Discuss the extent to which the Caribbean community

(CARICOM) in its present form, is capable of responding to the

economic challenges of globalization.
The evolution of the Integration movement
Phase 1: 1945-1962
- In 1945 letters of invitation were sent out by the colonial
office to the various islands or state holders about a
proposed conference to discuss the future of British West
Indian territories. One major concern was that the islands
wanted political independence especially after the 1930s
riots since trade unions were created and people were now
agitated.
- In 1947 a meeting was held in Montego Bay Jamaica. The
plan at this meeting was to chart the way forward and to
decide what was to be done as West Indian individuals.
Various committees were also established to deal with the
different aspects of the now proposed federation.
- They met 1953, 1955 and 1956 because the various
committees could not come to a general consensus on
anything and the committees were experiencing problems.
- In 1957 the British government passed an act/legislation/law
called the British Federation Apt. This Act clearly states, in
summary, that effective the following year 1958 a West
Indian Federation would come into being. The act that was
passed meant that al the islands were amalgamated
- The federation lasted between 1958 and 1962 since Jamaica
and Trinidad had major disagreements with being part of the
federation. For example, the Jamaican opposition leader
Alexander Bustamante, told the Jamaican people that the
federation was made up of a group of paupers and that
these paupers would drain the financial resources of
Jamaica. He was very anti-federation to the extent that he
forced the premiere Norman Manley to call a referenda for
the people of Jamaica to vote for or against the federation

(to stay a part of the federation). Manley obliged. When the

vote was called the people voted no. Dr. Eric Williams, prime
minister of Trinidad, decided that since Jamaica was going
Trinidad should too. He came up with the mathematical
concept that 10-1=0. In the same year of 1962 both
Trinidad and Jamaica negotiated their political independence
with Great Britain.

Phase 2: 1968-1972
After the end of the federation, the leaders of the region still had
notions or feelings about the integration movement. Hence there
was the official start of Caribbean Free Trade Association
(CARIFTA). The main objectives were about trading with each
other. During the CARIFTA period there was the emergence of
CARIFTA athletic championship and the emergence of CARIFTA
swimming championship. After 1972 this agreement also had its
challenges among member states and CARIFTA went into a state
of dormancy

Phase 3
- In 1973 there was the change from CARIFTA to CARICOM. It
was led by Michael Manley of Jamaica who prided himself as
a regionalist. There was the signing of the treaty of
Chaguaramas in Trinidad and thus the official start of
CARICOM *see manual*. The mandate of CARICOM went beyond
just trading with each other.
- By 1989 there was a shift in focus by CARICOM leaders to
look beyond trading in the region to the economic and
political arrangement of the world i.e. globalization, trade
liberalisation and the emergence of trading blocs. (Trade
liberalisation is the fact that trading is equal and fair created

by WTO.) Examples of trading blocs include the EU (western

and eastern Europe), NAFTA (North American Free Trade
Association) including Canada, US and Mexico. The response
of the CARICOM leaders was to form their own trading bloc
called CSME (Caribbean Single Market Economy). To
accommodate this new arrangement the treaty of
Chaguaramas had to be revised.
- Starting in 2001 under the CSME
1. there was to be free movemnt of goods, services, labour,
people across barriers.
2. everyone was to have a single passport marked
CARICOM.
3. there was to be a single currency
4. everyonce was to have a single court system which was
the CCJ but only Dominca, Belize, Guyanna and Barbados
have joined so far.
Challenges of CSME
-

Lack of public awareness

Resistance to the establishment of a common currency
Reluctance to amend existing legislation
Fear of mass migration on places such as Bahamas,
Barbados and Trinidad especially to places who are
economically strong and politically stable
- Reluctance among member states to join CCJ. They rather
stay in the Privy Council
Challenges of CARICOM
- CARICOM is financially strapped and highly indebted i.e. they
have no money. This is because member states cannot afford
to pay their financial dues on a timely basis.
- Insularity/ parochialism Some countries believe they are
better than others and therefore show a disdain to other
countries who they see paupers.

- It is seen as a talk shop where the leaders make decisions

at meetings but dont implement them when they get back
home for political reasons.
- Lack of interest among Caribbean people
- Limited freedom of movement because there is a fear of
threat to national security. Bahamas is not part of the
freedom of movement in the Caribbean because they do not
want people to rush into their territories for jobs.
- Reluctance among member states to join CCJ. Only Dominca,
Belize, Guyanna and Barbados have joined so far. Jamaica
and Trinidad are reluctant
- Imbalance of trade in the region. Some countries are willing
to export their products but refuse to reciprocate.
- Obligations imposed on CARICOM member states are often
ignored, deferred or breached with no provision for
enforcement by the CARICOM secretarial base in Guyanna.
When decisions are made the leaders have to go back to
their electorate. So when they ignore some of these things
its done because of political and diplomatic reasons.
- CARICOM cannot properly managed a single economic space
with 15 sovereign countries (sovereign= politically independent and
make their own decisions) with different macro-economic profiles
(e.g countries have different GDP, different GNP, different inflation rate,
different balance of payment, different employment levels, different taxation
rates, different projections),

nine different central bank each

operating independently and issuing its own currency,
different monetary and fiscal policies( every country has its
own plans, projections and ideas for growth for the country).
So to have CARICOM managing this it would be difficult.
Positives and achievements of CARICOM
However valuable achievements have been made through
valuable cooperation. These include establishment of regional
institutions such as:- CXC - 5 new subjects such as

1) Tourism which would make frontline tourism workers more

knowledgable and this qualification would be a game
changer in the lives of these individuals
2) Digital media- reengineering the curriculum in order to
respond to the social and economic demands of the region
3) Agriculture- to create a new group of agro-business
people who would respond to the new challenges in the
industry. It is also to respond to the high import bill which is
unsustainable( approx. 4 billion US). Importation of food has
contributed to lifestyle diseases/ dietary practices
4) P.E. and Sports- because of the exploits of Caribbean
nationals at major sporting championships like the Olympics,
World Championships, Cricket. Syllabus helps persons to
become support staff for athletes, agents, trainer and
therapist.
5) Entrepreneurship so people can generate income for
themselves because of the global conditions that we are
experiencing
CDB
CTO (Caribbean Tourism Organisation),
UWI and West Indies Cricket(not established by CARICOM since it
was created long before, but was embraced by it),
CDEMA (Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Authority) ,
CARIMAC (based at the Mona Campus and train
CSME
CCJ
RSS
CARIFESTA (Caribbean festival of creative arts)
CAREC (Caribbean epidemiology centre)
Caribbean association of industry and commerce

Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)

This is a sub-regional grouping of CARICOM which is made up of
the leeward and windward islands. They were formed in 1981.
They are describe as LDCs (lesser developed countries) and
therefore has certain peculiarities which are common to all of
them. For example, there is a heavy dependence on the banana
industry for foreign exchange intake. These countries are
agricultural based. They are small in size with rugged topography.
They are prone to natural disasters which impact on their GDP.
The onset of globalization and trade liberalisation subsidies and
preferential markets has been removed making it even more
challenging for them. This forces person to go underground for
business e.g. marijuana selling.
Positives about the OECS
They establish institutions beneficial to all in the particular union.
They have a common currency. They have court and one central
bank. Recently all members of the OECS can travel without a
passport from one OECS country to another OECS country once
you have a drivers license.

Discuss the extent to which the Caribbean community

(CARICOM) in its present form, is capable of responding to the
economic challenges of globalization.
Give a brief background of the integration movement.
Some of the objectives of CARICOM
Talk about CSME(conceptualised because of global conditions)
However challenges
but positives

despite the challenges caricom will continue to provide the

opportunity for regional integration and for economic success for
all member states. Global concerns will continue to force member
states to work harder at the regional approach to trade and to
provide strong trading incentives for the region. Partial realization
of the goals of caricom is better than non- realization. Emphasis
should be placed on the instances in which gains have been made
instead of the challeneges to success