SPEECH OF H.E. LUIS ALBERTO MARTINO, PLENIPOTENTIARY REPRESENTATIVE (DESIGNATE)  OF THE ARGENTINE REPUBLIC TO THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY CEREMONY OF PRESENTATION OF HIS LETTERS OF CREDENCE TO AMBASSADOR IRWIN LAROCQUE, SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY

I am very pleased and indeed honored to be accredited today as Argentina´s first ever resident Plenipotentiary Representative before the Caribbean Community of States.

As you may know, my country is in the process of expanding and strengthening its presence in the Caribbean region. The first steps in this direction were the decisions by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner to re-open our Embassies in Guyana and Barbados and to establish new ones in Saint Lucia and Suriname. These initiatives are part of the larger policy of closer cooperation with the region, as well as the political process within CELAC (the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States).

Furthermore, with the recent incorporation of the Republic of Guyana and the Republic of Suriname as Associate Members of MERCOSUR (the Southern Common Market), I am convinced this provides an open ground to develop a closer integration between these two regional bodies (CARICOM and MERCOSUR).

By the same token, Argentina’s initiative in the region is at the heart of one of the principles in its foreign policy, the one that aims at achieving a greater regional, sub-regional and bi-regional integration, in this case, particularly between South America and the Caribbean, as a way to facilitate the development of our countries with social inclusion. With the re-opening of our Embassy in Georgetown and the appointment of a resident Representative to CARICOM, Argentina in fact hopes to strengthen the ties and develop new areas of integration with the Caribbean under the paradigm of south-south cooperation.

With that in mind, I am pleased to announce that the Argentine Government is ready to start working toward the implementation of the “Agreement Between the Argentine Republic and the Caribbean Community to Establish a Standing Joint Commission on Consultation, Cooperation and Coordination”. This will promote and certainly consolidate cooperation between Argentina and CARICOM in the political, commercial, economic, scientific, technical and cultural areas.

Mr. Secretary General,

I will also like take this opportunity to reiterate the interest of our Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Héctor Timerman, in participating in the meeting of COFCOR (the Council of Foreign and Community Relations) to be held here in Georgetown, during the first semester of 2014. On that occasion it would be the intention of Minister Timerman to refer to the political situation in the region and to convey the vision of the Argentine Government on this matter. He would also wish to reaffirm the proposal of our Government to CARICOM for the establishment of a regional office in Buenos Aires.

Allow me to conclude by expressing my total commitment, in this new mission entrusted to me by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, to strengthen the relationship between the Caribbean Community and my country through the development of new areas of cooperation, for the advantage of our peoples.

Your Excellency,

You can rest assured that as of today, and over the next several years, during my mission in Georgetown, I shall work steadily in order to make certain this goal be achieved to the best interest of all CARICOM Member States and my country. This interest, to my mind, amounts to nothing less than to address, together, new approaches on the path to deepening the integration process between Argentina and the Caribbean Community.

Thank you very much.