The U.S. Caribbean Basin Initiative and the Puerto Rican Experience

Abstract

The Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI), officially the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (Public Law 98-67, Title II), announced by President Ronald Reagan in February 1982, became law on August 5, 1983, and has been in effect since January 1984. The CBI constitutes thus far the major attempt by the U.S. government to provide an economic component to its policy in the Caribbean Basin. The approval of the CBI provides the legal framework for the implementation of special economic measures designed to foster closer economic relations among the United States and the Caribbean Basin countries and to shape and influence the policies to be followed by the countries of the region in solving their economic crises. The measures to be implemented under the programs of the CBI are a function of U.S. interests in the region and are designed to foster an economic development model congruent with those interests. Although it has never been publicly stated, the underlying model for the CBI is Puerto Rico's Operation Bootstrap-that is, an export-oriented industrial development model fostered by a strong injection of U.S. investments. Curiously, as has been pointed out by Rodriguez Beruff (1983: 7), the Puerto Rican experience under Oper-