By Gerrino J. Saunders
Bahama Journal News Editor

The United States is one of our closest neighbors and by far the most powerful, and
there is no secret that they have been at odds with both China and Cuba for
decades, and now The Bahamas seems to be caught in the middle, something the
government says it wants no part of.
During his visit to the U.S. to meet with high level officials including U.S.
Secretary of State Senator Marco Rubio, the U.S urged America’s Caribbean
partners to make “responsible, transparent decisions when selecting vendors and
contractors for critical infrastructure projects, ensuring they are not vulnerable to
privacy and security risks and exploitation by malign actors like the Chinese
Communist Party.”
Additionally, in recent times the U.S has expressed concerns with what it describes
as growing Chinese influence in The Bahamas where there is a large Chinese
Embassy on the eastern end of the island, and a growing number of Chinese
businesses and Chinese nationals calling The Bahamas home.
Prime Minister Davis said this issue was discussed with the U.S. while in
Washington.
When asked about Rubio’s comments on China, Mr. Davis said, “Obviously there
are growing tensions between China and the United States. Each of them are
sovereign nations. They are the giants. We are small island development states and
we are not going to get involved in their issue.
“We will guard ourselves against the concerns that are expressed by the United
States to ensure that our country, our jurisdiction, is not used for the predatory
practices that they are afraid of or concerned about.”
The Prime Minister noted that each of the Caribbean leaders there ensured the U.S.
that we will be “vigilant and anything that crosses the diplomatic line will be
addressed.”

Mr. Davis noted that the matter of the U.S. Concerns over the Chinese
involvements in The Bahamas are not new as they were raised in 2022 while at the
Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles.
He said while in Washington he also explained to the Americans that “where there
is a vacuum nature usually fills that vacuum.”
According Bahamas Ambassador to the U.S. Wendal Jones during the meetings the
Prime Minister explained to the U.S. that China has been willing to assist The
Bahamas in its development, while the U.S. appeared not to be so willing.
Ambassador Jones said, “On the issue of China’s influence, the Prime Minister
made it very clear that The Bahamas need to improve its infrastructure especially
in healthcare, and that the Americans were not forthcoming in terms of granting
loans to The Bahamas, and he made it clear that The Bahamas pays its bills on a
timely basis and that the Chinese were forthcoming and knocking on our doors and
giving loans that are acceptable to the government of The Bahamas.
“And he (Prime Minister) explained that The Bahamas was a friend of all and foe
of none and had no difficulty dealing with China, and discounted what is called
Chinese influence in The Bahamas, and he invited the American Government to be
involved in engagement and continue to engage The Bahamas in these needs that
The Bahamas has.”
Meanwhile, as it relates to the U.S. concerns on the issue of the Cuban Labour
Program the Prime Minister shared some of what was said in the meetings.
He said “The secretary affirmed that any country that is engaged in forced
labour, they would have a policy of restricting visas to officials in that country.
But the question is whether you are engaged in forced labour. We were able to
say to them, and I think they were satisfied, that we are not engaged in forced
labour that we are aware of.
“So if forced labour is occurring in our country with the Cubans there is no
evidence that we have come across; what we have been doing in the last several
weeks is to identify what I call ingredients of forced labour to see whether any of
those are present in relation to any of the workers here in The Bahamas, and if
we discover that it will be corrected,” said Mr. Davis.
The Prime Minister said he spoke very “candidly” about the issue and advised
the U.S. of the challenges The Bahamas faces in our work force as our nurses
and doctors alike are being recruited by other countries including the U.S.

Ambassador Jones said, “What is also very important is that the Prime Minister
was able to say that in the month of May some 60 Bahamian nurses leaving The
Bahamas because the U.S. has been complicit in getting nurses to leave The
Bahamas, sometimes for three times more than they are paid in The Bahamas
and their families are given incentives to stay in the U.S.
“And so that level of complicity I believe resonated around the table, and the
Secretary of State was hard pressed to rebut some of the comments that were
made by the Prime Minister.
Mr. Davis said The Bahamas asked the U.S. if The Bahamas ought not to
engage Cuban workers at all and he said “the answer was clearly no; all we
(U.S.) are asking is to ensure that those who we engage are not subject to forced
labour.
Documents published recently by the Free Society Project (Cuba Archive)
suggest The Bahamas pays thousands of dollars monthly for each Cuban
healthcare worker, yet only a fraction of the salary go directly to the workers
while a majority reportedly goes to a Cuban state agency.
Ambassador Jones noted that the Prime Minister’s from the other Caribbean
countries were in agreement with Mr. Davis.
The government of The Bahamas has also asked the U.S. to share any intelligence
or evidence they may have on of Cuban forced labour in The Bahamas so that
proper actions can be taken.