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Two contrasting models have been proposed to describe the present‐day motions between the Caribbean Plate and neighboring plates. One model, based on both North America‐Caribbean and Cocos‐Caribbean data, assumes that North America‐Caribbean motion is reflected by the spreading rate (approximately 2 cm/yr) inferred from magnetic anomalies at the Cayman Spreading Center and the azimuths of nearby transforms (Jordan, 1975). This geometry was used by Minster and Jordan (1978) in deriving global plate motion model RM2. The other model, based only on North America‐Caribbean data, uses rates and azimuths inferred from the geometry of the Lesser Antilles Wadati‐Benioff zone (Sykes et al., 1982). The Cayman Spreading Center data were discounted assuming that they underestimate the full North America‐Caribbean motion owing to the complex tectonics of the Greater Antilles. The latter …