21/01/2020

The prime ministers of Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago are boycotting a scheduled meeting with the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo. There is a growing tension between Caribbean nations who are open to improved relations with the Trump administration, and those who are against it.

Pompeo arrived in Jamaica on Tuesday, where he was set to meet seven Caribbean leaders to discuss regional concerns.

Barbados’s prime minister, Mia Mottley announced earlier this month that she would not be attending the meeting in Jamaica, which she described as “an attempt to divide [the] region.”

“I am conscious that if this country does not stand for something, then it will fall for anything,” she said. “As chairman of Caricom, it is impossible for me to agree that my foreign minister should attend a meeting with anyone to which members of Caricom are not invited.”