Pompeo’s Jamaica Visit Divides Caribbean Over Venezuela Meeting in Kingston reveals fissures over neutrality and regional alliance

KINGSTON, Jamaica—Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday encountered a Caribbean region divided over U.S. policy toward Venezuela as he sought to rally regional support behind U.S. efforts to oust Nicolás Maduro.

Mr. Pompeo traveled to Kingston on Wednesday to meet with Jamaican leaders and attend a roundtable with Caribbean leaders as part of a trip across Latin America.

Barbados, which chairs the 15-country bloc of Caribbean countries known as Caricom, decided to skip the meeting with Mr. Pompeo after its prime minister, Mia Mottley, said some other countries hadn’t been invited. The prime minister’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The U.S. is backing the re-election of the current leader of the Organization of American States, or OAS, Luis Almagro of Uruguay, who has described Mr. Maduro, Venezuela’s authoritarian leader, as a dictator. The 35-member OAS includes the 15 Caricom members.

Mr. Almagro’s efforts to promote OAS backing for Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó has drawn criticism from some Caribbean countries, who have called for the OAS to remain neutral in the conflict and to foster dialogue between the two sides.Read More…https://www.wsj.com/articles/pompeos-jamaica-visit-divides-caribbean-over-venezuela-11579737670