T&T PM Rowley Still Hopeful for a CARICOM Consensus on Attendance at Summit of Americas

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley Thursday said he is hoping in the “not too distant future” CARICOM leaders will adopt a position on attending the Summit of the Americas in the United States, as the division continues as to whether the region should boycott the event if Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela are not officially invited.

Prime Minister Dr. Keith RowleyThe regional leaders held a virtual meeting on Thursday but failed to reach consensus on the matter.

“We discussed this matter and we are still discussing it and people have different views and we are trying to come to a consensus position because we would like to have a CARICOM position, but sometimes it is difficult for all of us to see eye to eye on everything all the time,” Rowley told a news conference.

“But at the end of the day we hope the idea of the summit is not lost and that the existence of the summit is realised and we all benefit from it. So that’s where we are at the moment.”

CARICOM chairman and Belize Prime Minister, John Briceño had confirmed that Washington is lobbying for CARICOM to change its position and not boycott the June 6-10 summit that the United States said is expected to focus on “Building a Sustainable, Resilient, and Equitable Future” for the hemisphere.

He said that when regional leaders met for their inter-sessional summit in March “we made a decision that at the Summit of the Americas. It is supposed to be the Summit of the Americas, not the Summit of some of the Americas, and that it is important that everyone be invited.

“We said that we would only attend if everyone is invited.  As you all know, the Americans are under an intense diplomatic drive to be able to get us to attend. The Summit of the Americas is very important and we have not had one for some time now, since the pandemic.”

Briceño said that CARICOM wants to attend and that “this is an opportunity to be able to address issues not only to Belize but also to the region.

In addition, the regional leaders had also expressed their opposition to Venezuelan Opposition Leader, Juan Guaidó leading a Venezuelan delegation to the event.

The US State Department in a statement announcing the Summit of the Americas had indicated that “as Chair and Host, the United States will work with the region’s stakeholders toward securing leader-level commitments and concrete actions that dramatically improve pandemic response and resilience, promote a green and equitable recovery, build strong and inclusive democracies, and address the root causes of irregular migration.

“Our commitment to diversity and inclusion will underpin our efforts,” Washington added.

Asked what would be Trinidad and Tobago’s position should CARICOM fail to agree on a consensus position, Rowley said it would be premature to provide an answer to that question.

“If there is not a consensus position by the CARICOM heads of governments then there will always be the independent positions. I wouldn’t at this stage tell you what Trinidad and Tobago’s position would be then because that would be prejudicing any attempt by CARICOM to reach consensus.

“So we are working on it and maybe in the next few days or so we will be clearer as to what the position is and we have been talking to the various countries,” said Rowley, who disclosed he had been one of three regional leaders appointed by CARICOM to deal with the issue. He did not name the two other leaders.

“CARICOM has asked three prime ministers to talk to the United States about this matter and I was one of them and last week I was in Washington and I did speak to a number of American leaders about it. They expressed their views and I expressed the views of CARICOM and Trinidad and Tobago”.

He said President Joe Biden has appointed Senator Chris Dodd as a special adviser, who has already visited the Caribbean holding talks on the matter.

“I met with him on many occasions and we are talking. So hopefully in the not too distant future we will realise where we at and what the outcome is. We are all hoping for an amicable outcome and we are very much involved,” he added.

Rowley had earlier told reporters that there are a number of countries in the Americas from “Canada all the way down to Argentina” and the position of Trinidad and Tobago is we have “a Summit of the Americas.

“Our position is that it should be all inclusive. It shouldn’t be exclusive, we pick and choose who comes to the summit because the Americas are all of us even though we may have different styles of government, our circumstances may be different, it is the inclusivity that would give us the ability to work with one another ad help each other.

“That position is not shared by all and we are currently trying to see how many persons we can get on board with that that the Americas means all the countries in the Americas,” he sai8d, noting that “certain actions have taken place with respect to some countries.

He said Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua “are the three countries out there with difficulties and if the host country is saying, well, you can’t come, then we believe that is not the right way”.