Rubio’s outreach to CARICOM leaders lays groundwork—but work remains on both sides
By Sir Ronald Sanders
By any diplomatic measure, the recent engagement between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the independent states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is historic. Within just four months of taking office, Secretary Rubio has held substantive in-person talks with 13 of the 14 CARICOM Heads of Government. The Prime Minister of Belize, John Briceño—whose nation straddles the Central American isthmus—also received a call focused mostly on Central American matters.
Never before has a U.S. Secretary of State conferred so extensively and swiftly with CARICOM leaders. This matters.
It signals that even amid a maelstrom of global crises, the Caribbean is not being ignored. Indeed, the weight of Rubio’s global responsibilities was brought into sharp focus during the meeting with the Prime Minister of The Bahamas and six Eastern Caribbean leaders, when an aide interrupted to report India’s missile strike on Pakistan. The strike was in retaliation for a massacre in Indian-controlled Kashmir which borders India and Pakistan. The world was on edge, and yet Rubio remained in the Caribbean meeting as long as he could – listening and engaging.
Adding to the weight on his shoulders, Rubio has also been appointed National Security Adviser to President Donald Trump —a dual role not seen since the era of the legendary Dr. Henry Kissinger. The expectation, then, is enormous. Yet his direct and personal outreach to the Caribbean underscores an intent to understand the region.
When Secretary Rubio first met six CARICOM leaders on 26 and 27 March, the looming threat of U.S. trade tariffs had not yet materialized. But by the time of the May 6 meeting, President Trump had signed an Executive Order imposing a sweeping 10% tariff on all imports into the U.S.—including from CARICOM states, and much higher tariffs on other nations, especially China. This second round of meetings with Caribbean leaders offered the opportunity to address these tariffs directly.
The conversations were respectful, candid, and forward-leaning. No grandstanding, no finger-pointing—just clear-eyed dialogue on pressing concerns: trade imbalances, Cuban medical personnel, narcotics trafficking, gun crime, immigration, and the role of China in the region.
On the matter of Cuban doctors, Caribbean leaders pushed back firmly but respectfully against any suggestion of human trafficking. They explained that Cuban medical teams are indispensable to their public health systems. These professionals are compensated directly, with governments paying a facilitation fee to Havana—similar to arrangements with other states that deploy medical missions abroad. Still, the leaders made it clear: they remain open to reviewing their processes to ensure alignment with international labour standards.
As for immigration, the region reiterated a long-standing position: they accept the return of their nationals, consistent with the deportation laws of the United States. Pre-meeting speculation that Washington might pressure these small Caribbean states to take in non-nationals proved unfounded, although it would have been resisted as far too burdensome had it been raised.
The topic of China was dealt with sensitively. The four Caribbean nations present, including Antigua and Barbuda and The Bahamas which have diplomatic and economic relationships with China, reaffirmed their right -and the necessity - to maintain broad-based economic partnerships. Their relationships with China, they stressed, are rooted in development cooperation, not ideology or military alignment. Their only military alliances, they emphasized, are with the U.S. and fellow CARICOM states.
On trade, the leaders laid out stark numbers: in 2023, the U.S. exported approximately $2.23 billion in goods to the Eastern Caribbean, importing a mere $67.5 million in return. The resulting U.S. trade surplus underscores a one-sided flow that the region has not sought to disrupt. The newly imposed 10% tariff, however, risks making U.S. goods - already the source of over 60% of the region’s imports, including food and medicine - even more expensive, threatening economic resilience and development gains. Worse yet, it could increase poverty and unemployment and weaken the rule of law in the region.
This was no showdown. It was a beginning. The first lap of what Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, described as a marathon. The tone was constructive, the atmosphere collegial, the intentions clear: deepen cooperation, reduce misperceptions, and build a relationship grounded not in dependency and dictation but in mutual respect and shared interest.
The Caribbean spoke clearly and with unity on their shared concerns. Secretary Rubio listened. That alone marks a notable departure from past dynamics. But listening is only the first act. The true measure of success lies in the follow-through, and there is much work still to be done by both sides.
Still, May 6 was a good start. A solid foundation upon which both the United States and the Caribbean can build - not just in this moment of global stress and strain, but toward a renewed partnership for the long road ahead to stability, predictability and prosperity.
(The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the US and the OAS. He is also the Dean of the Ambassadors of the Western Hemisphere Group accredited to the U.S. The views expressed are entirely his own. Responses and previous commentaries:www.sirronaldsanders.com)