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opinionAlso in this section: The Greater Caribbean This Week Regional leadership makes integration possible by Rubén Silié The ACS is not an artificial creation, neither is it something casual, it is in fact a reality that encompasses the needs of a set of countries which, although they coexist within a "cultural mosaic" characterized by diversity, have put their regional affinities and common historical ties first. There is the awareness that we are facing imminent incorporation into globalization, based on economic competitiveness and an international institutional framework which, with every passing day, is becoming more and more influential on the institutional systems of countries themselves. There is the growing conviction that international cooperation requires increasingly strong regional integration schemes, in terms of negotiating capacity, the size of populations as well as the size of markets. Even though optimum levels of confidence have not yet been attained among the states that constitute it, the ACS tends to be a regional space where a set of procedures and practices have been developed toward coordinating efforts horizontally and without any hierarchy among countries. This has not really been a tough task since it involves a group of States which, in order to make contact with one another, have chosen the advantages of cooperation over the difficulties of conflict. The preceding notions have undoubtedly contributed to enhancing the quality of relations among States; facilitating the opportunity to create joint diagnoses; having developed a future perspective regarding issues that are relevant for the Greater Caribbean. These outstanding features of the ACS are those which, in my opinion, are indicative of its historical relevance; we must therefore reinforce them in order to deepen cooperation objectives, whose point of departure is commitment and the clear definition of a pattern of relations based on reciprocity. In this respect, perhaps it has failed to more closely harmonize interests and objectives that would produce a common position regarding a set of issues characteristic of the Greater Caribbean, so that they would be equally accepted by all. This is one of the most delicate tasks since it involves highly dissimilar countries, in terms of resources and capacity to promote the projects of the ACS. This last aspect can be counteracted by ensuring that efforts undertaken by the ACS remain focused on the four priority areas (sustainable tourism; transport; trade and natural disasters), since this would emphasize the advantageous results of co-operation for both the strong and weak states alike. On different occasions, mention has been made of the inconsistencies existing within the ACS as one of the obstacles that complicate the deepening of cooperation among its members; nevertheless, despite such inconsistencies, it cannot be said that these are structural or antagonistic; thus, they can be overcome. In that respect, it must be borne in mind that every country has its own political idiosyncrasies and does not have to emulate each other in everything done internally or even abroad. The commitment is to act together on the issues chosen for the partnership. It is a question of sovereign nations that decided to join forces concerning well defined common objectives. Today, considerable work is being carried out toward expanding the sphere of integration of the different Caribbean and Latin American schemes. As a matter of fact, there is a strong upward and downward movement that seeks to expand that integrating sphere in both directions. Those great movements ultimately developed by the Region's principal leaders make it possible for the ACS to play its role as a space for increasing cooperation and supporting integrationist efforts.
Dr. Rubén Silié Valdez is the Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States. The views expressed are not necessarily the official views of the ACS. Feedback can be sent to mail@acs-aec.org
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