OECS Director General Calls for Institutional Strengthening of CELAC

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -The Director General of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Dr. Didacus Jules, has called for the institutional strengthening of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

‘’We find ourselves at this inflection point today with globalization in tatters, with regionalization becoming increasingly an amphitheater of both convergence of common interest and contestation for better advantage,” Jules told a weekend CELAC- Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) international seminar, on the theme “Latin America and the Caribbean, the future of integration”

“In the face of the multidimensional crises confronting us in this historical moment, it is urgent that we who are committed to CELAC revisit and sharpen our sense of purpose…our why must be clear enough that it justifies the effort and focuses the agenda,” Jules told the forum that focused on opportunities for integration within the CELAC space, and the role of the organization on the global stage.

In his presentation, Jules provided an assessment of CELAC’s current realities, describing the challenges presented by the current international context as ‘urgent’.

He said that the process of determining a more clinical, decisive, and incisive purpose for ‘CELAC must be grounded and informed by an understanding of history and must define the contours of the integration ambition that will drive it and the practical expressions of that ambition that will impact the trajectory of common good of all participating societies.’

Jules outline recommendations on behalf of the sub-regional grouping, including the institutional strengthening of CELAC, an increase in the political muscle of CELAC and its members, and the avoidance of the bureaucratic processes that hinder progress within the space.