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PRIME Minister P J Patterson will officially open today's South Africa/African Union/ Caribbean Diaspora Conference at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.

The conference, to be chaired by Foreign Minister K D Knight, will also be addressed by South Africa's Foreign Minister Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, and deputy chairman of the African Union, Patrick Mazimhaka.

The foreign ministry said the forum should provide opportunities for and initiate dialogue towards the development of mechanisms to unite Africans in South Africa and the Diaspora.

The conference, being held under the theme "Towards Unity and United Action of South Africans and the African Diaspora in the Caribbean for a Better World: The Case of South Africa", will be held over three days.

It was proposed by the Government of South Africa as part of the celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of democracy in that country. The event is also a contribution to the efforts by the African Union to connect with the African Diaspora.

Delano Franklyn, Jamaica's deputy foreign minister, said last week that since Jamaica was one of the earliest countries to condemn apartheid and been long respected for the support the nation gave to African liberation, it was only fitting that the inaugural South Africa-AU-Caribbean Diaspora Conference be held in Jamaica.

"The contribution of the Caribbean region to the struggle against apartheid in particular, and colonialism in general, has for decades been an inspiration to the masses on the African continent," Franklyn said at a press conference to launch the conference.

At the same time, South Africa's High Commissioner to Jamaica Thanduyise Henry Chiliza said the conference will seek to plot a way forward for the unification of the global African Diaspora to engage in dialogue.

"It is my hope that the conference injects fresh impetus to the Pan-Africanist movement in the 21st century and strengthen the resolve and determination of all people of African descent to confront, decisively so, the plight and predicament of the African continent," the high commissioner said.

Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves is expected to be in attendance at the conference, which will have ministerial representation from 12 other Caribbean countries.

Haiti, a foreign ministry spokesman said, will be represented by civil society.

SOURCE: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...STON_TODAY.asp

South Africa is a player in Caribbean affairs, by its granting of asylum to deposed Haitian President Aristide, and its attempt to send arms there by military aircraft prior to his being hustled out by Yankee Gunslingers...........

........Isn't amazing------Allyuh White Ruling getting licks in Iraq and trapped in the Middle East----------Chinese Bigshots start showing up all over the Caribbean ------now here comes the South Africans.