Ex-Bajan senator expects no change in US policy to the Caribbean

FORMER Barbados senator Kristina Hinds says there may not be any real change in US policy towards the Caribbean and Latin America after Donald Trump is inaugurated as the 47th US president on January 20.

She expressed this view during a virtual forum on the November 5 US presidential election hosted by the University of the West Indies (UWI) on November 14.

Trump defeated US Vice-President Kamala Harris 312-226 electoral votes in the election.

Unlike elections in other countries, the candidate who wins the popular vote in the US is not elected president.

The winner of the popular vote in each of the 50 states gains the electoral college votes of that state.

A figure of 270 or more electoral votes determines which candidate is elected president.

The US electoral college will meet on December 17 to confirm the results of the election.

The Congress will certify the results on January 6, clearing the way for Trump's inauguration 14 days later.

Hinds, now a political lecturer at UWI's Cave Hill Campus in Barbados, said neither the Caribbean nor Latin America featured prominently on either the Democrat or Republican platforms in the election.

She said US foreign policy towards this part of the world has been largely unchanged since the end of the Cold War in December 1991 with the threat of the former Soviet Union's influence in the region non-existent.

Hinds believed the incoming Trump administration may focus its foreign policy more on countries like China and not do anything significant in the Caribbean-Latin American region.

She expected the new administration will follow the pattern of all its predecessors and keep the embargo on Cuba in place.

The embargo was first implemented in January 1962 by the US president John F Kennedy.

UWI political scientist Dr Indira Rampersad noted Hinds's points about the Caribbean and Latin America not being a major focus of US foreign policy for some time.

Referring to the Dragon gas project between TT and Venezuela, Rampersad said it remains to be seen whether or not this could be affected after Trump assumes office next year.

On December 21, 2023, the Venezuelan government issued the licence to the National Gas Company (NGC) and Shell for the development and export of natural gas from the Dragon gas field to TT.

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which falls under the US Treasury, played a key role in the granting of this licence.

In a letter to Trump on November 6, the Prime Minister said, "The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the United States of America share a long and enduring relationship, founded on deep ties across many sectors, including trade, security, culture and people-to-people exchanges."

Dr Rowley added, "We look forward to further strengthening our co-operation in the years ahead."

During the forum, UWI Mona Campus Political and Social Psychology Prof Christopher Charles recalled that during the campaign Trump hinted at mass deportations of illegal immigrants should he be elected president.

While deportations could still happen, Charles said the scale which Trump may have been alluding to may not happen.