Above: the Dominican Republic

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Dominican Republic is committed to joining CARICOM, according to Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart.

The PM was speaking after a call last week by Trinidad Prime Minister and CARICOM Chairman Kamla Persad-Bissessar for the Spanish-speaking Caribbean country to become a CARICOM member state.

“We met with the leader of the Dominican Republic; he addressed our caucus [last week] and re-committed himself and re-committed the Dominican Republic to joining the movement at such time that it would be convenient for all the perceivable imperatives to be satisfied,” Stuart said. “So, that is an agenda item that continues to engage CARICOM Heads, and yes, 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 pointed to the accession to CARICOM by countries like Suriname and Haiti in recent years.

“It was a healthy development when Suriname of Dutch ancestry joined the movement,” he said. “More heartening still when Haiti, of French ancestry, joined as well, and therefore, we just want the momentum in that area to quicken.”

The Dominican Republic is currently an observer to CARICOM.

In recent years, the Dominican Republic has been aligning itself more with Central America. At the end of July, it became a member state of the Central American Integration System (SICA).