Rubio to attend Caribbean summit as US presses Venezuela, Cuba

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will take part in a summit of Caribbean nations on Wednesday, the State Department said, as he seeks a common line on Venezuela and pressure on Cuba.

Rubio will represent the United States in the summit of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) taking place this week in the small island nation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Rubio will address priorities of President Donald Trump, including combating illegal immigration, State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said Monday.

Rubio “will reaffirm the United States’ commitment to working with CARICOM member states to enhance stability and prosperity in our hemisphere,” Pigott said in a statement.

The summit is expected to evaluate the region’s policy on Venezuela after US commandos snatched leftist leader Nicolas Maduro in a deadly raid into Caracas on January 3.

Since then, Trump has sought to force cooperation from interim president Delcy Rodriguez, who was Maduro’s deputy, by exerting control over Venezuela’s crucial oil industry and threatening force if she does not do his bidding.

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Most Caribbean states stayed careful in their public reactions but have quietly embraced the US approach on Venezuela, seen for years as a source of instability as millions fled its crumbling economy.

Maduro had made territorial claims on Guyana, which is home to the CARICOM headquarters, and nearby Trinidad and Tobago gave access to the US military in the run-up to the operation.

CARICOM nations have been more circumspect on US pressure on Cuba, which is not a member of the bloc but has longstanding relations with many of its members.

Cuba is facing an energy crisis sapping its economy after the United States cut off oil shipments from Venezuela, the island’s key provider, and threatened sanctions on other nations that sell fuel.

Rubio, a Cuban-American former senator, has spent his political career seeking the overthrow of the communist government that has ruled Cuba since the 1959 revolution.

Rubio has toned down his public calls, while Trump says the United States is seeking an unspecified deal with Cuba.

When Rubio last attended CARICOM last year in Jamaica, he faced pushback as he pressed nations to get rid of Cuban doctors, a key moneymaker for Havana.

The CARICOM summit will also look at the persistent crisis in impoverished and violence-ravaged Haiti, where a transitional council recently handed over power to the US-backed prime minister after failing to rein in gangs or hold elections.

Rubio will be the highest-ranking US official ever to visit Saint Kitts and Nevis, a former British colony of around 50,000 people that is among the world’s smallest countries.