A day before Andrew Holness was to be sworn in for the fourth time as Jamaica’s Prime Minister, the Donald Trump administration issued a warning that the island is one of four Caribbean countries on its list of major drug transit points or major illicit drug producers.
It is the latest missive issued by the US government to regional leaders at a time when the Trump administration is seeking to woo support for its war on the Nicolás Maduro-led Venezuelan regime.
The tension in the region is palpable, and with the US launching its second military attack on Venezuela on Monday, the same day when the list was sent to Congress, things are not looking good for the region.
Already, Trinidad and Guyana have pledged their support for the US, with Trinidad’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar declaring, in the face of mounting backlash, that she will do what is necessary to keep the people of Trinidad and Tobago safe. There has been an ongoing dispute between Venezuela and Guyana over Essequibo, but tensions escalated in December 2023 when Maduro threatened to annex Essequibo—a region corresponding to two-thirds of Guyanese territory.
“I want to make it very clear that if the Maduro regime launches any attack against the Guyanese people or invades Guyanese territory and a request is made by the American Government for access to Trinidadian territory to defend the people of Guyana, my Government will unflinchingly provide them that access,” assured Persad-Bissessar.
Some regional leaders consider her stance a betrayal, since Venezuela has been good to the Caribbean in the past.
Jamaica has maintained strong links with Venezuela, as when the nation was revenue-starved, the South American oil giant, under the leadership of former President Hugo Chavez, extended to CARICOM nations an agreement called Petro Caribe, which delivered much-needed oil at reasonable prices under a long-term payment plan.
PetroCaribe was signed on June 29, 2005, in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, during Chávez’s presidency. While Trinidad and Guyana are major oil-producing nations in the region, countries like Jamaica, Barbados, and others gladly took the lifeline extended by Chavez. Jamaica received US$2.4 billion in funding support from Venezuela under the agreement.
During a working visit to Jamaica in 2016, Maduro came to an agreement with Holness to boost ties through the oil-purchasing arrangement.
“We have been viewing closely, following with concern, the political and economic developments in Venezuela, and we wish for social and political peace to prevail for the greater good and welfare of all,” said Holness, who promised Maduro at the time that his country would not be abandoned by Jamaica.
But Jamaica’s cost to maintain its loyalty to Venezuela is mounting, since China and Russia are powerful allies of the South American country, and the US is desperate for more friends in the region. Freedom Come Rain understands that Jamaica is likely facing mounting pressure to pick a side.
Holness must now choose between the US and the nation’s old friend Venezuela.
