I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5105 

To establish a lending program for Latin America and the Caribbean to 

reaffirm the United States commitment to sustainable and equitable 

growth and energy security in the Western Hemisphere. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 1, 2023 

Mr. ESPAILLAT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish a lending program for Latin America and the 

Caribbean to reaffirm the United States commitment 

to sustainable and equitable growth and energy security 

in the Western Hemisphere. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Las Americas Energy 

5 Security Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE; STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) Energy independence and security are crit2 ical for a country to maintain its sovereignty, inde3 pendence, and sustainable economic growth. 

4 (2) The International Energy Agency (‘‘IEA’’) 

5 defines energy security as the uninterrupted avail6 ability of energy sources at an affordable price. 

7 (3) The IEA defines long-term energy security 

8 as primarily dealing with timely investments to sup9 ply energy in line with economic developments and 

10 environmental needs. 

11 (4) The IEA defines short-term energy security 

12 as focusing on the ability of a country’s energy sys13 tem to react promptly to sudden changes in the sup14 ply-demand balance. 

15 (5) The IEA’s Executive Director remarked in 

16 February 2023 that Russia’s February 2022 inva17 sion of Ukraine had sparked an ongoing global en18 ergy crisis with serious implications for international 

19 energy security. 

20 (6) The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 

21 Change (IPCC), a United Nations body that pro22 vides regular assessments on global heating, issued 

23 a synthesis report in March 2023, and found that 

24 the effects of global temperature changes were ‘‘al25 ready affecting many weather and climate extremes 


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1 in every region across the globe,’’ which has ‘‘led to 

2 widespread adverse impacts on food and water secu3 rity, human health and on economies and society 

4 and related losses and damages to nature and peo5 ple.’’. 

6 (7) The IPCC notes that to avoid mounting loss 

7 of life, biodiversity, and infrastructure, we must have 

8 ambitious, accelerated action to adapt to climate 

9 change, while also making rapid, deep cuts in green10 house gas emissions. 

11 (8) The World Meteorological Organization’s 

12 State of the Climate in Latin America and the Car13 ibbean 2021 report found that— 

14 (A) widespread drought across Latin 

15 America and the Caribbean has had significant 

16 impact on inland shipping routes, crop yields, 

17 and food production, and consequently led to 

18 worsening food insecurity; 

19 (B) extreme weather events affected mil20 lions of people across Central America, exacer21 bating food insecurity in countries already crip22 pled by economic shocks, COVID–19 impacts, 

23 and conflict; and 


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1 (C) sea-level rise poses a major risk to low2 lying coastal zones in Latin America and the 

3 Caribbean. 

4 (9) The United Nations states that facilitating 

5 more reliable and affordable access to clean elec6 tricity helps governments to improve the quality of 

7 other basic services, such as education and 

8 healthcare. Electricity access also helps diversify and 

9 strengthen local economies. Thus, increasing elec10 tricity access could reduce the need to migrate to 

11 urban areas and other countries. 

12 (10) Natural disasters of increased frequency 

13 are projected to increase the displacement of people 

14 and the United Nations High Commissioner for Ref15 ugees estimates that an annual average of more than 

16 20 million people have been forcibly displaced by 

17 weather-related sudden onset hazards every year 

18 since 2008. 

19 (11) Rising commodity and energy prices, as 

20 well as other global economic shocks such as those 

21 caused by natural disasters, pandemics, and conflict 

22 pose a serious security risk that may lead to social 

23 unrest and instability in Latin America and the Car24 ibbean. 


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1 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con2 gress that the United States has economic and national 

3 security interests in assisting Latin America and the Car4 ibbean to achieve sustainable energy security. 

5 (c) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

6 United States— 

7 (1) to advance United States foreign policy and 

8 development goals by helping Latin America and the 

9 Caribbean meet its short-term energy needs; 

10 (2) to promote the energy security of Latin 

11 America and the Caribbean by encouraging the de12 velopment of accessible, transparent, competitive, 

13 and solvent energy markets and systems that pro14 vide diversified sources, types, and routes of energy, 

15 as well as by prioritizing clean energy sources that 

16 reduce carbon emissions and address the ongoing 

17 global rise in temperatures; 

18 (3) to encourage United States public and pri19 vate sector investment in Latin American and Carib20 bean energy infrastructure projects to bridge the gap 

21 between energy security and commercial demand in 

22 a way that is consistent with the region’s current ab23 sorptive capacity, and that recognizes the impor24 tance of building and widening the absorptive capac25 ity of the region; 


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1 (4) to help facilitate the export of United States 

2 energy resources, technology, and expertise to global 

3 markets in a way that benefits the comprehensive 

4 energy security of Latin America and the Caribbean; 

5 and 

6 (5) to assist partner countries in developing and 

7 strengthening regulatory and investment frameworks 

8 that support energy security. 

9 SEC. 3. SOVEREIGN LENDING PROGRAM FOR ELIGIBLE 

10 LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN PARTNER 

11 COUNTRIES. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the 

13 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of the 

14 Treasury, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State, 

15 shall establish a sovereign lending program for eligible 

16 Latin American and Caribbean partner countries— 

17 (1) to support their short-term energy needs; 

18 (2) to fund projects that help them transition 

19 to renewable or clean energy that reduces carbon 

20 emissions; 

21 (3) to fund technical assistance programs that 

22 ensure that there is a continuous pipeline of clean 

23 energy projects available for investment from the 

24 United States, Latin America, and the Caribbean; 


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1 (4) to provide capital and financing for United 

2 States companies to make it easier to invest in re3 newable energy projects in smaller and developing 

4 markets; and 

5 (5) to provide financing to partner countries to 

6 help purchase battery solutions that contribute to re7 liable and affordable electricity prices. 

8 (b) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a loan 

9 under the program, an eligible Latin American or Carib10 bean partner country shall submit to the Secretary of the 

11 Treasury an application at such time, in such manner, and 

12 containing such information as the Secretary may require. 

13 At minimum, the Secretary shall require an applicant to 

14 provide— 

15 (1) information about the energy projects that 

16 will be supported through these funds, including 

17 their economic and technical viability, feasibility to 

18 attract funding from the private sector, net carbon 

19 impact, the potential to use United States goods and 

20 services during project implementation, and en21 hancement of energy market integration; 

22 (2) data on how funds will support equitable 

23 job creation; 

24 (3) information regarding environmental im25 pact, including on biodiversity; 


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1 (4) data on the impact upon marginalized com2 munities; and 

3 (5) certification that no funds shall be used to 

4 purchase a commodity from or support in any man5 ner a corporation or state-owned enterprise that has 

6 an ownership relationship with the Government of 

7 the People’s Republic of China or the Chinese Com8 munist Party, the Government of the Russian Fed9 eration, or any other foreign adversary or malign in10 fluence. 

11 (c) PREFERENCE.—In selecting among applications 

12 for a loan under this section, the Secretary of State shall 

13 give preference to an eligible Latin American or Caribbean 

14 partner country that shares democratic values, respect for 

15 human rights, and economic freedom, as determined by 

16 the Secretary of State, including members of the Alliance 

17 for Development in Democracy (the Dominican Republic, 

18 Costa Rica, Panama, and Ecuador) and the Caribbean 

19 Community (CARICOM). 

20 (d) LOAN CONDITIONS.—A loan provided under the 

21 program— 

22 (1) shall be— 

23 (A) a zero-interest loan, not to exceed 30 

24 years in duration; or 


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1 (B) a low-interest concessional loan, not to 

2 exceed 50 years in duration; 

3 (2) shall not contain any requirements that an 

4 eligible Latin American or Caribbean partner coun5 try engage in austerity measures or policies that in6 crease poverty and inequality, diminish the quality of 

7 life, and threaten the immediate access of goods and 

8 services; 

9 (3) shall ensure that no funds are used to pur10 chase a commodity from or support in any manner 

11 a corporation or state-owned enterprise that has an 

12 ownership relationship with the Government of the 

13 People’s Republic of China or the Chinese Com14 munist Party, the Government of the Russian Fed15 eration, or any other foreign adversary or malign 

16 actor; and 

17 (4) shall be subject to such other terms and 

18 conditions as the Secretary of the Treasury, in con19 currence with the Secretary of State, determines to 

20 be appropriate. 

21 (e) REPORT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

23 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and an24 nually thereafter for 4 years, the Secretary of the 

25 Treasury, in concurrence with the Secretary of 


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1 State, and in consultation with the Secretary of En2 ergy and the heads of other relevant Federal depart3 ments and agencies, shall submit to the Committee 

4 on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Appro5 priations of the House of Representatives and the 

6 Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee 

7 on Appropriations of the Senate a report on 

8 progress in the implementation of the program. 

9 (2) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report 

10 shall— 

11 (A) include a description of how the pro12 gram strengthens United States national secu13 rity and economic interests in Latin America 

14 and the Caribbean; 

15 (B) include an assessment of— 

16 (i) the status and effectiveness of cur17 rent efforts by regional governments, mul18 tilateral development banks, and the pri19 vate sector to promote energy security in 

20 Latin America and the Caribbean and to 

21 transition to clean energy practices; 

22 (ii) major challenges hindering such 

23 efforts; and 

24 (iii) how the United States can 

25 strengthen the effectiveness of such efforts; 


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1 (C) identify how activities by the Depart2 ment of State, the United States Agency for 

3 International Development, the United States 

4 International Development Finance Corpora5 tion, and other related agencies can effectively 

6 be leveraged to strengthen and promote energy 

7 independence and security in Latin America 

8 and the Caribbean; 

9 (D) assess diplomatic initiatives taken to 

10 secure specific national commitments by govern11 ments of eligible Latin American and Caribbean 

12 partner countries to undertake efforts to pro13 mote energy security and independence in the 

14 region, address corruption and rule of law con15 cerns, modernize digital and physical infrastruc16 ture, improve ease of doing business, and fi17 nance and incentivize energy security initiatives; 

18 and 

19 (E) detail coordination of efforts with rel20 evant multilateral development banks to ad21 vance energy security and independence of eligi22 ble Latin American and Caribbean partner 

23 countries. 

24 (f) ANNUAL AUDIT.—The Secretary of the Treas25 ury— 


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1 (1) shall ensure that a full audit of the program 

2 is performed on an annual basis; and 

3 (2) shall submit the results of the audit to the 

4 Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 

5 Appropriations of the House of Representatives and 

6 the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Com7 mittee on Appropriations of the Senate. 

8 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

9 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of the 

10 Treasury $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 

11 through 2029 to carry out the program. 

12 (h) ELIGIBLE LATIN AMERICAN OR CARIBBEAN

13 PARTNER COUNTRY DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

14 ‘‘eligible Latin American or Caribbean partner country’’— 

15 (1) means a country that— 

16 (A) is a beneficiary country for purposes of 

17 the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act 

18 (19 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.); 

19 (B) is a member state of the Caribbean 

20 Community (commonly referred to as 

21 ‘‘CARICOM’’); 

22 (C) is a member state of the Alliance for 

23 Development in Democracy; 

24 (D) is a country in the Western Hemi25 sphere that is a party to a free trade agreement 


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1 or preference program with the United States; 

2 or 

3 (E) is a beneficiary country of the Carib4 bean Basin Security Initiative; and 

5 (2) does not include any country that— 

6 (A) has been sanctioned by the United 

7 States; or 

8 (B) the Secretary of State determines— 

9 (i) to be a state sponsor of terrorism; 

10 or 

11 (ii) to be a foreign adversary, defined 

12 as a foreign government engaged in a long13 term pattern or serious instances of con14 duct adverse to the national security of the 

15 United States or security and safety of 

16 United States persons. 

17 SEC. 4. SUPPORTING EFFORTS TO INCREASE ENERGY SE18 CURITY OF ELIGIBLE LATIN AMERICAN AND 

19 CARIBBEAN PARTNER COUNTRIES. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in con21 sultation with the Secretary of Energy and the heads of 

22 other relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall, as 

23 appropriate, prioritize and expedite the efforts of the De24 partment of State and those other departments and agen25 cies in supporting the efforts of eligible Latin American 


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1 and Caribbean partner countries to increase their energy 

2 security, including through— 

3 (1) providing diplomatic and political support to 

4 these governments, as necessary— 

5 (A) to facilitate international negotiations 

6 concerning cross-border infrastructure and 

7 transactions; 

8 (B) to enhance and build Latin America’s 

9 and the Caribbean’s regulatory environment 

10 with respect to energy; and 

11 (C) to develop accessible, transparent, and 

12 competitive energy markets supplied by diverse 

13 sources, types, and routes of energy to achieve 

14 energy efficiency; and 

15 (2) providing support to improve Latin Amer16 ican and Caribbean energy markets, including early17 stage project support and late-stage project support 

18 for the construction or improvement of energy and 

19 related infrastructure, as necessary— 

20 (A) to diversify the energy sources and 

21 supply routes of eligible Latin American and 

22 Caribbean partner countries; 

23 (B) to enhance energy market integration 

24 across the region; and 


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1 (C) to increase competition and aggregate 

2 energy markets. 

3 (b) PROJECT SELECTION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal departments 

5 and agencies described in subsection (a) shall iden6 tify energy infrastructure projects that would be ap7 propriate for United States assistance under this 

8 section. 

9 (2) PROJECT ELIGIBILITY.—A project is eligible 

10 for United States assistance under this section if the 

11 project— 

12 (A)(i) improves electricity transmission in13 frastructure and power generation through the 

14 use of a broad power mix, prioritizing renewable 

15 energy or energy efficiency; 

16 (ii) advances energy storage projects, 

17 smart grid projects, distributed generation mod18 els, or other technological innovations and digi19 talization of the power sector, as appropriate; 

20 and 

21 (iii) improves energy access for 

22 marginalized and underserved communities; 

23 (B) is located in an eligible Latin Amer24 ican or Caribbean partner country; and 


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1 (C) can be conducted in a transparent and 

2 accountable manner that mitigates any risk of 

3 corruption. 

4 (3) PREFERENCE.—In selecting among projects 

5 that are eligible under paragraph (2), the Federal 

6 departments and agencies described in subsection 

7 (a) shall give preference to projects that— 

8 (A) link the energy systems of two or more 

9 Latin American and Caribbean partner coun10 tries; 

11 (B) address the impacts of sustained glob12 al temperature increases; 

13 (C) enhance resilience to sustained global 

14 temperature increases and global economic 

15 shocks; 

16 (D) are expected to enhance energy market 

17 integration; 

18 (E) can demonstrate sustainability by at19 tracting funding from the private sector, an 

20 international financial institution, or the gov21 ernment of the country in which the project will 

22 be carried out; 

23 (F) have the potential to use United States 

24 goods and services during project implementa25 tion; or 


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1 (G) decrease electricity prices and promote 

2 price stability in the face of global economic 

3 shocks. 

4 (c) TYPES OF ASSISTANCE.— 

5 (1) DIPLOMATIC AND POLITICAL SUPPORT.— 

6 The Secretary of State shall provide diplomatic and 

7 political support to the governments of eligible Latin 

8 American and Caribbean countries, as necessary, in9 cluding by using the diplomatic and political influ10 ence and expertise of the Department of State to 

11 build the capacity of those countries to resolve any 

12 impediments to the development of projects selected 

13 under subsection (b). 

14 (2) EARLY-STAGE PROJECT SUPPORT.—The Di15 rector of the Trade and Development Agency, in 

16 consultation with the United States Agency for 

17 International Development, the Inter-American De18 velopment Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank, 

19 and the World Bank, shall provide early-stage 

20 project support with respect to projects selected 

21 under subsection (b), as necessary. 

22 (3) LATE-STAGE PROJECT SUPPORT.—Federal 

23 departments and agencies described in subsection 

24 (a) that provide late-stage project support shall do 


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1 so with respect to projects selected under subsection 

2 (b), as necessary. 

3 (d) EXCEPTION FROM CERTAIN LIMITATION UNDER

4 BUILD ACT.—For purposes of providing support for 

5 projects under this section— 

6 (1) the United States International Develop7 ment Finance Corporation may provide support for 

8 projects in countries with upper-middle-income 

9 economies or high-income economies (as those terms 

10 are defined by the World Bank); 

11 (2) the restriction under section 1412(c)(2) of 

12 the BUILD Act of 2018 (22 U.S.C. 9612(c)(2)) 

13 shall not apply; and 

14 (3) the Corporation shall restrict the provision 

15 of such support in a country described in paragraph 

16 (1) unless— 

17 (A) the President certifies to the appro18 priate congressional committees that such sup19 port furthers the national economic or foreign 

20 policy interests of the United States; and 

21 (B) such support is— 

22 (i) designed to produce significant de23 velopmental outcomes or provide develop24 mental benefits to the poorest population 

25 of that country; or 


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1 (ii) necessary to preempt or counter 

2 efforts by a strategic competitor of the 

3 United States to secure significant political 

4 or economic leverage or acquire national 

5 security-sensitive technologies or infra6 structure in a country that is an ally or 

7 partner of the United States. 

8 (e) PROGRESS REPORTS.—Not later than one year 

9 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 

10 thereafter for seven years, the President shall transmit to 

11 the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 

12 Appropriations of the House of Representatives and the 

13 Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 

14 Appropriations of the Senate a report on progress made 

15 in providing assistance for projects under this section that 

16 includes the following: 

17 (1) A description of the energy infrastructure 

18 projects the United States has identified for such as19 sistance. 

20 (2) For each such project— 

21 (A) a description of the role of the United 

22 States in the project, including in early-stage 

23 project support and late-stage project support; 


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1 (B) the amount and form of any debt fi2 nancing and insurance provided by the United 

3 States Government for the project; 

4 (C) the amount and form of any early5 stage project support; and 

6 (D) an update on the progress made on 

7 the project as of the date of the report. 

8 (f) ELIGIBLE LATIN AMERICAN OR CARIBBEAN

9 PARTNER COUNTRY DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

10 ‘‘eligible Latin American or Caribbean partner country’’ 

11 has the meaning given that term in section 3(h). 

Æ 


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