CARICOM congratulates new Mexican President; stresses value of friendly relations

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) expressed deep appreciation for Mexico’s longstanding readiness to collaborate, as it extended congratulations to President-Elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador on his landslide victory in the country’s 1 July 2018 Presidential elections.

“CARICOM attaches great value to the close and friendly relationship that it has forged with Mexico over the years,” Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque said in his message of congratulations to the President-Elect and his National Regeneration Movement (MORENA).

“It was in 1974 that Mexico became a pioneer as the first country to establish a Joint Commission with CARICOM,” the Secretary-General noted.

“This heralded the beginning of a mutually beneficial partnership which demonstrated the value of South-South cooperation and relationships.”

“The Community looks forward, under your Presidency, to the continued goodwill, friendship, and cooperation which characterize CARICOM-Mexico relations,” he added.

The Secretary-General said CARICOM also looks forward to working with the President-elect’s administration in implementing the commitments undertaken in the Political Declaration and other arrangements agreed upon during the Fourth CARICOM-Mexico Summit held in Belize in October 2017.

Ambassador LaRocque noted Mexico’s willingness to serve as a bridge between more developed and less developed nations and to improve the governance of international development cooperation. In this regard, he said the Community was very appreciative of Mexico’s efforts to advance issues of importance to Small Island and Low-lying Coastal Developing States (SIDS) when it served as President Pro Tempore of the G20 in 2012.