Leaders from the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the Bahamas will meet with the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, on Tuesday in Washington.
A government statement here said that the OECS leaders will be led by St Lucia’s Prime Minister Phillip J Pierre, who is also chairman of the sub-regional grouping, and that the “meeting will concentrate on preserving and strengthening the relationship between the OECS and the United States, as both sides explore key issues and opportunities for deeper cooperation”.
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It said that the discussions will focus on economic cooperation, migration issues, security cooperation, as well as the role and contribution of Caribbean nationals in the US diaspora, and the Cuban Medical Program.
The statement said that Pierre, in his remarks to the meeting, will reaffirm the OECS’s “commitment to constructive dialogue and strategic partnership”.
“This diplomatic engagement is part of the OECS Authority’s broader mandate to promote the collective interests of its member states and ensure that the voices of small island developing states continue to be represented at the highest levels.”
Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, speaking on the state-owned DBS radio on Monday, said he expects the meeting to be “a very constructive engagement” and that the grouping was looking forward to holding talks with Rubio.
“We look forward to the engagement, it is the first engagement we are having with the Secretary of State,” he added.
The Bahamas will be represented by its prime minister, Phillip Davis.
Last month, Rubio visited the Caribbean, holding discussions in Jamaica with CARICOM chair and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the then Trinidad and Tobago prime minister, Stuart Young.
He also travelled to Guyana for talks with President Irfaan Ali and met Suriname’s President, Chandrikapersad “Chan” Santokhi in Paramaribo. During these meetings, Rubio reiterated the Trump administration’s commitment to the region.
Caribbean countries have in the past few weeks objected to Washington’s decision to revoke the visas of foreign government officials whose countries employ Cuban doctors and nurses.
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants who left Cuba in pursuit of the American dream, said that the new policy also applies to the immediate family of those people supporting the Cuban program.
Rubio, in his statement, said that Cuba continues to profit from the forced labor of its workers and that the regime’s abusive and coercive labor practices have been well documented.
“Cuba’s labor export programs, which include the medical missions, enrich the Cuban regime, and in the case of Cuba’s overseas medical missions, deprive ordinary Cubans of the medical care they desperately need in their home country,” Rubio said, and that Washington remains committed to countering forced labor practices around the globe.
The regional governments have said that the Cuban medical brigade has been beneficial to the development of their respective health sectors and are prepared to have the US visa revoked. (CMC)
