ERIC HOLDER, the United States Attorney-General, knows where his loyalties lay but he has forgotten his roots.
Ministers of security from the Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana and Jamaica and diplomatic and other representatives from the rest of Caricom left a one day meeting with senior US officials in Washington a week ago understanding that fact of life.
It was clear, Holder told them, that he was an American and the Attorney-General of the United States but secondly he was also “a Bajan.”
With issues of crime, drug trafficking, gun-running and public safety in the Caribbean dominating the agenda, Holder outlined where he stood, according to Freundel Stuart, Barbados’ Acting Prime Minister and Attorney-General.
“We had a very inspiring address from the Attorney-General who was able to identify with the Caribbean and particularly with Barbados,” Stuart recalled.
“He made it very clear that he was no stranger to any of this, (the issue of security.) He was born in the United States but raised in a Caribbean home and he was sensitive to the need and the expectations of people of the Caribbean.” That’s vital because Caribbean nations are with varying degrees facing a crisis caused by mushrooming crime. That’s particularly true of Jamaica, the Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago and St Kitts-Nevis where between them the number of homicides in the first five months of 2010, amounted to almost 800.
In a region of less than 5 million souls, the island-nations and coastal states have recorded twice as many homicides as New York City with a population of about eight million. That’s a nightmare.
Because many of the killings are drug-related and the weapon of choice in the hands of murderers is a hand-gun, it stands to reason that the United States in general and Holder in particular would share an understanding about what needs to be done.
But recognising the action needed and doing something about it are often miles apart. The Bush Administration knew the dangers the Caribbean faced from drugs and guns, but by-and-large it opted to do little, until its last few months in Washington.
The Obama Administration is reversing that ill-advised. And it is taking that approach, not simply for ultraistic reason but because United States interests are at also at stake.
For as Holder told the ministers and diplomats “an unsafe Caribbean means and unsafe United States of America and it’s not an issue that can be placed on the backburner.”
Stuart, his Caribbean ministerial colleagues and United States representatives signed an United States accord, a multi-year pact that can end up resulting in Washington providing at least US$210 million in financial and technical resources to the region, about US$70 million a year. Aircraft, coastguard vessels, aerial and maritime surveillance equipment are to be provided to the countries and to the Regional Security System, RSS based in Barbados.
More United States assistance to the Caribbean was first promised by President Barack Obama at last year’s Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago. It was re-confirmed when Defense Secretary Bill Gates flew to Barbados and meet with his Caribbean counterparts in Barbados. Apparently, Washington’s commitments have gone beyond the pledges made by both Obama and Gates.
Obviously, the White House is taking a realistic stance to the region’s security needs.
It makes quite a lot of sense for the White House to invest in equipment and improved human resources in Caricom because the major drug cartel in South and Central America are much better equipped with their high-speed boats and modern aircraft than the Caribbean possesses The never-ending supply of guns and ammunition in the hands of criminals underscore the Caribbean’s vulnerability.
Last week’s bloody street battles in West Kingston between the security forces -police and army – and supporters of Christopher “Dudus” Coke that took the lives of 73 Jamaicans emphasized the dilemma governments face in ensuring public safety when combating a well-armed foe.
And as the United States joins forces with Mexico to fight the drug cartels it is recognised that any success it achieves there can spell trouble for the Caribbean. That’s because the Mexicans and Colombians multi-billion dollar narcotics business can force them to look for new drug routes to supply North American and European markets. That means the Caribbean can be the alternative.
That was why the islands were fortunate to have Holder sitting at the table.
“It’s important to have a friend at the table,” Stuart said in an obvious reference to the Attorney-General.
