Statement on CELAC Summit

The Honourable Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Prime Minister of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago today attended the II CELAC Summit of Heads of State and Government in Havana, Cuba.

After a scintillating performance by a Cuban Youth Orchestra playing a medley of Caribbean music including Calypso Rose´s Road march “Fire, Fire”, Heads of State and Government retired to a private meeting with President Raul Castro before the beginning of the Plenary Session.

During the Plenary session, the Prime Minister was among the Heads of State who received a number of Special Declarations for consideration, which are of particular interest to Trinidad and Tobago including:
• Draft Special Declaration on the Promotion of Equity and Empowerment of Women in the New Post 2015 Development Agenda;

• Draft Special Declaration on Illicit Trafficking in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects in Latin America and the Caribbean. In the Prime Minister’s Statement, she also signaled the intention that Trinidad and Tobago offered to host the Secretariat of the Arms Trade Treaty;

• On the issue of Drugs, a Draft Special Declaration on the World Drug Problem was approved with Heads stressing that drug control policies should have a comprehensive and balanced perspective. They also recognized the principle of common and shared responsibility, as well as, an approach aimed at the well-being of persons and the prevention of crime and violence. The Heads also recognized that drug abuse is also a public health problem, which demands the formulation of policies according to a higher priority to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and social insertion, taking into account the different realities of each Member State and full respect for territorial sovereignty and integrity.

• The vulnerability of Small Island States was also addressed in the Draft Special Declaration on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in which Heads endorsed and recognized that the 3rd International Conference on SIDS presented a pivotal movement to focus development efforts, facilitate dialogue, build partnerships and make development strategies more results-oriented;

• Another area of interest to Trinidad and Tobago was the Draft Special Declaration on the Issue of Reparations for Slavery and the Genocide of Native Peoples. Heads welcomed the formation of the CARICOM Reparations Commission and noted its ongoing work to define the issues and challenges arising from the centuries-long Atlantic slave trade and the genocide committed against indigenous populations, as well as the key areas identified by the Caribbean Community Reparations Commission: chronic diseases, education, cultural deprivation, psychological trauma and scientific and technological backwardness.

• A Draft Special Declaration on the Initiative of Erecting a Permanent Memorial in Honour of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade was also agreed and Heads decided to endorse the initiative to erect at a place of prominence and accessibility at the United Nations Headquarters, a permanent memorial in honour of the victims of Slavery and Transatlantic Slave Trade.

• Heads also agreed to the Draft Special Declaration on Nuclear Disarmament and to Support the Fight Against Terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

• The Heads ended the II Summit with a Draft Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace in which they reiterated the urgent need of General and Complete Nuclear Disarmament, as well as the commitment with the Strategic Agenda of the Organization for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL), adopted by the 33 Member States of the Organization in the General Conference which was held in Buenos Aires in August, 2013.