UN General Assembly
1986

I come now to terrorism. Here again, while the main focus of this iniquity has been in the developed countries, small States find themselves in a sadly vulnerable position. Some of our countries have become the arena for the conflict of others, and we have been forced to take precautions to protect ourselves. These precautions have not been without cost and, consequently, we have been compelled to divert spending from social and economic development projects to take account of this evil of terrorism. In the Caribbean, our countries depend on tourism, and welcoming visitors from all over the world and offering them the comforts of nature, with which we are blessed in abundance, are important elements in our economic well-being. In this context alone, we cannot afford to treat security at our ports casually. The current situation in the world, in which terrorists strike indiscriminately at innocent civilians demands that we interrupt our own peaceful way of life with extravagant security arrangements for the hundreds of thousands of people who visit our countries every year.