Caribbean foreign affairs ministers recommend
formalisation of relations with Brazil
St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister, Dr Denzil Douglas (l)
and
President of Brazil, Lula de Silva at the Presidential
Palace
in Sao Paulo. (Photo by Erasmus Williams)
Wednesday, June 8, 2005
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts: Ministers of Foreign
Affairs on the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are to recommend to their Heads
of Government for a formalisation of the region’s relationship with Brazil. At
the just concluded Eight Meeting of the Council for Foreign and Community
Relations (COFCOR) in The Bahamas, Ministers acknowledged the growing
influence of Brazil in hemispheric and global relations. “They
welcomed the initiatives by the administration of President Lula Da Silva to
foster closer relations with the Caribbean Community and the offer of
technical assistance and cooperation in the sugar and agricultural sectors and
initiatives to strengthen trade links,” the Ministers said in a communiqué
issued at the end of the two-day meeting. The
Ministers also welcomed the active consideration by Brazil in the involvement
of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank and supported the
continuation of exploratory discussions on a possible trade agreement between
CARICOM and MERCOSUR, in which Brazil is a key member. The
regional Ministers of Foreign Affairs also discussed issues arising from the
Seventh Meeting of the CARICOM-Cuba Joint Commission held in March 2005 and
noted the preparations for the Second CARICOM-Cuba Summit which will take
place in Barbados in December 2005 to celebrate CARICOM-Cuba Day. “They
viewed this high level event as an important opportunity to further their
dialogue on issues of relevance to the economic and social development of the
Caribbean Region,” said the communiqué. St.
Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Denzil L. Douglas met with the
Brazilian President and the Minister of Foreign Affairs during a recent visit
to Sao Paul. Both Heads of Government agreed to strengthen the relationship
between Brazil and the Caribbean. St. Kitts
and Nevis Prime Minister Dr Denzil Douglas, who has
responsibility for Human Resource, Health and HIV/AIDS within the quasi
cabinet of the Caribbean (CARICOM) and is Chairman of PANCAP, recently led a
26- member delegation to Brazil to discuss assistance in the fight against
HIV/AIDS. Dr. Douglas met with President Lula
who guaranteed Brazil’s support for Technical Cooperation Programmes and
capacity building of HIV/AIDS experts through exchange programmes and
committed the Brazilian Ministry of Health to work with PANCAP toward the
possibility of providing first line Anti Retroviral drugs (ARVs) to the OECS
countries and to follow up on other areas of cooperation with CARICOM. The
delegation also met with the Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Back...
Most
popular articles: viewed, printed and e-mailed
Printable
version
| 
