Expand Caricom to include French, Dutch, Spanish

He was responding to questions from reporters about Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina’s appeal to regional leaders for his country to join Caricom.

“We are all for expanding but we are not the only people in Caricom. All leaders feel we should improve Caricom as a whole,” Ramotar said during a news conference at the Hilton Trinidad, St Ann’s, on the final day of the Caricom Heads of Government Meeting.

In a release, which was issued to the Office of the Prime Minister on Friday, Medina said since 1989, the Dominican Republic has been trying to gain membership status in Caricom. He also stated his country’s willingness to be part of the regional integration process.

However, as of early yesterday, Ramotar said, the meeting did not address the issue of the Dominican Republic’s appeal for Caricom membership. “We have not had chance to go into that because we are dealing with many issues,” he said.

“But the feeling among leaders is that Caricom should include French, Dutch and Spanish-speaking countries. We did not deal with specifics.”