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The Caribbean, a crucible of sovereign nations

Caribe NicaraguaThe peoples who live in the Caribbean have been at the mercy of hegemonic powers since the beginning of the modern era, creating riches with the blood and sweat under slavery. This is a history some wish to erase via mechanisms of cultural colonization – the same forces that attack any efforts toward regional integration.

Given the little importance afforded individual Caribbean countries, economic coordination among nations in the region has found a sport on the agendas of states struggling for the sustainable development, on which their very existence depends. The sea, seen as our first unique resource, has served as a unifying force, both geographic and cultural, including our shared history of resistance.

The Caribbean’s economic structure is heterogeneous in terms of natural resources and degree of industrialization, thus the need to join forces. A population of 42 million lives in the region, 86% of which reside on the Greater Antilles, with the strongest economies being those of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, which account for 76% of the regional GDP.

Some data speaks well for the region and promises a better future, for example, the Caribbean Human Development Index is relatively high, including a life expectancy of 72 years. What Cuba has achieved in 60 years of an alternative, anti-capitalist model has a significant impact on these statistics.

Nevertheless, other indicators justify the priority given to the economy by our nations, especially those related to inequality, inherited from the colonial era.

The most important body that has generated models of governance and solid proposals for the sovereignty of Caribbean nations is the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), which has managed to join countries of some economic weight with those needing to enter the international market and diversify their economies. The entity also functions as an effective network for international relations, at the service of our peoples and identities.

The Association of Caribbean States (ACS/AEC) emerged with the signing of a founding agreement on July 24, 1994, in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. Its philosophy was to promote an economic environment of integration and prosperity in the region, a totally different alternative to the model advanced by hegemonic powers.

The ACS is an organization devoted to consultation, cooperation, and concerted action by its 25 member states and three associate members. Its focus areas are currently trade, transport, sustainable tourism, and natural disasters.

Special attention is afforded to the area’s ecological vulnerability in the face of climate change, a cause that does not have the approval of the world’s business lobbies or the Trump administration, and has been relegated on the agendas of many powerful nations.

The ACS works to ensure that the voices of countries, especially small island nations, are heard, demanding efforts to address rising sea levels and the increasing occurrence of devastating hurricanes and other extreme phenomena, due to the effects of global warming.

Protecting the very existence of these nations, a new model of non-invasive tourism is promoted, one that focuses on the vitality of communities and respect for original economic activities, which are the sustenance of many Caribbeans.

In short, the ACS is a model of integration that has remained firm on the Latin American stage, despite corporate and imperialist pressure, and various projects currently directed toward undermining the organization, on both the economic and political order.

Since 2008, the ACS has faced tremendous challenges as a result of the crisis of world capitalism. In this new scenario, countries are forced to seek a more regulated economies, based on common achievements and less subject to capitalism’s “invisible hand.”

Cuba’s search for an alternative world trade order favors the presence in the region of other economic actors and the diversification of development possibilities, avoiding the pitfall of being dependent a single trade partner.

The Petrocaribe program has been successful in promoting energy sovereignty for Caribbean nations, undoubtedly essential when the intentions of the United States are clear: to monopolize the region’s oil reserves and keep them under its exclusive management – the basic reason the U.S. has worked so hard to create a crisis in Venezuela.

Among the region’s most pressing issues are the tremendous weight of Puerto Rico and its dependence on Washington, which holds back a number of policies related to tourism and finance, and the U.S. blockade of Cuba.

So-called humanitarian crises, as in the case of Haiti, call for thinking about how to avoid the collapse of societies, looking for solutions within the Caribbean community that do not involve military or political intervention by world powers.

The ACS Summit held in Nicaragua likewise addressed the challenge of confronting the region’s militarization, which violates the Proclamation by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in this regard. This remains a key point of dialogue, to resist new imperial plans, which seek to deny the Caribbean respectful integration within diversity.

ASSOCIATION OF CARIBBEAN STATES

National Secretary: Her Excellency Dr. June Soomer

- Nicaragua hosted the VIII Summit of heads of state and government, March 29. Nicaragua was elected President of the Board, 2018-2019, and assumed the pro tempore Presidency in March of 2019.

STRUCTURE

Council of Ministers and General Secretariat

Five special committees

1. Development of trade and external economic relations

2. Sustainable tourism

3. Transport

4. Disaster risk reduction

5. Budget and administration

PRIORITIES

- The Caribbean as a sustainable tourism zone

- Facilitate language training

- The Caribbean Sea initiative

- Coordinate an annual Caribbean business forum

- Defend interests of small companies

- Update building codes

- Strengthen disaster agencies

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