MIAMI, CMC – United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio is prone to go to the Caribbean for talks with regional leaders, lower than per week after Caribbean Group (CARICOM) leaders signaled their intention to carry talks on the highest stage with the US as Washington adopts a brand new international and commerce coverage below President Donald Trump.
Barbados Prime Minister and CARICOM chair Mia Mottley, talking on the information convention on the finish of the summit final Friday, advised reporters that whereas no date had been put aside, earlier throughout the day, “we have been involved with the particular envoy of the President of the US of America for Latin America and the Caribbean (Mauricio Claver-Carone), and we totally anticipate that there can be a high-level assembly quickly.”
The Miami Herald newspaper quoted Claver-Carone on Thursday as saying that Rubio plans to go to the Caribbean area subsequent month.
“We’re going to go,” Claver-Carone mentioned, including that plans are nonetheless being finalized, with the newspaper indicating that the go to might embody Jamaica, Guyana, Barbados, or Suriname.
Neither Rubio nor Claver-Carone attended final week’s CARICOM summit, regardless of calls from some Democratic lawmakers that high-level US officers needs to be represented there.
Representatives Gregory W. Meeks, Rating Member of the Home Overseas Affairs Committee, Joaquin Castro, Rating Member of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, Yvette Clarke, and Stacey Plaskett had despatched a letter to Rubio urging the State Division to ship the delegation to the February 19-21 summit.
Of their February 15 letter, the US lawmakers mentioned that the summit would supply the US with the “alternative to deepen its dedication to our mutually helpful diplomatic, vitality, financial, and safety ties with companions within the Caribbean area.
“The Caribbean isn’t just our neighbor however a key pillar of US nationwide safety. Because the third border of the US, the Caribbean performs an indispensable function in addressing regional challenges, from countering illicit drug trafficking to curbing irregular migration and human smuggling,” they wrote.
Whereas Washington was not current on the three-day summit, Rubio spoke with Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness hours earlier than the opening ceremony, in response to the State Division. The 2 mentioned key regional points.
Claver-Carone, who is anticipated to be a part of the US delegation coming to the area subsequent month, mentioned he and Rubio need to have interaction with leaders on a number of points, together with the continuing gang violence and humanitarian disaster in Haiti.
“We’re not resistant to the tragedy,” he advised the Miami Herald, including, “It’s going to take some effort in addition to our funding, and our Caribbean companions are going to be vital in that regard.”
The Miami Herald newspaper reported that one concern that may come up throughout the go to was the rising presence of the Individuals’s Republic of China and its Belt and Highway initiative in a number of Caribbean nations.
“They’ve labored onerous to not simply court docket, however entrap a handful of votes world wide and together with in our hemisphere,” Rubio mentioned final month.
“When you take a look at the Caribbean basin in Grenada and locations like that, the place they go into these international locations… they don’t simply present a billion {dollars} to construct a stadium, in addition they provide you with 5 million or six million US {dollars} below the desk for your loved ones and pals,” he mentioned about Beijing throughout his US Senate affirmation listening to.
