WASHINGTON, United States (CMC) — United States (US) Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, on Tuesday held talks with the leaders of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and The Bahamas, underscoring the urgent need for enhanced regional cooperation to combat drug and firearms trafficking and illegal migration.

US State Department Spokesperson Tammy Bruce said that the issues discussed were regarded as key drivers of violence and instability and that Rubio encouraged the Caribbean leaders to strengthen intelligence-sharing, security cooperation and border security through initiatives like the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative.

“Secretary Rubio urged our partners to make responsible, transparent decisions when selecting vendors and contractors for critical infrastructure projects, ensuring they are not vulnerable to privacy and security risks and exploitation by malign actors like the Chinese Communist Party,” Bruce said.

“He also reaffirmed our commitment to holding accountable Cuban regime officials, foreign government officials and those involved in facilitating the regime’s forced labour scheme, including Cuba’s medical missions.”

Caribbean countries have in the past few weeks objected to Washington’s decision to revoke the visas of foreign government officials whose countries employ Cuban doctors and nurses.

Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants who left Cuba in pursuit of the American dream, said that the new policy also applies to the immediate family of those people supporting the Cuban programme.

Rubio, in his statement, said that Cuba continues to profit from the forced labour of its workers and that the regime’s abusive and coercive labour practices have been well documented.

“Cuba’s labour export programmes, which include the medical missions, enrich the Cuban regime, and in the case of Cuba’s overseas medical missions, deprive ordinary Cubans of the medical care they desperately need in their home country,” Rubio said, adding that Washington remains committed to countering forced labour practices around the globe.

The regional governments have said that the Cuban medical brigade has been beneficial to the development of their respective health sectors and are prepared to have their US visa revoked.

Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States, Sir Ron Sanders, who accompanied Prime Minister Gaston Browne to the talks, said that the Antigua and Barbuda leader was forceful in defending the Cuban medical assistance programme.

“He made the point that we are not involved in trafficking. We pay the Cuban doctors and nurses well, we treat them well, we place no restrictions on them, they are not trafficked as far as we are concern, and the relationship that we have in paying the Cuban government is no different from what we would have done had we entered into an arrangement for medical services from Ghana or the Philippines who also export medical services. There is nothing sinister in it,” he said.

Sir Ronald said Prime Minister Browne was both “surgical” and “precise” in his presentation at the meeting with Secretary Rubio.

“Prime Minister Browne was extremely good; he was surgical and precise in putting forward the concerns of Antigua and Barbuda and the ways in which he sees the relationship between the United States and the countries of the Caribbean, including Antigua and Barbuda.

“What he said was this: there is no question of the strength of the relationship between Antigua and Barbuda and the United States, and there is no question about the deep regard that we have for that relationship. He pointed out that we probably have a bigger diaspora of Antiguans and Barbudans living in the United States than we have living in Antigua and Barbuda. That was one of the points that he underscored,” Sir Ronald said.

Bruce said that with the annual hurricane season less than one month away, Rubio announced the reactivation of two US-administered programmes to strengthen early warning systems and provide rapid, life-saving assistance across the Caribbean.

Apart from Prime Minister Browne, Tuesday’s meeting was attended by Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, his St Vincent and the Grenadines counterpart, Dr Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister Phillip J Pierre of St Lucia, the current chair of the OECS, Dr Terrance Drew, the Prime Minister of St Kitts-Nevis, Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell of Grenada, and Bahamas Prime Minister Phillip Davis.

In a statement posted on his Facebook page, Prime Minister Drew described the meeting as “meaningful and constructive”, adding, “we look forward to continued dialogue between the United States and our region”.

Last month, Rubio visited the Caribbean, holding discussions in Jamaica with Caribbean Community (Caricom) chair and Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the then Trinidad and Tobago prime minister Stuart Young.

He also travelled to Guyana for talks with President Irfaan Ali and met Suriname’s President, Chandrikapersad ‘Chan’ Santokhi in Paramaribo. During these meetings, Rubio reiterated the Trump administration’s commitment to the region.