March 15th, 2006
His Excellency René Préval
President-Elect
Haiti
Dear President-Elect,
On behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), and further to the Community’s statement of 18 February 2006 in reaction to the notification of the official results of the presidential elections, I have the honour and the pleasure to congratulate you on your victory following the first round of the presidential elections of 7 February.
The CARICOM Heads of Government at their 17th Inter-Sessional Meeting held recently in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, expressed strong condemnation of the proposed shipment by France of High-Level Radioactive waste through the Caribbean Sea.
The Caribbean Community wishes to reiterate that any accidental or deliberate spill of nuclear or toxic waste in the Caribbean Sea could pose a serious threat to the economies of the Region and is concerned that despite its repeated opposition to the shipments, the practice continues.
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Mexico are to explore mechanisms for enhanced relations when the two sides meet at the headquarters of the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana on 16-17 March, 2006 for the Fourth Meeting of the CARICOM-Mexico Joint Commission.
Among the issues earmarked for discussion by the Joint Commission are recent developments in CARICOM and Mexico, as well as collaboration in the areas of education and training, air and sea transportation, and energy.
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) welcomes the news of the election of a new President of Haiti, Mr. René Preval. This has brought an end to the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the Presidential elections. The decision came after a review was undertaken of the vote count process in the face of troubling allegations of manipulation and other grave irregularities.
CARICOM has also received an official communication from the Interim Prime Minister of Haiti informing of the election of Mr. Preval. CARICOM wishes to congratulate Mr. René Preval and the people of Haiti.
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Ministers of the Caribbean Forum of Africa, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States (CARIFORUM) and representatives of the European Union (EU) are meeting in Georgetown, Guyana to discuss the framework for future relations between the Caribbean and Europe.
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Kenny Anthony, of Saint Lucia, is calling for "immediate amendment to the CARICOM Charter of Civil Society and other appropriate instruments, to authorise if necessary, expulsion of a Member State which repudiates the democratic process by violence and intimidation.”
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Jamaica’s Prime Minister the Most Hon. P. J. Patterson delivered a moving farewell speech this week, at the conclusion of the 18th meeting of the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on External Negotiations, which he has chaired for the past thirteen years. Prime Minister Patterson retires from active politics after over thirty years of service to the Caribbean Community. “It has been for me a great honour and privilege to chair this committee since it was first conceived in the Bahamas in 1993.
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) CARICOM Chairman, the Hon. Patrick Manning, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago said he was dissatisfied with the pace of the process of economic in many Member States; a situation which he feels has left them “severely vulnerable to external shocks.”
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Chairman of CARICOM, Hon. Patrick Manning, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, told the opening session of the 17th Inter-Sessional Meeting of CARICOM Heads at the Port of Spain Hilton Thursday 9 February, that discussion of “deeper union” among the Member States of the Caribbean Community is inevitable.