Enticed by U.S. ‘Carrots,’ Some Caribbean Countries Break With Venezuela’s Maduro

There is general agreement throughout the Caribbean region that a major catastrophe is occurring in Venezuela and that its last election was seriously flawed. The Caribbean states’ public differences center more on whether, and to what extent, outside interference to assure Guaido the presidency is appropriate at present. Six countries—Haiti, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Guyana and Saint Lucia—are pro-interference and have supported a January 2019 resolution at the Organization of American States, or OAS, refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the Maduro presidency. Three other countries—Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname—oppose interference and acknowledge Maduro’s legitimacy. The remaining Caribbean states—St. Kitts, Trinidad and Tobago, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados and Belize—are neutral on the matter. More…