T&T has long had an inextricable link with the United States based on trade, cultural ties and diasporic connections, but the current developments in the race for the White House are arguably now more important to us than ever before, particularly based on the need to maintain the policies established by the Joseph Biden administration that have resulted in economic gains for the region and for T&T, in contrast to what we experienced under the last Trump administration.
The tone on the ground, both locally and regionally, points towards a stronger affinity for Harris over Trump, and there are some obvious reasons for that, the most basic being her partial Caribbean heritage.
Harris is the daughter of an Indian mother and a Jamaican father who had migrated to the US, and she has proudly spoken of her Caribbean roots since becoming the US vice president.
As a woman of colour, she aims to break a glass ceiling that the Caribbean has long achieved, having had no fewer than five female heads of government in recent memory.
Beyond that, Harris has recently been at the forefront of US-Caribbean relations, having been appointed by Biden to lead talks with Caricom heads.
Her virtual meeting with Caricom leaders in May 2022 saw plans to help the region in its post-COVID economic recovery and address the climate crisis, as well as energy and civil security.
Among the commitments that regional leaders have been able to reach with her was for strong cooperation in the fight against the influx of guns from the US and for US-Caricom meetings to become an annual event.
Things got better when she travelled to The Bahamas for a follow-up meeting in 2023, with the provision of US$28 million in food security assistance, a promise to invest US$210 million in the Blue-Green Investment Corporation over three years, and the announcement of additional investments in the US-Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis, amounting to over US$35 million.
What the region now faces, therefore, is an election that can result in an expansion of these ties under a Harris presidency, or a possible reversal of them under a Trump presidency, based on the “America First” focus Trump had initiated under his previous administration that diminished the attention that the US usually gives to small states such as ours.
T&T, in particular, has a strong interest in the results of the November US election as it relates to our energy future.
The Biden administration's easing of restrictions on Venezuela and the consequential licences to pursue the Dragon Field gas agreement are less likely to continue under a Trump presidency.
Trump, we must remember, reversed former president Obama's ease of sanctions against Cuba and is likely to do the same with Venezuela, with whom the US has long had strained relations.
If T&T were to lose the Dragon Field agreement based on Trump's foreign policy, it would be a severe blow to our prospects of regaining significant energy revenues through the processing and sale of liquefied natural gas.
Our Government is basing much of our energy projections on this development. Therefore, our eggs, proverbially, are in the Democrats' basket.
