PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Express - Forty years later, T&T is again privileged to welcome Caribbean leaders to commemorate the historic signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas. Notably, this time, the presence of three extra-Caricom leaders—from Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Equatorial Guinea—bears significance. Whatever else may be said about it, Caricom remains a valued regional grouping, with which it is clearly advantageous to signal friendly association.

With Trinidad and Tobago now occupying the chair, this is an opportune moment to declare its emphatic commitment to regional integration by proclaiming the fullest possible support of, and subscription to the Caribbean Court of Justice, thereby finally dispensing with colonial allegiance to the UK Privy Council.

The gradual detachment announced by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar last year was never enough and even that seems to have slipped to the back burner. Instead of continuing to temporise on the issue, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago needs to seize this moment and take a leap of faith in the name of deepening regional integration. More than anything else, the Caribbean is in search of leadership that believes in the power of an integrated Caribbean and has the confidence of its conviction to take the necessary decisions to deepen and broaden the process.