Letter Of The Day | CARICOM Out Of Alignment With Trumpism
Below are excerpts of a presentation by vice chancellor of the University of the West Indies, Sir Hilary Beckles, at a forum at the UWI Regional Headquarters on November 9, 2016 titled ‘The Caribbean Say on USA Today’.
The seismic, but surely predictable shift in the political narrative of the USA presidential elections has thrown Caribbean-USA relationships out of alignment. More so than many parts of the world, the Caribbean states in the CARICOM subregion have sought to align their economic and political strategies with those of the USA in search of an effective alignment. This development agenda has led critics to suggest that it has been more than alignment but a subservient culture of compliance.
The search for political alignment since independence was turbulent but never morally disrespectful. The two-party democracy system that we both share has spawned a celebration of the political centre while recognising that a socialist Left and a conservative Right have powerful constituencies to represent.
The US electoral call for an extreme shift to the right originates with those groups who prefer a society based on Christian fundamentalism, white corporate elitism, military nationalism, ethnic solidarity, and the iron rule of communities by militarised police. They have rejected the concepts of multiracialism, social liberalism, community inclusiveness, racial equality, gender justice and equality, and the social role of government to provide health care and public education for the poor.
In the clash of philosophies, the Trumpists have won, leaving the Caribbean nations that have generally been aligned to what Americans now call ‘Obamaism’ – social inclusion, together we can, equality and equal justice for all-out on left field without the ball and a referee blowing a whistle.
Clinton’s ‘Stronger Together’ has evolved from ‘Yes, We Can’, both connected to our ‘Out of Many, One People’ and ‘rainbow nation’. These rejected philosophies of how best to organise a society imply disdain for the Caribbean world view that has pushed democracy far behind where white America feels comfortable. CARICOM is, therefore, out of political and ideological alignment with Trumpism.
But more disturbing for CARICOM is the fear of losing economic alignment. The fragile economic recovery of the region is threatened by the economic narrative of Trump that calls for an abandonment of NAFTA, rejection of the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, a trade war with China, greater domestic protectionism, and a celebration of Russia over the European Union. These unleashed financial forces, real or imagined, will adversely affect world trade, leaving the Caribbean on the downside of the swing. Read more
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
