(For having had the courage to stand up to the EU on a matter of principle and won out in the end)
Congratulations! Your wise and courageous efforts over the EPA have been vindicated. The amendment of the EPA has come out well for the Caribbean and could have been even better had the rest of CARICOM shown some mettle. History will record, and the ACP will remember, that Guyana made a brave and noble stand when the Caribbean collapsed before a European negotiating offensive.

You have prevented October 15 being remembered as a ‘day of shame’ in the Region. I am glad that your media statement today serves notice of the struggles ahead; struggles in which I do not believe you will be as lonely as you have been so far.

The silent majority in the Caribbean, who have been with you throughout, will become more assertive; and Europe will discover that this was not the ‘victory’ they believed it was. Well before the first ‘mandatory’ review, a new EPA will emerge in a new time. You will have helped to shape the new ‘partnership’, and the new time is surely already at hand.