PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Caribbean leaders concluded a two-day summit in Haiti by deciding to progressively introduce French as a second language in their 15-member regional trade bloc and to hone in on the challenges facing their vulnerable economies.
Caribbean Community leaders also pledged to hold a summit with the United States within the year to address deportees and other concerns while also issuing a strongly worded communiqué accusing another super power — the United Kingdom — of trampling on democracy in Turks and Caicos with its “constant infractions of democratic principles.”
In August 2009, the United Kingdom suspended home rule for Turks and Caicos, a British Overseas Territory, for three years after allegations of corruption. The territory was recently admitted back into the bloc as an associate member.