PM set to leave for Barbados for US talks

Having recently returned from the Caricom-India Summit in Georgetown, Guyana, the Prime Minister is set to leave the country again on November 29 to have discussions with Caribbean heads of government and US government officials in Barbados.

“We have a number of issues on the table, not the least of which is something called the Bridgetown initiative where we have been fighting with institutions to treat us more fairly in these difficult times and also to get terms and conditions with respect to our external financing of our countries," Dr Rowley said during a post-Cabinet briefing at Whitehall on November 28.

The Bridgetown Initiative is a call for urgent action to reform the international financial architecture which was designed when most Caribbean nations were not independent and when issues such as climate risks and social inequalities were not considered.

“This approach was led by Prime Minister Motley as the Caricom cabinet person who is responsible for it. I have been involved in it with her, I have been to Washington on more than one occasion and the US delegation has been to the Caribbean.

“We think we’ve made some progress but it has been crystallised in the Bridgetown Initiative which we need to defend and grow and advance to the US authorities and to the international financial bodies.

“We cannot but be engaged in these issues. They have far-reaching consequences and these are the kinds of issues that unfortunately, I can tell you, don’t make the national conversation sufficiently.”