Jamaica will be hosting two important meetings of Foreign Ministers of Latin America and the Caribbean (CALC) on Integration and Development and the Rio Group from today until Friday at the Rose Hall Resort and Spa Hotel in Montego Bay.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding will deliver the keynote address at the opening of the CALC meeting on Friday morning. The ceremony will also include addresses by Deputy Prime Minister Kenneth Baugh and Mayor of Montego Bay Charles Sinclair, as well as by representatives of the administrative troika of the CALC, minister of external affairs of Brazil, Celso Amorim, and the minister of foreign affairs of Mexico, Patricia Espinosa Cantellano.

Baugh to chair

Baugh will chair the 34-member CALC meeting assisted by ministers Amorim and Espinosa. Preparatory to the second CALC Summit next February in Mexico, the meeting will focus on issues pertaining to the integration and development of the region within the context of global challenges such as the financial recession, and the energy, food and environmental crises.

Deliberations will also address implementation of the Salvador Declaration which emerged at the first Summit of the CALC in Bahia, Brazil, on December 16 and 17, last year.

The declaration highlights the importance of regional integration, cooperation, sustainable development, eradication of poverty and the promotion of social justice and democracy. The CALC process is the brainchild of Brazilian President Lula da Silva.

Foreign Minister Espinosa and colleague Foreign Minister, Chilean Ambassador, Mariana Fernandez and Undersecretary in the Dominican Republic foreign ministry, José Manuel Trullols Yabra, will chair the Rio meeting on Thursday.

Regional dialogue

The 24-member Rio Group provides an important mechanism for regional dialogue and political consultation while seeking to advance integration. The Group's major focus at its XXVIII meeting will be on matters pertaining to the regional political situation, efforts to expand and strengthen its membership; and the agenda for its Summit in Mexico, proposed for February 2010.

The meeting will also consider the report of Mexico's tenure as secretariat to the Group. Jamaica's application for membership in its own right is expected to be ratified by the meeting. Jamaica represents CARICOM in the group.

Jamaica and Mexico are also scheduled to sign an Air Services Agreement within the margins of the meetings.