BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC)— Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders are scheduled to meet on Friday ahead of the arrival of United States Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, in Jamaica next Wednesday, well-placed sources told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) on Thursday.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Stuart Young had earlier told reporters that he had “spent quite a while on the telephone this morning” with Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who is also the Caricom chair “sharing ideas ahead of a Heads of Caricom meeting to be convened tomorrow afternoon.

“I gave her the assurance that Trinidad and Tobago will continue to be at the front of the batting lineup, standing firm at the crease with Caricom,” Young said without giving any further details about the meeting or Rubio’s visit to the region.

But, according to the sources, the regional leaders on Friday, will among the agenda items, receive an update on the situation in Haiti, where criminal gangs are trying to overthrow the government and efforts are being made to hold fresh general and presidential elections in November this year.

In addition, there will be an update on the Guyana-Venezuela border dispute. Earlier this week, St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, travelled to Georgetown and Caracas for talks with Presidents Irfaan Ali and Nicolas Maduro as tensions rise between the two countries over the disputed Essequibo region.

A government statement issued in Kingstown noted that Gonsalves, who serves as an interlocur, based on the Argyle Agreement signed between the two countries in December 2023, “cautioned that an escalation into open conflict could devastate both nations, economically and socially and destabilise the entire Latin America and Caribbean region, potentially leaving us with a humanitarian and refugee problem”.

The statement said he advised “both parties to resolve the matter so it does not lead to any conflict,” recalling that after signing the Argyle Agreement in St Vincent and the Grenadines, the “leaders had then reiterated their commitment to Latin America and the Caribbean remaining a Zone of Peace”.

The regional leaders are also expected to discuss a concept for a regional debt swap, as well as the impact of the announced United States charges on Chinese built ships going to US ports.

Last week, it was announced that Rubio was expected to travel to the Caribbean region before the end of March for discussions on a number of issues affecting CARICOM relations with the North American country.

The disclosure came after US Special Envoy for Latin America and the Caribbean, Mauricio Claver-Carone, met in Washington with the representatives from Barbados, The Bahamas, Belize, Dominica, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts-Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

The sources told CMC that Rubio will be in Jamaica on Wednesday and that the meeting will discuss Washington’s recent announcement regarding the Cuban health brigade system, energy and economic development as well as Haiti’s security and stability.

They said that not all regional leaders are expected in Kingston for the talks.