Top official: US giving Caribbean priority

In October 19 testimony before the House International Relations Committee’s Western Hemisphere Subcommittee, Fisk outlined the United States’ engagement with its Caribbean partners on an array of issues.

Fisk said that the United States appreciates the importance of US relations with the nations of the Caribbean Community (Caricom). He pointed out that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has met with Caricom leaders twice in the past four months, and indicated that these meetings offered an opportunity for the United States and Caribbean nations to "reaffirm our mutual commitment to democracy and free markets."

This reaffirmation of common values, Fisk added, is particularly important at a time when Venezuela and Cuba actively are promoting an alternative vision for the region’s future.

Despite the efforts of Venezuela and Cuba to drive a wedge between the United States and its Caribbean partners, the region’s relations with the United States have not been undermined, said Fisk.

"Shared values and common interests have proven durable and will remain important as, together, we face the stresses and dislocations of a rapidly changing world," he said.

Fisk explained that the Caribbean must confront a number of challenges, including excessive debt and continued dependence on tourism and a few agricultural exports. As the Caribbean responds to these and other challenges, the region recognises that cooperation with the United States is important, Fisk told lawmakers.

"The people of the Caribbean widely recognise that the United States remains their best partner in crafting strategies to take advantage of changing circumstances," he said. "We are their willing partner in the effort to revitalise their economies, strengthen their democracies, provide opportunity to their citizens and enhance their security."

To these ends, Fisk said, open markets and expanded trade represent the Caribbean’s best means to promote sustainable growth. He noted that US development assistance to the region aims to help the Caribbean take advantage of regional and global trading opportunities. Within this context, he said, the United States continues to encourage full and constructive Caribbean participation in negotiations to craft a proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). (See related article.)

Fisk said that the United States also supports the efforts of Caribbean nations to invest in the education and health care of their people, and is providing the region with more than $75 million to improve health care for vulnerable populations. According to Fisk, the United States also is working with Caribbean countries to encourage the reforms needed to become eligible for future funding from the Bush administration’s Millennium Challenge Account, which makes funds available to those nations that govern well.

Because strengthening democracy is also a top US priority for the Caribbean, he said, the United States is working to build the capacity of local governments, enhance participatory democracy and encourage broad policy reforms. As weak democratic institutions are the root cause of political crises in the region, these efforts should help Caribbean nations determined to maintain and strengthen their democratic traditions and institutions, he added.

In the troubled nation of Haiti, the United States is working to provide a fresh start through support for upcoming elections, Fisk observed.

"We have an opportunity to help the Haitian people break free from the cycle of instability and violence that has thwarted every effort to improve their lives," he said. "While the road to electing and inaugurating a new government is a difficult one, we are working hard with the UN and OAS (Organisation of American States) to help the Haitians achieve this goal."

The State Department official added that US development assistance to Haiti and support for rule of law and democratic institutions there will provide the next Haitian government with the help it needs to carry forward reform. He said that the Caricom nations also must play an important role in this process.

"Much needs to be done to prepare for these elections, and to move Haiti forward to a democratic future," Fisk said. "Our partners in Caricom have a crucial role to play in the effort, and we are encouraging them to help Haiti by assisting with the electoral process and by readmitting Haiti to full Caricom membership."

While the United States works to support economic growth and democratic consolidation in the Caribbean, it also is working to bolster security cooperation, he pointed out.

"We believe that cooperation among policy and security officials in countering traditional criminal threats and the new menace of global terrorism, while strong, should be strengthened," Fisk said.

To help achieve this goal, he said, the United States is devoting more than $7 million in fiscal year 2005 to security assistance and counternarcotics funding for Caribbean programmes.

How well countries protect their citizens against the impact of natural disasters is also an element of security, Fisk said. He told legislators that the United States and the Caribbean have a strong partnership in this area and have expanded cooperation on disaster preparedness.

In view of US-Caribbean cooperation to foster prosperity, democracy and security in the region, the Bush administration remains a creative partner in reinforcing positive trends in the region, said Fisk.