President Barack Obama has sought to reassert US influence in the Caribbean and the Americas with pledges of energy assistance and diplomatic fence mending.
Obama huddled yesterday with Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and then with an expanded group of Caribbean leaders as he opened a three-day trip that will conclude with his attendance at the Summit of the Americas in Panama City.
Obama's travels come after a year spent devoting increased attention to the region by signing executive orders on immigration, seeking to slow the influx of Central American minors to the US border, tussling with Venezuela over human rights and initiating a historic diplomatic opening with Cuba.
But Obama's efforts are limited, with his most ambitious one facing potential obstacles from the Republican-controlled Congress and his most recent immigration initiative stalled by court order. A USD 1 billion spending initiative aimed at Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador's economic and crime troubles, for instance, requires congressional approval.
Still, punishing electricity costs that are as much as five times more expensive than prices on the US mainland and a lack of energy security have long been major concerns in the scattered islands of the Caribbean. The sun-splashed, wind-swept region derives nearly all of its electricity from plants that burn imported oil and diesel.
Obama yesterday announced a USD 20 million effort to help jump start private and public sector investment in clean energy projects in the Caribbean and Central America.
"If we can lower those costs through the development of clean energy and increased energy efficiency we could unleash, I think, a whole host of additional investment and growth," Obama said.
Energy security on the import-dependent island is a growing concern with the wobbly economy of oil-dependent Venezuela, where the Petrocaribe trade program created by the late President Hugo Chavez has kept Jamaica and much of the region dependent on the South American country for energy.
Venezuela's shadow hung over not only the Caribbean stop but the upcoming Summit of the Americas where President Nicolas Maduro and his regional allies were likely to confront Obama over his decision to levy sanctions against seven Venezuelans. The sanctions were to protest Maduro's crackdown on dissent in the country, but Maduro has used them to rally political support by casting the US as an aggressor.
