US Sec. of State’s Jamaica trip creates CARICOM rift
BY VINETTE K. PRYCE
Only seven of 15 CARICOM
countries were invited to multilateral
meetings with US
Secretary state Mike Pompeo
in Jamaica recently.
Foreign ministers representing
the Bahamas, St. Lucia,
Haiti, Belize, Dominican
Republic, St. Kitts, and Nevis
and St. Maarten accepted the
diplomatic outreach some regarded
as an attempt by the
Trump Administration to inveigle
Caribbean nations to
reject Venezuela’s socialist
leader Nicolas Maduro.
On the fi rst day of impeachment
hearings against President
Donald Trump, Pompeo
stopped into Jamaica for a
two-day visit to meet with representatives
from the region.
Reportedly there to address
issues of bilateral concern and
solidify support for Trump’s
preferred leader of Venezuela,
Pompeo seemed to create
disunity amongst CARICOM
member nations.
In a recent State of the Nation
address, the president invited
Venezuela’s opposition
leader Juan Guaido to the
House of Representatives to
take a seat of honor and was
further acknowledged as the
legitimate president of the
Latin American nation.
Ovation from a mostly partisan
Caribbean Life, F 14 ebruary 21-27, 2020
Republican supportive
delegation cheered the foreign
diplomat with disregard of the
China, Russia and Cuba-alliance
and socialist regime of
Nicolas Maduro now in place.
Perhaps it was that response
and blatant intervention
into the affairs of Venezuela
that prompted leaders
of Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados,
Antigua and Barbuda and
Grenada to unite in solidarity
against Pompeo’s proposition
of bilateral talks. They boldly
criticized the gesture calling
it divisive and even referenced
the selective invitation
as a “colonial” tactic.
Mia Mottley, CARICOM
chair and Prime Minster of
Barbados explained: “Conscious
that this region must
always check itself to ensure
that we not become the pawns
of others, the satellites of others,
but that we keep ever most
and uppermost in our minds
what we must do for our people
without simply becoming
pawns on a chessboard for others
to be able to benefi t from.”
Her island’s boycott of the
diplomatic talks was quickly
countered by her neighboring
host who said: “Jamaica
does not want to see, and
does not engage in any policy
that would divide CARICOM,
which is an important fraternity
of countries. We want to
keep it that way. Jamaica’s
interest is to unite the region
for prosperity, freedom and
peace.”
However, a separate opinion
was that since the venue
for talks would be held in the
Caribbean, prior to accepting
the invitation Jamaica’s
Prime Minister Andrew Holness
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with Jamaica
Prime Minister Andrew Holness
could have advocated for
inclusion of the entire CARICOM
fraternity.
Reminiscent of the private
invitation to Trump’s Mara
Lago estate in Florida one
year ago when the president
invited fi ve CARICOM leaders
-- criticisms swirled throughout
the region that the Trump
administration was again
over-exerting his authority.
“There is no intent from the
United States to divide CARICOM,”
Pompeo explained,
“Not yesterday, not today, not
tomorrow.”
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