HOW AMERICAN PRONOUNCEMENT OF CUBA AS A NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT TRANSLATES INTO A GROWING PROBLEM FOR THE EASTERN CARIBBEAN STATES

This week's statement, by the American Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to the effect that the United States, as a matter of policy, regards the Republic of Cuba as a National Security Threat, will directly impact the five Eastern Caribbean states that were already regarded by the State Department as problematic, due to their corrupt CBI programs, which have funneled application funds containing the Proceeds of Crime through American correspondent bank accounts.

Given that President Trump has essentially ruled out diplomacy in its dealings with what it has deemed as an uncooperative Cuban national government, and moved military assets in the Caribbean, including a carrier group, closer to Cuba's shores, expect some level of American action against Cuba this summer. The five Eastern Caribbean states, which each have some level of Cuban nationals within their borders, in embassies, as trainers and advisors to law enforcement, as medical teams, as political advisors, and as construction project supervisors and contractors, could find themselves even more alienated from a United States exerting its influence upon the Communist Cuban regime. Whether this will translate into the abrupt closing of correspondent bank accounts in New York and Miami, more visa sanctions, or restrictions placed on American vacation visitors into the Caribbean we cannot say, but there most likely will be adverse consequences for the Caribbean, especially since some notably pro-Cuba Caribbean leaders have been quite outspoken as protesting America's efforts to reform the Cuban political model.