US foreign policy, embassies will be key in determining foreign aid – Rubio

– assures America not “getting out of foreign aid” distribution

Speaking definitively on the future of United States’ (US) aid to its allies around the world inclusive of Guyana, Secretary of State Marco Rubio during the first leg of his tour of the Caribbean, indicated that American policy objectives and the US embassy in the respective countries, will be taking the lead on determining aid distribution.
Rubio was at the time at a joint press conference in Jamaica, alongside Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness, on Wednesday. During this press conference, he assured America’s allies that aid will still be distributed, but with more structure.
“The United States is not getting out of the foreign aid business. We’re going to be providing foreign aid. The difference is, we want to provide foreign aid in a way that is strategically aligned with our foreign policy priorities and the priorities of our host countries and nations we are partners with,” Rubio said.
“In essence, how that would work is how it’s worked in the past. USAID, or some entity, would come into some country and say, this is what we think you need. And then they go out and hire an NGO. Or maybe they’re the ones that convinced them that’s what they need. And then they give them a bunch of money and they come into the country and do things.”
Rubio conceded that while some of these programmes were successful, others were not so much. According to the Secretary of State, they are now pivoting to the US embassies in the respective countries, playing a more prominent role in the disbursement of aid.
“And we’ll ask them, what are your needs? And we provide assistance, geared towards the needs of the nation state hosting us and that we’re partnering with. At the end, our partners in Jamaica and all over the world, is the host government, who have a clear vision for the future. And to the extent that our foreign aid can be helpful, it will be for the furtherance of the people of your country.”
“We are going to have foreign aid that is aligned to our foreign policy, and our foreign policy is going to be aligned to our mutual shared interests with the partners that we have all over the world,” the Secretary of State further explained.
Soon after the President Donald Trump-led administration took office, they took a decision to put a pause on international funding, such as from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), pending a review of their efficacy and benefits to American policy.
This decision has prompted responses from all over the world. In Guyana, President Dr. Irfaan Ali had acknowledged recently that there are some US funded agriculture programmes which can be affected and, in turn impact regional food security efforts.
However, the President had also noted that moving forward, a realignment of the budgetary needs for these programmes must be done and that wherever necessary, the PPP/C government would step in to full budgetary gaps.
US Ambassador to Guyana, Nicole Theriot, was also recently asked about these funding cuts. She had clarified that in comparison to a number of other countries, the impact of the funding cuts on Guyana is not as big as some of its peers.
“Guyana is actually classified as a high-income country. So, you didn’t have a lot of different programmes happening here anyway. So, the impact is actually quite minimal. And for the programmes that we want to continue, we currently have waivers submitted,” Theriot had explained.
“And we are hoping that those will be approved so we can recommence those programmes. We would love to continue all of our programmes. But what they’ve asked us to do is prioritise the programmes that we would like waivers for.”
Among the programmes that the US embassy is seeking to preserve is the programme for election support to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM), particularly in light of expected 2025 General and Regional elections.
Meanwhile, following his visit in Jamaica, Rubio will next travel to Guyana where a joint press conference will be hosted between him and President Ali today. It is expected that the two officials will have discussions on a broad range of issues, including the Guyana/Venezuela border controversy.
The US is keen on bolstering energy cooperation with both Guyana and Suriname, as the two nations oil sectors are rapidly expanding. In fact, President Donald Trump on Monday issued an executive order declaring that any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela, which has historically exported its oil across the Caribbean, will pay a 25 percent tariff on trade with the U.S.