IN a press release, Prime Minister of Jamaica, Madame Portia Simpson-Miller announced the impending visit to that island of Barack Obama, President of the United States of America on 9th April, 2015.
According to the release, in addition to bilateral discussions on a range of issues of mutual interest with Simpson Miller, President Obama will also meet with Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) for discussions on issues on the CARICOM-USA agenda, including security and trade. They will also exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.
Speculations are rife that President Obama is expected to use a meeting of Caribbean nations to try to reassert American influence in the Region and press its leaders to pursue alternative energy solutions that would loosen their reliance on oil from Venezuela. This seems to be evident from the corresponding visit of USA’s Energy Secretary Ernest J. Moniz, who accompanied the American President, arriving in Jamaica on Wednesday night. The meetings, according to a media report, will be “… focused on trade and energy use and production in the Caribbean basin.”
Venezuelan subsidised oil is used by most Caribbean nations; and that country is currently experiencing an economic crisis. However, while excellent relations existed between Hugo Chavez and the Guyana Government, from which our rice deals and other trading partnerships evolved, the interference by Venezuela in Guyana’s oil exploration expeditions is again raising border tensions. Here one has to remember that Guyana’s Ankoko Island is still under annexation by Venezuela.
The Heads-of-State will encounter preludes at the summit of Latin American nations – the Summit of the Americas, slated to open today in Panama City, where it is expected that the Venezuelan and Cuban issues will take precedence over other items on the agenda.
According to a March 9th New York Times report by Julie Hirschfeld Davis, there are tensions between the Obama Administration and President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, especially so because of an executive order by Obama that froze assets of mid-level Venezuelan officials suspected of human rights abuses or violations of due process.
The report states that “The order described Venezuela as a threat to United States national security, a charge that senior American officials have recently tried to soften, arguing that it was merely pro forma language that accompanies any such sanctions.”
On the issue of Cuban/USA relations, Davis reports that “President Obama’s push for a historic opening with Cuba faces its first major test this week as he travels to a summit meeting in Latin America, where he hopes to highlight momentum toward ending a half-century of isolation from the island nation.
“Even before Mr. Obama boarded Air Force One on Wednesday, White House officials signalled that the administration was nearing a decision on whether to remove Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism. That left open the possibility that he could use the Summit of the Americas in Panama to clear a major sticking point in the effort to restore diplomatic ties between Washington and Havana.
“The move would pave the way for the reopening of embassies that have been closed for over 50 years, a crucial step in the easing of tensions between the United States and Cuba that Mr. Obama announced in December.”
The United States was the driver of the push for the expulsion of Cuba from the Organization of American States in 1962; and in a historic move, Mr. Obama and President Raúl Castro of Cuba will engage each other in official meetings for the first time, during the summit at general events and in bilateral encounters on the sidelines.
Davis wrote “Mr. Obama’s trip… is emerging as a crucial milestone in his effort to turn the page on a Cold War-era grudge that his advisers say has led to policies that are ineffectual and harmful to American interests.”