When is Caricom Day?
Caricom Day is a public holiday in Guyana, observed on the first Monday in July each year.
The day marks the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas on this day on July 4th 1973. The Founding Fathers who signed the Treaty on that date were: Prime Ministers Errol Barrow of Barbados, Forbes Burnham of Guyana, Michael Manley of Jamaica, and Eric Williams of Trinidad and Tobago.
The treaty established the Caribbean Community and Common Market, which would go on to become Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
Caricom Day is declared a public holiday, pursuant to the provisions of section 6 of the PUBLIC HOLIDAYS ACT, chapter 19:07, of the laws of Guyana.
What is Caricom?
Caricom is a grouping of twenty countries: fifteen Member States and five Associate Members. It is home to approximately sixteen million citizens, 60% of whom are under the age of 30, and from the main ethnic groups of Indigenous Peoples, Africans, Indians, Europeans, Chinese, Portuguese and Javanese.
The Community is multi-lingual; with English as the major language complemented by French and Dutch and variations of these, as well as African and Asian expressions.
Stretching from The Bahamas in the north to Suriname and Guyana in South America, CARICOM comprises states that are considered developing countries, and except for Belize, in Central America and Guyana and Suriname in South America, all Members and Associate Members are island states.
