President Bharrat Jagdeo says he never gave a thought to refusing an invitation from US President George W. Bush to meet for breakfast because he does not believe the hand-picking of four Caribbean leaders could undermine Caribbean unity.

The invitation to the breakfast held in New York last week came in the wake of Caricom leaders seeking to meet with Bush following the US cut in military aid to six Caricom countries because of their support for the establishment of the International Criminal Court.

The Prime Ministers of St Lucia, The Bahamas and Grenada were also invited. With the exception of Jamaica’s Prime Minister PJ Patterson and current Chairman of Caricom, who declined the invitation because of prior commitments, none of the other six countries’ leaders was invited to the breakfast meeting. However, the issue of the ICC was not brought up, Jagdeo told Stabroek News.

At a press conference at the Office of the President yesterday he said he was not going to speculate on why Bush would invite certain leaders to breakfast. “That is for him to answer.”

He said that the comments about the meeting promoting disunity came from media analysts and political commentators and not from the Heads of Government themselves. “I’m sure that they (the media and political commentators) were not suggesting that we tell a foreign head of state” who to invite and who not to invite. “Many Caricom Heads of Government have gone to meetings at other points in time with other heads of state where others were not invited,” he added. Jagdeo said he found “very ridiculous, in fact stupid, that some people would think that we, from Caricom... four Heads of Government would go to breakfast (with Bush) and do something that is inimical to the interest of the region.” He said that they made sure that every issue affecting the region was raised.

While the region has a formal structure where it is generally accepted that the Chairman of Caricom speaks on behalf of the region, Jagdeo said, “there was nothing that precludes individual heads of state raising issues of concern to the region.”

Jagdeo said that he had heard the Prime Minister of Barbados, Owen Arthur saying that the meeting of the four leaders with Bush would not divide the region or affect Caribbean unity. Arthur, he said, was much older and wiser.

“He knew we are not going to do anything that is inimical to the region. He added that there was “no need to do damage control” because of their acceptance of the invitation.