International Terrorism

Foreign Ministers,

Secretary General of the OAS,

Assistant Secretary General of the OAS,

Permanent Representatives to the OAS,

Ladies and Gentlemen:

****I wish to associate myself with the statement made by the Hon. Janet Bostwick, Foreign Minister of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, on behalf of the CARICOM Member States and, in highlighting a few sections from my prepared statement, request that it be read into the records in its entirety.

It did not take the convening of this meeting of consultation, or the consultation under the provisions of the Rio Treaty, for the Government and people of Barbados to consider that our very way of life and the freedoms that we sometimes take for granted are under attack.

It did not take the presumed death of four Barbadians, numerous others from sister states within CARICOM and Latin America, as yet untold others from the United States and over eighty countries to impress upon us that it would not be business as usual for some time if ever again.

These facts were crystal clear to us the instant we absorbed the images of the attack of September 11, 2001. The terrible images, carried globally in real time, of a commercial aircraft being flown purposefully into the World Trade Centre made us all too painfully aware that the very fabric of civilized behavior was being ripped apart.

The methods used in the attack; the profound symbolism embodied in the targets selected and the other possible targets of attack; the sheer impudence of the attackers and their leaders and the rippling effects on global security and economy of those fateful hours, all serve to reinforce these perceptions.

****I have already called the attention of the Special Session of the OAS Permanent Council to the letter from the Rt. Hon. Owen S. Arthur, Prime Minister of Barbados to the President of the United States, conveying deepest sympathy to the Government and people of the United States and especially the sorrowing families who lost loved ones.

The Government of Barbados has unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its manifestations, particularly when it results in the loss of human life and expressed the hope that those responsible for the vicious acts will be swiftly brought to justice.

We have only begun to deal with the far reaching implications of the events of September 11, 2001 for international security, the global economy and indeed the capacity of all states to improve the well being of their people.

As clearly highlighted in the aftermath of this terrorist attack, the web of terrorism spreads far and wide and can very easily ensnare and threaten the sovereignty, peace, stability and security of nation states, the large and small, the rich and poor, and the powerful and weak. Irrespective of our status in the community of nations, we will all be affected negatively by this most recent despicable act against humanity. Undoubtedly, the negative reverberations are being felt already in many capitals worldwide. How long will such after shocks last and what level of economic, financial, political and social dislocation will result therefrom should be of great concern to every State. The state of affairs cannot remain as they were prior to last week's events.

****In Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean, the destruction of vital parts of the global economic machinery that existed in the World Trade Centre as well as the uncertainty that has been injected into global economy have immediately begun to impact adversely on our economies.

****It is essential therefore that we give attention to critical issues such as the consequences of these events on the travel and tourism industries, the implications for emerging market funds and the fiscal implications including debt servicing. Our long term security and our capacity to effectively play our part in a global coalition against terrorism, will hinge as much on our economic well being as well as on traditional political and security considerations.

****In this regard we welcome the effort within the Inter American Development Bank to analyse more fully the actual and probable negative economic and financial implications on Latin America and the Caribbean of the terrorist attacks.

****Our task barely begins with attending to the horror visited on those in the hijacked aircraft, the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Expressions of sympathy, condemnation of the attacks are but a start to the grave task on which we have been constrained to embark.

****Indeed we must also give careful consideration to the role of the OAS in any new arrangements to redefine the development priorities of the hemisphere.

****Let there be no doubt, the Government and people of Barbados stand as one, and for the long term, with the Government and people of the United States and indeed all democratic and peace loving people every where in the fight against terrorism.

Mr. Chairman, the Irish Statesman Edmund Burke said,

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing".

It is vital, in responding to acts of terrorism, that the methods of the terrorists never become our methods. Their relentless pursuit must not be the excuse for the erosion of personal freedoms or democratic systems of governance for which we have long fought in our hemisphere. We must harness the best elements of these pillars of our way of life in the struggle against those that have placed themselves outside the realm of civilized behavior.

The events of September 11, 2001 will surely have a transforming effect on the character of inter state relations for decades to come. In this regard perhaps the greatest challenge that we face is to the assumptions on which the new global and hemispheric architecture has been emerging.

But Mr. Chairman, while we must take the opportunity to critically examine those assumptions and review the way that we have been doing things, by no account should we allow such acts of terrorism to cause us to retreat from the task before us of building within this hemisphere the integration movement that has been called "La Gran Familia".

Those acts must not prevent us from redoubling our efforts to shape the forces of globalisation and liberalisation to bring the maximum benefits to all of mankind and especially those nations and the people within them that are most vulnerable to external shocks.

Those acts must not cause us to shirk in fear from redoubling our efforts to cooperate in the areas of justice and security for fear that we will too be targeted. The enemies of freedom and democracy have already, in no uncertain terms, targeted us.

Those acts must also provide the opportunity to harness the sovereign authority of all peace loving nations in the fight against terrorism.

Our task, for future generations, is to ensure that our deep pain and anger do not make us erect a new international architecture in which the hallmarks are the curtailment of freedom and a drift into undemocratic behaviour.

The terrorists would have won and won resoundingly if we allow this to occur.

****I ended my remarks to the Special Session of the OAS Permanent Council the day before yesterday with the words of Henrik Ibsen:

"A community is like a ship; every one ought to be prepared to take the helm"

****We cannot, all at the same time lead. But we can all at the same time participate in building the grand coalition against terrorism.

****We must give the terrorists no place to find refuge. We all have strengths and these must all be harnessed in a cooperative manner if this struggle against terrorism is to be won. It is only through building an unassailable and permanent coalition, not just against terrorist acts but against the very notion of using terror tactics for political ends, that this scourge will be defeated.

****This is not an easy task, that which lies ahead. It is one that will require vision and political will such as we have never before witnessed in our history.

****It is a task that we of this generation may not complete but one from which we are not at liberty to abstain.

**** I thank you.