“Fundamental” support for Martinique.
The island has received support from the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) in its request for autonomy from France.
The OECS “fully supports the establishment of an autonomous normative power” in Martinique, indicates a joint declaration by the heads of state of this organization, published as part of the 74th meeting of its Authority, which concluded Thursday in St. Kitts.
This international organization brings together, in the arc of the “Lesser Antilles”, seven full member states (Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines) and four associate members (British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Martinique, Guadeloupe).
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— CTM (@CTM_Martinique) February 16, 2024
“This evolution towards autonomy and integration is vital for the future of Martinique and the region”, underlined the heads of state members of the OECS, highlighting “an evolution (of) the capacities of “action in terms of trade, connectivity, resilience to climate change and energy policy in particular”.
“This position of independent States near Martinique is fundamental for us,” commented Serge Letchimy, president of the executive council of the Territorial Collectivity of Martinique, traveling to Saint-Kitts.
“Move towards more differentiation”
The head of the Martinique executive aspires to better integration of his territory of around 375,000 inhabitants within the OECS, of which the island has been an associate member since 2015. “By our status, we cannot be a member as of right,” he lamented, pleading for Martinique’s participation in two economic unions, “the European Union and the OECS.”
Since the “Fort-de-France appeal” launched in May 2022, Serge Letchimy has multiplied his appeals to his possible regional partners in his demands for autonomy from France, “without leaving the framework of the Republic ".
The legal integration of Martinique into Caricom (Caribbean Community) must therefore be ratified at the end of February.
Last November, the Congress of elected officials of Martinique, shunned by two opposition parties, declared itself in favor of adding a paragraph to article 73 of the Constitution “to move towards more differentiation”.