A few decades of material and other assistance from Venezuela have paid off in an interesting way for some Caribbean Community (Caricom) nations, with some saying that the recent elections in the South American nation were free and fair while others have taken a more cautious and deliberate approach.
For example, the nine-nation Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), a subgrouping of the 15-nation Caricom bloc, is basically arguing that the results declared by the local electoral council gave controversial President Nicolas Maduro a win, and they are sticking with it and plan to continue doing business with a Maduro-led regime.
In the OECS, many of the nations—Antigua, Dominica, St. Vincent, Grenada, St. Kitts, St. Lucia—are all members of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) grouping, formed by Venezuela and Cuba back in 2004. Many have received generous material aid from Venezuela, including prefabricated houses, cash grants, and concession oil under the PetroCaribe Initiative. Venezuela is usually among the first in the international community to offer or render assistance to regional member states in times of natural disasters and emergencies like hurricanes, floods, and volcanoes, so it has some level of geopolitical influence in the Caribbean.
In the subgrouping, Maduro can rely on the support of leadership in several member nations, chief among them Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St. Vincent and Dominica’s Roosvelt Skerrit, as his better friends in the region. Gonsalves and Skerrit, two of the longest-serving prime ministers in the Caribbean, were among the first to congratulate Maduro. Gonsalves has been prime minister of the federation of St. Vincent and the string of Grenadine islands since 2001, while Skerrit has been head of government of the “emerald island” of Dominica since 2004.
These two are the influential heads of the OECS and in the larger CARICOM bloc, which was founded in 1973, as well. They have the ability to exert influence and leadership when necessary, so it was no surprise when the OECS threw its support behind Maduro and the Venezuelan regime even as votes were still being counted.
The international community has said that the main opposition grouping has won the elections and Maduro should demit (resign from) office.
“We stand on the principle that elections must be free as the expression of the will of the people and free from outside interference and they must be fair—contested in good faith and subject to the adjudication of independent mechanisms with relevant safeguards for verification and arbitration of any dispute, all within the framework of the national laws and regulations governing the conduct of elections,” the subgrouping said in a statement after a recent meeting. ”We congratulate President Maduro Moros on his victory and re-election to the presidency of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela for a third term and urge that every effort be made towards national reconciliation. The OECS further expresses its appreciation of the invaluable solidarity and friendship extended by [the] Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela[,] which has flourished for over two decades.”
The wider 15-nation Caricom grouping, on the other hand, said after its leaders’ summit in Grenada at the end of last month that while the Venezuelan elections were being held and votes were being counted, it was made clear that it had had no plans to say anything as a unified body.
“It’s not an indication that Caricom is divided on the issue. Caricom doesn’t have to have a position on the issue,” said Grenada Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell. “Elections in Venezuela, domestic matters—first; second, Venezuela is not a member of Caricom. And third, I think we expect, and it has already happened, that members will indicate their positions. We are happy with the fact that the people of Venezuela got the opportunity to exercise their democratic right to engage in elections, and so no, there is no division within Caricom on the issue, because there’s really no need for Caricom to have a division on the issue.”
Maduro and his late predecessor Hugo Chavez invested heavily in winning friends and influencing people in the Caribbean, rushing to the aid of several nations in distress in recent decades. For example, Dominica received 300 prefabricated houses after a destructive storm in the past decade.