PANAMA CITY — President Barack Obama sought to reassert U.S. influence in the Caribbean and the Americas with pledges of energy assistance and diplomatic fence mending Thursday, a mix of modest steps and high ambition for a region struggling with economic and political stresses.
Obama flew to Panama City for a summit of Western Hemisphere nations and a potentially historic encounter with Cuban President Raul Castro. He arrived after spending less than 24 hours in Kingston, Jamaica, where he met with Caribbean leaders and spoke at a town hall of young leaders.
Obama's attendance at the summit and his stop in Kingston come after a year of increased attention to the region by signing executive orders on immigration, seeking to slow the influx of Central American minors to the U.S. border, tussling with Venezuela over human rights and initiating a historic diplomatic opening with Cuba.
But Obama's efforts are limited, with his most ambitious ones facing potential obstacles from the Republican-controlled Congress and his most recent immigration initiative stalled by court order. A $1 billion spending initiative aimed at Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador's economic and crime troubles, for instance, requires congressional approval.
Still, punishing electricity costs that are as much as five times more expensive than prices on the U.S. mainland and a lack of energy security have long been major concerns in the scattered islands of the Caribbean. The sun-splashed, wind-swept region derives nearly all of its electricity from plants that burn imported oil and diesel.
Obama on Thursday announced a $20 million effort to help jump start private and public sector investment in clean energy projects in the Caribbean and Central America.
"If we can lower those costs through the development of clean energy and increased energy efficiency we could unleash, I think, a whole host of additional investment and growth," Obama said.
Energy security on the import-dependent Jamaica is a growing concern with the wobbly economy of oil-dependent Venezuela, where the Petrocaribe trade program created by the late President Hugo Chavez has kept Jamaica and much of the region dependent on the South American country for energy.
