“No One Will Save Us”: Caribbean Must Become More Self Reliant

BARBADOS – A stark warning for the Caribbean from Professor Justin Robinson: “No one is coming to save us.”

He made the remarks at the Central Bank of Barbados’ annual review seminar.

The UWI principal says he has spent the past year “annoying the Caribbean” with that message, challenging the region’s habit of waiting for international markets to fix themselves.

With global trade fracturing into competing blocs, Robinson urged a fundamental psychological shift toward self-reliance and genuine regional unity.

Robinson reminded audiences that the global trading system was built on other people’s terms.

He warned that when large economies face barriers, they lose efficiency. But when small islands do, they risk viability.

The effects are already arriving in higher prices for food, fuel and everyday goods.

His message to the region: strengthen local production, deepen Caribbean cooperation and take control of our financial destiny.