Member states of the Caribbean Community
[1] The Community was established by mainly English-speaking Caribbean countries, but has since become a multilingual organisation in practice with the addition of Dutch-speaking Suriname in 1995 and French-speaking Haiti in 2002.
The Bahamas had begun participating in the regional cooperation and integration movement when it began attending the Heads of Government Conferences of the Commonwealth Caribbean in 1966.
In particular, The Bahamas was even included in a Committee of Attorneys-General tasked with examining the legal implications of forming the Caribbean Community and to draw up a draft Treaty for its formation.
[10] On November 3, 2023 the Governor of Bermuda, Rena Lalgie announced in the government's Throne Speech before the Bermudian House of Assembly that in marking 20 years since Bermuda became an associate member of the Caribbean Community (in July 2003), the Bermudian government would begin a consultation process on attaining full membership of the Community.
The Governor further noted that this process would renew the desire of former Bermudian Premier, Dame Jennifer Smith, who wished for Bermuda to attain full CARICOM membership in order to "strengthen the historic, familial, and cultural ties to the Caribbean.
He reiterated that the government will be engaging in a broad consultative process to explore and discuss questions concerning the implications of full membership and whether or not it makes sense for Bermuda to pursue it.
In this regard, may I urge you to consider expanding our membership to welcome the Dominican Republic into the CARICOM family.” It is not clear whether the CARICOM Heads of Government will agree, but the move could prove critical as the Dominican Republic increasingly allies itself both with Latin America and Central America, having become a full member state of the Central American Integration System in late June 2013 (it was previously an associate member).
[22] The call for the Dominican Republic to be admitted as a full member of CARICOM was given a boost by the position of the Prime Minister of Barbados, Freundel Stuart, who confirmed that the Dominican Republic was re-committed “to joining the movement at such time that it would be convenient for all the perceivable imperatives to be satisfied,” and that “I agree with the Prime Minister that the larger the bloc becomes, the more powerful the bloc becomes and the more diversified the areas for joint action and for integration.” Stuart also remarked that it was a healthy development when Suriname and Haiti joined the movement and that the Heads of Government want to quicken the momentum in the expansion of CARICOM to countries without British heritage.
They also agreed that the applications for Associate Membership of France (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique) and the Kingdom of the Nertherlands (Curaçao and St. Maarten), would require further deliberation at the level of Heads of Government.
Rodolphe Alexandre said that support in French Guiana strongly agreed with convergence of the Caribbean in health, climate change, education, economics and issues of bio-diversity.
He also noted that French Guiana had already engaged with individual Community member states on issues related to mining (in this case, with Suriname) and energy (Trinidad & Tobago).
[29] At the conclusion of the 45th Heads of Government Conference on July 5, 2023 in Port of Spain, Trinidad, CARICOM Chairman Roosevelt Skerrit (Prime Minister of Dominica) announced that all outstanding negotiations on the candidatures of Martinique and Curaçao for associate membership of the Community were expected to be completed by the end of August 2023 for ratification in September 2023.
[33] Shortly after that request, Haiti lobbied for admission, dealing mostly with Percival J. Patterson, then Jamaica's minister of industry, commerce, and tourism.
[35] This announcement was made alongside Haitian President René Préval at an unscheduled joint press conference in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
No official report has been published on the eligibility for observer status of the Caribbean countries Curaçao and Sint Maarten and the three special municipalities of the Netherlands formed by the split.
[46] In October 2016, at the margins of an EU-Caribbean conference on sustainable energy in Bridgetown, Barbados, the Prime Minister of Sint Maarten, William Marlin, met with CARICOM's Secretary General Ambassador Mr. Irwin LaRocque to discuss the progress of Sint Maarten's application for associate membership and the potential for further, structured regional cooperation between CARICOM/CARIFORUM and the Caribbean Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) of the EU.
Ambassador LaRocque informed Prime Minister Marlin that the associate membership applications of Sint Maarten, Curaçao and Aruba were being attended to be a technical working group established specially for devising the terms and conditions of associate membership, as such terms had not been spelled out in the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas.
LaRocque also noted that CARICOM was working on an enlargement policy for new member states to be submitted to the Heads of Government for agreement by the end of the year.
[47] On July 5, 2023 CARICOM Chairman Roosevelt Skerrit (Prime Minister of Dominica) announced that all outstanding negotiations on the candidature of Curaçao for associate membership of the Community were expected to be completed by the end of August 2023 for ratification in September 2023.
[56] On 14 April 1974, Suriname (along with Haiti) signified its desire to join CARICOM at the ceremony in St. Lucia marking the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas by the LDCs.
[61] After democracy and civilian control was restored through the 1991 elections, Suriname began taking concrete steps to open its economy, emerge from isolation, and forge a new regional identity.
[63] In 1993 an Action Plan for Cooperation among the Caribbean Community, Suriname and the Group of Three was negotiated covering a wide range of areas including business, small enterprise development, tourism, transport, culture, science, agriculture, multilateral financing, and hemispheric trade.
[64] In 1994 Suriname applied for full membership of the Community and Common Market, with the application being welcomed by the Heads of Government at the Fifteenth Meeting of the Conference.
[65] On 4 July 1995, The Conference formally admitted Suriname as the fourteenth Member of the Caribbean Community, following the deposit of the Instruments of Accession to the Treaty of Chaguaramas and the Common Market Annex.
In 2012, it was confirmed by the USVI Commissioner of Tourism, Beverly Nicholson-Doty, that the U.S. Virgin Islands government has been lobbying for observer status within CARICOM.
At that time, the United States imposed visa requirements on Commonwealth Caribbean nationals travelling to the USVI, resulting in the 1975 Caricom Heads of Government Conference passing a resolution expressing concerning for the viability of the LIAT airline as a result of the new visa requirements and calling on the United States to revise the new visa policy and to implement the required measures arising from decisions at a meeting of Labour Departments and Ministries of English-speaking Caribbean countries in St. Thomas to institute screening procedures in order regularize the immigration of CARICOM nationals to the USVI.
[69][70] The governor is, however, confident of a positive outcome having already had discussions on the subject with officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security “to come up with a regime which they will feel comfortable with.”[70] De Jongh said the US Virgin Islands wants closer relations with the 15-member CARICOM grouping[71] and wants an opportunity to share in the movement of Caribbean nationals throughout the region[69] and is convinced that making travel easier for Caricom countries' nationals will be beneficial to the territories.
An amendment to the immigration bill would allow for easier travel for athletes, as well as for individuals seeking top-notch medical care or just looking for a great place for a vacation, that is close to home.”[73] The bill was relaunched (entitled The Virgin Islands Visa Waiver Act of 2013)[74] and introduced into the U.S. House of Representatives on May 14, 2013 and was referred to the House Judiciary's Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security.
