It was in 2018, July. That I first addressed the CARICOM heads of government meeting as Prime Minister of Barbados in this very room, in this very town. I did so as a young, romantic, idealist, and a fervent believer of the regional integration movement. Today I stand to address you with scars and bruising, but still as a young, romantic, idealist. And I say so conscious that over the course of these seven years, our community has perhaps seen. more challenges than we have ever seen since attain