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For­mer for­eign af­fairs min­is­ter Win­ston Dook­er­an yes­ter­day hailed the “diplo­mat­ic suc­cess” of the Caribbean Com­mu­ni­ty (Cari­com) for se­cur­ing a meet­ing with US Sec­re­tary of State Mar­co Ru­bio so ear­ly in the Trump ad­min­is­tra­tion.

The meet­ing, set for Wednes­day, will see Prime Min­is­ter Stu­art Young trav­el­ling to Ja­maica at the height of the coun­try’s elec­tion sea­son, ac­com­pa­nied by For­eign Af­fairs Min­is­ter Dr Amery Browne. The pair aim to strength­en T&T’s ties with both Cari­com and the US, while deep­en­ing re­gion­al co­op­er­a­tion.

How­ev­er, with Prime Min­is­ter Young re­main­ing tight-lipped about who will act in his ab­sence, spec­u­la­tion is mount­ing about his pre­pared­ness for such a crit­i­cal meet­ing just days af­ter he and his Cab­i­net were sworn in.