In Jamaica, Marco Rubio vows to revisit US travel warning

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday the State Department will re-evaluate its travel warnings for Jamaica and other countries to ensure they reflect real conditions on the ground.

As part of a tour of the Caribbean, Rubio heard complaints from Jamaican officials about the warning for their country, which is heavily dependent on tourism. The current travel warning for Jamaica advises Americans “to reconsider” visiting the country due to high crime rates.

While agreeing to re-look at the travel advisory, Rubio defended the Trump administration’s opposition to a Cuban government program that sends physicians and other medical workers to countries in need of such personnel, including Jamaica.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said his nation had benefitted greatly from the program that the Trump administration claims violates international labor standards and amounts to human trafficking in some instances.

Rubio’s trip will take him from Jamaica to Guyana and Suriname as the administration increasingly turns its attention to the Western Hemisphere. Rubio is also focused on weaning Caribbean countries from their dependence on Venezuelan oil and combating illegal immigration.

President Donald Trump recently announced new sanctions on Venezuelan oil exports. The Republican president has threatened to impose tariffs on goods imported into the U.S. by other countries that buy oil from Venezuela.

On the Jamaica travel warning, Rubio did not promise it would be eased but did say revisions were possible in light of progress the Jamaican government has made in reducing crime.

“We pledged (that) we’re going to go back and reevaluate the travel advisories as they currently stand to ensure that they do reflect the reality of the new numbers and what the numbers show,” Rubio said, noting that Jamaica has “made very impressive progress in your general numbers overall when it comes to the murder rate and so forth.”

Holness said he appreciated Rubio's pledge. “We are committed to working collaboratively to ensure that travel advisories reflect the current realities and promote travel to Jamaica,” he said. “I’m confident that the dialogue initiated today will lead to tangible outcomes.”

Holness also strongly defended the Cuban doctor program and said Jamaica ensured that the physicians and nurses sent by Havana were protected by Jamaican labor laws.

“Let us be clear, the Cuban doctors in Jamaica have been incredibly helpful to us," he said, adding that Jamaica has a shortage of domestic health workers because many have migrated to other countries.

“We ensure that they are treated within our labor laws and benefit like any other worker,” Holness said. “So any characterization of the program by others certainly would not be applicable to Jamaica. We are ensuring that our program complies with all the international laws and standards to which we are a party to.”

American officials have said the programs resemble organized human trafficking because the medical professionals are not paid directly. Latin American leaders have denounced the U.S. position, saying any sanctions imposed for participating would deprive their people of much needed medical assistance.

Ahead of Rubio's trip, Trump’s special Latin America envoy, Maurico Claver-Caron, had suggested that if the leaders the secretary meets on his trip focus on the program it would be a waste of time. But Rubio appeared to acknowledge that at least some participants, including Jamaica, may be complying with international standards.

“They basically operate as forced labor in many places,” Rubio said. “Now there are places that have better labor standards. Perhaps Jamaica is one of those. And that’s fine."

“Every country operates the program differently, and obviously because of our relationship with Jamaica, we’re going to engage with them on that and talk about it further and have a better understanding," he said. “Perhaps none of this applies in the way it’s handled here.”

Another main issue for Rubio will be the situation in Haiti, where a multinational peacekeeping force has been in place for months, struggling to prevent gangs from taking over the country. Rubio on Tuesday spoke with the president of Kenya, which is leading that force, although the State Department account of the call made no reference to Haiti.

Rubio has extended waivers on an overall U.S. foreign aid freeze to continue to fund the security force in Haiti, but it remains unclear how long they will last.