17th May 2012
The Diplomatic Courier
The Review of St. Lucia’s Foreign Relations

(Following is an extract from the presentation by External Affairs Minister Alva Baptiste to the debate on the 2012-2013 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure, as part of the island’s 2012 Budget debate. This section is entitles “Review of Foreign Relations” and relates to the special committee appointed by the government, led by former Prime Minister Dr Vaughan Lewis, to review the island’s External relations and make recommendations for government’s consideration.)

By Alva Baptiste

The Review Committee was mandated to undertake a review of the external relations of Saint Lucia in the contemporary period and A four-pronged perspective was suggested:
(a) The significance of external relations for the development strategies initiated by the Government of Saint Lucia over time;
(b) The options available for ensuring the security of Saint Lucia;
(c) The significance for Saint Lucia of institutionalized Caribbean regional relations; and
(d) The appropriate institutional arrangements for conducting the country’s external relations.

Given these parameters, the committee was expected to take, initially, a broad evaluation of the processes and trends now prominent in global relations and which are impinging, or are likely to impinge on the external relations activities in which the government is involved, either through its own initiatives, or through the initiatives of other states, institutions or systems operating in the global environment.

Further, it was suggested that the committee adopts a geographical regional approach to the study, seeking to evaluate the significance of the various regions of the world for the external relation’ directions and activities in which government is involved, which it should continue to be active in, or which it should initiate; external relations being taken to imply those initiated by government or those initiated by other states, organizations (public and private) operating in the international environment and Saint Lucia’s immediate environment.

From this perspective, the committee was asked to seek to evaluate the current significance of:
(a) The immediately-relevant pre-eminent regional institutions – CARICOM and OECS; the challenges of the CSME and bilateral relations with neighbouring CARICOM states;

(b) The key states in Latin American/extra-CARICOM Caribbean environment which influence, or are seen as potentially having influence in that environment, the advancement of relations with which are likely to enhance Saint Lucia’s development policies – Venezuela, Brazil, Central America, the Dominican Republic; the significance of Haiti for Saint Lucia; and the key institutions in Latin American environment in which the country is presently engaged, or which have potential for influencing development policy – e.g. CELAC, UNASUR;