The Government of Jamaica notes statements in the media that suggest that attempts are being made to divide CARICOM, as all of its members were not invited to bilateral meetings with United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Jamaica this week.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Kamina Johnson Smith in her response said, “This week’s US engagements with Caribbean Foreign Ministers are being undertaken largely bilaterally and not within a CARICOM context. There is nothing unusual or divisive about such meetings. All countries, large and small, have a sovereign right to engage bi-laterally with any other country, beyond any regional or hemispheric arrangements. This happens across the world even in political unions which CARICOM, indisputably, is not.”
Minister Johnson Smith said Jamaicans should remember that the understanding in CARICOM is that member states should work to coordinate foreign policy, and we do therefore collaborate on issues and consider each other’s positions, but there is no obligation to harmonize policy.
She added, “The fact is that since its formation, members have, as is their sovereign right, voted differently and taken differing positions on a variety of issues. Jamaica has always both exercised that right and respected it when exercised by others.”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs asserted that Jamaica will continue to act in a principled manner to ensure that the region remains a “zone of peace”, while engaging with partner countries in advancing our development goals and economic interests. “We view the expanded context of these bilateral meetings as a welcome and positive development, since the last visit of a US Secretary of State to Jamaica in 2018.”
Minister Johnson Smith will join Prime Minister Andrew Holness and senior cabinet ministers for bilateral talks with Secretary Pompeo on Wednesday January 22. Meetings with his Caribbean counterparts will take place thereafter.
