Donald Trump’s return to the presidency has raised the prospect that, over the next four years, the Caribbean’s playbook regarding its longstanding relations with the U.S. will be tested as never before.
Whoever assumes the leadership mantle in the May 2025 election should look closely at Bouterse’s example, both the good and the bad; there is decidedly something that can be learned from it.
Whoever ends up helping Cuba rebuild its power grid will hold one of the keys to unlocking economic recovery on the island and influence in the Caribbean.
In both Guyana and Suriname, there remains considerable work to be done to spread each nation’s wealth.
While AMLO was able to get away with little consequence in his support of Cuba, Sheinbaum’s Mexico could pay for it.
The Caribbean is signalling that, with an eye to multilateral diplomacy and its new reality, United Nations Security Council reform is a top priority.
Washington should be concerned about the ability of Caribbean countries to handle the challenge of migration, especially as pressures mount from regional political problems, poor job opportunities, and climate change.
The U.S. can help build on Haiti’s transitional milestones and pave a sustainable path out of Haiti’s long-running crises.
Though the agreement nominally gave the regime a fair chance at winning the election by lifting sanctions and boosting the economy, a fair chance was not good enough for Maduro when electoral loss could mean the rest of his life behind bars.
Overall, the move toward more liberal measures appears to be too little too late, despite pressures from Vietnamese and Chinese Communist Party representatives in recent years strongly advising that Cuba undergo free market-oriented reforms.
