Perhaps the most important aspect of the short statement issued in Washington after a first two-hour meeting last week between the new US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and his CARICOM counterparts was its emphasis on inclusivity.
In contrast to the failure of the Trump administration to demonstrate any sense of partnership with the region and its preference for divisive transactional coalitions of nations willing to support its thinking about Venezuela, Mr Blinken made clear that Washington will now work with ‘all countries in the region’ to strengthen co-operation and coordination.
CARICOM’s Secretary General, Irwin LaRocque, best summed up the significance of the meeting. In his brief opening statement, he noted CARICOM Foreign Ministers’ sense of optimism at “the resumption of interaction between CARICOM as a region and the US at this high level”, observing that this had once been a regular feature of the relationship.