Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the rest

By David Roberts:



First the good news. Support for democracy in Latin America is at its highest level since the late 1990s, according to the latest version of the highly respected Latinobarómetro survey, published a few days ago. And that's despite the quasi coup in Honduras and the financial crisis-cum-economic slump.

Overall explicit support for democracy - those believing it is preferable to any other system of government - stands at 59%, according to the survey of some 18,000 people in all Latin American countries except Cuba. Last year the figure came in at 57% and the year before 54%.

"Implicit" approval, meaning accepting democracy has its shortcomings but it's still better than other systems - what Latinobarómetro calls Churchillian democracy based on his famous quote paraphrased in the headline of this column - stands at 76% in the 2009 survey.

"In summary… Latin America is more democratic after the 2009 crisis, it is more tolerant, is happier," the survey's authors conclude, as reforms in the region are starting to bear fruit. It seems we've never had it so good, to paraphrase another former British prime minister.

Interestingly, support is strongest in Venezuela, a country where many regard democracy as being under threat at present, at 85% in the explicit category and 90% in the implicit one, the 2009 version of the survey concludes. Perhaps if Cuba had been included it would have scored even higher. Next, in the explicit category, come Uruguay, Costa Rica and Bolivia.

A little disturbingly, however, at the other end of the scale support is a mere 42% in Mexico (explicit) and 62% implicit. It's also worryingly low in Colombia, Paraguay, Ecuador and Guatemala, at least according to the 115 page survey produced by the Santiago-based NGO.

It's easy to pick holes in a survey of this type, but one thing is for sure: Latin America is in much better shape now than it was two or three decades ago, at least in terms of democracy and stability.

In the 1970s and 80s, military regimes ruled large parts of South America (Chile, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay) while Paraguay was under the iron fist of Alfredo Stroessner. Bolivia's "palace coups" were all too frequent, and Mexico was effectively a one-party state.

In the 1980s, civil wars were raging in Central America, Cuba was seen as a real military threat to much of the region and Peru was rocked by terrorist violence, while Colombia was being torn apart by guerrillas, drug barons and paramilitaries. Then there was the US invasion of Panama, and in the 1990s came the Zapatista "uprising" in Mexico's Chiapas.

And while the recent crisis has hit the region hard, especially Mexico and those countries more dependent on manufacturing and US markets, things need to be put into perspective. In the 1980s, we had hyperinflation in many countries in the region, the infamous debt crisis and banking meltdown after meltdown, and that's not to mention the Tequila and Asian crises that followed.

Today, with the one obvious exception of Cuba and the less obvious one of Honduras given the recent elections and the prospect that the "civil coup" will simply peter out after Porfirio Lobo takes office, democracy in some form or another prevails universally throughout the region, as witnessed most recently by Sunday's elections in Chile. In the meantime, there are plenty of signs that the region and the world are emerging from the recent economic crisis.

So, reasons to be cheerful there are indeed, although as Latinobarómetro says, the positive results of this year's survey provide no motive to celebrate just yet given the problems in the region and the potential to return to instability.


bnamericas

Bahamas Blog International

Caribbean Region needs to focus more on environmental leadership

There must be more emphasis on environmental leadership and regional co-ordination in the Caribbean.

This was the message of Dr. Mark Griffith, as his organisation CaribInvest
honoured seven regional luminaries that have made an outstanding contribution to environmental sustainability. The event took place on Wednesday evening as part of the two-day Second Caribbean Dialogue on Caribbean Economic Expansion, Investment and Opportunities Arising from the Economic Partnership Agreement at the PomMarine Hotel.

Griffith noted that the environment had not been one of the key issues taken on by CARICOM, but noted that there had been a lot of work on the issue in past decades which was not necessarily being recognised. To this end, the recipients have also been honoured in a book entitled “Nuts and Bolts” by Griffith and Derrick Oderson that is dedicated to issues relating to Caribbean Community law and regional environmental co-ordination.

“Essentially, the publication seeks to put into perspective what has taken place in the region since the late 1980s,” Griffith said during the presentation. This, he said, was derived from the lack of historical perspective on what our negotiators have achieved in terms of the evolution of environmental and sustainable development co-ordination in the Caribbean.

Griffith said the book was dedicated to several people who have made a significant contribution to the area of environmental sustainability, explaining, “The period late 1980s–mid-1990s is described in the book as the golden period of regional co-ordination.”

The honourees included Dr. Ted Aldridge, a Jamaican, who worked tirelessly to promote regional environmental co-ordination and Charles Leeward, a former Ambassador from Guyana to the United Nations Environment Programme, for his strong role in environmental co-ordination; both are deceased. In addition, Professor B. Persaud, former Director of Economic Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat and Minister Lincoln Myers of Trinidad and Tobago, who Griffith described as one of the most outstanding Ministers of Environment in the region, were both noted for their roles in the 1994 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) conference in Barbados. Furthermore, Myers was noted for his role in spearheading the creation of the Alliance of Small Island States, which was launched in 1989 and helped direct more focus on small island developing states.

Former Guyanese Foreign Minister Rashleigh Jackson was also honoured for the important guidance he provided for the designation of SIDS. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Teresa Marshall, was recognised for her role in ensuring the success of the First Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of SIDS, which was held in Barbados in 1994. Griffith said Marshall played a significant role in bringing together the developing states to partner, without which the conference would not have been a success. Finally, former Prime Minister of Barbados, Sir Lloyd Sandiford, was lauded for the support he showed for the conference being hosted in Barbados despite the economic difficulties being faced. (NC)

12/18/2009

caribdaily

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International

Extradited Jamaican has case dismissed

Mark Beckford, Staff Reporter:


Another Jamaican has had his court case dismissed by a United States judge because of lack of evidence, after being extradited to that country on charges of trafficking of cocaine and money laundering.

Adrian Armstrong's case was dismissed on September 23 after being extradited to the US in 2006. This was after spending two years in custody in Jamaica.

Armstrong's ordeal began when he was arrested on July 11, 2004 on a narcotics charge.

On July 13, 2006, he decided to discontinue his fight against the charges in the US after reportedly "losing faith" in the local justice system.

Armstrong's charges were based on evidence offered by a co-operating witness known as Duffis Alexander, who presented himself as a witness.

The witness purported to have taped and recorded telephone conversations between himself and Armstrong regarding cocaine trafficking and money laundering. Neither the tape nor a transcript of the tape was supplied with the extradition request.

Applications to the resident magistrate and to the Supreme Court, as well as requests to the requesting state's representative for the tape, were unsuccessful.

In the US, these tapes were presented in court and subsequently examined by an expert on behalf of Armstrong, and two experts, on behalf of the government.

Examination of these tapes revealed there were several discrepancies.

These included stop-start features on the recording, a possibility that there was over-recording, anomalies which question its moral integrity and the possibility of tampering.

Evidence

Based on evidence, on December 30, 2008, the US judge ordered the suppression of the tape, but denied the motion to dismiss on the basis of outrageous government conduct.

The prosecution then offered Armstrong a plea to a lesser offence, which he refused.

Armstrong's lawyer persisted with the motion to dismiss, which was finally granted on the government's application on September 23.

Armstrong has not yet returned to the island, his lawyer Jacqueline Samuels-Brown told The Gleaner.

She said she was in contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as her client had no passport for travel. She said he was in the process of gathering these documents to return home.

Picking up the pieces will not be so easy, Samuels-Brown said, as Armstrong has reportedly expressed disappointment at how he was treated.

"The way I would characterise him is that he is a patient person, a fighter, and his spirits remain strong. He has reiterated his love and commitment to his country, but he is disappointed that his country did not afford him the facilities and the protection of the law," said Samuels-Brown.

December 16, 2009

mark.beckford@gleanerjm.com

caribdaily

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International

More tax for Bahamas Banking sector

By Scott Armstrong ~ Guardian Business Editor ~ scott@nasguard.com:


The domestic banking sector of The Bahamas is set to be hit by increased taxes next year, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has vowed.

Speaking at a press conference at Nassau' airport the Prime Minister said: "The banking sector in The Bahamas is under-taxed, we've made that point before. We began last year increasing the licensing fees for banks in The Bahamas, that is inadequate.

"The banking sector should pay more and in due course they will be required to pay more."

One leading light in the financial world to agreed that the banking sector should be taxed harder.

President/chief executive of British American Financial Chester Cooper said: "Many offshore centers like the Bahamas appear to be increasing indirect taxes with a view to avoiding the implementation of more direct means of taxation such as income taxes or Value Added Taxes (VAT).

"Quite frankly, in time we will find that we have delayed the inevitable. Direct taxation although not without its challenges will be more efficient in terms of collections and otherwise, but is more progressive and equitable as well.

"It has long been the view that banks in the Bahamas are under-taxed and the formula quite rightly needs to be re-assessed. Insurers for example, pay a percentage of top line Gross premiums by way of premium taxes. This amount can work out to be inequitable and substantial, as there is no regard for whether the company makes a profit or not."

December 15, 2009

thenassauguardian

Bahamas Blog International

Our leadership paradox in the Caribbean

The political leadership paradox in the Caribbean Region: So many powerful leaders possessing so little leadership capacity

Michael Harris:


This past week I was in Jamaica where the venerable daily newspaper the Gleaner took the unprecedented step of publishing a series of four consecutive special editorials essentially calling on all sectors of Jamaican society to rally together to find solutions to the deep and seemingly endemic problems which that country faces.

In addition to the Gleaner’s own editorials, the paper also invited several prominent citizens to a round-table discussion in which they were asked not only to address what they saw as the causes of the problems but to put forward their views as to the required solutions.

What struck me about the whole discussion was the almost unanimous view of the several participants that a key component of the problem was the failure of leadership in the years since independence. What makes such a perspective really remarkable is the fact that Jamaica has had, since independence, a progression of exceedingly powerful and, in some cases, extremely charismatic leaders.

From the heroes of the nationalist movement, Norman Manley and Alexander Bustamante, to Michael Manley and Edward Seaga, to PJ Patterson, Jamaica has had no dearth of strong leaders. How is it then that today, 47 years after independence, prominent voices in society, including former prime minister Seaga himself, could look at their history and conclude that a key contributory factor to the nation’s problems was a failure of leadership?

That question goes to the heart of the political conundrum not only of Jamaica but of the entire English-speaking Caribbean. The key political legacy in all these countries was a model of governance in which all power and authority resided in the person of the governor, the representative of the imperial power.

In some countries, some sectors of the society enjoyed varying degrees of representation but even in such instances these sectors still saw themselves and their status in relation to their degree of access to such centralised power. As for the people in general theirs was a condition of total powerlessness and zero access to power.

The only real change in the model had come a few years before political independence with the general introduction of full adult suffrage which meant that the masses of people could no longer be completely ignored but had to be wooed periodically for their support.

This in turn, after a while, led to the advent of political parties as the most effective means of corralling the support of people behind different political leaders. However these political parties for the most part never became institutions of people participation, where the ordinary supporters could engage in policy debate and discussion, and be exposed to political education and development.

The consequences of this in the post-independence period were several. In the first place the leaders who came into government inherited the enormous powers of the colonial executive but did not have, either inside their political parties or outside, any institutionalised channels for consulting the views of the people on the policies and programmes to be adopted.

On the other hand the political parties themselves, being simply vehicles for electoral mobilisation rather than political mobilisation, possessed no powers of constraint on the exercise of governmental power by their leaders.

The further result was a critical disconnect between the political leaders in government and the mass of their supporters, a disconnect which, for electoral purposes, could only be bridged by the sustained proffering of patronage. There is no country in the English-speaking Caribbean in which this is not the essential characteristic of the major political parties.

Herein lies the heart of the leadership paradox in Jamaica, as in Trinidad, as in every one of our Caribbean countries. Our leaders possess enormous amounts of legal and constitutional authority which they inherited when they took over the colonial model of governance. They are, in fact, our modern-day governors. The problem is that they are incapable of transforming such overwhelming authority into genuine political power, if we understand political power to be the ability to persuade and commit.

And the truth is that under conditions of independence, our governments, no matter how well-intentioned, no matter how ’strong’, will never be able to solve the kind of economic and social problems we have in the Caribbean without persuading the vast majority of citizens to commit themselves to the effort and the sacrifices necessary for the solutions which we need to work.

That is the paradox. So many powerful leaders possessing so little leadership capacity. For leadership capacity does not depend on oratorical skills, it does not depend on intellectual ability, it does not depend of innate goodness and it certainly does not depend on divine drunkenness.

Leadership capacity depends on the existence and maintenance of institutions of political information, consultation and exchange between leaders and supporters which, when used in a genuine way and on a sustained basis, allows the leaders to time and space to persuade and commit. In short it depends on the existence of genuine political parties rather than election mobilisation outfits.

I am not familiar enough with Jamaica to hazard a guess as to what will happen there. Here in Trinidad however all the signs point to a total collapse of the old politics and with it the old political parties. That eventuality surely must present us with a golden opportunity to fashion new institutions of leadership.

December 14th 2009

trinidadexpress

Jamaican senator wants marijuana decriminalised

KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) -- Jamaican Senator Dennis Meadows has revived interest in the debate on the decriminalisation of marijuana (ganja) in Parliament.

"What I am advocating is that ganja, at the level of spliffs for private use, (should) be treated similarly to a traffic ticket," Meadows argued in his contribution to the 2009/10 State of the Nation Debate in the Senate on Friday

"What now obtains is only serving to criminalise our already marginalised young men and women, thereby creating a reservoir of hopelessness," the Senator suggested.

He said that, for example, many young men were unable to take advantage of the Government's farm work programme, because of a previous ganja conviction, at the level of a spliff (or joint).

"Decriminalisation, among other things, will serve to free up the police resources and the already stressed justice system to focus on more serious crimes," Meadows insisted.

He also suggested that the government take steps to debate the recommendations of the Report of the National Commission on Ganja in Parliament, and to pursue diplomatic efforts to avoid international repercussions.

He noted that there are persons who would argue that, because of treaty obligations, any attempt to decriminalise ganja will be met with far reaching diplomatic repercussions, particularly as it relates to the United States. However, he said that the Jamaican people wanted closure on the issue and were demanding action, now.

The National Commission on Ganja had recommended, among other things, that use of small quantities of marijuana should be decriminalised.

December 14, 2009

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International

Trinidad and Tobago: 80 % of citizens unhappy with Manning Government

Citizens of Trinidad and Tobago are not at all satisfied with the manner in which their country is being run by the Manning administration.

The level of public approval is shockingly low, notwithstanding the fact that fieldwork for the survey was conducted during the run up to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) when activities were undertaken which should have boosted the image of the Prime Minister and his regime.

Eighty per cent of the sample said they were dissatisfied with the manner in which the country was being managed.

Thirty-five per cent were ’very dissatisfied’ while 45 per cent were ’dissatisfied.’ Only four per cent were ’very satisfied’ and 12 per cent were ’satisfied,’ an aggregate of 16 per cent. This figure was seven points lower than what was recorded in our November 2008 Survey when 23 per cent of the sample said they were satisfied.

Four per cent could not make up their minds as to whether they were satisfied or dissatisfied. Surveys conducted by other agencies show similar evidence of disenchantment.

Not surprisingly, more Indo-Trinidadians reported that they were dissatisfied with Manning’s performance than Afro-Trinidadians.

Eighty-seven per cent of them were disenchanted compared to 76 per cent of the latter. Unhappiness is ubiquitous and felt across the board.

Citizens were also of the view that the Government was squandering public money. As many as 76 per cent averred that government was frittering away tax payers money which could be more productively used. Eighteen per cent ’disagreed’ and five per cent could not say for sure.

More Indo-Trinidadians (85 per cent) complained about waste than did Afro-Trinidadians (69 per cent).

Notwithstanding all the social support programmes and policies that have been put in place as part of Government’s 20-20 vision, many Trinidadians say they are worse off today than they were in October 2007 when the government was returned to power. Forty-four per cent report that they are ’worse off’ or ’much worse off;’ 39 per cent however say that their circumstances are the ’same.’ Only 17 per cent said they were ’better off’ or ’much better off.’ Twice as many Indo-Trinidadians (62 per cent) perceived themselves as being worse off than did Afro-Trinidadians (31 per cent).

December 13th 2009

caribdaily

Bahamas Blog International