Speaking at the Seventh Meeting of the OECS Assembly, Chastanet said the current dynamics between the OECS and CARICOM were ineffective, describing the OECS Assembly itself as “too ceremonial.”

“We are members of CARICOM, in which [regional integration] is not working. All the leaders sitting around this table know that our relationship with CARICOM is not working,” remarked Chastanet.

Chastanet stopped short of calling for an OECS withdrawal from CARICOM but urged leaders to seriously consider the implications.

“Imagine if we had the tenacity to pull out of CARICOM and renegotiate bilateral agreements with Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana and Barbados. Would we be better off?”

Chastanet said that during his time as prime minister, he felt the OECS was sidelined at CARICOM meetings.

“I felt we were being ignored. I felt we were being disrespected. So many times we went to a meeting at CARICOM and listened to the larger countries debate among themselves as if we were not even there, and reached no conclusion.”

The OECS currently comprises Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Anguilla, and the British Virgin Islands. The group functions as an economic and currency union with free movement among members. CARICOM includes the OECS nations along with other regional powers such as Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana.