August 2014


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In June, representatives of The UWI and the University of Havana, Cuba, met at the Institute of International Relations at the St Augustine campus to discuss “Development challenges and possibilities for a deeper integration.”

This first workshop on Contemporary Caribbean was coordinated by Professor Milagros Martínez, Chair of Caribbean Studies (Cátedra de Estudiosdel Caribe) at the University of Havana together with Dr Mark Kirton of the Institute of International Relations. Participants debated major problems of the contemporary Caribbean, especially the challenges associated with Small Island Developing States and the regional integration recent dynamics. The cases of Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Cuba were specifically examined.

Attending from the University of Havana were Professors Antonio Romero Gómez, Milagros MartínezReinosa and Carmen Castillo Herrera. The Institute of International Relations was represented by Drs Mark Kirton, Anthony Gonzales and Jacqueline LaguardiaMartínez. Ruben Martoredjo, IIR doctoral student, and IIR alumnus Hugh Todd from the Guyana-based LIRDS Think Tank Group, which focuses on law, international relations, research, defence and security, presented papers. Cuban Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago H.E. Guillermo Vázquez Moreno, IIR’s Director Professor Andy Knight and Rear Admiral Gary Best from LIRDS Think Tank Group also participated in the two-day discussion.