Biden Administration's 2024 Budget Revealed Paltry Support for the Caribbean. Will 2025 Be Same Ole?

In the 2024 Biden budget, the administration's allocations for foreign assistance showed paltry support for most of the Caribbean. An analysis by Invest Caribbean of the budgetary allocations for the Caribbean and Latin America in Fiscal Year 2024, as detailed by the Congressional Research Service, revealed that despite the urgent narratives around concerns over China's investments in the Caribbean and South America, the budget earmarked for the Caribbean remained tiny, compared to other regions globally.

Biden’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget seems to be following the same path. While there are no major details to date for the Caribbean, the region is mentioned only once in the 188-page budget as it notes: "The Budget also further strengthens America’s diplomatic presence in the region with funding for posts in the Eastern Caribbean."

The Budget focused its regional support on Haiti "to curb gang violence, improve security, and address drivers of migration, including $100 million for the Haiti Multinational Security Support to address insecurity and create the necessary conditions for long-term stability and growth." That’s as far as the region is addressed in the 2025 Fiscal Budget.

This comes on the heels of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, in which he ignored the Caribbean and Latin America - the US’ southern border, raising questions about the administration's priorities.

Even Army Gen. Laura Richardson, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, recently highlighted to the House Armed Services Committee, the strategic challenges posed by China's investments in critical Caribbean and South American infrastructure, emphasizing the potential for these civilian projects to serve military purposes.

Despite these geo-political tensions, the Biden administration's budgetary focus continues to prioritize security concerns over economic development.

Last year, the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) was allocated $64.5 million, with a significant portion again directed towards security efforts in Haiti.

Here's the specific amount in US State and USAID foreign assistance as set last year, for specific Caribbean countries. Interestingly, the amount was only a small increase in last year’s budget for most countries over 2021, while it was a 51 percent drop for Jamaica.

The allocations in 2024 were as follows:

The Bahamas: $250,000

Belize: $250,000

Guyana: $250,000

Dominican Republic: $46,545

Haiti: $291,455

Cuba: $20,000

Jamaica: $11,750

Suriname: $250,000

Trinidad and Tobago: $350,000

Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean: $24,000.

Furthermore, a relatively small sum of $17,000 was designated for "Caribbean development."

Additionally, the administration requested $52 million for the Inter-American Foundation to support grassroots development across “Latin America and the Caribbean.” IAF works only in Haiti, Belize, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic and the eastern and southern Caribbean.

One may likely see the same or less for 2025 given Biden’s focus in helping Ukraine and its war with Russia and Israel and its decimation of Palestine.