Saying no to Venezuela’s OECS request

It was last week that OECS Director General Dr Len Ishmael revealed that Venezuela had requested to become a member of the sub-regional grouping. She said the matter was discussed at the recently ended meeting of the OECS Authority in Montserrat and that

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, December 1, 2008 – A former Caribbean diplomat has suggested that the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) turn down Venezuela’s membership request and instead focus on strengthening its existing union.

“The governments of OECS countries would want to be very careful about Venezuela joining their organisation. The OECS is a natural alliance born out of a common history, common culture, common language, common laws and traditions and shared problems,” said Sir Ronald Sanders. “While a relationship with Venezuela should be cultivated, the small OECS countries ought to do so collectively and in areas of mutual benefit. There is no need for Venezuela to join the OECS.”

“The only logical benefit for Venezuela of OECS membership is the considerable influence that the (Hugo) Chavez government would exert on these small countries,” he added.

Sir Ronald further questioned why the Venezuela government would opt to pursue membership in the OECS, rather than forge stronger ties with the wider Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which is made up of not only the nine-member OECS, but also includes the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

He pointed to comments made by a West Indian Commission, established by Caribbean Heads of Government to chart the course for the region's future, as relevant to the situation facing the OECS.

The Commission had noted that “on the economic side, we have to feel our way in enlarging the CARICOM market so that we make progress in that direction without being overwhelmed by new members and end up being lost within our own widened community” and that “CARICOM should remain the inner core of our relationship in the Region, and we should consciously create space beyond membership of CARICOM for development of CARICOM's integrationist relationships".

“The world economic circumstances including the loss of preferential markets for their primary exports, increased costs of imports, and the downturn in tourism, have highlighted the limited capacity of the OECS countries to cope and alliances with ‘god fathers’ must seem tempting,” Sir Ronald said. “But it has to be said that the better prospect for the OECS and CARICOM as a whole is to complete the Caribbean Single Market and Economy and to put in place a structured and empowered system of governance.”
 
It was last week that OECS Director General Dr Len Ishmael revealed that Venezuela had requested to become a member of the sub-regional grouping. She said the matter was discussed at the recently ended meeting of the OECS Authority in Montserrat and that a number of proposals would have to be studied before a decision taken.