Once upon a time, there was
CARICOM……and then there was COVID-19
Where is the Caribbean in CARICOM? We have had moments of success, albeit slight, that we could
continue to mirror. We have had lessons from failures that we could learn from. Yet still, the attempts of
regional leaders of CARICOM to find a consensus on policies and strategies to tackle COVID-19 as a region
represents the clearest failure of CARICOM.
Once upon a time, there was CARICOM, a regional integration movement who hoped to unite Caribbean
islands as a single market and economy.
Lets look at the principle as it relates to CARICOM and health in the Caribbean.
Lets begin at the commencement of the outbreak. The Caribbean leaders knew that sooner rather than
later the COVID 10 would cross the Caribbean waters and touch down onto dry land. It begs the question
of whether there was a meeting with CARICOM leaders on how we would tackle this as a region. Or was
it purely individualistic? It sounds like the latter or else we would not be having this discussion.