Richard Fletcher

"Driven primarily by security interests, the United States has often oscillated between intervention to prevent a foreign rival from gaining a foothold and neglect when the threat passed... We believe the time has come to consider a new stage in the region's development and its relationship with the United States. We recommend that the region shift toward a new economic strategy based primarily on self-reliance". In turn, the USA should open its markets to Caribbean exports, perhaps as an extension of NAFTA. "US aid and financing should be a complement and supplement, not a substitute, for the region's new economic strategy".