One garden spot not mentioned was Jamaica.
It's got a lot of natural resources including bauxite, coffee, sugar, produce, animal husbandry (jerked pork or chicken, anyone?), fishing, and now, probably, drugs growing in the less-than-patrolled areas.
And a little detail about Puerto Rico? Arecibo radio observatory.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_Observatory
And what about the regular tourist spots that had a big hospitality industry? What would happen to folks who were stranded by the panics and TDM? Cruise ships, while fuel hogs, are also stockpiles of materials and machinery and equipment. Folks with nautical experience, security personnel, or contacts all over the region.
For example, my wife and I encountered some ex-cruise ship employees who retired on Roatan, Honduras. I would suppose the tropical life may have lured many to settle down away from "civilization". And many tourist locales have a big support base for boating, scuba diving, sport fishing, so spare parts, equipment, and machine shops would be likely.