{"id":157230,"date":"2022-08-04T17:22:20","date_gmt":"2022-08-04T21:22:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=157230"},"modified":"2022-08-04T17:22:20","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T21:22:20","slug":"has-caricom-reached-its-limits-of-regional-integration-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/has-caricom-reached-its-limits-of-regional-integration-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Has CARICOM reached its limits of regional integration?\u00a0\u00a0Part 2\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"antig-1484954600\" class=\"antig-ecab antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div><div id=\"antig-3583961779\" class=\"antig-before-content antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/medicalbenefitsscheme\" aria-label=\"ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1200\/h:400\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1200\/h:400\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 1200w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:341\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ce741a73-c70c-446b-af7f-da2abe2b62bb.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1200\" height=\"400\"   \/><\/a><\/div><p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By Sir Ronald Sanders<\/p><div id=\"antig-2162154950\" class=\"antig-content_5 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ablpag\" aria-label=\"PHOTO-2026-04-29-09-48-12\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:864\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PHOTO-2026-04-29-09-48-12.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:864\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PHOTO-2026-04-29-09-48-12.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:240\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PHOTO-2026-04-29-09-48-12.jpg 240w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:819\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PHOTO-2026-04-29-09-48-12.jpg 819w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:960\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PHOTO-2026-04-29-09-48-12.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:864\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/PHOTO-2026-04-29-09-48-12.jpg 1229w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1280\" height=\"1600\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><em>(The writer is Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s Ambassador to the United States of America and the Organization of American States.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, and Massey College in the University of Toronto)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the first part of this commentary, the conclusion was reached that the great ideals, set out in the 1973 Treaty of Chaguaramas (the CARICOM Treaty) and its revision in 2001, remain unfulfilled.\u00a0\u00a0But does this reality mean that, as the CARICOM project reaches its 50th anniversary next July, it has reached the limits of regional integration?<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The previous commentary showed that CARICOM expanded by adding new members (Suriname and Haiti), but it failed to deepen its integration arrangements, such that while it has been aspiring to become a Single Market and Economy (SME) since 2001, it still has not established a Customs Union let alone a Common Market.<\/p><div id=\"antig-1994409155\" class=\"antig-content_4 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div><div id=\"antig-1415017854\" class=\"antig-content_12 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ablpag\" aria-label=\"uwi\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:864\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/uwi.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:864\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/uwi.jpg 1080w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:240\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/uwi.jpg 240w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:819\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/uwi.jpg 819w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:960\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/uwi.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1350\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The prevailing characteristic of CARICOM, apart from the agonizingly slow pace of institutionalizing the machinery for integration, has been the jealous retention of \u201csovereignty\u201d by governments of the region. In other words, as the late, former Prime Minister of Barbados, Owen Arthur, put it disapprovingly: \u201c[CARICOM] conceives of (itself) mainly as a community of sovereign states in which sovereignty is pooled but never ceded; with the nation-state being the locus of decision-making in respect of the implementation of regional commitments\u201d.<\/p><div id=\"antig-2040562021\" class=\"antig-content antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.antiguabarbudaculinarymonth.com\/\" aria-label=\"culinary\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:843\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:843\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 2560w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:132\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:450\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:337\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 768w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1536\/h:675\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1920\/h:842\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/culinary-scaled.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1124\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, it should not be believed that political leaders are the only persons who cling to sovereignty (in other words, keeping all decision making at the national level).\u00a0\u00a0Over the years, keen to maintain control over what they consider to be their own turf, bureaucrats have also caused decisions to be delayed, deferred or made impossible to implement.\u00a0\u00a0The pull of local control remains greater than the push toward regional authority.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The worst example of failure to operationalize fully a regional institution that CARICOM governments, themselves, established is the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).\u00a0\u00a0Upon its establishment, the CCJ was to become the final appellate Court for all civil and criminal matters, replacing the British (and colonial) Privy Council.\u00a0\u00a0Epitomizing the inexplicable dissonance that surrounds the attitude to the CCJ is that its headquarters is located in Trinidad and Tobago, a country that has been independent since 1962, and that has long severed the Queen as its Head of State in favour of becoming a Republic with a native President. Yet Trinidad and Tobago\u2019s final appellate Court remains the British Privy Council because of internal politics.<\/p><div id=\"antig-3060727531\" class=\"antig-content_2 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courts.com\/antigua\/\" aria-label=\"IMG_0783\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:500\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_0783.png\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:500\/h:500\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_0783.png 500w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_0783.png 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:150\/h:150\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/IMG_0783.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" width=\"500\" height=\"500\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only four CARICOM countries \u2013 Barbados, Belize, Dominica and Guyana \u2013 recognize the CCJ as their final Court of Appeal.\u00a0\u00a0Despite the celebration of independence and sovereignty, Caribbean politicians (on all sides) by their failure to explain the merits of the CCJ to their people &#8211; or by their deliberate misleading of them \u2013 sustain a contradiction.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In part, this situation continues because the \u201cnation state\u201d in CARICOM has not collapsed, supported, as it is, by official development assistance from members of the international community; by international lenders who profit from loans to needy governments; and by investors whose business models are based on over generous tax concessions by the state, motivated by competition between CARICOM states, especially in the tourism industry.<\/p><div id=\"antig-2637921945\" class=\"antig-content_3 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.courts.com\/antigua\/\" aria-label=\"IMG_1115\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:864\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:864\/h:1080\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 1080w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:240\/h:300\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 240w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:819\/h:1024\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 819w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:960\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/IMG_1115.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1080\" height=\"1350\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Additionally, no CARICOM country has had to bear the full burden of national security that would come from the establishment of the military apparatus necessary to protect its borders and its sovereignty.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There has been little or no need for an air force, battle ships, armies or considerable armaments.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Up until Russia invaded Ukraine, the borders, territorial integrity and sovereignty of individual CARICOM countries, was protected by an international order and a UN Security Council that seemed to insure protection against military aggression.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Despite Russia\u2019s action, CARICOM countries have not discussed their collective defence. Instead, they have repeated their desire for the Caribbean to be a \u201czone of peace\u201d, expecting external actors to respect it, knowing fully well that the cost of defending themselves militarily is far beyond each of their means.<\/p><div id=\"antig-1521880842\" class=\"antig-content_6 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/discoverflow.co\/web\/antigua\" aria-label=\"ANU CVP Digital Broadband 1200x400_1\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1201\/h:401\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1201w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:100\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1024\/h:342\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:256\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/ANU-CVP-Digital-Broadband-1200x400_1-1.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1201\" height=\"401\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even at times of natural disasters, causing massive damage and economic reversals, individual CARICOM countries have looked to the international donor community for help; borrowed money, thus increasing their national debt burden; and entered into financial adjustment programmes with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the latter case, they have been forced to cede aspects of the \u201csovereignty\u201d to which they cling within the CARICOM grouping.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0However, apart from the worthwhile, but under resourced, work of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, CARICOM is not able to respond in the way in which, for instance, the single federal governments of the US or Canada are able to tackle disasters in states or provinces.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To be sure, in the 60 years since Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago became independent states, leading to a procession of Caribbean countries doing the same, independence has allowed national governments to accelerate infrastructural development and economic progress in many countries.\u00a0\u00a0Within the CARICOM group, Haiti, with its history of foreign occupation, exploitation, and succession of dictatorial and repressive governments, is the main exception.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, sovereignty has not been without its benefits.\u00a0\u00a0But the question remains: how much further along the road to economic and social progress would CARICOM countries have been, had they not only pooled their sovereignty but also ceded aspects of it to a regional centre as occurred with the European Union?<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to the latest IMF research, further liberalizing trade and labour mobility in the region can generate significant economic benefits\u2014potentially over 7 percent of the region\u2019s GDP in 2018.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The February 2020 research finds that \u201ca 25-percent reduction in non-tariff barriers and trade costs within CARICOM and vis-\u00e0-vis non-CARICOM trade partners can boost trade and improve welfare gain for all members\u2014at about $6 billion, or 7.6 percent of the region\u2019s GDP in 2018. It can also help restructure economies from contracting to expanding sectors, resulting in a net employment gain across the region\u201d.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The IMF report entitled, \u201cIs the Whole Greater than the Sum of its Parts? Strengthening Caribbean Regional Integration\u201d, lays out solid research to establish that while the small size and supply constraints of these countries may potentially limit benefits from economic integration, acting as a group can enhance the scale, bringing widespread benefits and helping the region further tap into global value chains.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Part 3 next week will conclude this discussion.<\/p>\n<div id=\"antig-3611240114\" class=\"antig-in-comments_2 antig-entity-placement\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/@hadeedmotorsltd\" aria-label=\"Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2\"><img src=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:1000\/h:250\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 1000w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:300\/h:75\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 300w, https:\/\/mlavawteztbj.i.optimole.com\/w:768\/h:192\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Hadeed_WEB_Banner_MG-2.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" width=\"1000\" height=\"250\"   \/><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Sir Ronald Sanders (The writer is Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s Ambassador to the United States of America and the Organization of American States.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London, and Massey College in the University of Toronto)\u00a0 In the first part of this commentary, the conclusion was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":136461,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157230","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.1 (Yoast SEO v24.1) - 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