CÚPULA DA AMÉRICA LATINA E DO CARIBE SOBRE ... - Funag

INTERVENÇÕES (VERSÃO ORIGINAL)
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham - Thank you Mr. Chairman. Mr.
Chairman, I join my colleagues in thanking you for organizing this Summit and
so graciously hosting us in your wonderful country. We meet at a time of
tremendous global economic challenges. All of our nations must cope with a
financial crisis caused primarily by inadequate regulation and I dare say greed.
It threatens to destroy years of meaningful economic gains in our region.
As leaders, our peoples look to us to provide steady and wise responses
to this crisis. This is especially the case for those who have for so long been
the victims of economic challenges and deprivation. The poor have been the
most severely impacted by the financial crisis, a point made here on a number
of occasions by Guyana, Cuba, and Mexico for example. This is not about
ideology; this must be about founding practical and achievable solutions to
the problems confronting our people. I urge all of us to move beyond rhetoric,
let us move toward action, action that is meaningful to our peoples.
I just want to acknowledge and thank Brazil for the important leadership
role it is playing in Latin America and the Caribbean, nowhere more importantly
than Haiti, where Brazil provides leadership to the stabilization forces. Stability
of Haiti is important to the Haitian people. It is also important to my country,
the Bahamas. For more than fifty years, we have been impacted by the
uncontrolled flow of immigrants in search of economic opportunity. The strain
on our economy, educational and health systems, and social services has been
great indeed, beyond what our small island resources can sustain adequately.
Mr. Chairman, I must also acknowledge the important contribution of
Mexico, Colombia, and Venezuela as non-borrowing members of the Caribbean
Development Members, CDB, and thank Brazil for formalizing its membership.
The important contribution of Latin countries to the Caribbean Development
Bank makes important infrastructure development efforts possible in the countries
of the Caribbean community, the development and upgrade of airports, seaports,
and road infrastructure. In that vein, I should wish to acknowledge the
considerable assistance now received by many Caribbean countries under the
Venezuela government’s PetroCaribbean program.
It is import in this regard to acknowledge the success we are having in
accessing skills from around Latin America and the Caribbean. Yesterday
Guatemala referred to the 500 doctors it accessed from Cuba. We in the Bahamas
have for many years accessed expertise from regional governments in education,
engineering, medicine, and many other areas. Recently this assistance has
expanded to include Spanish-language teachers from Costa Rica and from Cuba
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