Pablo Martinez Monsivais/APPRESIDENT OBAMA last week had a productive one-day stopover in Jamaica on his way to the Summit of the Americas in Panama, meeting leaders of CARICOM — the Caribbean Community — and discussing initiatives to aid the countries and people of the region.
“As has already been mentioned, the bonds between us are extraordinarily strong,” Obama said, addressing the CARICOM meeting Thursday. “The Caribbean is a place of extraordinary beauty, people of enormous spirit, unique talents, a wonderful culture. We are bound by friendship and shared values, and by family. And we have a great stake in each other’s success.”
Obama said upholding human rights, combatting transnational crime, the effects of climate change and the production of clean, less expensive energy sources were on the table for discussion at the CARICOM meeting, in which he announced a new fund to mobilize private investment in clean energy projects for the Caribbean and Central America.
Obama — the first U.S. President to visit the island nation in 30 years — was greeted enthusiastically by Prime Minister Portia Simpson-Miller and Governor General Patrick Allen, and the passion didn’t end there. Obama immediately wowed participants of a “Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative” town hall session at the University of the West Indies with his introduction in Jamaican patois: “Greetings, massive! Wa gwaan, Jamaica?
The President said his administration had made significant investments to help broaden the opportunities for young leaders across the region, including $70 million for education, training and employment initiatives in the Caribbean and Latin America, and the 100,000 Strong in the Americas program to bring students to study in the U.S. and send U.S. students to learn in the region.
And he used the Jamaica town hall meeting to announce the new “Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative,” providing 250 fellowships each year aiding participants from the U.S., the Caribbean and Latin America to develop joint business and civil society initiatives.
He also took a much-appreciated personal tour of the Bob Marley Museum during his one-day Jamaica stay.
In joint talks with Obama, Simpson-Miller discussed her country’s collaboration with the International Monetary Fund to achieve economic progress and reform, security in the nation and human resource development, and in “building for our private sector as well as in the areas of energy security and renewable energy.”
She also thanked Obama, who signed a bilateral agreement with Jamaica to increase trade, “boost the development of emerging technologies and industries, and pave the way for future innovation in energy-related fields.”
