Fisk accuses Cuba, Venezuela of trying to 'drive wedge' between US and Caribbean

Fisk accuses Cuba, Venezuela of trying to 'drive wedge' between US and
Caribbean
AP
Friday, October 21, 2005

WASHINGTON (AP) - A senior State Department official said on Wednesday
that Caribbean nations have been successfully resisting efforts by Cuba
and Venezuela to "drive a wedge" between the United States and nations
of the region.

"Caribbean countries have not been lured by failed statist ideologies,"
said Dan Fisk, a ranking official in the State Department's Western
Hemisphere Affairs bureau.

But he warned that the region's particular circumstances could, over
time, create opportunities for a variety of transnational threats,
including terrorism and inroads by criminal organisations.

Close engagement between the United States and the Caribbean is
essential at a time when "Cuba and Venezuela are promoting an
alternative and regressive vision for the region's future," he said.

He noted that Cuba had deployed medical personnel and services to
Caribbean countries and offers of scholarships and assistance to
Caribbean students to study in Cuba.

Most recently, he said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez launched
Petrocaribe, a scheme to sell oil to 13 Caribbean countries on
preferential terms.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20051020T190000-0500_90731_OBS__FISK_ACCUSES_CUBA__VENEZUELA_OF_TRYING_TO__DRIVE_WEDGE__BETWEEN_US_AND_CARIBBEAN.asp