Merida, Mexico (April 28th, 2014) – The Preparatory Meeting of the 7th Extraordinary Meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) convened today in Merida, Mexico. Discussions centred around the Draft Declaration of Merida, where representatives of the ACS Member and Associate Member Countries reviewed this document.

This Meeting precedes the Meeting for the 7th Extraordinary Meeting of the Ministerial Council which will take place on April 29th and culminate with the VI Summit of the ACS the following day.

The Extraordinary Meeting will welcome Ministers of Foreign Affairs from the respective ACS Countries, who will approve the Draft Declaration to be presented at the Summit.

Thirteen Heads of State and Governments have thus far confirmed attendance to this Summit. They include: Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, St. Kitts and Nevis, Venezuela, Curacao and Sint Maarten.