By Ian Francis
It is approximately eight months since the summit of CARICOM heads was held in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Since then, Jamaica’s Bruce Golding has passed the torch to a struggling Tillman Thomas of Grenada, who might soon have to face a revolt of his National Democratic Congress (NDC).
Since assuming the chairmanship, Thomas has showed some interest in the organization and it will be interesting to watch how he handles the appointment of the new Secretary General for the Secretariat; appointment of a new Chief Justice for the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) and of course his own personal challenge of taking Grenada into the CCJ. These are interesting times and the region is watching closely.
The 56th Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) meeting recently held in Grenada seemed to have had great success. The only grumbling is that Antigua’s Baldwin spent too much time gazing in the skies hoping that the breakfast invitation from Barack and Michelle would arrive after a long pigeon journey from Washington to Mt Obama and then to the Botanical Gardens in Grenada. The pigeon arrived empty handed and a disappointed Baldwin lost interest in the Assembly.
With the growing popular uprisings in the Middle East, North Africa and Iran’s misguided decision to send naval ships through the waters of the Suez Canal, one can only assume that Washington is so engaged and concerned with these fast evolving events that the White House invitation will not arrive in the immediate future.
As Prime Minister Denzil Douglas of St Kitts and Nevis has stated, the leaders at the CARICOM inter sessional meeting that ended in Grenada recently needed to address their time in a process of careful analysis, deep discussions and the development of a strategic plan to guide the organization in future years. As Douglas lamented, he was hopeful that at the inter sessional meeting CARICOM leaders would channel their energy on the many issues facing the region.
While not dismissing Antigua’s concern about the popular uprising in Libya, the Republic of Haiti’s pending return by former president Aristide, who was kidnapped and forced into exile in South Africa, must be addressed by the region’s leaders. The despicable and vulgar action by the United States of America, which resulted in the abandonment of Aristide in a notorious and corrupt nation known as the Central African Republic, should have been strongly criticized by the CARICOM leadership.
Unfortunately, they went into mute mode and, like roosters, it took courage and principled leadership by former Jamaican prime minister; P.J.
Patterson to rescue Aristide from the corrupt African nation until South Africa was able to complete all logistical arrangements to welcome their new guest. PJ, Randy Robinson, Congresswoman Maxine Walters and others must be commended for rescuing Aristide from the Central African Republic.
The CARICOM leadership has no other alternative but to support Aristide’s pending return to his native Haiti. This is not the time to echo or repeat the voice of the United States State Department media frontline man P.J Crowley as to whether Aristide’s return will be helpful. Was Duvalier’s recent return to Haiti helpful? PJ Crawley should also give us a one liner about the State Department’s position on this notorious and repressive dictator whom the United States supported for many years. Aristide’s welcome must be hailed by our leaders to his native birth land and should even go further to ensure that the region becomes part of his security detail. This is the time to show the courage and leadership that Douglas called for and there should be no retreat. Aristide requires the region’s full support.
Since the rigged and shameless elections in Haiti. There are four frequent questions being asked about CARICOM’s Mission in Haiti. These are: (1) what is the specific role and purpose of the CARICOM Mission in Haiti? (2) What specific and concrete outcomes have been achieved by its presence and what specifically has the Georgetown Secretariat benefitted by virtue of their presence in Haiti? (3) Who is funding the CARICOM Mission in Haiti? (4) When will the Mission come to an end? What is the reporting mechanism? Who reports to whom and how are CARICOM governments engaged in this Mission? These questions need to be answered.
As the CARICOM inter sessional assembly became a reality in Grenada last weekend, there are still cries from OECS leaders expressing their concerns about uncontrollable crime and lawlessness in their jurisdiction.
At the Jamaica summit, Skerrit of Dominica and Spencer of Antigua suggested that Jamaica might be in a position to assist, given the nation’s experience with gangs and garrison control. Unfortunately, the suggestion fell on deaf ears. Many of the OECS have since retreated to their old colonial tactics of recruiting foreign sideline retired police officers to manage national security initiatives. The OECS region requires the active assistance and intervention of the More Developed Countries on crime and lawlessness in their jurisdiction.
In conclusion, drug interdiction and the presence of foreign fleets in our waters are important security measures; however, leaders need to identify other mechanisms that will rebuild capacities in our police forces and other security agencies. With a credible vision on crime, our leaders are also urged not to shy away from examining other key and important strategic security issues which include:
-- The role and function of IMPACS. Can this organization seriously contribute to the containment of crime and lawlessness in the CARICOM region or is it just another CARICOM regional organ that has found favour from foreign multilateral friends?
-- What can the Barbados based CEDERA contribute to crime containment and other national security issues? What direct and specific impact will the recent CARICOM agreement generate on crime and lawlessness in the region?
-- What is the current status of the Regional Security Service? Should this organization be re-examined or purged so thus resulting in a new and progressive organizational model that reflects global reality?
-- Can Jamaica assist in the restructuring of the Regional Security Service? How about Jamaica giving a secondment to the region by one of its capable national security team? Someone like Novelette Grant or Glenmore Hinds?
Crime and lawlessness need to be seriously tackled in the region.
Ian Francis resides in Toronto and writes frequently on Caribbean Commonwealth Affairs .He is a former Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Grenada. He can be reached at info@vismincommunications.org
March 2, 2011
caribbeannewsnow
An International Caribbean Online Log about the news and opinions in the Americas and World. This Caribbean Blog of global reach and appeal is maintained by Bahamian Blogger - Dennis Dames with all readers and subscribers in mind.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Of protests and oil
Muammar Gaddafi's speeches grow ever more delusional. Last Thursday, he accused al-Qaida of putting hallucinogenic pills into the coffee of unsuspecting Libyan 17-year-olds in order to get them to attack the regime. But he also said something important. Defending his massacres of Libyan protesters, he pointed to the example of China, arguing that "the integrity of China was more important than [the people] on Tienanmen Square".
The Chinese regime will not be grateful to him for making that comparison, but it is quite accurate. Gaddafi, like the Chinese Communist Party, claims that there are only two choices - his own absolute power, or chaos, civil war, and national disintegration. The 'integrity of Libya' is allegedly at stake. Also, like the Chinese ruling party, he is willing to kill hundreds, or even thousands, of his own citizens in order to maintain his rule.
Ruthlessness will not save Gaddafi now: he has already lost control of more than half the country, and the oil revenues that enable him to reward his allies and pay mercenaries will soon dry up. But ruthlessness certainly did save the Chinese communist regime in 1989, when the army slaughtered between 300 and 3,000 young pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's central square. Might it need to deploy such violence again in order to survive?
So far, the current wave of revolutions has been an entirely Arab phenomenon, apart from some faint echoes in Iran, but the example of successful non-violent revolution can cross national and even cultural frontiers. It won't matter that it's a very long way from the Arab world to China if large numbers of young Chinese conclude that the same techniques could also work against their own local autocracy.
It is very unlikely that that sort of thing is brewing in China now. There were online calls for a 'jasmine revolution' last week, but few people actually went out on to the streets of Chinese cities to protest, and those who did were swiftly overwhelmed by swarms of police. Even the word 'jasmine' is now blocked in Internet searches in China, and tranquillity has been restored.
But what if the Chinese economic miracle stalled? Then the situation could change very fast, for the regime is not loved; it is merely tolerated so long as living standards go on rising quickly. And what could cause it to stall? Well, the economic side effects of the current wave of revolutions in the Middle East might do the trick.
Non-violent revolutions should not affect oil exports at all. Heavy fighting of the sort we are now seeing in Libya can damage oil-producing facilities and drive out foreign workers who are needed to run those facilities, but Libya is not a big enough producer to affect the global-supply situation much by itself.
What drove the oil price up to US$120 a barrel at one point last week (it later fell back to US$110) was not the loss of Libyan production, but the fear that as the contagion of revolution spreads, one or more of the major Middle Eastern oil exporters may fall into the same chaos. Then, the oil pundits predict, the price could hit US$180 or even US$220.
Never mind the direct impact of such an astronomical price on the Chinese economy (although China imports a lot of oil). Far worse for China would be the fact that the whole global economy would go into a period of hyperinflation and steeply falling consumption, for China is now integrated into that economy.
So the Chinese goose stops laying its golden eggs, and young Chinese start looking around for someone to blame. They would, of course, blame the regime - and, at that point, the Middle Eastern example of successful non-violent revolution becomes highly relevant.
Gwynne Dyer is a journalist who has covered international affairs for more than 20 years. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.
March 1, 2011
jamaica-gleaner
Monday, February 28, 2011
Did Buju Banton not know that loose lips sink ships?
Did Buju not know that loose lips sink ships?
BY CHRIS BURNS
Written among other things that "he that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life, but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction". Furthermore, "A nuh everything good fi eat, good fi talk". Even so, the verdict that was handed down by a federal jury in Florida last Tuesday, which found Mark "Buju Banton" Myrie guilty of three of four charges, elicited anguish and scepticism among his supporters across the world. Many were expecting a vastly different outcome. But alas, Buju was found guilty of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offence and using the wires to facilitate drug trafficking.
In reacting to the verdict, one of his fans quipped, "Yuh nuh si seh a pure Babylon tings a gwaan, my yute. Buju nuh deserve none o' dis yah wickedness. De man dem frame 'im, but Babylon kingdom is bound to fall." In his mind, Buju is a victim of an oppressive American justice system. But as alluring as his passionate outbursts were and as defiant as his gesticulative behaviour appeared, I did not join him in apportioning blame to any specific group for Buju's woes. And I am not about to hop on to the caravan of conspiracy theorists, whose purpose, it seems, is to downplay the merits of accepting personal responsibility and applying logics and common sense to our thoughts and actions.
None of this is to suggest that Buju's Boom-bye-bye utterances, or his staunch intolerance of homosexuals, did not bring greater scrutiny towards him, because we know that not all human actions are motivated by purist intentions and are above reproach. That notwithstanding, we should look at this case in view of the evidence presented, but also with full awareness of the doctrine of "opportunity and inclination" and the role this may have played in the minds of the jurors as they deliberated on the circumstances that caused Buju to "taste" that stuff in the warehouse. There is no need for malevolence from anyone. Like most of his fans, I would have preferred a different outcome. My heart and prayers go out to his parents, who must have been disheartened by this verdict.
These serious charges could cause Buju to spend a minimum of 15 years behind bars. Sentencing is yet to be handed down, so before we throw up our hands in complete despair, or fix our eyes on the southern stars of condemnation, we should be mindful of the fact that he has the right and the option to appeal this conviction. Furthermore, the sentencing judge may exercise some discretion when handing down his ruling. Perhaps Buju was being prescient about his own future when he said, it is Not an Easy Road, but let us hope that he doesn't face an extensive incarceration, should his appeal fall through. Let us look ahead to the promises of tomorrow, and because life's destiny is never clear-cut to anyone, one can only hope that hidden treasures will emerge from this ordeal.
At 37 years old, Buju is still relatively young, and despite this setback he can go on to lead a remarkable and transformational life, during and post-prison. He can continue to pen positive lyrics and use his voice to bring positive changes to millions around the world. Consequently, my consolation to Buju is deeply rooted in an idiom my late grandmother often shared with us. It is very much about loss and life, as it is about defeat and triumph. She reminded us constantly that, "Wha nuh cost life, nuh cost nutten". Implicit in this is a certain consciousness that the gift of life is supreme. For although one may lose everything, the fact that one can still breathe, see, hear, think, feel, create, touch and enjoy the splendours of God's creation should be enough to impel one to learn from the tragedies, mistakes and setbacks in one's life and make amends.
Therefore, the unfortunate circumstances of life ought not to become permanent walls of inaction and resignation. Once we become conscious of the character and flavour of our mistakes, accept responsibility and submit to atonement, we should then embark on a journey to fulsome redemption and reformation. In coming to grips with the misfortunes of life, we should also compel ourselves to evaluate the opportunity costs associated with the things we lose, the freedoms we abrogate - wittingly or unwittingly - and the pain we endure by not having them. But we should only do so with the view to motivate ourselves into taking full advantage of the new opportunities for positive change that lie within our grasp.
Truth is that none of us can claim perfection. Errors will be made, some more dastardly than others, yet we cannot play victim or dwell in the emptiness of self-pity or blame everybody else but ourselves for our failings. If there are lessons to be learnt from Buju's predicament, they should be how we control our tongues. Yes, we must place bridles on our tongues sometimes and become cognisant of the effect of unguarded talk, as it could come back to bite us in the softest places of the anatomy. Buju admitted this much during his testimony. He said, "I knew it (drug deal) was all talk for me because when I left Johnson's company, I say to myself 'idiot', I am not a drug dealer. I talk the talk, but I did not walk the walk..." Was it a good strategy to use "idle talk" as one of the bases for his defence?
I often wonder why almost all Jamaican jokes in circulation, particularly those on the internet, end with the Jamaican saying something downright stupid to expose one's own prior actions, often without solicitation. And although these jokes are meant to titillate, they reveal a serious reality about our loose lips. Could it be that we are so inherently honest or helplessly transparent, that we cannot keep a lid on our own tongues? We have a habit to "gwow" a lot without regard for socio-cultural repercussion, but as the frog says, "What is joke to you is death to me." Then, there is no stopping us, especially when we feel we have an opportunity to compete or impress - boy, we go to town without being mindful that "loose lips sink ships".
Burnscg@aol.com
February 28, 2011
jamaicaobserver
BY CHRIS BURNS
Written among other things that "he that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life, but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction". Furthermore, "A nuh everything good fi eat, good fi talk". Even so, the verdict that was handed down by a federal jury in Florida last Tuesday, which found Mark "Buju Banton" Myrie guilty of three of four charges, elicited anguish and scepticism among his supporters across the world. Many were expecting a vastly different outcome. But alas, Buju was found guilty of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offence and using the wires to facilitate drug trafficking.
In reacting to the verdict, one of his fans quipped, "Yuh nuh si seh a pure Babylon tings a gwaan, my yute. Buju nuh deserve none o' dis yah wickedness. De man dem frame 'im, but Babylon kingdom is bound to fall." In his mind, Buju is a victim of an oppressive American justice system. But as alluring as his passionate outbursts were and as defiant as his gesticulative behaviour appeared, I did not join him in apportioning blame to any specific group for Buju's woes. And I am not about to hop on to the caravan of conspiracy theorists, whose purpose, it seems, is to downplay the merits of accepting personal responsibility and applying logics and common sense to our thoughts and actions.
None of this is to suggest that Buju's Boom-bye-bye utterances, or his staunch intolerance of homosexuals, did not bring greater scrutiny towards him, because we know that not all human actions are motivated by purist intentions and are above reproach. That notwithstanding, we should look at this case in view of the evidence presented, but also with full awareness of the doctrine of "opportunity and inclination" and the role this may have played in the minds of the jurors as they deliberated on the circumstances that caused Buju to "taste" that stuff in the warehouse. There is no need for malevolence from anyone. Like most of his fans, I would have preferred a different outcome. My heart and prayers go out to his parents, who must have been disheartened by this verdict.
These serious charges could cause Buju to spend a minimum of 15 years behind bars. Sentencing is yet to be handed down, so before we throw up our hands in complete despair, or fix our eyes on the southern stars of condemnation, we should be mindful of the fact that he has the right and the option to appeal this conviction. Furthermore, the sentencing judge may exercise some discretion when handing down his ruling. Perhaps Buju was being prescient about his own future when he said, it is Not an Easy Road, but let us hope that he doesn't face an extensive incarceration, should his appeal fall through. Let us look ahead to the promises of tomorrow, and because life's destiny is never clear-cut to anyone, one can only hope that hidden treasures will emerge from this ordeal.
At 37 years old, Buju is still relatively young, and despite this setback he can go on to lead a remarkable and transformational life, during and post-prison. He can continue to pen positive lyrics and use his voice to bring positive changes to millions around the world. Consequently, my consolation to Buju is deeply rooted in an idiom my late grandmother often shared with us. It is very much about loss and life, as it is about defeat and triumph. She reminded us constantly that, "Wha nuh cost life, nuh cost nutten". Implicit in this is a certain consciousness that the gift of life is supreme. For although one may lose everything, the fact that one can still breathe, see, hear, think, feel, create, touch and enjoy the splendours of God's creation should be enough to impel one to learn from the tragedies, mistakes and setbacks in one's life and make amends.
Therefore, the unfortunate circumstances of life ought not to become permanent walls of inaction and resignation. Once we become conscious of the character and flavour of our mistakes, accept responsibility and submit to atonement, we should then embark on a journey to fulsome redemption and reformation. In coming to grips with the misfortunes of life, we should also compel ourselves to evaluate the opportunity costs associated with the things we lose, the freedoms we abrogate - wittingly or unwittingly - and the pain we endure by not having them. But we should only do so with the view to motivate ourselves into taking full advantage of the new opportunities for positive change that lie within our grasp.
Truth is that none of us can claim perfection. Errors will be made, some more dastardly than others, yet we cannot play victim or dwell in the emptiness of self-pity or blame everybody else but ourselves for our failings. If there are lessons to be learnt from Buju's predicament, they should be how we control our tongues. Yes, we must place bridles on our tongues sometimes and become cognisant of the effect of unguarded talk, as it could come back to bite us in the softest places of the anatomy. Buju admitted this much during his testimony. He said, "I knew it (drug deal) was all talk for me because when I left Johnson's company, I say to myself 'idiot', I am not a drug dealer. I talk the talk, but I did not walk the walk..." Was it a good strategy to use "idle talk" as one of the bases for his defence?
I often wonder why almost all Jamaican jokes in circulation, particularly those on the internet, end with the Jamaican saying something downright stupid to expose one's own prior actions, often without solicitation. And although these jokes are meant to titillate, they reveal a serious reality about our loose lips. Could it be that we are so inherently honest or helplessly transparent, that we cannot keep a lid on our own tongues? We have a habit to "gwow" a lot without regard for socio-cultural repercussion, but as the frog says, "What is joke to you is death to me." Then, there is no stopping us, especially when we feel we have an opportunity to compete or impress - boy, we go to town without being mindful that "loose lips sink ships".
Burnscg@aol.com
February 28, 2011
jamaicaobserver
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Oil and the specter of revolution
rian.ru
The uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa have caused prices surges in global commodity markets. Now the revolt in oil-rich Libya has brought oil prices to a level unseen since 2008.
The IMF has already revised its forecast of the average price per barrel of oil from $89.5 up to $94.75. Widespread unease and speculation are what's driving oil prices up for now. But if the riots spill over from North Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, there could be a physical shortage of oil in the world economy, sending prices as high as $150 per barrel.
Specter of revolution
The price of oil continues to rise. April futures on WTI oil have gone up $0.15 to reach $97.43 per barrel (as of 8:58 a.m. Moscow time). The price of April futures for North Sea Brent Crude has gone up by $1.29 to reach $112.65 per barrel.
Fears that the popular revolts in the Middle East could push up prices on hydrocarbons began to surface immediately after protests began in Egypt. While not a major oil-producing country, Egypt controls the Suez Canal, one of the world's key shipping routes.
The threat of shipping disruptions on the canal was enough to drive up March futures for WTI and Brent by 0.31% and 0.76% respectively in early February. But the prices subsided before long, as shipping through the Suez Canal continued seamlessly and Egypt appeared not to be the beginning of a domino effect that could destroy or at least shake up other regimes in the region. But this is exactly what happened. First the regime fell in Tunisia, then Egypt; now oil-rich Libya is in the grips of a bloody revolt. And the specter of revolution (albeit very faint) is already hovering over Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Gaddafi doubles down
The instability in Libya has contributed greatly to the soaring oil prices. The market was sent into a panic when Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi vowed to sabotage oil and gas pipelines and oil refineries in the country. In the several days since, the price of major oil brands has gone up by about 7%. Analysts are predicting that the price of oil could reach $120 per barrel as early as March.
For the time being, the price increases are the result of speculators sowing panic on markets. It is unclear how much Libya has actually reduced oil production. Some experts claim the production has declined by about 400-500 barrels per day, while others think it's double that amount. Regardless, Libya only produces about 1.6 million barrels of oil per day, or roughly 2% of global output.
If oil production falls by about one third in Libya, global output will go down by about 0.6%. Moreover, OPEC has already promised to increase production to offset the shortage from Libya, and the cartel, with its vast resources, will have no trouble making good on this promise. In other words, there is no threat of a physical shortage of oil, nor of a realignment in the oil market.
Real trouble will begin only if the chain reaction of revolt reaches the oil-rich countries of the Arabian Peninsula, primarily Saudi Arabia, which accounts for 10% of the world's oil. If oil production was to be disrupted in Saudi Arabia, this would deal a serious - though far from fatal - blow to the world economy.
A lose-lose situation
Oil prices are determined by a host of other factors, for instance, global and U.S. economic growth, and the level of oil reserves in America. Gaddafi's threat to destroy his own oil infrastructure happened to coincide with the news last week that oil reserves in the United States grew three times slower than projected, on top of an overall decline in oil reserves of late. On the other hand, forecasts of U.S. economic growth have become more optimistic.
True, we may have to revise down these sunny forecasts very soon, at least if the trend of sharply rising oil prices continues. Economic growth has always depended greatly on oil prices. For the time being, experts do not see a direct threat to the global economy, but let's not forget that speculation-fueled spikes in fuel prices in 2007-2008 was a direct cause of the global economic downturn.
As Prime Minister Vladimir Putin noted at a news conference in Brussels yesterday (http://www.rian.ru/economy/20110224/338310436.html), the Russian economy would not benefit from the further growth of prices on hydrocarbons: "We realize that if global economic growth slows down, this will have a negative impact on our economy as well."
True, higher prices on hydrocarbons will increase Russia's export revenues. But oil is less a blessing for our country than "the devil's excrement," as Juan Pablo Perez Alfonso, one of the founders of OPEC, called it. The discovery of deposits in Western Siberia and steadily rising oil prices in the early 1970s lulled the U.S.S.R. into abandoning much-needed economic reforms.
Today, the fuel and energy sector is both the engine of the Russia economy and its anchor. Russia's abundance of oil has allowed the government to carry out social programs. It has helped finance Russia's recovery from the economic crisis, and much, much more. But Russia's oil-based economy is one of the main causes of its technological backwardness, the enormous disparity between rich and poor, and corruption.
There is also a factor of addition. Just as a sick person gets addicted to medicine, our raw materials-based economy becomes addicted to high oil prices. Even if oil prices reach pre-crisis levels, we still won't be able to patch the hole in the budget and achieve pre-crisis economic growth rates.
23:42 25/02/2011
rian.ru
The uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa have caused prices surges in global commodity markets. Now the revolt in oil-rich Libya has brought oil prices to a level unseen since 2008.
The IMF has already revised its forecast of the average price per barrel of oil from $89.5 up to $94.75. Widespread unease and speculation are what's driving oil prices up for now. But if the riots spill over from North Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, there could be a physical shortage of oil in the world economy, sending prices as high as $150 per barrel.
Specter of revolution
The price of oil continues to rise. April futures on WTI oil have gone up $0.15 to reach $97.43 per barrel (as of 8:58 a.m. Moscow time). The price of April futures for North Sea Brent Crude has gone up by $1.29 to reach $112.65 per barrel.
Fears that the popular revolts in the Middle East could push up prices on hydrocarbons began to surface immediately after protests began in Egypt. While not a major oil-producing country, Egypt controls the Suez Canal, one of the world's key shipping routes.
The threat of shipping disruptions on the canal was enough to drive up March futures for WTI and Brent by 0.31% and 0.76% respectively in early February. But the prices subsided before long, as shipping through the Suez Canal continued seamlessly and Egypt appeared not to be the beginning of a domino effect that could destroy or at least shake up other regimes in the region. But this is exactly what happened. First the regime fell in Tunisia, then Egypt; now oil-rich Libya is in the grips of a bloody revolt. And the specter of revolution (albeit very faint) is already hovering over Iran and Saudi Arabia.
Gaddafi doubles down
The instability in Libya has contributed greatly to the soaring oil prices. The market was sent into a panic when Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi vowed to sabotage oil and gas pipelines and oil refineries in the country. In the several days since, the price of major oil brands has gone up by about 7%. Analysts are predicting that the price of oil could reach $120 per barrel as early as March.
For the time being, the price increases are the result of speculators sowing panic on markets. It is unclear how much Libya has actually reduced oil production. Some experts claim the production has declined by about 400-500 barrels per day, while others think it's double that amount. Regardless, Libya only produces about 1.6 million barrels of oil per day, or roughly 2% of global output.
If oil production falls by about one third in Libya, global output will go down by about 0.6%. Moreover, OPEC has already promised to increase production to offset the shortage from Libya, and the cartel, with its vast resources, will have no trouble making good on this promise. In other words, there is no threat of a physical shortage of oil, nor of a realignment in the oil market.
Real trouble will begin only if the chain reaction of revolt reaches the oil-rich countries of the Arabian Peninsula, primarily Saudi Arabia, which accounts for 10% of the world's oil. If oil production was to be disrupted in Saudi Arabia, this would deal a serious - though far from fatal - blow to the world economy.
A lose-lose situation
Oil prices are determined by a host of other factors, for instance, global and U.S. economic growth, and the level of oil reserves in America. Gaddafi's threat to destroy his own oil infrastructure happened to coincide with the news last week that oil reserves in the United States grew three times slower than projected, on top of an overall decline in oil reserves of late. On the other hand, forecasts of U.S. economic growth have become more optimistic.
True, we may have to revise down these sunny forecasts very soon, at least if the trend of sharply rising oil prices continues. Economic growth has always depended greatly on oil prices. For the time being, experts do not see a direct threat to the global economy, but let's not forget that speculation-fueled spikes in fuel prices in 2007-2008 was a direct cause of the global economic downturn.
As Prime Minister Vladimir Putin noted at a news conference in Brussels yesterday (http://www.rian.ru/economy/20110224/338310436.html), the Russian economy would not benefit from the further growth of prices on hydrocarbons: "We realize that if global economic growth slows down, this will have a negative impact on our economy as well."
True, higher prices on hydrocarbons will increase Russia's export revenues. But oil is less a blessing for our country than "the devil's excrement," as Juan Pablo Perez Alfonso, one of the founders of OPEC, called it. The discovery of deposits in Western Siberia and steadily rising oil prices in the early 1970s lulled the U.S.S.R. into abandoning much-needed economic reforms.
Today, the fuel and energy sector is both the engine of the Russia economy and its anchor. Russia's abundance of oil has allowed the government to carry out social programs. It has helped finance Russia's recovery from the economic crisis, and much, much more. But Russia's oil-based economy is one of the main causes of its technological backwardness, the enormous disparity between rich and poor, and corruption.
There is also a factor of addition. Just as a sick person gets addicted to medicine, our raw materials-based economy becomes addicted to high oil prices. Even if oil prices reach pre-crisis levels, we still won't be able to patch the hole in the budget and achieve pre-crisis economic growth rates.
23:42 25/02/2011
rian.ru
Saturday, February 26, 2011
President Bharrat Jagdeo will bequeath to his country - Guyana: Stagnation, violence, corruption, arch-sectarianism, and unfettered crime
Guyana president leaves a tattered legacy
by Robert Cavooris and Elcin Chang, COHA Research Associates
Chosen by former President Janet Jagan to succeed her in office, and supposedly held in high esteem by Guyana’s founding father, the illustrious Cheddi Jagan, Jagdeo could only receive the lowest of marks from any independent evaluation. Through his tolerance of crime, racism, and dismal social progress, President Jagdeo has turned in a fifth-rate performance as president of one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere.
As the Guyanese use every strategy, legal and illegal, to flee the dysfunctional country, Jagdeo will go down in history as a man who did almost nothing for his nation while in office.
Jagdeo in Command?
As Guyana was wrestling with ever-present ethnic and political tensions, Jagdeo ascended to the presidency in 1999, not by election but rather through the anointment of his predecessor, Janet Jagan, thus taking the helm with no popular electoral mandate. To his credit, Jagdeo has led Guyana on a path of considerable economic growth in the last ten years despite a devastating flood in 2005.
The Guyanese economy, which is heavily dependent on the export of six main commodities -- rice, timber, gold, bauxite, shrimp and sugar -- has expanded at an average rate of 3 percent over the past decade. Sadly however, despite this incremental improvement in the Guyanese economy, government officials have been either unwilling or unable to share this modest prosperity with average Guyanese citizens.
Indicative of this trend is the fact that the allocation for education as a percentage of government spending is significantly lower than it was ten years ago. Public spending on education dropped to 6.1 percent of total GDP in 2007, down from 8.5 percent in 2000. Because of this lack of adequate spending on public education, the percentage of primary school entrance-age children enrolled in such schools dropped from 91.8 percent to 62.0 percent.
While it is difficult to speculate precisely what effect these substantive budget cuts on education have had on childhood literacy rates in the country (owing to a lack of data collected by Georgetown officials), there could be pernicious social consequences if education continues to take a back seat on the Guyanese agenda.
On healthcare, there have been some positive results including an increase in life expectancy and a notable decrease in infant mortality. Many exigencies however remain unaffected. For instance, about a fifth of the Guyanese population still lacks access to clean sanitation facilities. And the World Health Organization estimated that Guyana has one of the highest prevalence rates of HIV/AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Perpetual Violence
Jagdeo’s tenure will also be remembered for the spike in violent crimes experienced throughout Guyana, an issue exacerbated by repeated extrajudicial killings on the part of state authorities. Since 2001, “Phantom” death squads with alleged connections to government agencies -- also called the “Black Clothes Police” -- have been linked to some 400 murders. “A clear pattern is emerging,” said a member of the opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNC). “The Black Clothes Police have constituted themselves accusers, judge, jury and executioners, and have been gunning down people with impunity.”
The Jagdeo administration shocked the region by rejecting a request by the United States, Britain, and Canada to do an independent probe of what amounted to repeated human rights violations. “We are very concerned about the allegations and we believe that the integrity of the government is something that is at question here,” said British High Commissioner Stephen Hiscock.
Amnesty International wrote an open letter to President Jagdeo in 2001 demanding prosecution of any officials involved in extrajudicial violence, and saying that the Guyanese government had “repeatedly failed to ensure the protection of the internationally recognized fundamental right to life -- and to take measures to prevent such killings.” Although several officers were indicted for their participation in extrajudicial killings in 2004, none were convicted.
Some have responded in kind to the state violence, such as in the notorious Rondell Rawlins case. Rawlins, who accused the government of kidnapping his girlfriend, waged a campaign of terror in Guyana seeking her return. This resulted in the shocking deaths of 23 people. Jagdeo’s tumultuous presidency was also beset by a series of fatal bombings over the past several years, including one attack on the Ministry of Health in 2009 and two additional assaults in 2011 -- one at the Stabroek Market and the other at the residence of Philomena Sahoye-Shury, a leading member of President Jagdeo’s People’s Progressive Party (PPP). As one editorial in Guyana’s Stabroek News put it, “The security situation grows murkier by the day and it is in this milieu that there has been a rash of dangerous events.”
Ethnicity and Frustration
The violence in Guyana is all the bitterer for the ethnic undertones that color it. Guyana’s motto -- ‘One People, One Nation, One Destiny,’ -- only seems a cruel joke in the face of the stark division that has long seized the country -- a division that Jagdeo has done almost nothing to address.
Party affiliation in Guyana falls almost directly along ethnic lines. Jagdeo’s PPP overwhelmingly receives the vote of the Guyanese of Indian descent, while the opposition PNC garners the support of the country’s African descendents. One study of the 2001 elections called the crossover votes between ethnic groups “insubstantial” and concluded that “[PPP] is still, for all practical purposes, an Indian-dominated party.”
Even after the 2006 election, Jagdeo’s efforts to diminish the trend were nowhere to be seen. One editorial in the Stabroek News in 2010 commented that the two main parties still remain within their ethnic platform. It said, “Both [the PPP and PNC] follow an unwritten rule that their leader must be from a particular ethnic group and both derive a high percentage of their support from a single ethnic group.”
Often, crimes in Guyana take on a racial dimension, reflecting the continued perception of the longstanding Afro-Guyanese exclusion under the PPP. In 2007, Andre Douglas, an alleged murderer of African descent who was eventually killed by police after escaping from jail, placed his own crimes in the context of social marginalization and inequality. He called himself a “freedom fighter,” and said, “Look into innocent black Guyanese problems or unrest will not finish.”
In other words, Douglas would keep terrorizing Guyana until the social problems of the Afro-Guyanese were alleviated. The large turnout at Douglas’ funeral showed that his frustration resonated with the country’s Afro-Guyanese community. Thus, ethnic division remains a challenge that disrupts quotidian life in Guyana, and that President Jagdeo has not effectively taken steps to resolve.
Conclusions
On balance, Jagdeo has failed during his presidency to advance the freedom and fairness of Guyanese public life, or the inequities of the Indo-Guyanese dominated society. Increased economic growth is futile if it does not translate into a greater sense of prosperity within the entirety of society. Jagdeo’s two-term presidency fell woefully short on that point. Social needs remain unmet due to inadequate spending on education and a lack of efforts to improve the quality of healthcare.
Furthermore the perpetual presence of criminal and ethnic violence threatens the fabric of Guyanese society, and, if anything, has been aggravated by the indiscriminate violence of public security forces in response.
It is not yet clear who the candidates will be in the upcoming presidential election, but whoever inherits Jagdeo’s position must work to tackle these persistent issues, and to clear the air of hopelessness when it comes to improving life in one of the hemisphere’s poorest and most forlorn countries.
The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, founded in 1975, is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, tax-exempt research and information organization. It has been described on the Senate floor as being "one of the nation's most respected bodies of scholars and policy makers." For more information, visit www.coha.org or email coha@coha.org
caribbeannewsnow
by Robert Cavooris and Elcin Chang, COHA Research Associates
Stagnation, violence, corruption, arch-sectarianism, and unfettered crime — this is the heritage that President Bharrat Jagdeo will bequeath to his country. Now that Jagdeo has announced that he will not seek a third term in the upcoming August election, he may well ask, as a New York mayor once did, “How did I do?” The answer, in this instance, must be: “terribly.”
Chosen by former President Janet Jagan to succeed her in office, and supposedly held in high esteem by Guyana’s founding father, the illustrious Cheddi Jagan, Jagdeo could only receive the lowest of marks from any independent evaluation. Through his tolerance of crime, racism, and dismal social progress, President Jagdeo has turned in a fifth-rate performance as president of one of the poorest countries in the hemisphere.
As the Guyanese use every strategy, legal and illegal, to flee the dysfunctional country, Jagdeo will go down in history as a man who did almost nothing for his nation while in office.
Jagdeo in Command?
As Guyana was wrestling with ever-present ethnic and political tensions, Jagdeo ascended to the presidency in 1999, not by election but rather through the anointment of his predecessor, Janet Jagan, thus taking the helm with no popular electoral mandate. To his credit, Jagdeo has led Guyana on a path of considerable economic growth in the last ten years despite a devastating flood in 2005.
The Guyanese economy, which is heavily dependent on the export of six main commodities -- rice, timber, gold, bauxite, shrimp and sugar -- has expanded at an average rate of 3 percent over the past decade. Sadly however, despite this incremental improvement in the Guyanese economy, government officials have been either unwilling or unable to share this modest prosperity with average Guyanese citizens.
Indicative of this trend is the fact that the allocation for education as a percentage of government spending is significantly lower than it was ten years ago. Public spending on education dropped to 6.1 percent of total GDP in 2007, down from 8.5 percent in 2000. Because of this lack of adequate spending on public education, the percentage of primary school entrance-age children enrolled in such schools dropped from 91.8 percent to 62.0 percent.
While it is difficult to speculate precisely what effect these substantive budget cuts on education have had on childhood literacy rates in the country (owing to a lack of data collected by Georgetown officials), there could be pernicious social consequences if education continues to take a back seat on the Guyanese agenda.
On healthcare, there have been some positive results including an increase in life expectancy and a notable decrease in infant mortality. Many exigencies however remain unaffected. For instance, about a fifth of the Guyanese population still lacks access to clean sanitation facilities. And the World Health Organization estimated that Guyana has one of the highest prevalence rates of HIV/AIDS in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Perpetual Violence
Jagdeo’s tenure will also be remembered for the spike in violent crimes experienced throughout Guyana, an issue exacerbated by repeated extrajudicial killings on the part of state authorities. Since 2001, “Phantom” death squads with alleged connections to government agencies -- also called the “Black Clothes Police” -- have been linked to some 400 murders. “A clear pattern is emerging,” said a member of the opposition People’s National Congress Reform (PNC). “The Black Clothes Police have constituted themselves accusers, judge, jury and executioners, and have been gunning down people with impunity.”
The Jagdeo administration shocked the region by rejecting a request by the United States, Britain, and Canada to do an independent probe of what amounted to repeated human rights violations. “We are very concerned about the allegations and we believe that the integrity of the government is something that is at question here,” said British High Commissioner Stephen Hiscock.
Amnesty International wrote an open letter to President Jagdeo in 2001 demanding prosecution of any officials involved in extrajudicial violence, and saying that the Guyanese government had “repeatedly failed to ensure the protection of the internationally recognized fundamental right to life -- and to take measures to prevent such killings.” Although several officers were indicted for their participation in extrajudicial killings in 2004, none were convicted.
Some have responded in kind to the state violence, such as in the notorious Rondell Rawlins case. Rawlins, who accused the government of kidnapping his girlfriend, waged a campaign of terror in Guyana seeking her return. This resulted in the shocking deaths of 23 people. Jagdeo’s tumultuous presidency was also beset by a series of fatal bombings over the past several years, including one attack on the Ministry of Health in 2009 and two additional assaults in 2011 -- one at the Stabroek Market and the other at the residence of Philomena Sahoye-Shury, a leading member of President Jagdeo’s People’s Progressive Party (PPP). As one editorial in Guyana’s Stabroek News put it, “The security situation grows murkier by the day and it is in this milieu that there has been a rash of dangerous events.”
Ethnicity and Frustration
The violence in Guyana is all the bitterer for the ethnic undertones that color it. Guyana’s motto -- ‘One People, One Nation, One Destiny,’ -- only seems a cruel joke in the face of the stark division that has long seized the country -- a division that Jagdeo has done almost nothing to address.
Party affiliation in Guyana falls almost directly along ethnic lines. Jagdeo’s PPP overwhelmingly receives the vote of the Guyanese of Indian descent, while the opposition PNC garners the support of the country’s African descendents. One study of the 2001 elections called the crossover votes between ethnic groups “insubstantial” and concluded that “[PPP] is still, for all practical purposes, an Indian-dominated party.”
Even after the 2006 election, Jagdeo’s efforts to diminish the trend were nowhere to be seen. One editorial in the Stabroek News in 2010 commented that the two main parties still remain within their ethnic platform. It said, “Both [the PPP and PNC] follow an unwritten rule that their leader must be from a particular ethnic group and both derive a high percentage of their support from a single ethnic group.”
Often, crimes in Guyana take on a racial dimension, reflecting the continued perception of the longstanding Afro-Guyanese exclusion under the PPP. In 2007, Andre Douglas, an alleged murderer of African descent who was eventually killed by police after escaping from jail, placed his own crimes in the context of social marginalization and inequality. He called himself a “freedom fighter,” and said, “Look into innocent black Guyanese problems or unrest will not finish.”
In other words, Douglas would keep terrorizing Guyana until the social problems of the Afro-Guyanese were alleviated. The large turnout at Douglas’ funeral showed that his frustration resonated with the country’s Afro-Guyanese community. Thus, ethnic division remains a challenge that disrupts quotidian life in Guyana, and that President Jagdeo has not effectively taken steps to resolve.
Conclusions
On balance, Jagdeo has failed during his presidency to advance the freedom and fairness of Guyanese public life, or the inequities of the Indo-Guyanese dominated society. Increased economic growth is futile if it does not translate into a greater sense of prosperity within the entirety of society. Jagdeo’s two-term presidency fell woefully short on that point. Social needs remain unmet due to inadequate spending on education and a lack of efforts to improve the quality of healthcare.
Furthermore the perpetual presence of criminal and ethnic violence threatens the fabric of Guyanese society, and, if anything, has been aggravated by the indiscriminate violence of public security forces in response.
It is not yet clear who the candidates will be in the upcoming presidential election, but whoever inherits Jagdeo’s position must work to tackle these persistent issues, and to clear the air of hopelessness when it comes to improving life in one of the hemisphere’s poorest and most forlorn countries.
The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, founded in 1975, is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, tax-exempt research and information organization. It has been described on the Senate floor as being "one of the nation's most respected bodies of scholars and policy makers." For more information, visit www.coha.org or email coha@coha.org
caribbeannewsnow
Friday, February 25, 2011
BBC Caribbean Service ends March 25, 2011
BBC Caribbean nears closure
nationnews
BBC Caribbean Service has only one month left in operation as it gets ready to end its broadcasts on March 25.
The decision by BBC World Service is part of cuts which will amount to over 600 jobs lost.
BBC said the closures were part of its response to a cut to its Grant-in-Aid funding from Britain’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO).
The final week of broadcasting by the Caribbean Service will include a regional call-in and discussion programme looking at the future of pan-Caribbean news and current affairs.
The last editions of the morning and evening drivetime editions of BBC Caribbean Report and BBC Caribbean Magazine will be aired on March 25.
Debbie Ransome, Head of BBC Caribbean Service said: “After one of our best years ever editorially, this has been a great blow for the team here.”
Controller, Languages at BBC World Service, Liliane Landor described BBC Caribbean as: “One of the oldest and most distinguished services that the BBC has provided in English.”
The Caribbean Service transmissions are used on 48 partner stations across the English, Spanish, and Dutch Caribbean and as part of the Caribbean stream on four FM relays in Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, and Antigua-Barbuda.
The early roots of the Caribbean Service began in 1939. (BBC)
February 25, 2011
nationnews
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Have CARICOM governments surrendered foreign policy independence to the Secretariat?
By Ian Francis
The debates and concerns about regional independent sovereignty are very much alive in academic, communities and other concerned sectors in the Caribbean Commonwealth. Many questions are being asked by those debating the issue. Recently, I became involved in the debate through my participation in a meeting amongst many concerned Caribbean nationals now residing in Toronto but maintain a deep affinity to the state from where they originally immigrated.
-- Is the foreign policy management process of independent Caribbean sovereign states, republics and nations managed through agencies that are in receipt of multilateral grants and contributions?
-- Are Commonwealth Caribbean governments exerting their sovereign rights and responsibilities to ensure that foreign policy decisions evolve through the government-designated ministry of foreign affairs?
-- Have our governments surrendered these sovereign rights due to concentration on managing the local economy?
-- Are they perceived simply as aid recipients and beggars that it is either the surrender of independent sovereign rights or getting the necessary aid?
Looking at the historical development of independence in the Commonwealth Caribbean, the names of Eric Williams, Forbes Burnham, Michael Manley and Errol Barrow cannot be forgotten as they clearly demonstrated their strong anti-colonialist stance and at the same time to ensure that the independence and management of their foreign policy remained intact in the various sanctuaries of their ministry of foreign affairs.
We cannot ignore their joint collective decision to ignore Washington’s objection when they made the decision to establish full diplomatic relations with the Republic of Cuba. Burnham and Manley’s unflinching support for the liberation movement against apartheid in South Africa and membership in the Non-Aligned Movement were independent foreign policy decisions taken, which brought no smiles in the State Department. In spite of the applied pressure unleashed on both Burnham and Manley, they stood their ground and demonstrated to the colonial interests that they are capable of making their own independent foreign policy decision.
In 1974, the courage against colonial domination was once again demonstrated by former prime minister of Grenada, Sir Eric Matthew Gairy, when he made the decision to lead Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique to independence. What was challenging about Grenada’s decision is that it became the first Associated State in the now renamed environment of the OECS Union to break its colonial shackles with Britain.
Grenada’s decision to become independent led to the formation of various local alliances that were vehemently opposed to independence, leading to strikes and other civil disobedience, which led to the emergence of the famous Committee of 22. This Committee was made up of a group of local colonialists consisting of merchants, lawyers, farmers and other opposition factions. While their opposition to independence had some mitigating effects on the local economy, on February 7, 1974, Grenada, under the leadership of Eric Gairy, became independent and recently celebrated its 37th birth date as an independent nation.
Many of the other Associated States have since followed Grenada’s decision and finally broken the yoke of colonialism with Britain. Many are known as independent Caribbean Commonwealth States.
With the More Developed Countries (MDC) maintaining the management of their independent foreign policy, Grenada followed suit and went on to manage its own foreign policy in a number of misguided ways by establishing diplomatic relations with many nations that had a disregard for individual human rights. This misguided approach resulted in diplomatic relations with some notorious nations.
On the other hand, Grenada was successful in establishing a young corps of dedicated foreign service officers; joining many international organizations and of course taking its illustrious seat at the United Nations General Assembly; establishing its own embassies and consulates across the global community. In essence, it is fair to conclude that Grenada built a foreign policy infrastructure between 1974-79, which the Bishop regime acquired following the 1979 people’s uprising, and which witnessed the overthrow of Gairy from office.
While some of Grenada’s foreign policy decisions have been severely criticized by many international relation experts, the period of government under the Bishop regime of 1979-83 also had some misguided moments like the Afghanistan vote, the unnecessary feud with former Barbados prime minister, Tom Adams, and the constant negative exchanges with Washington.
Based on a careful review of regional events, it would appear to the writer that the surrendering of Caribbean states’ foreign policy management to the CARICOM Secretariat could have started in the late 80s or early 90s. With the surrendering of such an important pinnacle of any government, there have been many dull outcomes for regional independent governments. Some of these dull outcomes have seen a steady decline in bilateral assistance to our governments and a sudden increase of multilateral assistance to the Secretariat and many other regional multilateral agencies.
In conclusion, it is not too late for regional independent states to reclaim their foreign policy management niche. As they ponder the structural changes to be made within the Secretariat in the coming months, CARICOM’s management of regional foreign policy and its relation to international multilateral agencies require closer scrutiny. It is hoped that under Thomas’s current chairmanship and vigour, he will be able to convince his Council of Ambassadors to take a second look at this situation. A ministry of foreign affairs in any independent nation means more that good protocol practices. Formation of good foreign policies is crucial.
Ian Francis resides in Toronto and writes frequently on Caribbean Commonwealth Affairs. He is a former Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Grenada. He can be reached at info@vismincommunications.org
February 24, 2011
caribbeannewsnow
The debates and concerns about regional independent sovereignty are very much alive in academic, communities and other concerned sectors in the Caribbean Commonwealth. Many questions are being asked by those debating the issue. Recently, I became involved in the debate through my participation in a meeting amongst many concerned Caribbean nationals now residing in Toronto but maintain a deep affinity to the state from where they originally immigrated.
-- Is the foreign policy management process of independent Caribbean sovereign states, republics and nations managed through agencies that are in receipt of multilateral grants and contributions?
-- Are Commonwealth Caribbean governments exerting their sovereign rights and responsibilities to ensure that foreign policy decisions evolve through the government-designated ministry of foreign affairs?
-- Have our governments surrendered these sovereign rights due to concentration on managing the local economy?
-- Are they perceived simply as aid recipients and beggars that it is either the surrender of independent sovereign rights or getting the necessary aid?
Looking at the historical development of independence in the Commonwealth Caribbean, the names of Eric Williams, Forbes Burnham, Michael Manley and Errol Barrow cannot be forgotten as they clearly demonstrated their strong anti-colonialist stance and at the same time to ensure that the independence and management of their foreign policy remained intact in the various sanctuaries of their ministry of foreign affairs.
We cannot ignore their joint collective decision to ignore Washington’s objection when they made the decision to establish full diplomatic relations with the Republic of Cuba. Burnham and Manley’s unflinching support for the liberation movement against apartheid in South Africa and membership in the Non-Aligned Movement were independent foreign policy decisions taken, which brought no smiles in the State Department. In spite of the applied pressure unleashed on both Burnham and Manley, they stood their ground and demonstrated to the colonial interests that they are capable of making their own independent foreign policy decision.
In 1974, the courage against colonial domination was once again demonstrated by former prime minister of Grenada, Sir Eric Matthew Gairy, when he made the decision to lead Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique to independence. What was challenging about Grenada’s decision is that it became the first Associated State in the now renamed environment of the OECS Union to break its colonial shackles with Britain.
Grenada’s decision to become independent led to the formation of various local alliances that were vehemently opposed to independence, leading to strikes and other civil disobedience, which led to the emergence of the famous Committee of 22. This Committee was made up of a group of local colonialists consisting of merchants, lawyers, farmers and other opposition factions. While their opposition to independence had some mitigating effects on the local economy, on February 7, 1974, Grenada, under the leadership of Eric Gairy, became independent and recently celebrated its 37th birth date as an independent nation.
Many of the other Associated States have since followed Grenada’s decision and finally broken the yoke of colonialism with Britain. Many are known as independent Caribbean Commonwealth States.
With the More Developed Countries (MDC) maintaining the management of their independent foreign policy, Grenada followed suit and went on to manage its own foreign policy in a number of misguided ways by establishing diplomatic relations with many nations that had a disregard for individual human rights. This misguided approach resulted in diplomatic relations with some notorious nations.
On the other hand, Grenada was successful in establishing a young corps of dedicated foreign service officers; joining many international organizations and of course taking its illustrious seat at the United Nations General Assembly; establishing its own embassies and consulates across the global community. In essence, it is fair to conclude that Grenada built a foreign policy infrastructure between 1974-79, which the Bishop regime acquired following the 1979 people’s uprising, and which witnessed the overthrow of Gairy from office.
While some of Grenada’s foreign policy decisions have been severely criticized by many international relation experts, the period of government under the Bishop regime of 1979-83 also had some misguided moments like the Afghanistan vote, the unnecessary feud with former Barbados prime minister, Tom Adams, and the constant negative exchanges with Washington.
Based on a careful review of regional events, it would appear to the writer that the surrendering of Caribbean states’ foreign policy management to the CARICOM Secretariat could have started in the late 80s or early 90s. With the surrendering of such an important pinnacle of any government, there have been many dull outcomes for regional independent governments. Some of these dull outcomes have seen a steady decline in bilateral assistance to our governments and a sudden increase of multilateral assistance to the Secretariat and many other regional multilateral agencies.
In conclusion, it is not too late for regional independent states to reclaim their foreign policy management niche. As they ponder the structural changes to be made within the Secretariat in the coming months, CARICOM’s management of regional foreign policy and its relation to international multilateral agencies require closer scrutiny. It is hoped that under Thomas’s current chairmanship and vigour, he will be able to convince his Council of Ambassadors to take a second look at this situation. A ministry of foreign affairs in any independent nation means more that good protocol practices. Formation of good foreign policies is crucial.
Ian Francis resides in Toronto and writes frequently on Caribbean Commonwealth Affairs. He is a former Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Grenada. He can be reached at info@vismincommunications.org
February 24, 2011
caribbeannewsnow
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