“Give Somebody Else” If Integration Goals Aren’t Met, Skeete Tells Caribbean Leaders Amid Barnett Dispute
By| Antonio Dey | HGP Nightly News|
GEORGETOWN, GUYANA — A Caribbean trade researcher has argued that regional integration must take priority over the dispute surrounding the re-appointment of CARICOM Secretary-General Dr. Carla Barnett — and has said that any leader unable to advance the integration project should be replaced.
Dr. Kai-Ann Skeete, a Trade Research Fellow at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Cave Hill Campus in Barbados, made the remarks on Thursday at the Centre for International and Border Studies conference. [DESK: confirm host institution and city.]
“Regional Integration Has to Come First”
Dr. Skeete addressed the tension between national sovereignty and regional integration that has long shaped CARICOM’s institutional politics, and said the focus on procedural matters surrounding Dr. Barnett’s re-appointment is distracting from the more important question of whether the region is making progress on its integration goals.
“I argue regional integration has to come first,” Dr. Skeete said. “Can you do the job of connecting this region, deepening regional integration, as well as advancing our goals? If not, give somebody else.”
She added that the Caribbean needs a region “where we can lead, and we lead based on principles and visions and plans for this space.”
Dr. Skeete has publicly supported Dr. Barnett’s continuation, noting the Secretary-General’s prior service at the CARICOM Secretariat and her tenure as Vice-President of the Caribbean Development Bank — experience Dr. Skeete said gives Dr. Barnett a particular understanding of the institutional tensions that come with regional leadership.
“Don’t Make It About Dr. Barnett” — Hinds
In a separate interview with HGP Nightly News, political scientist Dr. David Hinds raised a different but related concern, arguing that the contentions over Dr. Barnett’s reappointment are weakening CARICOM’s institutional capacity to respond to challenges.
Dr. Hinds acknowledged that Trinidad and Tobago — which has rejected Dr. Barnett’s re-appointment and challenged the procedural basis on which it was decided — has raised legitimate questions about transparency in CARICOM’s decision-making.
“Trinidad is raising an issue of transparency. Right. Okay — get down and do reforms,” Dr. Hinds said. “Yes, you may have a valid point of transparency, but don’t make it about Dr. Barnett.”
Dr. Hinds criticised what he described as the personalisation of the controversy by some regional leaders, arguing that the substantive question of institutional reform is being conflated with attacks on the Secretary-General herself.
“You do not abuse people who could have gone anywhere in the world and served, but decided to serve this region,” he said.
Different Critiques, Common Ground
Dr. Skeete and Dr. Hinds offer distinct critiques: Dr. Skeete frames the issue around regional integration performance and accountability, suggesting that leadership at every level — including the Secretary-General’s — should be assessed on its capacity to advance integration. Dr. Hinds focuses on the manner in which the dispute is being conducted, arguing that institutional reform concerns are legitimate but should not be conducted through what he sees as personal attacks on Dr. Barnett.
Both have called for regional leaders to refocus on the work of integration rather than allowing procedural and personal disputes to consume CARICOM’s energy.
The Background
Dr. Barnett, a Belizean economist who became the eighth CARICOM Secretary-General and the first woman to hold the post in August 2021, was announced as having been re-appointed for a second five-year term following deliberations at the 50th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government in St Kitts and Nevis in February 2026.
CARICOM Chairman and St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew said in March that Dr. Barnett had received the “required majority” support from regional heads. Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and the government of Antigua and Barbuda have publicly backed her continuation.
Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has rejected the re-appointment, saying her country will not recognise Dr. Barnett as Secretary-General after her current term ends in August 2026. Trinidad and Tobago argues that the re-appointment was not formally placed on the summit agenda and was therefore decided in breach of the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, CARICOM’s founding document.
Sir Ronald Sanders, Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States, has separately urged Dr. Barnett to consider resigning in the interest of regional integration. Former CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General Joseph Cox has also publicly questioned whether Dr. Barnett can govern effectively under current circumstances.
The matter is expected to remain a significant point of contention ahead of the next CARICOM Heads of Government meeting, scheduled for St Lucia from July 5 to 8, 2026.
