Democratic Presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama is promising 100 percent debt relief for the Caribbean if he becomes the next leader of the United States.

While Obama himself did not reveal that plan for the region, his foreign policy advisor, Dan Restrepo, told the Government and tourism officials attending the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) conference here that this is one of the policies to be pursued by Obama if elected to office.

“As you all well know, the poorest countries in the world, including some in the Caribbean, suffer under the weight of enormous external debt. Barack Obama wants to see a 100 per cent debt cancellation for the world’s heavily indebted poor countries, including all such countries in the Caribbean,” he said.

Restrepo also spoke about Obama’s intention to facilitate trade between United States and Cuba, saying that the Democrat would personally lead direct diplomacy with Cuban officials.

He said the presidential candidate has also been keeping a close eye on developments in Haiti, where recent food riots led to the deaths of seven people and the ousting of the country’s prime minister.

“Barack Obama believes we need to provide food assistance, in the short term, to prevent hunger and stave off additional political instability. But he also believes we must help improve Haiti’s economic prospects over the long term,” Restrepo said.

“As he has said, it is time to invest in the economic development that must underpin the security that the Haitian people lack, but it is also time to press Haiti’s leaders to bridge the divides between them for the common good of the Haitian people.”

Restrepo said that Obama also understood the unique security challenges of the Caribbean and that the issue of trans-national crime is of great importance to the region.

He has therefore promised to restore funding for drug control programs, which where cut by the George W. Bush administration, and to put an end to the illegal gun trade in the south.

“As we all know, the Caribbean forms our third border. For our mutual benefit we must more effectively confront the transnational criminal networks that fuel insecurity and fear in the United States and in the Caribbean,” he said.

Priority

“Barack Obama understands that dealing with the effects of trans-national crime is a priority for governments throughout the region. He stands ready to work in partnership with them to effectively disrupt illicit networks. To do so, we need a new hemisphere security approach.”

The Democratic nominee has contended that the United States and the Caribbean face a wide variety of challenges which they can both conquer through partnership.