U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday assured the Caribbean that the region will get some much needed financial assistance to help deal with a number of pressing problems, including crime and security.The Obama administration has already pledged US$45 million to the region this year under the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative. U.S. officials say the process of disbursing those funds should actually get going by August.
In April, Secretary of Defence Robert Gates made a further commitment of US$79 million under the security initiative for next year.
Clinton met with Caricom leaders for 90 minutes on Thursday in Barbados and later announced that the region is in line to receive a further US$170 million in funding for HIV/AIDS and climate change programs.
“All of our countries came together in recent months to develop the Caribbean regional partnership framework for HIV and AIDS,” Clinton said in making the announcement.
She added, "The United States is committing US$162 million this year to HIV/AIDS programs in the Caribbean,” adding that it was still a regrettable fact that the leading cause of death in the Caribbean is AIDS.
"We will also be providing on another one of our shared objectives US$8 million for climate and energy programs and supporting innovative solutions through the climate and energy partnership with the Americas,” she said.
Clinton also talked about trade, noting that the Obama administration signed into law last month a 10-year extension of the Caribbean Basin Trade Partnership Act. That, she said, would go a long way in helping the region gain access to the U.S. market.
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