The Integration Movement Flashcards
West Indies Federation
(1958-1962)
Was an attempt to create a political union among the British colonies, with the exception of Guyana, the Virgin Islands, Belize and The Bahamas.
The thinking behind WIF involved:
* A desire to strengthen the movement towards self-goverment with the hope that the political union would eventually become independent of Britian.
* To strengthen internal and regional development by establishing federal institutions and supporting regional structures. Ex. University of West Indies (UWI)
* The establishemnt of the federation was among the measures taken by the british government for better administration of the colonies and to save administrative costs.
Factors which led to the Failure fo the West Indian Federation
- The masses were not educated in the meaning and improtance of the federation.
- Lack of Finance - territories were at different stages of development. This led to differences in priorites and concerns about economic disparities. The Federation siffered from a lack of finance and dues were to be paid to the Federation, but they were inadequate. Jamaica and Trinidad felt that too much financial responsibiilty was placed upon them. This resulted in the alienation between federal authorites and the local governing bodies.
- Seeking own interest - Trinidad and Jamaica wanted to prioritse their own intrest and they bickered over it. This contributed to the distrust of the small islands had on the larger ones. The smaller islands felt that their intrest would be sidelined. Trinidad and Jamaica
- Unrestricted movement - The WIF allowed unrestircted movement of islanders between the islands. The then PM of Trinidad Dr. Eric Williams feared the poor and unskilled workers would flock to the country leading to unemployemt and overcrowed towns. This contributed to the shakiness of the Federation.
- The people spoke - Jamaica was not really intreseted in getting involved in the political union, despite being a member of the Federation. She held a referendum in 1962, allowing her citizena to vote on wheter to stay or leave the union. The majority voted againstt staying a member so she withdrew. This led to the final downward spiral and prompted the withdrawal of Trinidad from the doomed political union. Eventually, the Federation was disbanded in 1962.
- Political rivarly/distrust btw. the island states - there were disputes as to where the capital of the Federation should be. Barbosed felt since the premeir was Barbadian the captial should be there, also it argued since that Trinidad and Jamaica politically dominated the Federation; this contributed to the distrust between the island states.
Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA)
Was created in 1968 following independence of a number of former British colonies. including Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana and Barbados. These new states were concerned with issues such as nationslidm, self-discrimination and economic development (most importantly).
The aim of CARIFTA was to promote economic and social development in the Caribbean region by encouraging free trade among members. This meant the removal of custom dutes, taxes and llicensing arrangements that had prevented greater volumes of trade among the territories for goods produced within the region.
CARIFTA: Challenges faced.
CARIFTA faced a number of challenges:
* High unemployement rated and poverty in some member states and a wide disparity among members in terms of per capita income hindered an even distribution of economic benefits.
* A lack of authority and the means to implement regional decisions.
* Leadership issues, with Trinidad and Jamaica once again vying for the position of leader.
* Successes included the establishment of the Caribbean Development Bank and the CARIFTA games, but it failed to meet its main aim of facilitating free trade among member states.
Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM)
CARICOM was created by the Treaty of Chaguaramas, signed in 1973.
CARICOM was conceived as a stronger form of integration than CARIFTA, with three pillars: economic integration (a common market in goods); functional cooperation (for ex. health and eduaction); and foreign policy cooperation..Security was added as the 4th pillar of integration in 2007. The CARICOM Single Market was officially inarguarated in 2006, but completion of the Single Economy is still to be acheived.
CARICOM: Aims
CARICOM aims to be both an economic and a politcal force in the Caribbean, promoting economic, political and human development.
* Building economic resilence (stabilibilty and sustainable economc growth and development);
* Building social resilences (Equitable human and social development);
* Building environment resilence
* Building technica resilence
* Strengthening the CARICOM identity and spirit of community
* Strengthening governance
It aims to achieve these through activites such as:
* improving economic development by extending free trade and free movement of skilled workers through the CSME. Although free trade had been established under CARIFTA, it did not succeed in facilitating the free movement of labour snd capital or in coordinating argircultural, industrial and foreign policies.
* the formulation of the Caribbean Court of Justice as a local final a
* Enabling functional cooperation in areas such as health, education, culture, broadcasting, transports, meteorological services, technical assistance and disaster management,
* Establishing common policies in dealing with non-member states and transnational cooperation.
Organizational of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS)
The OCES was established in June 1981 by the Treaty of Basseterre to formalise various aspects of economic cooperation and promote unity and solidarity between seven newly independent inslands states in the Eastern Caribbean.
The OECS is now a nine-member grouping comprising Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The mission of the OECS is to be a major regional institution contributing to thr sustainable development of the member states by supporting their invovement in the global economy. and assisting them to maximise the benefits from their collective resources.
OECS: Stated objectives
- To promote cooperation between members states and on a regional and international level.
- To promote unity and solidarity among member states and defend theirsovereignity and independence.
- To support member states in realising their responsibilties and obligations to the international community
- To coordinate a joint foreign policy as far as possible
- To promote economic integration among memeber states.
- To provide a forum for and facilitation of common policies.
The OECS has a central bank, its own currency and even a shared judicial system that is funded from a pool formed by the member countries.
Association of Caribbean States (ACS)
**This grouping was formed in 1994 by the Treaty of Cartegena to enhance cooperation within the Greater Caribbbean region **is made up of English, Spanish, French and Dutch speaking territories, with the secretariat located in Trinidad.
It states it five main areas of concern as:
* To preserve the environmental integrity of the Caribbean Sea that is shared by the peoples of the region and to promote sustainable development of the region.
* To promote sustainable tourism acrodd the region.
* To support and strengthen regional economic cooperation and integration through increased trade (raw materials and finished products) and investment, therby improving the economic competitiveness of the region.
* To establish strategies for dealing with natural disasters, both in terms of disaster relief and deling with the longer term economc consequences.
* To improve intraregional transport links in order to promote closer relations and provide a base for effective cooperations.
Its main areas of action are:
* working on the Sustainable Tourism Zone of the Caribbean
* facilitating language training
* working on the Caribbean Sea initiative
* coordinating an annual Business Forum of the Greater Caribbean
* defending the interests and treatment of small economies
* updating building codes
* strengthening disaster agencies
