$100 million brought to the Caribbean by Kamala Harris As China Makes Inroads

Vice President Kamala Harris pledges $100 million to address Caribbean security and climate change during Thursday’s visit.

Kamala Harris ( Photo: Bloomberg.com )

Harris is in the Bahamas on Thursday for the US-Caribbean Summit in Nassau co-hosted by Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis

This is the latest attempt by China to strengthen ties in a region that has been encroaching and whose leaders feel neglected by the United States. For Harris, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, the one-day event is brief but historically significant. The conference will focus primarily on these efforts, a result of growing concerns about climate change in areas already prone to natural disasters. It will be his first visit to the region since taking office and the highest-level visit by a US official to the Bahamas since independence from Britain in 1973.

Caribbean officials are seeking financial support from developed countries, to deal with climate shocks

The Caribbean and other developing countries are looking to the United States for help removing barriers to access to finance. The Vice President’s visit is aimed at responding to calls from countries for more sustained engagement and fulfilling his 2022 pledge to meet with regional leaders annually. Through USAID, Harris will provide Haiti with $53.7 million to address food insecurity, care for victims of gender-based violence, and improve access to safe water and health care. Protests in the Bahamas are large-scale in Haiti, where the assassination of Prime Minister Jovenel Moise in 2021 caused widespread violence.

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