...reparations for Caribbean slavery and native genocide

Payback for slavery's terror

By Omar Ryan, Guest columnist:



Over the past few weeks, the matter of reparations for Caribbean slavery and native genocide has become very topical, and rightly so, because of the developments in CARICOM and the active media discussions carried out by ourown National Commission on Reparations (NCR).

Despite the NCR's efforts to educate our people about these historical injustices, the sufferings of their ancestors and the contemporary implications of past atrocities, the ignorance, self-denial, even self-hate are still apparent among our people trapped in colonial-style education and historical amnesia.

I was appalled by the view expressed in your Letter of the Day of August 9, 2013 titled 'Stop flogging reparations', in which the writer said advocates for reparations are wasting their time, and even quoted the Bible justifying slavery.

I want us not to forget that the enslavers and colonialists were armed with the Bible while they took away Africans and brought them to the Americas to be treated less than humans. I believe that the voices of the naysayers, the non-interest and apathy with regard to the issue of reparations are mental attitudes resulting from our people not being fully aware of what justice means.

There appears to be a willed ignorance that a great injustice was carried out against their own people.
The fact was that Africans were forcibly taken away from their continent, exploited and enslaved for almost four hundred years, and upon the ending of bondage, the enslavers were paid twenty million pounds for loss of 'property' (enslaved Africans), not land. Hitherto, no compensation has been paid to the victims.

Against slavery

It must be noted that Africans, from the outset, were against the forcible taking away of their people from the continent. One African, King Nzinga Mbemba, wrote to the king of Portugal in a letter dated October 18, 1526 outlining the ramifications of the kidnapping of Africans and his opposition to it.
However, the opposition of the Africans was no match for the military and naval power of the mighty Europeans.

Well over 100 claims for compensation were filed by members of the Church. One such example was the Rev Charles William Davy, who filed six claims for 661 enslaved Africans on properties in Trelawny and who received £12,641 in compensation).

Among the recipients were educators like the Rev Thomas Pierce Williams, principal of Wolmer's, 1813-14, who received £7,054 for 356 enslaved in the parish of Manchester.

They and others amassed wealth that set the catalyst for the economic prosperity we now see countries of especially Western Europe reaping.

It must be known that one Hermann J. Abs, a German Jew, helped to finance the Auschwitz concentration camp where thousands of Jews met their demise. As a Jew, he played a role in the terrible crime against fellow Jews, and it never stopped the Jews from getting reparations from the German State. And it was the offspring of the victims that were compensated, not the victims themselves.

So it must be understood that a crime was committed against Africans and native peoples of the Americas (Caribbean), and no compensation was paid.

Within a world where we hope to move forward as peaceful beings, reparations must be paid to the descendants of the victims who are living with the scars and ills transmitted through generations from slavery.

The NCR urges people to rid themselves of that mental slavery that continues to trap them in a cycle of ignorance, even in the face of overwhelming evidence. Such attitudes as displayed in The Gleaner's Letter of the Day and the responses to it remind us that "Aluta continua!"

Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and omaryan@live.com.

August 12, 2013

Jamaica Gleaner

Bahamas Blog International

Nicaragua Inter-oceanic canal: A wise move?

By María Julia Mayoral

Nicaragua could, within a few years, become a new international logistics and transportation center, if an inter-oceanic canal megaproject succeeds in this country blessed with an enviable geographic location.

"Central America sits midway along both North-South and East-West trade routes," said Chinese executive Wang Jing during a visit to Managua, "We believe this is the ideal place for another link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans." The company he leads has been granted a concession to undertake the canal project.

According to international estimates, between 2011 and 2025, maritime trade traffic will increase some 40% and providing a route through Nicaragua for large cargo ships would provide significant savings in terms of fuel and days at sea.

The Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Group (HKND), with headquarters in the Chinese city cited and Managua, is optimistic about the venture, according to Wang Jing, president and executive director of the company.

HKND Group received exclusive rights over planning, design, construction, operation and management of the canal and other related projects, including ports, railroads, free-trade zones on both coastlines, airports and a cross-isthmus oil pipeline.

"Trends in world trade and maritime transportation indicate that there is demand for a new canal. Our intention is to build a world class project, developed in accordance with the best international practices," the company announced.

The framework for the concession was signed in Managua mid-June by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and the company’s directorate, while the country’s Parliament approved two pieces of legislation supporting the agreement.

Experts and established companies have been contracted to undertake studies of the project’s environmental, social, financial and technological feasibility. The British consulting firm Environmental Resources Management will independently evaluate the project’s social and environmental impact, in order to determine the most appropriate route for such a canal, which could require five to ten years to construct.

Building a second Central American canal, substantially larger that the existing one, makes sense to HKND. Estimates indicate that the volume of Panama Canal transactions could increase 240% by 2030, while the value of all goods transported through canals in Panama and Nicaragua could surpass 1.4 billion dollars.

According to this analysis, continual growth in trade volume could lead to congestion in Panama within 10 to 15 years, clearly suggesting that another route is needed.

As for possible savings, HKND has estimated that a ship traveling from Shanghai to Baltimore in the United States, using a Nicaraguan canal, could shorten its voyage by 4,000 kilometers in comparison to a common route currently taken through the Suez Canal and by 7,500 in comparison to a voyage around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope. Considering current fuel prices, an average-sized container ship could save a million dollars on one round trip using a new canal.

Preliminary estimates indicate that a new inter-oceanic canal could capture maritime traffic carrying 450 to 500 million metric tons of goods and serve ships up to 250,000 tons, 400 meters long and 59 wide, with draughts of up to 22 meters.

Paul Oquist, the Ortega administration's secretary for public policy believes that the canal will allow Nicaragua to practically double its gross domestic product (GDP) by 2018 and triple formal employment. With the beginning of necessary studies and works associated with the canal next year, Oquist estimates the GDP could increase by 10.8% and by 12.6% in 2016, to subsequently stabilize around 9.5 to 10% annual growth by 2018.

NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY DEFENDED

Nicaragua granted a concession for construction and future operation of the canal, but did not privatize its territory. Additionally, the state is participating as a partner and its ownership share will expand over time, Oquist clarified.

The concession granted the Chinese company is for 100 years but should not compromise national sovereignty, since the country will hold 51% ownership within 50 years, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Manuel Colonel Kautz, who is heading Nicaragua's Gran Canal Authority.

A canal connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans through Nicaragua has been a long-standing dream, one which was frustrated by foreign interests in the early 1900's, added Francisco Mayorga, the country's representative to the Inter-American Development Bank.

The 1914 Chamarro-Bryan Treaty mortgaged national territory to the United States government, effectively preventing the development of a canal similar to Panama's within Nicaragua, the official explained.
 

The United States had used its military and economic power to force Nicaragua to forego constructing a canal without U.S. participation, to protect its interests in the Panamanian isthmus, Mayorga concluded. (Orbe)

August 01, 2013

Granma.cu 

Bahamas Blog International 

Bahamas National Citizens Coalition (BNCC) seeks to block the minister of the environment and housing from issuing or renewing any oil exploration licenses in The Bahamas

Pastors sue to block oil exploration

TRAVIS CARTWRIGHT-CARROLL
Guardian Staff Reporter
travis@nasguard.com
Nassau, Bahamas

The Bahamas National Citizens Coalition (BNCC) has filed an action in the Supreme Court seeking to block the minister of the environment and housing from issuing or renewing any oil exploration licenses.

The coalition also wants the court to restrain Bahamas Offshore Petroleum Limited and Island Petroleum Limited, both subsidiaries of Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC), “from operating or using such licenses” until the proper regulatory framework is put in place to govern the sector.

Last month, the government renewed BPC’s five exploration licenses for another three years.

BPC wants government approval to drill an oil well in Bahamian waters.

The BNCC claims that the minister of the environment and housing acted ultra vires of the Petroleum Act 14(2)       by “granting and renewing oil exploration licenses” to BPC and its subsidiaries.

In a copy of the coalition’s originating summons, it states that it is seeking, “A declaration that the minister of the environment and housing has acted prematurely and with procedural impropriety in granting licenses to the aforesaid companies, so as to allow them to commence oil drilling without a modern and proper oil exploration and environmental regulatory framework in place for the ultimate protection of the applicants and the wider Bahamian public in the case of oil spills, etc.”

The coalition also wants, “A declaration that the minister of the environment and housing has failed to provide the applicants and the Bahamian public with copies of the license agreements of associated agreements with respect to the exploratory oil drilling to be conducted by Bahamas Petroleum Company Plc and/or its subsidiaries.”

According to the Petroleum Act 14(2), “A company may be granted a license or lease severally or jointly with another company: Provided that a license or lease shall not be granted to a company which is a member of, or is directly or indirectly owned or controlled by, another company to which a license or lease has already been granted under this Act or which is itself applying for such a licence or lease.”

The coalition states that it represents the views of more than 30,000 members and only wishes to secure the best possible benefits for the Bahamian people through meaningful and positive discussions with the government and the companies it has to negotiate with concerning oil exploration in The Bahamas.

The minister of the environment and housing, Bahamas Offshore Petroleum Limited, BPC and Island Offshore Company Limited are listed as the respondents in the action.

Concerned

The coalition filed the summons and an affidavit on July 29.

“The coalition is deeply concerned that the government is making critical decisions regarding oil exploration and harvesting without seeking the views of the Bahamian people,” the affidavit stated.

“It is clear from the actions of the government that it has set a precedent with the Constitutional Commission whereby it held numerous public forums and gathered the views of Bahamians.

“The commission’s chairman then used such information to prepare a public report for consideration by the government in its preparations for a national referendum on constitutional reform.

“Why is it that the government is not taking the same approach in advance of the draft legislation and referendum on oil exploration and harvesting?”

The BCC, Police Staff Association, the Bahamas Public Service Union, the Prison Officers Association, the Bahamas Communications and Public Officers Union, the National Workers Health Plan Trust, the Moore’s Island Fisherman Association and the Exuma Citizens and Fisherman Association are listed as members of the coalition.

Minister of the Environment and Housing Kenred Dorsett previously said he expects the government to have completed oil drilling legislation and regulations by the end of the year.

He said the legal framework for oil drilling was still being worked on by his ministry’s external consultants along with officials from the Office of the Attorney General.

Dorsett recently indicated that BPC will not be permitted to drill any exploratory wells in Bahamian waters until the regulations that will oversee the industry are completed.

BPC has invested $50 million in the country, with most of that spent on 3D seismic testing, and has completed its environmental impact assessment (EIA). Now, the company is working on its environmental management plan (EMP) to meet its 2015 obligation to the government.

In its interim results for the first six months of 2013, BPC said it has a “clear mandate from the Government of The Bahamas to proceed with exploration drilling with an obligation to commence an exploration well by April 2015”.

August 07, 2013

thenassauguardian

The independent Jamaican Diaspora

By Hugh Douse

THE word Diaspora gained prominence from its usage with regard to the scattered Jews. The term relates to the people who identify with the nation of their forebears, and still attach themselves through culture in a way that affects their world view, and subsequently, their identity.

The Jewish Diaspora was impactful enough to represent an offence to Hitler, his Nazis, and countless others who begrudged their wealth, talent and success. The events of the Holocaust is the by which all genocide is referenced. This nation has more influence and impact on the world than its size would suggest.

And so does Jamaica.

The truth of Jamaica is that our greatness, our influence and, indeed, our destiny is to, as our pledge states, play our part in advancing the welfare of the whole human race. We will have practised our greatness to phenomenal levels in many areas: the Arts, sports, academia, religion, entrepreneurship, and all the professions in-between.

Now that we are 51 we must confirm, build on and protect this legacy. We must plan not only for the next three or four years as we are wont to do. We must build for the next 15, 50 and 100 years. I am sure that the practice of working hard for a promised land that may never be entered by the present nation is a mindset embraced by the Jews and other civilisations whose legacies seem to have been secured.

So, alongside the necessary rituals which mark Emancipation and Independence, we must reframe our thinking of ourselves as a nation to include more of whom we call, Professor Nettleford style, the Jamaican Diaspora. With about 3 million Jamaicans within the Diasporas of the USA, The UK, Canada (including Maroon descendants at Nova Scotia), Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba, Colombia, and all the continents and nations of the earth, it is time that the virtual, borderless nation of Jamaica begins to think of itself in larger terms.

There is nothing worse than a great person or nation “smalling up itself” to be accepted by those who he nor she sees as peers, or worse, as superiors. It is neither profitable nor sensible to be less than you are to meet the low expectations of those whose opinions we esteem over our own. I think we have done too much of that over the last 50 years.

This is why I am excited that the Earl Jarrett-led Jamaica National Building Society — through an initiative led by Paulette Simpson, senior manager, corporate affairs and public policy in the UK, and Dr O'Neal Mundle, lecturer at the UWI School of Education — have put on for the third year a Caribbean Cultural Awareness Camp for the children of the Jamaica Diaspora in the UK. The project engages a team of eight Jamaican facilitators, who, through the performing arts, administer an arts-based curriculum with the aim of leading the children, ages eight to 18, into a deeper sense of identity through the engagement of their heritage. Her Excellency Aloun N'dombet Assamba, Jamaican high commissioner to the UK and Jamaica Diaspora UK, led by Celia Grandison Markey are supportive partners without whom this project could not survive.

The amazing thing is that, at the end of this two-week intensive, the campers mount a full-length production in which they teach what they were taught to large audiences in London, Reading, Wales, and Birmingham. Their parents and grandparents who were born in Britain are, through this production, taught their own heritage by their own children. In this 65th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush which carried the first migrants to the UK, they have found clues for this great diasporic civilisation of six million that Jamaica has become.

Six million. Hmmmm.

Growing pains mean that we may have to go the road alone. Interpret that however you wish, but none of the world’s powerfully successful nations are without a period in their narratives when they walked the road alone. We must decide where this independence is going.

One thing’s for sure. It is good to be here. But we cannot stay here.

So in this year of celebration of our 175th anniversary of full freedom, may we remember and honour our ancestors, not just through monuments of words, but rather through deeds great and far-reaching. Let us create a new trajectory.

Up you mighty race. Accomplish.

hugh.douse@gmail.com

August 06, 2012

Jamaica Observer

Bahamas Blog International

...ethical stem cell research and therapy “holds tremendous potential for The Bahamas.”

Gov’t In Stem Cell Pact

By Macushla Pinder
The Bahama Journal
Nassau, The Bahamas




The government is hoping to partner with the University of Miami (UM) to certify and assist in policing stem cell research activities in The Bahamas.

Prime Minister Perry Christie led a delegation to Miami this week to meet with UM President, Donna Shalala and other senior research experts.

President Shalala served as Secretary of Health and Human Services under former US President Bill Clinton for eight years.

According to Attorney General Allyson Maynard-Gibson, who was also on the trip, it was agreed that a working group would be appointed to fully explore how the two sides would work together on the issue.

“Both President Shalala and the prime minister indicated their intention to have that working group nominated in the shortest possible time – certainly within this month – to have the working group named,” Minister Maynard-Gibson said in an interview with the Bahama Journal on Thursday.

“President Shalala said we would operationalise the legislation meaning we would get going on the collaboration and cooperation….President Shalala and others are all extremely excited about the opportunities that exist for collaboration between The Bahamas and the University of Miami not only in the area of stem cell research and therapy but also in terms of medical services,” the minister explained.

Stem cells are “mother cells” that have the potential to become any type of cell in the body. One of its main characteristics is its ability to self-renew or multiply while maintaining the potential to develop into other types of cells.

But despite its potential, parliamentarians are divided on the issue, as evident during ongoing debate the Stem Cell Research and Therapy Bill.

The proposed legislation is expected to create a regulatory regime covering all aspects of stem cell research including testing stem cells in people and on clinical research. This includes bench research in laboratories as well as non-human animal research.

It will also prohibit and deter procedures that are unethical or scientifically unfounded, such as human reproductive cloning.

The overall idea is to make The Bahamas a highly respected world leader in stem cell research and therapy.

“We want to be seen to be associated with and recognised by the highest persons in the stem cell arena nationally and internationally,” Minister Maynard-Gibson said.

The government has established a National Stem Cell Ethics Committee, which according to the minister, will be comprised of highly qualified and respected local and international leaders.

“Some of the people we hope to attract are people who are at leading universities like Duke and Harvard universities. We also have a Scientific Review Committee, so that everyone who intends to conduct stem cell research and therapy must be subjected to procedures,” the minister explained.

But according to Opposition Leader, Dr. Hubert Minnis, the government’s decision to team up with the UM seems to be “some form of recognition by association” on the thorny issue.

“This is something we’ve been talking about,” Dr. Minnis said.

“The government now recognizes the deficiencies moving forward in terms of enforcement, regulation and monitoring what they want to do. They’re a lot of issues facing the country today so why rush with this particular issue. Is there some special interest group that they are trying to satisfy and they must do it? Why the rush?

“Miami’s stem cell programme is clinical research which is FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved. Clinical research means that patients do not pay for the research being done. One has to ask the question, will we embark on clinical research and if that’s the case, will patients be charged. If not, what is Miami’s involvement? This has to be answered.”

It is questions like these why the Free National Movement (FNM) leader is pushing for the Stem Cell Research and Therapy Bill to be sent to a committee.

The idea, he said, is for the issue to be further discussed so that “all the enforcement and proper regulatory process would be in place.”

“We don’t want our country to be blacklisted four or five years down the road,” Dr. Minnis said.
But Minister Maynard-Gibson said the mere fact that professionals from places like the UM are willing to come to the table and understand the mutual benefits speaks volumes.

In response to the suggestion that the bill be sent to a committee, Mrs. Maynard-Gibson leaned on comments made by noted cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon and FNM Deputy Chairman, Dr. Duane Sands, who has thrown his support behind the controversial procedure.

According to Dr. Sands, ethical stem cell research and therapy “holds tremendous potential for The Bahamas.”

Debate on the Stem Cell Therapy and Research Bill is expected to continue when the House resumes on August 7.

2 August, 2013

Jones Bahamas

Bahamas Blog International

Did Marcus Garvey fail?

Was Marcus Garvey Preaching to The Wrong People?

BY MICHAEL A DINGWALL:

WHEN Marcus Garvey was urging us black people to take charge of our own destiny and become great, almost a century ago, some admired him, while others thought he was some sort of quack.  In this season of Emancipation and Independence, one has to ask: Was Garvey preaching to the wrong people?

At the time when he was preaching, my race, the black race, was the most insignificant on the planet.  Africa was under the control of Europe.

We blacks in the West were totally dependent on the great white powers for our very existence.  Garvey didn't think that black people should be at the bottom of the barrel — being so insignificant and dependent.  In this respect, he was one very unusual black man indeed.

I strongly suspect, though, that Garvey would have still felt the need to preach the same message today, almost a century later.  Though we blacks have made some progress, we still have a very long way to go.  While some of that progress has been had through the efforts of other peoples, other things haven't changed at all.

Take black Africa today.  While preaching, and even before, Africa was controlled by the Western powers.  Her natural resources were being maximised to the fullest to the glory of these powers.  Africans on the continent were either powerless to alter the then situation or willingly gave away these resources.

The same is true today.  These days, it is China that is maximising the resources of Africa to create a Chinese superstate.

Just as it was in the days of slavery, when we gave away our own for trinkets, we are still doing the same today.  The trinkets then were used kitchen utensils, old clothes and even cats; while today, they are cellphones, laptops and shiny new cars.  Garvey would have buried his head in shame at the way his message has been ignored.

We in the West also really didn't give two cents about his message either.  Our island nation-states in the Caribbean are too insignificant to influence any global issue, except entertainment.

Maybe Garvey meant we should be great entertainers; as that is the only area in which we seem good.  Nothing great in governance, science and technology can be truly attributed to us black people -- as we keep our exploits to ourselves, or sell them still for trinkets. Garvey would be very disappointed indeed.

We demonstrate how contrary we have been to his message by our actions.  We think our own universities are worthless.

As such, we crave for the Oxfords, Cambridges, Harvards, and MITs.  We think our music is good only when it is validated with an American Grammy.  We see our societies as totally hopeless — which explains why we fight so hard to get visas to live in the white paradise of North America and Europe.  What was that "Africa for Africans" message again?

I said before that Garvey would have been disappointed, but I sometimes wonder.  In the end, it seems, even he became a realist and realised that he may have been preaching to the wrong people after all.  When the time came for him to retire, he didn't choose his Jamaican homeland or his African would-be homeland.  No, looking at things realistically, he decided that the best place for him after all was Britain.

Maybe the reason he failed to convince us black people that we can be a great people is not only because we think he was nuts — maybe he never really believed his own message either.

July 30, 2013

Jamaica Observer

Latin America in U.S. line of fire

By Laura Bécquer Paseiro

Revelations made by former CIA analyst Edward Snowden have opened a Pandora’s box and created an international scandal which could easily continue for some time. The United States government’s vast espionage network has not only focused on U.S. citizens, but various countries around the world as well, including many in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Brazilian daily O Globo recently published documents describing in detail the U.S. surveillance program in the region, which apparently was not only devoted to gathering military information, but commercial secrets as well.

The newspaper reported that U.S. espionage targeted the oil and energy industries in Venezuela and Mexico, and that the most spied-upon country in Latin America was Brazil. The documents indicated that another priority target was Colombia, where surveillance focused on the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces-Army of the People (FARC-EP). Other countries which were continually monitored, albeit to a lesser degree, were Argentina, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Paraguay, Chile, Peru and El Salvador.

According to the documents obtained by O Globo, between January and March this year, U.S. National Security Agency personnel monitored the region using at least two programs: Prism - which allows access to e-mail, online conversations and internet voice communication provided by companies such as Facebook, Google, Microsoft and YouTube - and X-Keyscore which can identify the presence of a foreign visitor in the country based on the language used in e-mail messages.

Demands made by Latin American countries that the Obama administration provide an explanation of its participation in the incident with Bolivian President Evo Morales’ airplane, reflect regional indignation. Statements from a variety of leaders described the events as unacceptable violations of international law.

SNOWDEN’S REQUESTS FOR ASYLUM

Speaking with Granma, Cuban professor Alzugaray commented on offers of asylum made to Snowden by Venezuela, Nicaragua and Bolivia, saying that no other region in the world is in a better position to take such a stance vis-à-vis the United States. Latin America and the Caribbean, he emphasized, have been a primary target of U.S. intelligence operations and have suffered first hand the consequences of this policy for some time. Although Snowden’s revelations surprised no one, denouncing such espionage is a way of letting the U.S. know that it cannot act with impunity in the region.

The professor pointed out that the Snowden case has brought attention to the expansion of ‘national security’ operations both within the U.S. and internationally, and to the practically unlimited power intelligence organizations have acquired. Some sectors within the U.S. government have reacted with panic, concerned with what more Snowden could reveal, while others have attempted to distance themselves from the phenomenon, he said.

The 29-year-old technician who leaked details of the government’s secret surveillance of telephone calls and internet messages is for Dr. Alzugaray "a time bomb that could explode at any moment and oblige the administration and Congress to review and reduce the autonomy of these intelligence organizations, from Homeland Security to the NSA, the CIA, the FBI and others.

Snowden is not, however, the only concern. The list includes Bradley Manning, the soldier who sent Wikileaks thousands of diplomatic e-mails and other documents about the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, who is currently being prosecuted in military court.

U.S: spying around the world is nothing new. The Spanish daily La voz de Galicia recently summarized the numerous precedents, going back to the Civil War (1861-1865) when Abraham Lincoln authorized supervision of information transmitted by telegraph. His Secretary of War Edwin Stanton invaded the privacy of citizens, detained journalists and decided what messages could be sent.

Professor Alzugaray recalled the warnings issued by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953-1961) about the power of the military-industrial complex and the Church Committee hearings after the Watergate case and the war in Vietnam.

He commented that the Snowden case appears very similar to that of Daniel Ellsberg who revealed the Pentagon Papers in the 1970’s, "Ellsberg himself commented to the Washington Post that the U.S. is not the same as it was in his time and that Snowden’s flight was totally legitimate. It is no surprise that many governments and progressive political forces are sympathetic to the young man and are wiling to offer him asylum."

Given the situation, an unrepentant U.S. government continues to keep an eye on its southern neighbors, putting them in its line of fire. 

July 23, 2013

Grama.cu

Bahamas Blog International