Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, Tuesday called for the Caribbean to remain a zone of peace, warning against the impact of the military build-up by the United States ostensibly to deal with drug traffickers in the region.
‘We remain resolute in our call for the Caribbean a zone of peace and this is a call we continue to empasise and reiterate in all forums,’ Prime Minister Browne said as he addressed the launch of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference (CHOGM) to be held here November 1-4 next year.
‘The reality is, if as a result of the military buildup that we are seeing the southern Caribbean results in any form of conflict.the small island states, particularly the OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) countries that will suffer disproportionately and that is because we are so vulnerable’.
Prime Minister Browne told the ceremony attended by Governor General Sir Rodney Williams and the Commonwealth Secretary General, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, that even the fruits consumed in the region are imported from North America.