Multilateral cooperation for development in the caribbean basin: An agenda‐dynamics framework

Since the U.S. Congress approved some of the provisions of the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) in July 1983, U.S., Canadian, Asian and European businesses have demonstrated increasing investment interests in Latin America and the Caribbean. The CBI offers, among other incentives, free trade for Caribbean Basin products exported to the United States, and financial and technical assistance to the region's private sector.

This article applies the agenda‐dynamics framework of persuasive‐manipulative communication to the implementation of programs such as the CBI and to the formulation of development strategies for the Caribbean Basin. According to the framework, development in a nation is a function of the perceptions, preferences and actions of people associated with each of three agendas (media, public and policy), as well as the interplay of the agendas. The article emphasizes the need for agencies to develop and broaden development policies in response to Caribbean realities. Finally, it also considers the broad implications of multilateral cooperation for accomplishing wide‐ranging development programs in the Basin nations.