Caribbean leaders voice concern on ALBA alliance

GEORGETOWN, Guyana - Some Caribbean leaders expressed concern Friday that a leftist Latin American alliance making inroads in the region could hurt a long-running project to integrate island economies.

So far the Caribbean nations of Antigua, Dominica and St. Vincent have joined the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, or ALBA, a nine-nation trade alliance backed by the government of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The project's growth was on the agenda for discussions at a four-day summit here of the Caribbean Community, a 15-nation grouping also known as Caricom that was created in the 1970s.

Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding conceded many leaders are frustrated by the slow pace of integration under Caricom, but he said taking on new international commitments will only make it more difficult.

"When you start to create other alliances, you assume other responsibilities and obligations which may very well cut across the obligations you have at home," Golding said.

Grenada's prime minister, Tillman Thomas, said his island will not join ALBA because it would create the false impression of problems inside Caricom.

Venezuela has boosted its influence in the region through the Petrocaribe pact, which allows more than a dozen Caribbean nations to buy oil under highly preferential terms.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica, the first Caricom nation to join ALBA, said countries have to seek out new sources of aid and trade. He said he owes an explanation "only to the people who elected me."

ALBA began as an agreement between Chavez and his Cuban mentor, Fidel Castro, calling for cooperation based on socialist principles. Other members include Bolivia and Nicaragua.

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