As Trinidad and Tobago maintains that it will not recognize Dr. Carla Barnett when her current term as Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) ends in July, regional scholars are calling for the reappointment process to be revisited.
Speaking at a conference hosted by the Centre for International and Border Studies under the theme Navigating the Future: Guyana, the Caribbean and Latin America in a Changing Global Environment, Dr. Kai-Ann Skeete argued that the appointment of CARICOM’s top administrative official should be based on consensus and a careful assessment of performance.
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“I do think that we should revisit it and do it in a timely manner so that we can move on from this because there are larger issues that we must address by the end of this year,” Skeete said.
Dr. Skeete, a Trade Research Fellow at the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade, Law, Policy and Servicesat The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, said she had hoped Barnett’s experience as a former CARICOM Secretariat official and former vice president of the Caribbean Development Bank would have enabled her to bridge longstanding divisions between CARICOM’s more developed countries and its least developed members.
Instead, Skeete said those divisions have persisted and, in some cases, deepened during Barnett’s tenure.
“I was hopeful that she would be able to rally the troops and focus leaders on regional goals and vision,” Skeete said. “Alas, politics stepped in and Dr. Barnett stayed in her lane.”
Skeete stressed that regional integration requires bold and effective leadership, arguing that CARICOM leaders should determine whether the Secretary-General has successfully advanced the region’s strategic objectives.
“Can you do the job of uniting this region, deepening integration, and advancing our goals? If not, give somebody else a turn,” she said.
She also challenged CARICOM Chairman and St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew, who announced in March that Barnett had secured a second five-year term beginning in August 2026 through the “required majority” of member states.
According to Skeete, such an appointment should be made by consensus rather than a majority vote.
“If you go by majority rule, somebody will say, ‘I lost,’ and that does not bode well for regional integration,” she said.
Trinidad and Tobago has objected to Barnett’s reappointment, contending that its representatives were excluded from the meeting at which the decision was made. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has since stated that her government will not recognize Barnett beyond the expiration of her current term.
Several regional leaders, including officials from Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica, and Nevis, have indicated that the issue should be reconsidered. Meanwhile, Guyana, Belize, and Dominica have publicly supported Barnett’s reappointment.
Under Article 24 of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, the Secretary-General is appointed by the Conference of Heads of Government on the recommendation of the Community Council for a term of up to five years and may be reappointed.
