Caribbean Community (Caricom) heads of government will convene their 50th regular meeting in St Kitts and Nevis today against the backdrop of rising concerns in the region of a deepening a humanitarian crisis in Cuba, triggered by United States President Donald Trump’s oil blockade on the Spanish-speaking country.

The Caricom meeting is set to run to February 27 under the chairmanship of the St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew.

On Monday news emerged that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will attend the summit and “reaffirm the United States’s commitment to working with Caricom member states to enhance stability and prosperity” in the region, State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.

But US pressure on Cuba, which is not a member of Caricom but has long-standing relations with many of its members, will likely dominate the summit, given the call last week by eight former Caricom heads of government for Washington to reverse what they describe as its “inhumane weapon of mass destruction” against Cuba.

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