Association of Caribbean States

Association of 25 states in the Caribbean region, formed in 1994 in Colombia to promote social, political, and economic cooperation and eventual integration. Its members include the states of the Caribbean and Central America plus Colombia, Suriname, and Venezuela. Associate membership has been adopted by 12 dependent territories in the region. Its creation was seen largely as a reaction to the North American Free Trade Agreement between the USA, Canada, and Mexico, although its far smaller market raised doubts about its vitality.

The members are: Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, St Kitts–Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.