Castries, St. Lucia: Rufus Bousquet, Former Foreign Affairs Minister, urged the new St. Lucia Government to carefully consider mov
es to join the Venezuela-led Bolivarian Alliance for Peoples of the Americas (ALBA), according to a CMC report.
ALBA is an alliance of Latin America and Caribbean States seeking social, political and economic integration. The grouping comprises mainly socialist and social democratic governments which have vowed to pursue regional economic integration based on a vision of social welfare, bartering and mutual economic gain rather than trade liberalization.
Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony, who attended the last ALBA summit in Caracas earlier this month, said that Cabinet would soon consider the implications of joining the grouping that also includes Caribbean Community (CARICOM) neighbours Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The CMC report said that Bousquet, who served in Stephenson King administration that was thrashed in the November 28 general elections last year, said, “This has been seen by many Caribbean Governments who are woefully short of cash as a mechanism to be able to get the necessary influx of cash they need for their own development…But it is important to remember that this is not free money. While the interest rates are exceedingly low it is something of a demand loan and in so doing a country is essentially mortgaging its independence to Venezuela.”
Bousquet said that the former Government in analysing the advantages and disadvantages of joining ALBA came to the conclusion the island had more to lose from a membership with the alliance. “We have seen for example if you step on the toes of the Americans how effective they could be in creating a number of issues that are detrimental to your policies…The other issue that one has to note is that there is an election coming up in Venezuela which will see (President Hugo) Chavez facing his stiffest opposition ever because the opposition is now united…In so doing you have to ask yourself what will happen if there is a change in government,” Bousquet said.
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