Opening the IX Summit of Heads of State and Government of the ACS, Sabonge urged that the common problems faced by the Greater Caribbean region be addressed through the joint efforts of member countries, associates, observers and development banks.

And that need is due, he said, to the fact that today’s challenges know no geopolitical boundaries, no government regimes, no cultural or ethnic ancestry, for they affect equally the sanctioned and non-sanctioned countries among us, the smallest and the largest, the richest and the poorest, the most and the least indebted.

“The disasters that assail our Caribbean with greater intensity and frequency force us to undertake resilience-building measures that safeguard all our peoples and not just some of them,” he pointed out. In Sabonge’s opinion, the conceptualization of the cooperation and consultation body, as well as the decisions taken by the founders, resonate with astonishing relevance and clarity, especially in the recent global and regional context, marked by the threats of climate change, the Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical conflicts.

In this regard, he urged the Heads of State and Government present here to devise regional solutions that add value to subregional, national and even global efforts, and proposed the organization of a coherent political campaign to designate the Caribbean Sea as a special area and translate this recognition into a shield of protection.

In his speech, the ACS Secretary General raised the need for an international financial system that recognizes the reality of the Greater Caribbean.

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