THE progression of Latin American and Caribbean integration over the past 200 years was the focus of a symposium at the Regional Headquarters of the University of the West Indies (UWI) on November 11.

The event was hosted by the UWI in conjunction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade and highlighted the impact of Simón Bolívar’s letter after 200 years from the perspective of history, sovereignty and regionalism in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Arnaldo Brown, minister of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade; Ambassador SR Insanally, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guyana; representatives of Venezuela, Colombia and Panama, the UWI and the University of Toronto, made presentations at the symposium.

Other presenters included Dr Robert Sierakowski, Department of History; Professor Jessica Byron, senior research fellow, SALISES, UWI; Professor Keith Ellis, professor emeritus, University of Toronto, and Dr Solangel Ortiz-Mejia, charge d’ affaires, Embassy of the Republic of Colombia.

Topics included: “A Shared History: Bolivar’s Caribbean Journey & South American Independence”; “Latin American-Caribbean Integration: Dream or Vision” and “A New Era of South-South Cooperation: Development of Partnerships. CARICOM, Cuba and Venezuela 2005-2015”.

The symposium closed with the launch by Ambassador Sheila Sealy Monteith, undersecretary, Multilateral Affairs Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade, of the book Dancing between the Raindrops: A Dispatch from a Small State Diplomat, written by Insanally. An exhibition was also mounted by the Institute of Jamaica on the Bolívar-Jamaica connection.

Ambassador SR Insanally (right), former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, addresses the symposium “Simon Bolivar’s ‘Jamaica Letter’ after 200 years” held at the University of the West Indies Regional Headquarters on November 12. At left are Dr Solangel Ortiz-Mejia, charge d’ affaires, Embassy of the Republic of Colombia, and Arnaldo Brown, minister of state in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade.