By: Staff Writer
May 6, 2025
The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with the Prime Ministers of Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines at the Department of State today.
The meeting comes as the US continues to build feedback on the impact of President Trump’s global tariff policy and leaders from the region were expected to address it at the meeting.
They will also focus on matters of mutual interest, aimed at strengthening cooperation and deepening ties between the United States and the Eastern Caribbean. The agenda is expected to cover a wide range of critical areas.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has stated that controversial issues will not be discussed during a meeting scheduled for Tuesday. Gonsalves believes that the meeting should focus on areas where their interests can be accommodated, such as security, U.S.-made weapons, Coast Guard assets, disaster preparedness, and disaster management. He also emphasizes the importance of open channels for discussing these issues.
Gonsalves is concerned about regional banks’ connections with U.S. financial institutions, which have been threatened by tightened U.S. financial restrictions. This has led to the closure of some Caribbean banks, limiting U.S.-based nationals’ ability to send remittances back home.
In March, Rubio travelled to Jamaica, Guyana, and Suriname March to advance President Trump’s U.S. foreign policy priorities in the Caribbean. While in Jamaica, he also held bilateral engagements with heads of state from Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, and Haiti.
During the March meeting in Jamaica, there was heavy focus on Haiti, which Gonsalves, a vocal supporter of the troubled nation, believes will also come up in Tuesday’s talks after CARICOM and the State Department last month denounced maneuvers by armed gang leaders and others to try to overthrow the country’s transitional government.
Others in the region also expect China’s growing influence in the Caribbean, as well as Cuba’s controversial medical brigades program, which exports medical professionals, to also come up in the talks. Rubio earlier this year announced an expansion of visa restrictions to government officials who participate in the Cuba program, which he describes as “forced labor.”