Guyana’s President and current Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), H.E. David Granger, called on the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) to satisfy the needs of all its members. He was addressing the Fifth Summit of Heads of State and Government, last Wednesday, 25 January 2017, in the Dominican Republic. President Granger told the “partnership of large and small states’ comprising 33 countries of the Caribbean and Latin America that it must operate as a “Community of Citizens”, which respected and protected all of its citizens. “This is a community of citizens who have inalienable rights, including the right to statehood, the right to the protection of the law, the right to life and the right to liberty….”. “There can be no such phenomenon as a ‘stateless’ person”, he emphasized. The President noted that CELAC is a forum for articulating common interests, shared principles and values, and described it as “an expression of the aspirations of the citizens”. In this light, he challenged the body to go beyond declarations to create mechanisms which will advance, in practical and tangible ways, the aims of the community it represented. “CELAC must build doors not walls; gates not fences; bridges not blockades,” he said. Making the case for cooperative action, Mr. Granger pointed out that as a vehicle for deepening regional integration, multilateral cooperation and bi-regional relations CARICOM looked to CELAC to complement its integrative process, especially in light of the varied economic, environmental and security threats which the Region faces. “CARICOM needs CELAC to help protect our countries from aggression and our citizens from abuse”, he said. “The small of CARICOM are “extremely vulnerable” to rising sea levels and extreme weather patterns caused by global warming. Rising sea levels threaten coastal households and livelihoods. They threaten tourism assets such as coral reefs, beaches and marine life, including vital fisheries stocks…. The Caribbean cannot overcome these challenges without cooperative action”, he continued . “CELAC is a regional bloc of 33 Latin American and Caribbean states that was formed at the Unity Summit in Mexico on February 23, 2010. It aims to unite all of the Latin American and Caribbean states in order to strengthen the political, social and cultural integration of the region, improve its quality of life, stimulate its economic growth and advance the well-being of all of its people.” V.H. 27/1/17