The U.S. falls short on energy promise to Caribbean
Introduction:
In 2015, former Vice President Joe Biden declared that North America was the new epicenter of energy in the 21st century, promising to promote renewable energy and cheap natural gas to Caribbean nations. However, almost a decade later, Puerto Rico, the largest U.S. territory in the Caribbean, is still without reliable electricity. The region’s energy prices have soared, and warming-intensified storms are causing power outages. The U.S. government’s recent promise of over $100 million in new spending on renewable energy and technical programs fell short of expectations.
The China Question:
China’s presence in the Caribbean has grown over the past two decades, offering loans with favorable terms and building infrastructure. In recent years, China invested more than $10 billion in six Caribbean countries. Although China’s overall spending has dwindled, news of a secret deal with Cuba to set up a clandestine spy base on the Caribbean’s largest island has prompted concerns about Beijing’s growing influence in the region. The U.S. government confirmed over the weekend that China had been running a surveillance operation in one of its closest neighbors for the past four years.
Chinese Investments vs. U.S. Promises:
Chinese firms are in the Caribbean because governments in the region are open to it, and they promise cheap imports of technologies like solar panels, which the U.S. does not manufacture at any competitive scale or price. China also offers less onerous terms for loans than those offered by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or other U.S.-backed institutions. Trinidad and Tobago’s finance minister, Colm Imbert, recently defended his country’s decision to accept a $1.4 billion loan from China instead of the IMF, arguing that the regulatory overhauls and public spending cuts required by the latter lender would have meant punishing his population. The Chinese only stipulated that Trinidad must spend the money on Chinese equipment, vaccines, medical supplies, or any other goods manufactured in China.
Conclusion:
China’s growing presence in the Caribbean highlights the U.S.’s failure to fulfill its energy promise to the region. The U.S. government’s recent announcement of over $100 million in new spending on renewable energy and technical programs falls short of what the U.S. could bring to bear in a region it has jealously controlled since adopting the Monroe Doctrine. Although the U.S. is framing the announcement as a counter to China, experts say the U.S. has the capacity to do something that would be a game changer but is not happening. The U.S. must find a way to fulfill its energy promise to the Caribbean and counter China’s growing influence in the region.
