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I look forward to receiving today, the letter of introduction from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Chile naming, Ambassador Alfonso Silva as Plenipotentiary Representative of the Republic of Chile to the Caribbean Community. I will accept that letter with pleasure, knowing that I do so from a country which has steadily increased its friendship with, and its contribution to, the development of the countries of the Caribbean Community over the past fourteen years of democratic stability.

I am also pleased to be accepting your accreditation, Excellency on this the 27th day of April 2004, the tenth anniversary of the abolition of apartheid and the advent of a democracy in South Africa. It is a day on which both CARICOM nations and the Republic of Chile are joining with the Government and people of South Africa in the celebrations which are taking place there and around the world to mark that historic day ten years ago.

And what a day for the South Africans to do so, celebrating as they also do, the rousing re-election of President Mbeki and his Government, to whom we in CARICOM, extend warmest congratulations. I know that your President, His Excellency, Ricardo Lagos, has traveled to South Africa and is there to witness these events. So too, have high-level Representatives from the Caribbean Community.

Excellency, the relationship between CARICOM and Chile was strengthened by a visit by CARICOM Foreign Ministers and the Secretary-General to Chile in January 1995. It was for me an unforgettable occasion. The CARICOM-Chile relationship was later to be sealed with the establishment of a CARICOM-Chile Joint Commission, through the signing of an Agreement on Scientific and Technical Cooperation between the Caribbean Community and the Government of the Republic of Chile, in Jamaica, in May 1996.

Under that agreement, Chile has provided the Region with technical assistance in areas ranging from Spanish language training through to trade negotiations and to the fight against HIV/AIDS. These are all areas critical to the Region's development and survival.

Moreover, the Government of Chile has offered much of this support through the regional institutions including the CARICOM Secretariat, the University of the West Indies and the Regional Negotiating Machinery thus recognizing the critical role which regional integration movements and their institutions play in the development of states, particularly small states. The Region looks forward to an even greater two-way process of cooperation with Chile in the coming years.

While the Region welcomes this technical cooperation, it also welcomes the political support which it has received from Chile on other important and critical elements of Community policy. In that context, CARICOM has commended Chile for the discharging of its responsibilities as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, representing the Latin America and Caribbean grouping.

It was against that background, that the visit of President Lagos to Jamaica in July 2003 which coincided with the 24th Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community was specially welcomed by the Community at large.

The meeting between CARICOM Heads of Government and President Lagos in Monterrey in January 2004 on the fringes of the Special Summit of the Americas also served to further cement the political ties and set the stage for wider and deeper political dialogue between the CARICOM region and Chile. It was left to the Foreign Ministers and senior officials to give specific content to that process.

The meeting held last Friday in Barbados between the Council for Foreign and Community Relations and a Chilean delegation led by one His Excellency Cristian Barros did just that. It is recognized as the type of initiative which can serve as a vital element of the process of strengthening the mechanisms for cooperation and political dialogue between CARICOM and Chile. Your accreditation today is another such vital step in that process.

Excellency, the Region has noted with particular interest, the participation of Chile in the UN Multinational Interim Force in Haiti. I am certain that given the experience of Chile in a post-conflict national situation, Chile will be able to contribute to the re-building of a Haiti, the welfare of whose nationals is of the highest concern to us as members of the Caribbean Community. I look forward to discussing with you Ambassador at the earliest possible opportunity approaches which can be made to rebuilding and refashioning a truly democratic and participatory Haitian society.

Excellency, in closing, I can attest to the sterling performance of your predecessor, Ambassador Prado, in carrying out his duties and helping the CARICOM-Chile relationship to evolve into maturity and stability over the nine years of its existence. We extend our deep appreciation to him for that contribution and for his friendship. I am quite certain of your ability to continue and deepen this most fruitful of relationships as we approach the ten-year milestone of formal CARICOM/Chile cooperation.