Obama To Visit Jamaica In April, Says Prime Minister

by Brian Major
Last updated: 2:15 PM ET, Thu March 19, 2015

Photo: U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Jamaica in April. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

U.S. President Barack Obama will make an official state visit to Jamaica on April 9, said Portia Simpson Miller, Jamaica's prime minister. President Obama will journey to the Caribbean nation to engage in "bilateral discussions on a range of issues of mutual interest," Simpson Miller said in a statement Tuesday on her government website.

During the visit, the two leaders will convene a meeting between heads of government from the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) "for discussions on issues on the CARICOM-USA agenda, including security and trade," said Simpson Miller.

The parties will also "exchange views on regional and international issues of mutual interest," during the CARICOM gathering, which will be co-chaired by President Obama and Perry Christie, prime minister of the Bahamas and CARICOM's current chairman.

"The government is delighted that President Obama will be visiting Jamaica at this time," she said. "It will mark the second time since our independence that a sitting U.S. president will be visiting Jamaica. We view the president's upcoming visit as an affirmation of the strong ties of friendship and cooperation that have united our two peoples for centuries."

President Obama has visited Caribbean nations twice during his administration. He traveled to Puerto Rico in 2011 and in 2009 the U.S. president attended the Summit of the Americas conference in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

In addition, the White House earlier hosted a summit to discuss Caribbean energy security. U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden chaired that conference. Biden is a frequent Caribbean visitor and traveled to St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands earlier this month.

"We are confident that through fruitful dialogue and exchanges during the visit we will succeed in further strengthening the close relations that exist at the bilateral level between Jamaica and the U.S.A., and between the U.S.A. and CARICOM," Simpson Miller said.

Following the Jamaica meeting, President Obama and CARICOM officials are expected to travel to Panama City for the sixth Summit of the Americas to be held on April 10 and 11.

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