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CARICOM or the Caribbean Community is akin to the European Union. It is a customs union. It allows for tariff-free shipment of goods within the community. It offers programs of educational exchange for member nationals. It also offers some freedom of movement for labor.
CARICOM was originally composed of former British West Indian territories (Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago), later the other former BWI territories joined and, in the 1990s, Suriname and Haiti also joined its ranks.
The Dominican Republic has applied for membership in CARICOM, but the country has been refused admittance. Arguments against DR joining CARICOM include that the country is too big compared to other CARICOM member nations (DR has about 10 million people and the DR GDP is $187 billion). However, others have argued that the DR's history and culture really set it apart from the former British West Indies (and Haiti and Suriname) and that it is not a good match. What do you think?
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Originally Posted by 2ner
CARICOM or the Caribbean Community is akin to the European Union. It is a customs union. It allows for tariff-free shipment of goods within the community. It offers programs of educational exchange for member nationals. It also offers some freedom of movement for labor.
CARICOM was originally composed of former British West Indian territories (Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago), later the other former BWI territories joined and, in the 1990s, Suriname and Haiti also joined its ranks.
The Dominican Republic has applied for membership in CARICOM, but the country has been refused admittance. Arguments against DR joining CARICOM include that the country is too big compared to other CARICOM member nations (DR has about 10 million people and the DR GDP is $187 billion). However, others have argued that the DR's history and culture really set it apart from the former British West Indies (and Haiti and Suriname) and that it is not a good match. What do you think?
My first impression is that politically it would not be beneficial for the DR; it would be somewhat akin to the relationship the more prosperous nations have with the poorer ones in the UN. Unless the DR is on board with the idea of sharing their burgeoning wealth with less stable governments and economies, I wouldn't do it. But if they have a mutual understanding about taking a making a more shared and altruistic route to the common good, then perhaps it should be considered.
My first impression is that politically it would not be beneficial for the DR; it would be somewhat akin to the relationship the more prosperous nations have with the poorer ones in the UN. Unless the DR is on board with the idea of sharing their burgeoning wealth with less stable governments and economies, I wouldn't do it. But if they have a mutual understanding about taking a making a more shared and altruistic route to the common good, then perhaps it should be considered.
I agree. The DR would have a big burden to carry. The DR is already kind of swamped with other immigrants.
Not really on board with the common market idea in general (although the original CARICOM with just the English speaking territories made sense in a way although it hasn't worked out for my island) and definitely not on board with DR joining CARICOM
DR would dominate the others economically and there are other cultural factors that make it a bad fit. BTW the biggest immigration pressure would be on some of the more stable islands like Trinidad and Barbados, more so than on the DR
i'm fairly certain there are more Dominican immigrants moving to the other islands in the Caribbean than vice versa. Exception of course being Haiti.
Dominicans immigrants have gone in abundance to Puerto Rico in the past.I've heard of some going to destinations like Antigua and I've met some in Georgetown,Guyana but they seem to be traveling to the states more than often.
Dominicans immigrants have gone in abundance to Puerto Rico in the past.I've heard of some going to destinations like Antigua and I've met some in Georgetown,Guyana but they seem to be traveling to the states more than often.
you will also find them in the Virgin Islands, Aruba, Curacao, and Saint Martin. you won't find the opposite. the vast majority of Caribbean people immigrating to DR are Haitians
Not sure that’s the best idea, especially considering the size of the DR and the fact that Dominicans would likely attempt to immigrate to the smaller islands in greater numbers. So I’m in agreement with others who have expressed the same here.
Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana, T&T and Haiti are either evenly-split or decidedly black. The DR is historically anti-black. I'd bet money that's the underlying reason they've rejected the DR. Until the DR gets its race politics together, the other members of CARICOM would be foolish to invite them in. Might as well let yourselves get colonized again. Also, what is this talk about the DR's wealth? I've always been under the impression that Trinidad was one of the most stable countries on that list. Trinidad has oil. It's why it doesn't depend on tourism and isn't known as a tourist island, which the DR is.
Also, what is this talk about the DR's wealth? I've always been under the impression that Trinidad was one of the most stable countries on that list. Trinidad has oil. It's why it doesn't depend on tourism and isn't known as a tourist island, which the DR is.
I don't see Trinidad as the most stable country on that list. For the sake of comparison, I'll limit to DR vs Trinidad, because that's the comparison you initially made.
GDP Real Growth Rate, 2017 DR: 4.6% (growth has slowed down, but its still above the average for the Caribbean and Latin America as a whole) TT: -2.6% (appears to be in an economic recession, because in 2016 the economy declined by -6%) https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat...elds/2003.html
So Trinidad is a country that as of late has been getting poorer, the economy is shrinking, the population is shrinking, and emigration is very high and possibly growing. In the meantime, the DR is getting richer, the economy is growing faster than most in the Caribbean and Latin America, the population is growing at a healthy rate, and emigration is slowing down.
To make matters more interesting, Trinidad's population is older than the DR's (median age in Trinidad is 36 vs DR 26: https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat...elds/2177.html). This means that Trinidad's population is at the peak of its economic productivity while the DR's population still has its most productive years ahead of them. This will definitely impact the economies of both countries in the following decades, but the effect will be in favor of the DR and detrimental to Trinidad.
At least to me, it doesn't seem that Trinidad is the most stable country in the region and much less the country with the brightest future. Trinidad's neighbor Venezuela has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. Colombia also has much oil, as well as Mexico, and even Nigeria.
Dominican Republic is the destination to 60% all the direct foreign investment that is made in the Caribbean (https://financialtribune.com/article...for-third-year). While direct foreign investment in Latin America and the Caribbean is decreasing, in the DR its increasing at an accelerated pace. This would had been unheard of a mere 30 years ago, and anyone that back then would had suggested that this was going to be the case today would had been laughed at.
Last edited by AntonioR; 09-09-2018 at 11:54 PM..
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Also, what is this talk about the DR's wealth? I've always been under the impression that Trinidad was one of the most stable countries on that list. Trinidad has oil. It's why it doesn't depend on tourism and isn't known as a tourist island, which the DR is.
