by staff writer
ROSEAU, Dominica, May 8, CMC – Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has described as “very positive, extremely positive” the meeting held earlier this week between the United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, and the leaders of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and The Bahamas in Washington.
“I believe that the Secretary of State is a very pragmatic person…and we were able to discuss several important issues relating to the relations between ourselves and the United States,” Skerrit told the Government Information Service (GIS) on Thursday.
US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said that the issues discussed were key drivers of violence and instability and that Rubio encouraged the Caribbean leaders to strengthen intelligence-sharing, security cooperation, and border security through initiatives like the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.
“Secretary Rubio urged our partners to make responsible, transparent decisions when selecting vendors and contractors for critical infrastructure projects, ensuring they are not vulnerable to privacy and security risks and exploitation by malign actors like the Chinese Communist Party,” Bruce said.
Skerrit said that while security was “high on the agenda,” both sides recognised the importance of continuing to work together to fight the criminal elements within the hemisphere.
He said there is a “commitment” on the part of the United States government to help the region and to work with us on the issue of security.
The Donald Trump administration has embarked upon a stringent immigration policy, particularly as it relates to the high number of illegal migrants in the North American country and Skerrit said that “clearly, the immigration policy which are being implemented by the United States government is no different to that of every country in the world, and we have committed to working with them with an effort towards reducing, if not eliminating, illegal migration within our hemisphere.
“But we also urge the Secretary of State, and of course, by extension, the US government to ensure that they continue to facilitate legal migration by the provision of visas to students, to visitors, the various work programmes,” Skerrit said, adding, “we believe that this will continue.”
Skerrit said that during the meeting on Tuesday, Washington raised the issues of utilising the Organization of American States (OAS) in a “more pragmatic manner,” and that one of the proposals from the United States which we endorse is the whole idea of using, the OAS and ensuring that the OAS can itself have peacekeeping missions, similar to what the United Nations is doing.
“So you have Haiti, for example, and his view, and of course, our view is that we cannot mobilise within the OAS and not necessarily rely on the UN to mobilize peacekeepers for Haiti. For example, security personnel for Haiti. So it’s a very pragmatic area.”
The UN Security Council in 2023 passed a resolution for the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to assist the Haitian government in its efforts to bring peace and stability to the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country in the face of armed criminal gangs engaged in widespread violence in a bid to topple the administration in Port au Prince.
But the MSS has so far failed to push back the gangs. The mission has around 1,000 police officers from six countries, but was intended to have 2,500.
Last month, the US Ambassador to the UN, Dorothy Shea, told a special session of the United Nations Security Council that while Washington remains “determined to assist the Haitian people to achieve the peace, security and prosperity they deserve, and while we acknowledge with gratitude those countries that have contributed to the MSS mission financially and in kind, America cannot continue shouldering such a significant financial burden”.
Skerrit said that the meeting with Rubio also raised the issue of Cuba and the Cuban Medical Brigade.
Caribbean countries have in the past few weeks objected to Washington’s decision to revoke the visas of foreign government officials whose countries employ Cuban doctors and nurses.
Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants who left Cuba in pursuit of the American dream, said that the new policy also applies to the immediate family of those people supporting the Cuban programme.
Rubio, in his statement, said that Cuba continues to profit from the forced labour of its workers and that the regime’s abusive and coercive labour practices have been well documented.
“Cuba’s labour export programmes, which include the medical missions, enrich the Cuban regime, and in the case of Cuba’s overseas medical missions, deprive ordinary Cubans of the medical care they desperately need in their home country,” Rubio said, and that Washington remains committed to countering forced labour practices around the globe.
The regional governments have said that the Cuban medical brigade has been beneficial to the development of their respective health sectors and are prepared to have the US visa revoked.
“We explained to him (Rubio) how this is operating within our countries. And I believe he understands that. So I do not see any threat to the Cuban medical programme, which we all have within our countries,” Skerrit said.
“We have these programmes. They are based on international standards. The human rights of every person who is participating in this program are protected. They work under the best international practices, the International Labor Organization standards. They’ve been paid their salaries and their wages, like everyone else. And so we were able to explain those things to the same people,” he added.
Skerrit said that the issue of continued partnership with the United States in other areas of investments and a greater presence of Washington within the region, and the repositioning of resources and support were other issues raised with the US Secretary of State.
He insisted that the deliberations were “very constructive,” adding, “I think we should expect greater collaboration between the United States and the Caribbean, listening to the Secretary of State and his approach to things.
“He’s a politician like all of us, and he understands that there are political considerations in each country that every government has to deal with. So I think every one of us left the meeting on a very, very positive note.
“Not that we came with any preconceived notion of it going to be a contentious issue at all. A lot of the things that we discussed with the Secretary of State were very, very positive. He also told us a lot of the things that we hear about the government’s position on certain things are already immediate pronouncements and not necessarily those of his State Department or the US government.
“And so he was able to set aside those issues. So it was a very, very positive first meeting with the Secretary of State. I believe that he is a sensible person. And the reality is, we worked with the Trump administration in his first term. The Trump administration never made any decisions against the Caribbean that were negative in any way. And I think that will continue in this term,” Skerrit said.
Regarding the presence of China in the region and more particularly, its diplomatic relations with Roseau, Skerrit said, “The United States of America has a relationship with China.
“I think some of the things that people speak about our relationship with China are sometimes misplaced. China has been… and continues to be a major ally in our economic and social development.
“We have always maintained our relationship with China in a very transparent way. Our relationship with China is no different from that of our relationship with any country in the world, whether it’s a European country or an African country, or a Caribbean country.”
Skerrit said that ‘what China is doing for Dominica is open for everybody to see and is visible for everybody to see, whether it’s the construction of schools or the hospitals or the roads or support to farmers and small businesses or housing, and that’s what we speak to China about.
“The reality is, when I meet the Chinese leadership or the representatives of the Chinese government, we don’t speak about other countries except our relationship. I met President Xi, I met the Premier of China last year.”
He said the discussions with the Chinese leaders were never about “any other country but our two countries, and if I am meeting the President of China, I don’t think I have time to discuss other issues except Dominica’s issues.
“And I think that’s what we need to do. That’s what we need to do. That’s the relationship between ourselves and China will continue to be a very strong and steadfast friend of Dominica. I don’t think our relationship with any country should be based on any other country’s relationship with that country. And so we have relations with China, everybody knows that. We respect and support the one-China principle, which is enshrined in international law, which is recognized by the United Nations and all international organizations,” Skerrit added.
He said that this is why Taiwan is not at any international organization as members.
“…every country in Europe and every North American country recognizes that there is but one China. And so this is the basis. of the relationship with China, that we recognize that it is one China, and that we do not involve ourselves into internal issues of each other’s country and so for our respect of our sovereignty.
“But our engagement with China is on our economic and social advancement, and China has been very helpful in assisting us in achieving our SDGs (UN Sustainable Development Goals)and our own national economic and social strategy and vision for our country.”
He said with regards to the Citizenship by Investment Programme (CBI), which forms part of the socio-economic policies of all of the OECS countries, except St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Prime Minister Skerrit said the matter had been discussed with Rubio.
“We raised it. And we simply drew it to his attention. He mentioned that this is a programme that is above board. that we receive the support of the United States intelligence apparatus through the GRCC in vetting each applicant.
“And of course, through that database, the United States has access to the names of everybody who applies for citizenship within our OECD jurisdiction. And if there’s anybody of interest by the FBI, once that name is put into the database system, into the intelligence environment with the United States framework, then that name will be picked up”.
Under the CBI programme, foreign investors are granted citizenship of the country in return for making a substantial investment in the socio-economic development of that country.
“So it is we who raised it, and with an effort towards assuring them that we are ready. We are running a very transparent programme. And of course, we’ll continue discussing them. I urge that they continue with the relations that we had with the Treasury Department for the six-point agreement and of course the yearly peer review of our programme and we also updated them and updated the United States on what we do in regards to the regional approach, with the regulator, independent regulator, and also new legislation that will come into effect,” Skerrit added.
CMC/pr/ir/2025