Obama and the Caribbean: more of the same or a new day?
By Ryan Haas
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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Barack Obama
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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts-PRESUMED United States Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is being watched very closely by policy makers in the Caribbean, not only because he would be the first black president for the global superpower, but because he has stated that he represents a “change” in relations between the region and the U.S.
In a recent interview, Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris, St. Kitts Minister with responsibility for Foreign Affairs and International Trade, said he was hopeful that the November elections would usher in a new era for Caribbean-U.S. relations.
“We want to have a serious discourse with America and its new president. We have real issues that are affecting us and the U.S. has not always been sensitive, indeed sensible, in dealing with some of these challenges.
“[The Caribbean] is inexorably bound to the success of the USA,” he added.
Obama’s camp seemed to recognize the importance of America’s ‘third border’ when they announced on June 27th that their policies, if elected would pay more heed to the Caribbean.
Dan Restrepo, a Foreign Policy Advisor for the Obama camp, said that, “Obama wants to see a 100 per cent debt cancellation for the world's heavily indebted poor countries, including all such countries in the Caribbean.”
Restrepo added that the issues of crime and security were of major concern for the Democrat. It was promised in a conference with the associated press that if Obama were to be elected, he would “restore funding for drug control programmes that were cut by the George W. Bush administration and to put an end to the illegal gun trade in the south.” ~~Adz:Right~~
Harris stated that the U.S. must not only look at gun trade, but also the issue of criminal deportees, as they are “responsible for a significant part of the crime wave in Caribbean countries such as Jamaica and Guyana.”
He recommended that the U.S. has the capacity to set up centers for dealing with deportees and should do so, rather than just leave the Caribbean to deal with unwanted hardened criminals.
One issue the Obama camp has failed to address is the Caribbean is the ‘Brain Drain’ that is grossly effecting smaller nations like St. Kitts & Nevis.
“We can’t stop people from moving, mobility ought to be encouraged, but we are saying that the movement of trained personnel has in fact been a back pedal,” said Harris. “More than 50% of all Caribbean trained doctors are working in the U.S. and nothing is being left for us.”
The minister said that one solution his ministry has come up with is for the United States to establish more scholarship programs so the “training pool is wider” and more persons will eventually filter back into the Caribbean employment sector.
While there is much debate on the role the Caribbean plays in American policy, top analysts are in agreement about one thing; the needs of the Caribbean must be aggressively pursued if the region is to overcome its current criminal and economic crises.
