Is populism a useful framework for understanding Caribbean regionalism?

The article posits that populism is of limited value in understanding Caribbean regionalism and argues that while populism and charisma might reasonably explain the leaders that emerged in the early pre- and post-independent periods, that type of leader has largely disappeared in the contemporary period. It identifies the external environment and the state-building focus of Caribbean leaders as exerting the most influence on the direction of the integration process. It also considers the Caribbean Community's (CARICOM's) engagement with regional processes in Latin America. It focuses, in particular, on the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America and the challenges it presented both for their coherence and through exposing the limitations of the type of integration scheme CARICOM represents.