Caricom Chairman John Briceño confirms seven Caricom Leaders to attend Summit of the Americas

By Rubén Morales Iglesias: Belize Prime Minister and Caricom Chairman John Briceño said seven Caricom Leaders will attend the Summit of the Americas despite calls for a boycott due to Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela being excluded, according to New York Carib News.

Briceño said Caricom Secretary General, Dr. Carla Barnett informed him that seven countries had committed to attend the summit which starts on Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Today, however, Prime Minister Briceño told Breaking Belize News that he didn’t know how many leaders would be attending.

“We have agreed that Belize will attend the Summit,” Briceno said. Previously the leaders of Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname had announced they would be attending the summit.

The Caricom chair expects the Summit will address issues that affect the Caribbean.

“We need to talk about the level of debt that countries especially developing countries like ours have been incurring because of the pandemic and what kind of support can we get from the developed countries so there are pressing issues that we need to discuss,” Briceño said.

“Migration is another one and so many countries believe that it is in our interest to be able to attend.”

The Summit of the Americas is being held under the theme ‘Building a Sustainable, Resilient, and Equitable Future’.

The only Caricom leader to publicly say he was not attending is St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves.

“I’m not going because I don’t see what is to be gained from going. And as presently advised, as I say, I’m not supporting or sending anybody because if you invite me to come to your house and I say, as a matter of principle I ain’t coming, because you shouldn’t be excluding people, how could I then send somebody else?” Gonsalves said.

Gonsalves asked Caricom leaders to boycott the event, but Briceno said that after long discussions, Caricom had decided that countries who want to participate to attend this Summit of the Americas should do so.

According to NY Carib News, the other regional leaders who were not likely to attend are Grenada’s Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Mitchell, who in the middle of the June 23 general elections campaign, and Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne, whose father passed away over the weekend and is to be buried this week.

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