BASSETERRE, Saint Kitts and Nevis (CMC) — United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that Washington is interested in rebuilding and constructing a new dynamic in the Western Hemisphere and is partnering with Caribbean countries “on the issues we share in common”.

Addressing a closed door meeting of Caricom leaders at their 50th regular summit here, Rubio said the Donald Trump Administration believes that the most urgent security threat in the region “is the threat of transnational criminal organisations”.

“We recognise that it is an interlocked challenge that comes from a broader perspective…” Rubio said, noting that oftentimes, drugs and the proceeds from those drugs are being made in the streets of the United States.

“This is a danger in the countries that they transit, and it’s ultimately a danger to the national security of the United States,” he added.

“We’ve also watched with alarm the level of armament that these groups have. We recognise that many of these groups are buying weaponry from the United States, and we are committed and continue to work very hard with our law enforcement agencies to shut that down.“

Rubio said the United States has a long history of working together on responding to these challenges, but he thinks that “our cooperation will have to grow even deeper and our commitment to it will have to grow even stronger because these groups grow stronger”.

He said he wanted to point the regional leaders to the role that these drug cartels have established for themselves in Mexico and the need for a collective collaboration to deal with such situations.

“The second thing is there are extraordinary opportunities for economic advancement, to work together on issues like energy,” he said, adding that energy is critical for the future and critical for every economy in order to prosper.

“Many of the countries represented here today have energy resources that I know you seek to explore responsibly, safely, but in a way that generates wealth and prosperity for your people and your countries, and we want to be your partner in that regard,” he said.

He said that Washington wants the region to be seen, including the southern United States, as part of the Caribbean Basin.

“We want it to be a place that is attractive for inbound investment… to the extent that there are opportunities for American businesses or American investors to be a part of that, we want to facilitate that. We want to be a part of making that happen.”

He said the stronger, the safer, the more prosperous, and the more secure that all of the countries in the region are, the stronger, safer, more secure, and prosperous the United States is going to be.

Rubio said he hoped that his presence “serves as a real-world demonstration of our commitment to being your partner…”

“We have longstanding ties to each of you bilaterally and all of you collectively, but reinvigorating our relationships because we have a lot in common to work on, both opportunities and challenges, and the United States is committed to doing that,” he said.