US-Caribbean reboot

In a clear signal of renewed diplomatic focus, the United States has pledged to “reinvigorate” ties with CARICOM countries, framing the region’s economic stability and security as “intricately tied” to its own national interests.

In an address to CARICOM heads of governments yesterday, and on the heels of the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and a partially lifted oil blockade on Cuba, United States (US) Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration is aiming to make the region a magnet for inbound investment.

Rubio, while acknowledging CARICOM countries’ efforts to move beyond traditional industries, promised to facilitate American business involvement in emerging new sectors.

“The stronger, the safer, the more prosperous, and the more secure that all of your countries are, the stronger, safer, more secure, and prosperous the United States is going to be,” he said at the 50th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM now under way in St Kitts and Nevis.

“We view our security, our prosperity, our stability to be intricately tied to yours; and we are going to evidence, in the actions we’re prepared to take and in the priority that we want to give this, our intent to follow through on it,” he added.

He called his attendance at the regional meeting a move to “reinvigorate” relationships, noting that the US and Caribbean countries have “a lot in common to work on both opportunities and challenges”.

“The United States is committed to doing that. And certainly, over the next three years [that] I remain in this post, it will be a personal priority to me. It will be one that I will be personally engaged in, and it’s one that I hope to leave for my successor, whoever that may be, a very strong and stable relationship that they can continue to build upon as well,” Rubio said.

At the same time, the US top diplomat did not publicly address the growing humanitarian crisis in Cuba, exacerbated by his government’s discontinuation of Venezuelan oil supply to the Spanish-speaking Caribbean country.

The United Nations has warned of an imminent humanitarian collapse if energy needs remain unmet, noting that hospitals and water systems are failing.

On Wednesday, the US Treasury Department announced that it would allow companies to sell and export oil, gas, and Venezuelan-origin fuel to Cuba.

However, it said the authorisation is not for a direct sale to the Cuban government, but is limited to private-sector entities and for humanitarian purposes, in response to a severe energy crisis that worsened after Maduro’s capture.

“Irrespective of how some of you may have individually felt about our operations and our policy towards Venezuela, I will tell you this, and I will tell you this without any apology or without any apprehension: Venezuela is better off today than it was eight weeks ago,” he said.

The progress being made there is substantial, and there’s a long ways to go. But the new interim authorities, led by Delcy Rodríguez, have done things that eight or nine weeks ago would have been unimaginable,” Rubio added.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com