Strengthening the USCaribbean Relationship: A Work in Progress

SIR RONALD SANDERS

The relationship between the United States of America (US) and the 14-member independent member states of CARICOM as well as the Dominican Republic has entered a new phase of cooperation after 7 years of neglect between 2015 and 2022.

Renewed US interest in the Caribbean region as whole, as distinct from a preoccupation with Cuba and Haiti, began at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, hosted by President Joe Biden in June 2022. At that meeting, many Caribbean leaders insisted on a collective meeting with the US President to place serious issues of concern before him.

Prior to the Los Angeles meeting, no engagement between Caribbean leaders collectively and a US President had taken place since Barack Obama held a fleeting encounter with them in Jamaica in 2015. Donald Trump had no engagement of any