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Speech to the United Nations by Rubén Silié, Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States Distinguished delegates, we have come to you to present the concerns pertaining to the Caribbean Sea that are being developed by our governments in the framework of the ACS, but before we get into the proposals, permit me to contextualize the Caribbean Sea historically. The first is to realize that our history is chock full of oversights, which form the foundation on which a disjointed vision of the Greater Caribbean has been built, and this vision, managed since the dawn of colonization, has remained deeply rooted as a part of our perception of ourselves. It is still surprising to many among us when the definition of the Caribbean includes groups of countries that are not the most immediate neighbors, since each country is still inclined to reduce the Caribbean to the reality of those in closer proximity to it. For many years, there was distance between the continental borderland and the islands; which is not strange since the metropolitan and colonial vision was responsible for building a fragmented notion of the Caribbean area; thus, separation and distance have persevered as a cultural feature of the zone. As a result, the visual field of each one reduced the physical expanse and cultural wealth of this geography. Since the ACS, there has been the desire to break away from the Caribbean that was handed down to us by colonization, which is a Caribbean where distance prevails; distance built on the differences generated among the metropolises. We don’t want the Caribbean that we inherited; we are interested in the Caribbean that we are building, establishing true channels of communication and regional institutionality that promotes rapprochement and trade. We don’t have to live with the ominous colonialist notion. The human condition of Caribbean people empowers them to formulate a new definition for this space that is so diverse and plural, united by history and traditions. The time has come for us to go beyond the negative perceptions created in the past and look toward the future that awaits us together. The Caribbean Sea is a large sub-oceanic basin with an area of approximately 1.02 million square miles. It is included among the large marginal seas and bays on the western side of the Atlantic Ocean and it is a fragile and complex marine area. It is shared by some 40 countries, States and Territories of varying sizes and stages of economic development, which depend on it, to a greater or lesser degree, for their socio-economic and environmental well-being. Among these countries, States and Territories are legal archipelagos within the meaning of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, as well as littoral States, countries, Territories. The countries, States and Territories1 under reference are separated by straits that are used for international navigation. With some 75 percent of its circumference separated from the open ocean by either continental or insular land masses, the Caribbean Sea constitutes an excellent example of a semi-enclosed sea. As such, according to the provisions of article 122 of the Jamaica Convention on the Law of the Sea, a semi-enclosed sea means a maritime basin surrounded by all the Member States of the Association of Caribbean States, consisting entirely or primarily of the territorial seas and exclusive economic zones of the Member and Associate Member States of the ACS. As stipulated in article 123 of the Jamaica Convention on the Law of the Sea: States bordering an enclosed or semi-enclosed sea should co-operate with each other in the exercise of their rights and in the performance of their duties under this Convention. To this end they shall endeavor, directly or through an appropriate regional organization: (a) to coordinate the management, conservation, exploration and exploitation of the living resources of the sea; (b) to coordinate the implementation of their rights and duties with respect to the protection and preservation of the marine environment; (c) to coordinate their scientific research policies and undertake where appropriate joint programs of scientific research in the area; (d) to invite, as appropriate, other interested States or international organizations to co-operate with them in furtherance of the provisions of this article. With the development of the new law of the sea, that resource must be seen as a simple means of communication, in order to be in turn transformed into a remarkable receptacle of wealth, objectives and potential. The ACS is an organization for consultation, co-operation and concerted action, with one of its objectives being "to develop the potential of the Caribbean Sea through interaction among Member States and with third parties” (article III sub-paragraph b) of the Convention Establishing the ACS). One of the most delicate aspects to be addressed in the Caribbean Sea is its use in contradictory circumstances, by the very States belonging to the region, by virtue of their own priorities, for example: 1. There is a group of countries such as the SIDS, whose future is linked intrinsically to the preservation of the integrity of the Caribbean Sea as a result of the small size of their land space, thus the sustainable management of the Caribbean Sea is crucial for their survival. 2. There is a group of countries that assign a great deal of importance to aspects related to sustainable tourism; fourteen (14) ACS Member States depend on tourism to a greater or lesser extent. 3. There is a group of countries like Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela, that place much importance on aspects associated with the mineral resources of the sea bed, particularly oil and natural gas. 4. All Member States are interested in maritime transport. Standing out within this group is the specific case of Panama, which, due to its own socioeconomic reality that is crystallized with the Panama Canal, has a priority interest in matters pertaining to international maritime transport, which in turn adds an extra element to the problem concerning the Caribbean Sea, specifically that of being to some degree, a route for international trade, both to and from Panama. In the midst of these contradictory aspects of the Caribbean Sea, ACS Member and Associate Member States have expressed their willingness as members of the same region and have pledged by virtue of the 1994 Cartagena Convention, to promote, consolidate and strengthen the regional co-operation and integration process, one of whose topics is the development of the potential of the Caribbean Sea. The key factor in this respect is co-operation, the natural ambit for action of the Association of Caribbean States. Through it all, our Governments are striving for the Caribbean Sea to be declared a Special Area in the context of sustainable development. And the notion of a Special Area means, to be recognized as a semi-enclosed sea, including its resources and appurtenant coastal areas, which, for acknowledged technical reasons relating to its oceanographic and ecological condition, requires the adoption of special mandatory measures for its preservation and sustainable development, with due regard to economic, social, as well as environmental parameters. Through Agreement 6/06, the ACS Ministerial Council created the Caribbean Sea Commission, whose mandate is to do the strategic planning and technical follow-up work for the advancement of the Caribbean Sea Initiative and to formulate a practical and action-oriented work program for the further development and implementation of the Initiative. We are certain that the Commission will prove to be an effective instrument for promoting efforts related to the Caribbean Sea and will thus become a point of support for your work within the United Nations and in other contexts. The mere fact that we have come to speak to you about this initiative means that we are aware that as representatives of the peoples that constitute the ACS and for whom the Caribbean Sea is common patrimony, each and every one of you will become the permanent voices for this legitimate appeal being made to the international community to recognize and accept that the Caribbean Sea be declared a special area in the context of sustainable development.
1. Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Aruba, Netherlands Antilles, Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Turks and Caicos Islands, Anguilla, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico, British and US Virgin Islands, St. Martin, Montserrat.
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