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Essay on CARICOM's Global Political Economic Influence
The establishment of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) was the result of a 15-year effort to fulfill the hope of regional integration which was born with the establishment of the British West Indies Federation in 1958. It was a Federal Government drawn from 10 member islands. Although a plan for a Customs Union was drawn up, emphasis was not placed on economic aspects of Federation during the four years of its existence. Economically the Region remained as it had been for centuries and not even Free Trade was introduced between the Member Countries during this period. The West Indies Federation came to an end in 1962 but its end, in many ways must be regarded as the real beginning of what is now the Caribbean Community. In announcing its intention to withdraw from the Federation, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago proposed the creation of a Caribbean Community, consisting not only of the 10 members of the Federation, but also of the three Guianas and all the islands of the Caribbean Sea - both independent and non-independent. To discuss this concept, the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago convened the first Heads of Government Conference in July 1963, in Trinidad and Tobago.
This Conference was attended by the leaders of Barbados, British Guiana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. At this Conference, the leaders of the four (4) Caribbean Countries all spoke clearly of the need for close cooperation with Europe, Africa and Latin America. The first Heads of Government Conference proved to be the first in a series of Conferences among the leaders of Commonwealth Caribbean Countries. In July 1965, talks between the Premiers of Barbados and British Guiana and the Chief Minister of Antigua on the possible establishment of a Free Trade Area in the Caribbean............
