Kingston.– The 28th meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Permanent Mechanism for Political Consultation and Coordination, the Rio Group, was held in Montego Bay on November 4, 2009, thanks to the generous hospitality of the Jamaican government.

The meeting was chaired by Mexican Foreign Secretary Patricia Espinosa as Secretary Pro Tem of the group. She was accompanied at the presidium by Chilean Foreign Minister Mariano Fernández and the Dominican Republic’s Undersecretary for Economic Affairs and Trade Negotiations, Juan Guilliani, both members of the Troika.

The Foreign Ministers approved and welcomed Jamaica as a full member of the Rio Group. The Caribbean Community will continue to be represented in the Group as it has been since 1989.

The Rio Group invited the member States of the Caribbean Community to the meeting; delegations from Barbados, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago participated.

It was acknowledged at the meeting that the growing participation of Latin American and Caribbean countries in the Rio Group enriches its diverse and plural nature and strengthens it as an institution that is key to dialog and coordination in our region.