity[ies]).
• To increase market size, generate competitiveness, expand options for goods and services,
promote full employment and maximize resources.
• To address transnational threats such as extreme weather events; climate change;
trafficking in people, arms, drugs, protected species and heritage resources; communicable
diseases.
• To strengthen collective diplomacy in order to increase bargaining power, create more
influential platforms for action and strengthen sovereignty.

22. CARICOM
Member
States and
Associate
Members
22
Territorio Date of entry Membership System of government
Antigua and Barbuda 4 /7/ 1974 Member Constitutional monarchy
Bahamas 4 / 7/ 1983 Member Constitutional monarchy
Barbados 1 / 8/ 1973 Member Republic
Belize 1 / 5/ 1974 Member Constitutional monarchy
Dominica 1 / 5/ 1974 Member Constitutional monarchy
Grenada 1 / 5/ 1974 Member Constitutional monarchy
Guyana 1 / 8/ 1973 Member Republic
Haiti 2 / 7/ 2002 Member Republic
Jamaica 1 / 8/ 1973 Member Constitutional monarchy
Montserrat 1 / 5/ 1974 Member British Overseas Territory
St Kitts and Nevis 26 / 7/ 1974 Member Constitutional monarchy
St Lucia 1 / 5/ 1974 Member Constitutional monarchy
St Vincent and the Grenadines 1 /5/ 1974 Member Constitutional monarchy
Suriname 4 / 7/ 1995 Member Republic
Trinidad and Tobago 1 / 8/ 1973 Member Republic
Anguilla 4 / 7/ 1999 Associate Member British Overseas Territory
Bermuda 2 / 7/ 2003 Associate Member British Overseas Territory
Cayman Islands 15 / 5/ 2002 Associate Member British Overseas Territory
British Virgin Islands 2 / 7/ 1991 Associate Member British Overseas Territory
Turks and Caicos Islands 2 / 7/ 1991 Associate Member British Overseas Territory

23. Mapa subido por Alison DeGraff Ollivierre, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275036119_Participatory_Mapping_Caribbean_Small_Island_Developing_States
Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
• Small and open
economies
• Narrow export base
• Reliance on trade
preferences
• Environmental
vulnerability

24. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
• Most members are formerly British Colonies (except Suriname and Haiti).
• Relation with the Dutch, French and British Territories in the Caribbean (some are
Associate Members or Partners in regional arrangements).
• Most share a common history, political systems, language, culture and path to
independence .
• CARICOM was designed after the European model of regional integration.
• The initial idea was to create a Common External Tariff -to promote economic growth and
industrialization as part of the import substitution strategy (ISI)- and a Common Market to
promote intra-regional trade and investment projects for industrialization with the
participation of several islands to take advantage of economies of scale and use scarce
resources more efficiently.
• Mission Statement: To provide dynamic leadership and service, in partnership with
Community institutions and Groups, toward the attainment of a viable, internationally
competitive and sustainable Community, with improved quality of life for all.

25. Less Developed Countries (LDCs)
1. Antigua and Barbuda
2. Belize
3. Dominica
4. Grenada
5. Haiti
6. Montserrat
7. St Kitts and Nevis
8. St Lucia
9. St Vincent and the Grenadines
More Developed Countries (MDCs)
1. Bahamas
2. Barbados
3. Guyana
4. Jamaica
5. Suriname
6. Trinidad and Tobago

26. • 1989: West Indian Commission and the report “Time for Action”
• 1994: Creation of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS)
• 2001: Re-structuring (Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas)
• 2006: Inauguration of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME). It is
composed of CARICOM members except the Bahamas, Haiti and Montserrat. It
consists of four main regimes: free movement of capital; free movement of goods;
free movement of workers; and free movement of services regimes.
CARICOM had changed in accordance with the geopolitical times and economic
transformations, accentuated by the globalization of neoliberal capitalism since the 1990s.
From the promotion of import substitution, it shifted to the promotion of exports and
investments, along with the expansion of economic relations and cooperation.

27. Intergovernmentalism
• Regional integration is possible when it coincides with the national interest and
‘by taking along the nation with its baggage of memories and problems’
(Hoffman, 1966). Regionalism is to strengthen the State and facilitate nation-
building.
• The structural characteristics of the region and the international insertion that
progressively deteriorates the terms of trade must be corrected through
industrialization and the creation of a unified regional market. Latin America
and the Caribbean belong to the periphery (Third World, Global South).
• Regional integration is key to formation of the expanded market (ECLAC)
Structuralist economics (Desarrollismo latinoamericano)

28. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribbean_Community#Membership
Council for National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE)

29. Quasi Cabinet - Portfolio Allocation - CARICOM
Its creation was decided at the Seventh Special Meeting (1999)
CARICOM countries Area
Antigua and Barbuda Services
Bahamas Tourism
Barbados Single Market and Economy (including Monetary Union)
Belize Justice and Governance
Dominica Labour
Grenada Science and Technology
Guyana Agriculture, Agricultural Diversification and Food Security
Jamaica External Trade Negotiations
St Kitts and Nevis Human Resource Development, Health and HIV/AIDS
Saint Lucia Sustainable Development
St Vincent and the Grenadines Transport
Suriname Community Development and Cultural Cooperation
Trinidad and Tobago Energy and Security

30. Functional Cooperation in CARICOM
• The 1973 Treaty of Chaguaramas refers to the role of functional cooperation.
• In 2007, the Declaration on Functional Cooperation was adopted at the 38th Meeting of
Heads of State and Government, which recognized the need to make functional
cooperation a priority.
• Functional cooperation enables member states to assume minimal economic and
political costs as it seeks to avoid duplication of administrative and service delivery
mechanisms. In turn, the political costs associated with cooperative actions are low
because these actions do not represent threats to national sovereignty.
• The four main dimensions of functional cooperation in CARICOM refer to: (i) policy and
program exchange, (ii) information dissemination, (iii) human resource development
and monitoring, (iv) and evaluation.

31. Cooperation in Climate Action
• 1989: First CARICOM Ministerial Conference on the Environment. Fourteen
priority environmental issues and problems were identified together with the
necessity of developing legislative frameworks for environmental management.
• 2002: The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) is established.
The CCCCC functions as an official repository for climate change data, develops
guidelines and provides guidelines for climate change policy.
• 2007: Establishment of the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF)
together with the World Bank.
• Climate Change Task Force
• Regional Coordinating Committee on Climate Change

32. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb63UiBKJhA
A brief history of CARICOM and the CSME

33. • Grande Anse Declaration of 1989.
• In 1992 CARICOM agreed to move towards the establishment of the CSME.
• In 2001, CARICOM formally adopted the CSME concept in the Revised Treaty of
Chaguaramas.
• 2006: Inauguration of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).
• It is composed by CARICOM members except Bahamas, Haiti and Monserrat.
• The CSME is designed to represent a single economic space within which people,
goods, services and capital can move freelyIt consists of four main regimes: free
movement of capital; free movement of goods; free movement of workers; and free
movement of services regimes.
• The CSME is the platform to deal with the challenges of globalization.
• It will require the harmonization and coordination of social, economic, and trade
policies among the member states.
CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME )

34. CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME)
• The CSME was officially
inaugurated in 2006. Its
implementation is on hold since
2015.
• The implementation of the
provisions of the CSME has been a
gradual and incomplete process,
with about 57% of the measures
required for its establishment
having been completed.
• About 90% of exports of goods
from CARICOM are destined for
countries outside the regional
scheme. 34
Intra-CARICOM trade
(% of GDP)

35. Poorly developed economic relations
• Most economic and trade relations with traditional partners (colonial legacy).
• Similar economies in terms of productive structure, export portfolio, demand for investment
flows, scarcity of foreign exchange, high levels of indebtedness and limited access to
international financial and credit markets (blacklisting).
• High cost and insufficient infrastructure for intraregional transportation.
http://caricomstats.org/Files/Meetings/HLF3/Brochures/Trade.pdf

36. http://caricomstats.org/Files/Meetings/HLF3/Brochures/Trade.pdf

37. Average distribution of
intra-community imports
Years 2011-2016
Average distribution of
intra-community exports
Years 2011-2016

38. https://www.cepal.org/sites/default/files/presentation/files/finalfinal_cdcc-alicia_barcena.pdf

39. Doubts towards CSME
• Perception that asymmetries within the community favor larger economies.
• In 2011 CARICOM acknowledged that it would not be able to complete the CSME in 2015
as planned.
• In 2017, the CARICOM Review Commission formed by the Jamaican government, also
known as the Golding Commission, published its report on the evaluation of the island's
participation in CARICOM and CARIFORUM. The report recognizes the value of Caribbean
regional integration but laments the limited progress on many of the commitments made
by CARICOM Member States and proposes several actions to overcome the
implementation deficit that plagues the CSME and CARICOM. Based on the contents of the
report, Jamaica announced that it may withdraw from the CSME if progress is not made in
its implementation, although it will maintain its membership within CARICOM.
• In referendums held in 2018 Antigua and Barbuda, and Grenada, citizens voted not to join
the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and remain associated with the Privy Council of the
United Kingdom as the final appellate court.

40. CARICOM: Obstacles to advance
• Wide range and complexity of differences (asymmetries) economic, geographic-territorial, social and
productive structure between Members
• Asymmetrical distribution of benefits
• Poor communications infrastructure
• Absence of coordination in fiscal, sectorial policies (lack of trained human resources)
• Insufficient participation of the non-state actors
• Heavy influence of extra-regional actors
• Limited movement of the work force and people
• Insufficient financing and credit mechanisms
• Increasing levels of crime
• Reluctance to a supranational authority
• Dominant perception of "competition" over "complementation"
• No sanctions if Members do no follow the agreed actions
• Lack of a long-term roadmap (lack of political will)
• Duplication of efforts and institutions with limited authority and capacities

41. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/267838135_Monetary_Union_and_Fiscal_Discipline_Evidence_from_CARICOM/figures?lo=1
7 Observer Members
1. Aruba
2. Colombia
3. Dominican Republic
4. Mexico
5. Puerto Rico
6. Sint Maarten
7. Venezuela
CARICOM

42. Achievements and Insufficiencies
• Functional cooperation: It has allowed CARICOM
Member States to exchange resources, services and
carrying out joint activities to reduce costs and
generate common learning and benefits in areas
such as meteorology and environment, hurricane
insurance, social security, health, disaster risk
management, dealing with the effects of climate
change, education, technical assistance and
professional training, technological and scientific
research.
• Coordination of foreign policy positions: CARICOM
Member States represent 14 votes constituting
7.25% in the UN, 27% of the Commonwealth of
Nations, 40% in the OAS and 14% in the Pan
American Health Organization.
• Intergovernmental nature and absence of a
regional authority responsible of implementing
decisions. The exception is the Caribbean Court
of Justice (CCJ) which function as the tribunal
with original, compulsory and exclusive
jurisdiction with respect to the interpretation
and application of the Revised Treaty of
Chaguaramas. Only Barbados, Belize and
Guyana recognize the CCJ as the final appellate
instance.
• Disparities in income levels and development,
which fuels uncertainty and distrust.
• PRC vs. Taiwan. Belize, Haiti, St. Lucia, St. Kitts
and Nevis, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines
maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan.

43. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-74573-2_3
• Established in 1981 with the signing of
the Treaty of Basseterre.
• 7 Members (6 independent States):
Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica,
Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and
Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and
the Grenadines.
• 4 Associate Members: Anguilla, The
British Virgin Islands, Martinique and
Guadeloupe
• It is an intergovernmental organization.
Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uKtCE-8yac
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRcyR0UXQ54
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh3-dD3TIr4

44. OECS Objectives
• To promote cooperation.
• To promote unity and
solidarity in defense of
sovereignty and
territorial integrity.
• To assist member states
in fulfilling their
obligations to the
international
community.
• To move towards
harmonization of foreign
policy and establish joint
representation abroad.
https://www.oecs.org/who-we-are/our-structure
OECS Structure

45. https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/IMF071/12381-9781616352653/12381-9781616352653/ch03.xml?language=en&redirect=true
• 1983: Establishment of the Eastern
Caribbean Central Bank
• 2000: Establishment of the Eastern
Caribbean Telecommunications Authority
• 2010: Revised Treaty of Basseterre, ratified
one year later.
• The Revised Treaty established a single
financial and economic space in which goods,
people and capital move freely.
• It allows for the harmonization of monetary
and governmental policies related to taxes
and revenues.
• A common approach is maintained in trade,
health, education and the environment, as
well as the development of critical sectors
such as agriculture, tourism and energy.
• 2011: The Eastern Caribbean Economic and
Currency Union (OECS/ECCU) enters into
force.

46. Members (25)
• CARICOM (except Montserrat)
• Central America
• Group of Three
• Non-Grouped (Cuba, Panama
and Dominican Republic).
Associate Members (12)
Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, French
Guiana, Guadeloupe, French
Guiana, British Virgin Islands,
Martinique, Saba, St. Barthelemy,
St. Maarten, St. Martin, St.
Martin, St. Eustatius, Sint
Maarten.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebR6tFyUcFU
Association of Caribbean States

47. • 1989: “Time for Action” report.
• 1994: Creation of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) assuming the
definition of Greater Caribbean.
• The ACS was created to complement CARICOM integration.
• Economic cooperation was at the core of the ACS proposal, together with
other cooperation interests in various areas.
• Consultation, cooperation and concerted action in five key areas:
preservation and conservation of the Caribbean Sea; sustainable tourism;
trade and external economic relations; natural disasters; and transportation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDFveNwk-RU
Association of Caribbean States

48. Summits Year City and Country
Inaugural
Summit
1995 Port of Spain, Trinidad
and Tobago
II Summit 1999 Santo Domingo,
República Dominicana
III Summit 2001 Isla de Margarita,
Venezuela
IV Summit 2005 Ciudad de Panamá,
Panamá
V Summit 2013 Pétion-Ville, Haïti
VI Summit 2014 Mérida, México
VII Summit 2016 La Habana, Cuba
VIII Summit 2019 Managua, Nicaragua
IX Summit 2023 Antigua, Guatemala
ACS achievements
• 1999: Agreement for Regional
Cooperation on Natural Disasters.
• 2001: Agreement for the
Establishment of the Sustainable
Tourism Zone of the Caribbean
(STZC).
• 2012: Air Transport Agreement.
• 2016: The United Nations General
Assembly approved the Resolution
71/224 “Towards the sustainable
development of the Caribbean Sea
for present and future generations”.

49. Non-independent territory CARPHA OPS CEPAL ACS CARICOM OECS
Anguila Member Member Associate Associate Associate
Aruba Member Associate Associate Associate
Bermudas Member Member Associate Associate
Bonaire Member Member Associate
Curaçao Member Associate Associate Associate
Guadalupe Member Associate Associate
French Guyana Member Associate Associate
Cayman Islands Member Member Associate Associate
Turks and Caicos Member Member Associate Associate
British Virgins Islands Member Member Associate Associate Associate Associate
US Virgins Islands Member Associate
Martinique Member Associate Associate Associate
Monserrat Member Member Associate Member Member
Puerto Rico Associate Associate
Saba Member Member Associate
Saint Barthélemy Member Associate
Sint Eustatius Member Member Associate
Saint-Martin(Fr.) Member Associate Associate
Sint Maarten(PB) Member Associate Associate

50. Post 2005 Regionalism in LAC
• 2005: The FTAA is rejected at the Summits of the Americas in Mar del Plata.
• Left governments in Latin American and Caribbean: Commonalities were detected in
reassertion of the state’s role in strategic guidance of the economy through public investment,
redistribution, and renationalization; in experimentation with collective management and
ownership; in promotion of participatory democracy; and in advancement beyond the
conventional commercial bounds of LAC regional institutions despite reaffirmation of
sovereignty at the global level (Asa K. Cusack, 2019).
• A more state-led, socially focused, inward-looking “endogenous” form of development.
• States are key agents but more involvement from non-state actors.
• Emphasis in cooperation, solidarity, sovereignty, peace, democracy, human rights, sustainable
development.
• Region-level cooperation targeting increased autonomy.
• Emphasis on sectoral policies.
• Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America-Peoples' Trade Treaty (ALBA-TCP)
• Latin American and Caribbean Community of States (CELAC)

51. ALBA
Founded on December 14, 2004, in
Havana by Cuba and Venezuela.
“ALBA is a regional governance project
that emerged in opposition to US-
backed attempts to institutionalise free
trade across the entire hemisphere via
the Free Trade Area of the Americas
(FTAA).
With the FTAA defeated in 2005, ALBA
morphed into an attempt to reinforce
member-states’ pro-social, autonomist,
state-led development strategies
through the cooperative pooling of
regional strengths.” (Asa K. Cusack,
2019, p. 4).
Former member
• Ecuador (2009 - 2018)

52. ALBA’s initiatives
• Social programs in health and education (social “missions”)
• Soft loan scheme for energy dependent states of the Caribbean basin
(Petrocaribe)
• Trade framework for facilitating cooperative commercial agreements (the
People’s Trade Agreement or TCP in Spanish)
• State multinational companies (grandnational enterprises)
• Virtual currency permitting intraregional trade (SUCRE)
• Development bank (the ALBA Bank)
• Region-level Social Movements

53. Challenges to regional integration in the Caribbean
1. Vulnerable economies, poorly diversified and highly indebted, poorly
interconnected and highly dependent on exogenous events.
2. Classification as middle-income countries and high HDI rankings.
3. Considerable number of non-independent territories.
4. Tendency towards trade protectionism and tightening bilateral ties.
5. Elderly population and migration of young and skilled labor.
Where are the incentives? Where are the resources? Where are the people?

54. Boosting Caribbean regionalism: what to do?
• To think regionalism from a sustainable development dimension.
• To include a long-term strategic vision rather than short-term individual advantages.
• To develop institutional and regulatory frameworks together with political structures
and information systems capable of ensuring both decision making and
implementation.
• To rethink the concepts of independence and sovereignty.
• To promote initiatives to foster cooperation in health, education, communications,
energy, multi-destination tourism, climate change adaptation, culture and sports.
• To strengthen South-South cooperation beyond the technical cooperation component
and, in the case of China, building of infrastructures.
• To deepen the knowledge of the region, which is very diverse in its political order,
economies and societies.

55. To move on …
1. To evaluate if the CSME is the best way to go in the current regional situation.
2. To develop stronger political structures both for decision-making and
implementation.
3. To develop working institutional and normative frameworks.
4. To include the construction of a shared regional identity in the construction of a
political project of integration.
5. To include a long-term strategic vision instead of short-term individual advantages.
6. To rethink the concepts of independence and sovereignty.

56. CSME Free movement of people
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZ3k2lfu-bI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzhqGhWS6_c