PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Guardian - It is 40 years since the founding fathers, the enigmatic Eric Eustace Williams, the autocratic Lincoln Forbes Burnham, the congenial “Skipper” Errol Walton Barrow, and the charismatic Michael Norman Manley signed the Caribbean community and Common Market (Caricom) Treaty of Chaguaramas on July 4, 1973.

The compelling legacy of these legends continues to dominate the regional socio-economic and political landscape. They were sagacious visionaries at a time of great expectation and hope. Whatever historians and critics may choose to say, the influence of these Caribbean sovereignty advocates remains unmatched. Their policies underlie the strengths and structural weaknesses, challenges and opportunities the region faces today.

The aura of the era in which they governed blended cultures which were still steeped in colonialism and conventional prudery with the passionate expectations of citizens desperate for social equity and justice. The social and economic problems of the day, marked by the 1970 uprisings in Trinidad, and the positioning of their countries in a competitive world must have weighed heavily on the signatories’ minds.