A look back at the speeches given by the various presidents or representatives of neighboring communities during the opening of the 17th Antilles-Guyana Regional Cooperation Conference.
Patrick Sellin, representative Ary Chalus, President of the Regional Council of Guadeloupe
“Regional cooperation has been at the center of our concerns. In the troubled context we are experiencing, it was important to strengthen our relationships with our neighbors to meet the challenges together. There is nothing better than human interaction. The return of France to the capital of the Caribbean Development Bank seems a good signal but it will also be a question of avoiding the mistakes of the past. »
Sabrina Robin, vice-president of the Departmental Council of Guadeloupe, representing President Guy Losbar
“The CCRAG constitutes an opportunity to exchange and prioritize regional cooperation through projects such as Interreg CariForts and the creation of a route (tourist and cultural around the theme of forts in the Caribbean region, editor’s note) with Guadeloupe in the lead. CariForts is a real cooperation network and we will launch CariForts 2 to welcome new partners. We are also making this regional cooperation a reality of exchanges through our partnership with the University of the West Indies.”
Gabriel Serville, President of the Territorial Community of Guyana
“We have a lot of difficulty exchanging with our close neighbors because Parisian supervision forces us to see our neighbors as adversaries rather than friends with whom we should walk together, in a win-win partnership. We've been saying this for decades. Saying and doing go together. Madam Minister, be our spokesperson in order to loosen the institutional stranglehold that is strangling us and preventing us from establishing partnership relations, to quickly break the bad dynamics of monopolies which are not favorable to us. »
Serge Letchimy, President of the Territorial Collectivity of Martinique
“Madam Minister, your trip is important but I would like us to move on to another concept. We've been meeting frequently for 17 years. (…) I welcomed the State initiative which does not seem sufficient to me. Here, in Europe while being in the Caribbean and the Americas, we are foreign to our own geography. You also agreed to sign the first framework agreement to allow Martinicans to sign international agreements within the Caribbean. No president of COM can sign an international agreement in the Caribbean... How can we not feel infantilized? And how do I insult the Republic? We must build something together (...) and move away from the classic mechanism, we must build a policy of resurgence, (...) capture wealth and create added value. »
Xavier Lédée, President of the Territorial Council of Saint-Barthélemy
“In 2012, we obtained the status of associated Overseas Country and Territory (OCT), this choice positions us outside the European Union but keeps us there… Implement joint projects with other territories French in order to be the link between each other is the reason for my presence here. As a founding member of the Caribbean Cyber Security Agency of which SBH chairs, it is a strong symbol of useful regional cooperation. We are too small to move forward alone. Regional cooperation must be an everyday reality. » _VX
Signing of the joint political declaration State/Communities of the Antilles-Guyana zone
On the occasion of the 17th edition of the Antilles-Guyana Regional Cooperation Conference (CCRAG) which closed yesterday evening, Marie Guévenoux, Minister Delegate in charge of Overseas Territories, and the presidents of the communities of the Antilles-Guyana zone, met are committed to a common strategy which aims to better associate the Communities, while respecting the skills of each and in a spirit of dialogue and trust, with France's foreign policy in the region. It sets out in particular the common priorities of the State and Communities in the region in favor of the fight against climate change, the fight against criminal trafficking, economic development and better commercial integration. Objectives have also been defined to promote the continued integration of Communities within regional organizations (OECS, AEC, CARICOM) in the years to come. This strategy constitutes an unprecedented exercise which demonstrates that the external action of the State and that of the Communities are complementary, serving the influence of France and its values, in a region facing new challenges.
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