"I'm deeply honoured to be the first American President to hold a summit with Caribbean heads of Government here in the Caribbean. But its high time -America, after all is a Caribbean nation. Puerto Rico and the American Virgin Islands lie at the heart of this region. The bonds of commerce among us and the bonds binding our people are strong ... the point I wish to make is that this is not a meeting between Caribbean nations and the United States, but rather a meeting among Caribbean nations including the United States".
These are the words of President Clinton in his brief opening remarks at the Carribean/United States Summit held in Bridgetown, Barbados on 9th & 10th May 1997 . This is language OF togetherness. And from among the many declarations of partnership in the resulting documents, called the Bridgetown Declaration of Principles and related Plan of Action I have picked this one...