President Obama visits Jamaica!
On April 9, President Obama became the first American president to set foot in Jamaica since Ronald Reagan’s visit to the island in 1982. Mr. Obama kicked off a three-day trip to Jamaica and Panama in Kingston, where he met with Jamaican Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller, US Ambassador to Jamaica Luis Moreno, and Jamaica’s Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz.
After first paying the Bob Marley Museum a visit, Obama headed to the Office of the Prime Minister at Jamaica House to hold bilateral talks with the Jamaican Government. Mr. Obama then met with the Caribbean Community heads of government at the University of the West Indies, and subsequently held a youth town hall forum at the UWI Assembly Hall.
Christine Staple-Ebanks, Founder and CEO of the Nathan Ebanks Foundation, was among the guests invited to the Young Leaders Town Hall meeting at the University of West Indies. “It was quite an experience to see President Obama in person and within touching distance,” she said. “It was the experience of a lifetime. Thank you to the United States Embassy for the invitation.”a
After departing Jamaica, Mr. Obama attended this year’s Seventh Summit of the Americas in Panama.
The US is the top trading partner for many countries in the Caribbean, and their largest market for tourism. Despite this, however, many Jamaicans have voiced disappointment at Washington’s failure to significantly engage Caribbean countries. According to Damien King, a Jamaican economist at the Caribbean Policy Research Institute, “Any interest that the American government shows in the Caribbean is an improvement, because we have been ignored completely throughout the two terms of the Bush presidency and most of Obama’s two terms.”
In the wake of Venezuela’s dwindling oil diplomacy in the region – and China’s steady economic expansion – the US is increasing its focus on the Caribbean. The US is particularly interested in working with countries in the region to develop energy infrastructure and promote energy security, as evidenced by Vice President Joe Biden hosting the first-ever Caribbean Energy Security Summit in Washington earlier this year. Jamaican Finance Minister Dr. Peter Phillips cited the country’s reestablished credibility in the international marketplace as a driving factor behind President Obama’s visit and newfound attraction to Jamaica.
