OCES discuss political union

The entire membership of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) yesterday gave the nod to a political union with Trinidad and Tobago.



The leaders of the nine OECS countries gave a strong mandate for the union to be pursued.



They are Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the associate member states of Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands.



The leaders will meet with Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning in St. Kitts on October 31, to discuss the modalities of the initiative.



The OECS leaders also indicated there was a possibility that Barbados and Guyana, which were both represented at the Port of Spain meeting, could eventually become part of the political union.



Jamaica and Belize have expressed concerns about the initiative, noting that it could undermine CARICOM.