The United States on Thursday announced a multi-million-dollar aid package for the Caribbean as the Caribbean Community (Caricom) said that the United States–Caribbean Dialogue should translate into practical commitments, including financing for resilient energy systems as well as moving forward on the political and security situation in Haiti that “must remain central to our attention.”
St Lucia’s Prime Minister Phillip J Pierre, who is also the chairman of the 15-member Caricom grouping, said that the meeting is a response to the call by Caricom leaders for political-level consultations, following the “constructive engagement” they had with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during the Caricom summit held in St Kitts and Nevis in February. “We value this relationship. Our countries are connected by geography, commerce, tourism, family and friendship. The Caribbean Community is a close neighbour, a stable democratic partner and a region open to investment.
“We seek a more strategic partnership, sustained by regular dialogue and measured by improvements in our people’s lives,” Pierre told the meeting with US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who said Washington would be providing an additional US$55.5 million to strengthen law enforcement and US$11 million in Foreign Military Financing to build the capabilities of security forces in the Caribbean.
“Ultimately, a modern economy cannot exist without a secure network. We all have seen vulnerabilities,” Landau said, announcing US$175.8 million in US investment in secure infrastructure through the Caribbean and Central America undersea cables programme.
“This will provide trusted, high-speed connectivity across the region to build resilient, secure networks that serve your people and not outside interests.
“So together, the numbers that I have mentioned really total hundreds of millions of dollars in new commitments, but it’s not just about a certain dollar amount. It’s about just the long term, the United States reaffirming its interest and commitment to this critical region,” Landau added.
Pierre said that for Caribbean families, energy security means affordable electricity. Economic cooperation means jobs, investment and opportunity. Security cooperation means safer communities. Disaster preparedness means knowing that help will arrive when it is needed.
Pierre said that these are shared interests and “our discussions today should translate them into practical commitments: financing for resilient energy systems; predictable trade and stronger commercial partnerships; secure infrastructure; stronger health systems and disaster response; and coordinated action against organised crime and illicit firearms trafficking.”
He said that the ongoing situation in Haiti, where criminal gangs are seeking to overthrow the government in the French-speaking Caricom country, must also be a priority at the talks. Pierre expressed appreciation to the United States for the role it played, welcoming the extension of the United Nations Security mandate to extend the duration of the Gang Suppression Force (GSF) in Haiti.
The UN Security Council voted 12-0 to extend the multinational GSF in Haiti by 6 months, keeping the mission active through 31 March 2027. The renewal comes amid worsening insecurity in Haiti, where armed gangs control large sections of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and have expanded into rural communities, carrying out killings, kidnappings, sexual violence and extortion.
According to the UN, approximately 1.5 million people, or 12% of the population, have been displaced by the violence. More than 3,000 people were killed and over 1,500 injured between October 2025 and April 2026. The GSF had replaced an earlier Kenyan-led security mission. About 1,500 to 1,600 personnel are currently deployed, with its main function being to restore public safety, secure vital infrastructure and allow the government to function. The GSF is expected to reach its quota of 5,500 personnel in Haiti by October 2026.
Pierre said that Caricom continues its work in Haiti through the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) chaired by former St Lucia prime minister Dr Kenny Anthony, noting that “sustained international assistance and credible elections, with the widest possible participation, are essential to restoring confidence and supporting Haiti’s return to stability.”
The Caricom chairman said that the deliberations here must also “make room for immigration and migration, matters with profound implications for our communities and our people-to-people ties. “Colleagues, the strength of today’s meeting will be demonstrated by what follows it. Let us connect political dialogue with sustained technical engagement, identify priorities and establish clear arrangements for follow-up.”
Pierre said that the Guyana-based Caricom Secretariat will help coordinate the community’s technical work alongside national authorities and regional institutions. “Caricom comes to this table ready to listen, ready to engage and ready to build a partnership that delivers mutual benefit, with respect for our sovereignty and our shared aspirations,” Pierre added.
In his address, Landau said that the relationships between the United States and the Caribbean “have been crucial throughout our history and throughout your history. “The personal bonds between our countries are amazing. So many successful people in the United States, in this generation and previous generations, have come from your region. I’m going all the way back to Alexander Hamilton, but people like Colin Powell, who ran this building 25 years ago. I mean, our country has benefitted enormously from the ties with your region.”
But he acknowledged that “it has been a source of pain for many of us as Americans to see the United States not giving the Western Hemisphere generally the attention it deserved, and specifically the Caribbean.”
“The Caribbean is very much part of the Western Hemisphere,” he said, noting that Washington is seeking to restore the Western Hemisphere to its position of pre-eminence and priority in American foreign policy. “For far too long, we have been looking at things that are happening halfway across the world, and we have been ignoring things that are happening right in our own neighbourhood,” he said, adding, “I think it’s very important that we recognise some of the flaws of recent years in our policies and we talk together to commit to ways that we can build institutional relationships”.
Landau said the challenge is to create a “lasting foundation that doesn’t just depend on so-and-so being friends with so-and-so. “I mean, it’s wonderful, and it’s great. One of the great things about these kinds of gatherings is that we can establish personal relationships, right? It’s great if I can have you on WhatsApp or that kind of thing. But that is not the basis for a lasting institutional structure of a relationship that’s going to survive over decades.
“And I think — that’s what I’m hoping that a conference like today can establish — really both those things. I mean, again, personal ties are important in diplomacy. But again, I think I’m looking to strengthen the structural ties, again.” He said he was glad that both sides were not building “from scratch” but that “I also want to make clear that we in the United States do not have all the answers.”
He said Rubio was “delighted” to have travelled to St Kitts and Nevis this year and that he “understands better than anybody the importance of this Caribbean region to the United States, across all dynamics, again, on a human level, on an economic level, on a security level.”
He said that the idea of a dialogue “doesn’t mean that you have come here to have me or anybody else in the United States just give lectures. “I just think it’s very important that we, the United States, listen to you from the Caribbean to what your vision is. I…you all are sovereign countries; you are going to decide your fate.
“I truly believe we wouldn’t be having this meeting if the Secretary and I didn’t believe that what is in your interests is also in our interests; that there are many, many areas where we should be deepening cooperation where there are great solutions.”
Landau said that while talking points prepared for the meeting indicated that funds would be made available to the region “for this and millions of dollars for that,” he is more interested in “where do we get the businesses that are going to be there for the long term, that are investing in real economic opportunities that are creating a lasting foundation for the relationships?
“Because ultimately, a particular grant can be fine to fill a particular need, but for a long-term growth strategy, a particular grant isn’t going to fix that.”
Landau said that ultimately, the greatness of the United States is not driven by the government, saying “it is driven by our private sector, and so our job — or what I see our job as being is just to be an interlocutor so that our private sector is aware of the opportunities in the Caribbean, and that the Caribbean is aware of what the private sector might be interested in here. I mean, it’s a conversation that has to go both ways.”
CMC
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