KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) – As he wades into a region suffering economic and political stresses, President Barack Obama sought Thursday to reassert U.S. influence in the Caribbean and the Americas with pledges of energy assistance and diplomatic fence mending, a mix of modest steps and high ambition for the U.S.’s southern neighbors.
Obama huddled with Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller and then separately with leaders of the Caribbean Community, including Simpson Miller, as he opened a three-day trip that will conclude with his attendance at the Summit of the Americas in Panama City.
Obama’s travels come after a year spent devoting increased attention to the region by signing executive orders on immigration, seeking to slow the influx of Central American minors to the U.S. border, tussling with Venezuela over human rights and initiating a historic diplomatic opening with Cuba.
But Obama’s efforts are limited, with his most ambitious one facing potential obstacles from the Republican-controlled Congress and his most recent immigration initiative stalled by court order. A $1 billion spending initiative aimed at Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador’s economic and crime troubles, for instance, requires congressional approval.
Still, punishing electricity costs that are as much as five times more expensive than prices on the U.S. mainland and a lack of energy security have long been major concerns in the scattered islands of the Caribbean. The sun-splashed, wind-swept region derives nearly all of its electricity from plants that burn imported oil and diesel.