President Luis Abinader was in Nassau, Bahamas on 8 June 2023 to participate in the US-Caribbean Leaders Meeting co-hosted by US Vice President Kamala Harris and Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis. President Abinader was the only head of government outside of Caribbean Community (Caricom) member country heads of state or government participating in the meeting. Also participating was the secretary general of Caricom.
The focus was on climate change issues, clean energy, disaster mitigation, firearms trafficking and the security and humanitarian crisis in Haiti.
The US Vice President said that a US$20 million investment has been allocated for USAID to provide financial, technical assistance, and business development services through the Caribbean Climate Investment Program (CCIP) to enterprises deploying technologies in renewable energy, energy efficiency, and climate adaptation by mobilizing private finance and private sector-led actions.
She also said that US$15 million will be made available through USAID to support disaster risk reduction, emergency response capacity strengthening, and resilience building across the Caribbean.
During the meeting, US Vice President announced efforts to strengthen efforts to combat firearms trafficking from the United States to the Caribbean. During the meeting, she announced the creating of the position of Coordinator for Caribbean Firearms Prosecutions. This coordinator will work to implement the provisions of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act with its new criminal provisions on firearms trafficking.
The United States announced US$53.7 million in new humanitarian aid for Haiti. The US State Department says it supports the extension of HOPE-HELP trade preferences for Haiti that are due for renewal in 2025.
During the meeting, Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry called for international intervention.
Without the presence of Harris or Abinader, a follow-up Caricom summit is now taking place in Jamaica from 11 to 13 June hosted by Jamaica Prime Minister Andrew Holness.
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N Digital
12 June 2023