MIAMI, CMC – United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio is likely to visit the Caribbean for talks with regional leaders, less than a week after Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders signaled their intention to hold talks at the highest level with the United States as Washington adopts a new foreign and trade policy under President Donald Trump.
Barbados Prime Minister and CARICOM chair Mia Mottley, speaking at the news conference at the end of the summit last Friday, told reporters that while no date had been set aside, earlier during the day, “we were in contact with the special envoy of the President of the United States of America for Latin America and the Caribbean (Mauricio Claver-Carone), and we fully anticipate that there will be a high-level meeting soon.”
The Miami Herald newspaper quoted Claver-Carone on Thursday as saying that Rubio plans to visit the Caribbean region next month.
“We’re going to go,” Claver-Carone said, adding that plans are still being finalized, with the newspaper indicating that the visit could include Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, or Suriname.
Neither Rubio nor Claver-Carone attended last week’s CARICOM summit, despite calls from some Democratic lawmakers that high-level US officials should be represented there.
Representatives Gregory W. Meeks, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Joaquin Castro, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Yvette Clarke, and Stacey Plaskett had sent a letter to Rubio urging the State Department to send the delegation to the February 19-21 summit.
In their February 15 letter, the US lawmakers said that the summit would provide the United States with the “opportunity to deepen its commitment to our mutually beneficial diplomatic, energy, economic, and security ties with partners in the Caribbean region.
“The Caribbean is not just our neighbor but a key pillar of US national security. As the third border of the United States, the Caribbean plays an indispensable role in addressing regional challenges, from countering illicit drug trafficking to curbing irregular migration and human smuggling,” they wrote.
While Washington was not present at the three-day summit, Rubio spoke with Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness hours before the opening ceremony, according to the State Department. The two discussed key regional issues.
Claver-Carone, who is expected to be part of the US delegation coming to the region next month, said he and Rubio want to engage with leaders on several issues, including the ongoing gang violence and humanitarian crisis in Haiti.
“We’re not immune to the tragedy,” he told the Miami Herald, adding, “It’s going to take some effort as well as our investment, and our Caribbean partners are going to be important in that regard.”
The Miami Herald newspaper reported that one issue that would come up during the visit was the growing presence of the People’s Republic of China and its Belt and Road initiative in several Caribbean nations.
“They have worked hard to not just court, but entrap a handful of votes around the world and including in our hemisphere,” Rubio said last month.
“If you look at the Caribbean basin in Grenada and places like that, where they go into these countries… they don’t just provide a billion dollars to build a stadium, they also give you five million or six million US dollars under the table for your family and friends,” he said about Beijing during his US Senate confirmation hearing.
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