By Keith Bernard
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Tues. Sept. 30, 2025: I write with a profound sense of disappointment following the recent individual addresses by the heads of state of our Caribbean nations, including Guyana, at the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly(UNGA). What should have been a powerful, collective articulation of a Caribbean agenda was, instead, reduced to a series of disparate and self-serving monologues, strikingly devoid of the spirit of Caricom.
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, US, on Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. Photographer: David Dee Delgado/Bloomberg via Getty Images
One listened in vain for a common thread, a unified voice on the existential threats that bind our fate. While each leader eloquently detailed their national challenges—from the escalating climate crisis and dire economic vulnerability to the urgent quest for developmental financing—the presentations remained stubbornly insular. The palpable absence of a coordinated Caricom position, delivered with the cumulative weight of our fifteen member states, was a glaring strategic failure on the world’s most important stage.
We heard individual pleas where a collective, powerful demand was needed. This individualistic approach at the UN is not merely a missed opportunity; it is a strategic error that weakens our entire region. Our strength has always been our unity. The founding principles of Caricom are predicated on functional cooperation and a shared identity.
When our leaders speak as isolated voices, competing for the same scarce resources and international attention, they diminish the bargaining power of every single island and coastal state in our community. On a platform like the UNGA, where giants compete for airtime, our fragmented messages risk being drowned out entirely.
The people of the Caribbean understand regional solidarity intuitively. It is time our heads of state reflected this understanding in their highest-level diplomacy. We urgently call upon the Caricom leadership to return to the foundational principle of unified advocacy. Our survival and prosperity demand nothing less than a single, resonant Caribbean voice that champions our collective interests above individual grandstanding.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Keith Bernard is a Guyanese-born, NYC-based analyst and a frequent contributor to News Americas.
