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November 2004

Election Reaction Editorial

Liberals Care

The US elections are over. Fifty one percent of the voters supported George Bush. I think it is fair to say that not one single liberal voted for George Bush. I am one of those liberals who is proud that I did not vote for George Bush. I am proud to be among the minority that cares.

I am sure that some of the 51% will tell you that they care, but deep down, they really do not. Not only do we liberals care about these things, but while the others seldom even think about them, they are always on our minds. We refuse to join that 51%. We will not surrender our concern for others. We will continue to care regardless of what the other 51% does.

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Jamaica to recruit foreigners for police force

In an attempt to slow the spiraling crime rate, the government of Jamaica has announced that it will recruit foreigners to the local police force. Only a week previously the President of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce, Winston Dear, called for this step to be taken and the Government has been wrestling with this idea for some time. This move has received approval from many quarters including the Private Sector Organisation, the Opposition. However, the Police Federation, which represents more than 7,000 rank and file members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force opposes the idea. To be sure foreign cops will have to be paid much higher than local cops to lure them to Jamaica. It is understandable that this will not sit well ith local police. It would also probably limit promotional opportunity for local cops.

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Grenadian children back in school

THE United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) yesterday applauded the government of Grenada as thousands of children began returning to school just over a month after Hurricane Ivan battered the island nation.

Schools have reopened thanks to the clean-up efforts of school administrators, teachers, government officials and children, as well as to assistance provided by several neighbouring governments, UNICEF said. UNICEF praised the teachers and the children, parent-teacher organisations, education officers, district education officers, the Ministry of Education and the military forces of Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela.

When Hurricane Ivan struck the island on September 7, what should have been the second day of the new school term, it left nearly 30,000 children out of school. Many of the island’s 79 schools were either severely damaged or had to be used as shelters for those whose homes were destroyed. Twenty-two government schools were reopened on October 11. UNICEF said children are resuming schooling in classrooms whose roofs have been temporarily sealed with plastic sheeting provided by the United States government. A shipment of 74 UNICEF-provided tent classrooms will provide more classroom space and is expected to arrive next week.

UNICEF said it marked the school openings by handing over 223 Schools-in-a-Box for primary school students, school supplies for secondary schools, and recreation kits as well as 12 Sport-in-a-Box kits donated by FIFA for nearly 25,000 primary and secondary schoolchildren at a ceremony at the Grenada Boys Secondary School.

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St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party romps to victory

The ruling St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party won their third consecutive victory in the recent general election in the twin-island Federation. Prime Minister Dr. Denzil L. Douglas, who during the campaign had urged supporters to provide his party with a clean sweep of the eight seats on St. Kitts, said he was nonetheless pleased with the 7-1 results obtained in Monday's polls.

In the 2000 general election, the Labour Party won all eight seats, but this time incumbent Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Jacinth Henry-Martin, lost to newcomer Shawn Richards of the Peoples Action Movement (PAM). Mr. Richards polled 1005 votes to Henry-Martin's 874 votes.

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Cuba dumps the US dollar for the euro

The Cuban government says it has suspended the use of the United States dollar within the domestic market. An official statement said the new measures will take effect November 8, 2004.

In a television broadcast, President Fidel Castro said the decision to suspend use of the dollar, was as a result of the actions taken by Washington to block the use of the US currency in Cuba's international operations.

Mr. Castro made it clear that possession of the dollar or any other hard currency would not be penalised, but retail stores selling in US dollars will only accept Convertible Pesos.

The Cuban Central Bank said as of November 8, the exchange of US dollars for Convertible Pesos will bear a 10 per cent tax. The Bank said the decision is based on the tightening of the US economic war against the people of Cuba over the last months, with measures aimed at systematically obstructing foreign financial flows from entering the country.

Cuba now joins North Korea, Montenegro, and Romania in switching from the US dollar to the euro as its currency of trade. This could be very ominous for Cuba. The US depends on the dollar being the international unit of trade for other countries especially oil. This is what is keeping the US economy from complete collapse as according to columnist Geoffrey Heard, "

The USA's real economic condition is about as bad as it could be; it is the most debt-ridden nation on earth, owing about US$12,000 for every single one of it's 280 million men, women and children. It is worse than the position of Indonesia when it imploded economically a few years ago, or more recently, that of Argentina."

Is it serious? In 1999 Saddam Hussein switched from the dollar to the euro for oil payments and we see what happened to him. Many experts consider that one of the main reasons for the invasion of Iraq.

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IMF and UN aid to Haiti stalled by violence

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and UN aid to Haiti has stalled because of the severe violence that continues there. This has forced the IMF’s representative to relocate from Haiti back to Washington in the US. However the IMF Spokesman emphasized that the agency remains committed to assisting the country's interim administration.

Worse yet, United Nations officials say they may have to divert urgently needed supplies for victims of flooding in Haiti, to the neighbouring Dominican Republic, because of continuing unrest in the capital, Port au Prince. More than 100 containers of food aid was stuck in Port au Prince because of the lack of security.

Relief officials in the northern Haitian town of Gonaives where 2,000 people died in devastating floods a month ago say they are not getting enough help from the government of Haiti in either rehabilitation or humanitarian work. The town's main hospital was totally destroyed, along with hundreds of homes and now efforts to feed the hungry have been disrupted by rioting and political violence.

It has taken weeks to even begin to clean up the debris and knock down damaged structures in Gonaives. Now UN food convoys have resumed after flooded roads and political violence disrupted them, but the delay is also being blamed on the slow response of the Haitian government. Many officials fled their posts here and have yet to return to work.

Sadly, these floods and the chaos of the past months have set this already impoverished nation back. There is little sign of the situation improving any time soon.

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Prominent citizens in Guyana want death squad

An unnamed group of prominent citizens has advised Guyana National Security Minister Martin Joseph to put measures in place to illegally "take out" the criminal element in the country. The Minister declined such an illegal act. However, this suggestion of a death squad, is an indication of the desperation caused by the rampaging crime wave. In other countries, notably Guyana’s neighbor Brazil, death squads to stamp out crime have been formed by businessmen and renegade police. Guyanese businessmen have distanced themselves from this vigilante suggestion. The leader of the Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (Doma) Gregory Aboud and the South Trinidad Chamber of Industry and Commerce president Dr Jim Lee Young have urged Joseph to desist from such actions.

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BET to cover T&T Carnival 2005

Trinidad and Tobago Minister of Tourism, Howard Chin Lee has reveasled that the Government has commissioned Black Entertainment Television (BET) to cover Carnival 2005. Chin Lee explained that his ministry is doing all it can to ensure that Trinidad and Tobago remain the identity of the soca brand, not withstanding the international success of Vincentian, Kevin Little and Rupee from Barbados.

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Castro fractures knee after fall

Cuba's 78-year-old leader, Fidel Castro, fractured a knee and an arm when he tripped and fell at the end of a televised public speech. The tumble came at the end of a speech in Santa Clara, and Mr. Castro later appeared to say he was "in one piece".

On Thursday the Cuban government confirmed the injuries in a statement which said that the President was in good health and excellent spirits. The Associated Press quoted an official statement which said a medical examination confirmed that President Castro had broken his left knee and suffered a hairline fracture on his upper right arm.

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UK and CARICOM battle crime together

CARICOM and the United Kingdom have joined forces to come up with a coordinated plan to fight drug and gun trafficking and other crimes in the Caribbean.

Following a series of meetings held over the past year, both groups signed an agreement on Wednesday to set up a framework that will be the basis for a regional security plan.

Attention will be focused on training security and law enforcement officials across the region, establishing a regional information and intelligence database, improving maritime cooperation and enhancing border security.

National Security Minister and Chairman of the CARICOM sub-committee dealing with regional security, Dr. Peter Phillips, says the agreement is critical ahead of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy, the advent of the Free Trade Area of the Americas as well as the Cricket World Cup in 2007.

The UK will assist CARICOM's efforts to pool its crime fighting resources by providing training and equipment. As a first step, regional law enforcement officers will participate in a pilot leadership training program hosted by the UK next year.

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Jamaican appointed to Inter-American Judicial Committee

Jamaican international law expert, Dr. Stephen Vasciannie, has been elected to the Inter-American Judicial Committee (IJC), replacing the island's former Solicitor General Dr. Kenneth Rattray, who resigned recently.

The Organisation of American States (OAS) said yesterday that Dr. Vascianne had been elected by acclamation during a regular session of the OAS's permanent council, which approved the Jamaican Government's nomination. Rattray had resigned due to ill health and Dr. Vasciannie will serve the rest of that term, which runs until December 31, 2005, on the Rio de Janeiro, Brazil-headquartered Judicial committee.

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Report claims Jamaica’s crime rate inflated

A recent report from the Jamaica Social Policy Evaluation (JASPEV) claims that the statistics show that Jamaica’s high crime rate is inflated. Instead JASPEV says the overall crime rate has remained lower than that of Caribbean counterparts. According to the Report, data from UN surveys support its findings that Jamaica's overall per capita crime rate has been the lowest in the Western Hemisphere for the past quarter of a century.

JASPEV has also noted that the country's overall crime rate declined by 54 per cent in the last 25 years from just over 2,200 in 1977 to 1,200 in 2003 - a rate similar to that of Trinidad and Tobago. However over the 25-year period between 1974 and 2000 there was a significant increase in violent crimes moving from 10 per cent to 44 per cent of total crimes.

The report further noted a disturbing trend in the increasing number of women and children who are murder victims as well as increases in the number of double and triple murders.

---Meanwhile back to reality, as recent police figures revealed that in October 155 persons were murdered last month, making it the most violent four-week period in the country's history. In June 150 persons were slain and two months later the police reported that 149 were killed in August. Up to yesterday, the murder toll stood at 1,234. With four days gone into November, 12 persons have already been killed.

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World Cup - Jamaica digs a hole; T&T poised to advance

Fixtures For November 17, 2004 (Home team first)

The United States, Mexico and Guatemala have all sealed spots in the final round of North and Central American and Caribbean Zone qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Jamaica’s hopes of joining them are dim as they eked out a 0-0 draw with lowly Costa Rica after beating them in Costa Rica by 3-0. Now they are in a deep hole as they must win or at least tie the mighty US who are now running on high octane, evidenced by their recent 6-0 demolition of Panama. That very same Panama beat Jamaica 2-1 in Jamaica  and tied them 1-1 in the return. The El Salvador-Panama game will determine Jamaica’s fate. If Panama wins, Jamaica has to beat the US, and if Panama ties, Jamaica has to at least tie US to advance, or Panama advances. If El Salvador wins Jamaica has to at least tie the US to advance. It’s an uphill battle but I will see you there at the Crew Stadium, in Columbus, Ohio, to cheer the Reggae Boyz on.

T&T looks poised to advance despite their losses to Mexico. All they need to do to advance is to tie St. Vincent and the Grenadines. In the first game, T&T defeated them 3-0, so they should not have a problem especially since they are playing at home.

 Results  of Oct 12, 2004

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