The Caribbean is hurting, and America can fix it Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (14 April 2021) –– The Caribbean has been viewed by successive American governments as America’s third border, dating back to the precedent-setting Third Border Initiative (TBI) launched by former president George W. Bush in partnership with CARICOM member states and the Dominican Republic in April 2001. After the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, the Bush administration paid...
Trump’s security assistance cuts and Pompeo’s Jamaica promises diverge Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (25 February 2020) — On the 10th anniversary of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), former president Barack Obama’s signature security assistance partnership with the Caribbean, president Donald Trump’s Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) budget cut proposal undermines the bold promises made by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his recent visit to Jamaica. Even as Pompeo was in...
Trump Visa Sanctions and China Economic Engagment Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (06 November 2019) — The most recent denial of U.S. visas to two well-placed Jamaican politicians is not an aberration or a decision isolated from geopolitical issues being pursued by the Trump administration. Speculation is rife as to why these two individuals were targeted. At first glance, these visa denials could be interpreted as linked to ties with Cuba and Venezuela, or, while for some, imagination may run...
Trump squeezing Cuba to pressure Venezuela could backfire on the U.S. Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (April 20, 2019) — President Donald Trump Administration’s continued pressure on Cuba has two intended consequences. The first is to reverse President Barack Obama’s rapprochement with the Cuban Government, then led by President Raul Castro, with the aim of appeasing some members of the Cuban-American community as payback for the strong support Trump received from them in the 2016...
Diplomacy never in Trump’s Playbook on Venezuela Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (03/25/2019) — From the very outset of President Donald Trump’s Administration it became evident that diplomacy was not in the new U.S. president’s tool box. It was patently clear that the Trump Administration would conduct foreign affairs contrary to widely accepted diplomatic norms. President Trump showed no interest in the State Department and diplomatic statecraft. Coercion and force would be...
Collateral Damage from Trump’s Actions Destabilize Caribbean Countries Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (13 May 2018) –In just under 16 months of President Donald Trump’s administration, actions taken by the American president are sending shock waves across the Caribbean and the world. Unintended consequences – collateral damage – from U.S. actions threaten to destabilize the fragile economies and security of Caribbean countries. The Trump storm is creating new dynamics in geopolitical...
T&T Don’t Blame Intelligence Services, Thank Them! Ambassador Curtis A. Ward A recent plot to commit terrorist acts in Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) during the country’s Carnival celebrations, according to the country’s Prime Minister, was foiled due to intelligence cooperation with the United States. It doesn’t matter the source of the intelligence. The government and people of the twin island state should be thankful there were no lives lost to an act of terrorism, this...
Tillerson’s Jamaica visit will divide CARICOM, Unless… Ambassador Curtis A. Ward While Secretary Rex Tillerson’s scheduled visit to Jamaica has been received with some level of scepticism, any visit by a U.S. Secretary of State to Jamaica should be welcome news. Ordinarily, such visits are expressions of good working relationships, and often used to strengthen ties even further. On the other hand, there are also visits by U.S. Secretaries of State which are triggered by disagreements on...
Defying Trump’s Blackmail on UN Vote – Caribbean Countries Divided Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (21 December 2017) — The recent decision by President Donald Trump to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was in complete defiance of United Nations resolutions and international norms. Trump’s decision was in contravention of UN resolutions which have stood for decades. The Palestinians and countries around the world...
State Department Budget Cuts Deeply into Caribbean Programs Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (08 November 2017) — Over the past few months I have been raising alarm concerning the possible impact president Donald Trump’s budget cuts on the U.S. State Department were expected to have on USAID assistance programs and the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI). Now that the FY 2018 Budget is advancing in the U.S. Congress, Caribbean diplomatic efforts and Caribbean Diaspora political action...
