Georgetown.– The President of Guyana, Irfaan Ali, announced that the Dominican Republic and Martinique applied for membership in the Caribbean Community (Caricom) during the community summit in Georgetown.
“The process for these countries to become associate members has already begun,” Ali said in his closing speech at the summit, which was broadcast on his social networks.
“The (Caricom) secretariat will work with both Martinique and the Dominican Republic to comply with the procedural side of things, so that when we get to July (the month of the next regular meeting), the entire mechanism is in place and the recommendations will come,” stated the Guyanese leader.
The last time talks were suspended was due to the Dominican Republic's large-scale deportation of Haitians.
Caricom members are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.