United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio will be in the Caribbean next week for meetings with several leaders.
Reports are that Secretary of State Rubio is expected to meet with President Irfaan Ali in Guyana as part of a Caribbean tour.
His first stop will be in Jamaica where he will hold discussions with Prime Minister Andrew Holness. This will follow by him travelling to Barbados, Guyana, and Suriname.
Guyana’s border controversy with Venezuela; the US threat to impose sanctions on countries using the Cuban Medical Brigade; the imposition of trade tariffs; and aid will be among some of the issues that are expected to be addressed by the leaders.
The United States under the Donald Trump administration has accused governments of facilitating the exploitation and forced labor of Cuban workers which enriched the Cuban Government.
This has been denied by Caribbean leaders with several of them stating that investigations conducted do not support the allegations.
Venezuela’s incursion in Guyana’s waters recently will form part of the discussions on the ongoing controversy with Venezuela.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio during a telephone conversation with President Ali had committed the United States support of Guyana in relation to the border controversy.