US, Caribbean mend fences on energy cooperation

A meeting yesterday among US secretary of state Tony Blinken and foreign ministers of Caribbean regional trade group Caricom has rekindled cooperation in several areas including energy, Caribbean officials told Argus today.

The talks ended months of division among the 15-member Caricom over the former US administration's campaign to isolate the government of Venezuela's president Nicolas Maduro, they said.

"We may not go back to the specific energy co-operation projects that were proposed by the Obama administration, but the scene is set for a more fruitful and calmer relationship with the US," a Jamaican government official said, referring to the administration of former US president Barack Obama (2009-17) who preceded Donald Trump's 2017-21 confrontational tenure. Caricom fragmented when the Trump administration convened meetings to discuss increasing pressure on Venezuela, excluding countries that questioned its sanctions policy toward Caracas.

Current US president Joe Biden, who took office in January, served as Obama's vice president when the White House made a historic overture to Cuba, a longtime target of US sanctions. Havana is not a member of Caricom but the island and its Venezuelan ally still hold regional sway.

At the start of yesterday's discussions, the trade group's secretary general Irwin LaRocque praised the resumption of high-level meetings with the US. "I hope today's session is the start of a renewal of such encounters."

US-Caricom cooperation has previously addressed matters such as trade and investment, security, health, energy, disaster management and climate change, LaRocque said.

The meeting demonstrated "the US commitment to working with all countries in the region to advance bilateral and regional interests," the US state department said.

Guyana's foreign minister Hugh Todd said he told the meeting that three oil-producing Caricom members – Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname – "can help in driving the regional energy security agenda." There was "brief mention" of Guyana's border controversy with Venezuela that is being adjudicated by the UN's court ICJ, Todd said.

One Obama-era project that was abandoned by the Trump administration was designed to enhance Caribbean energy security by expanding the use of natural gas and renewables for power generation to replace oil.

The project was grounded in the then-imminent start-up of US LNG exports and a new $1bn fund set up by the Inter-American Development Bank to help countries convert power plants from oil to gas.

"The intention of this proposal is still valid, although its shape and dimensions would have changed over the past five years," the Jamaican official said.

By Canute James