Barack Obama

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OBAMA ON THE ROCK • • gleanerjamaica • jamaicagleaner • FEATURE THE GLEANER, THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015 E8
Arnold Bertram
Contributor
UP UNTIL Britain’s 13 North
American colonies declared their
independence as the United States
of America in 1776, they were hardly as
important as Jamaica in the global economy.
At that time, Jamaica was Britain’s richest
colony and the port of Kingston conducted
an extensive trade with Europe, Africa,
North America and other British
Caribbean colonies. In 1775, the governor
of Jamaica reported that “639 vessels
manned by nearly 7,000 seamen were
employed in the trade of the island. Of
this total, 233 ships were engaged in trade
with the British Isles, 299 with North
America, 77 with Africa, and 30 with
other Caribbean territories”.
An indication of Jamaica’s economic
status then can be gauged from the fact
that “in 1772, Dr Witherspoon published
address to the inhabitants of Jamaica ... on
behalf of the College of New Jersey beg-
ging for financial help”. This college later
became Princeton University.
Over the next century while Jamaica
declined in economic importance, the
United States went on to supersede
Britain as the most powerful industrial
country in the world. It was Jamaica’s
strategic importance in World War II that
created the reason for the first visit of a
US president to the island.
In August 1940, the German Luftwaffe
subjected Britain to an intensive bombing
which virtually destroyed the industrial
capacity of their major cities. Britain’s
gold and dollar reserves began to run out
and the British war machine was steadily
grinding to a halt. Such was the extent of
the crisis that there was talk of moving
the British Royal Family to Canada.
99-YEAR LEASE
It was the financial and material sup-
port of the United States that revitalised
Britain’s leadership of the Allies in the
war effort, when in September 1949 both
countries finalised the 99-year
lease of bases in the British
West Indies to the
United States in
exchange for 50
destroyers which the
British navy desper-
ately needed.
This was the
background to
President F.D.
Roosevelt’s visit to
Jamaica on
December 5, 1940
aboard the USS
Tuscaloosa, which anchored in Kingston
Harbour. He did not disembark, but
accompanied by the Governor of Jamaica,
Sir Arthur Richards, sailed along the
south coast of the island to get a view of
some of the bases he had acquired.
The second US president to visit
Jamaica was President Ronald Reagan, on
April 7, 1982. In 1980, Edward Seaga and
the Jamaica Labour Party had swept to
power after routing Michael Manley and
the People’s National Party at the polls. It
was at the height of the Cold War, and
Manley’s programme of nationalising the
“commanding heights of the economy”
together with the opening up of Jamaica’s
relations with Cuba and the Soviet Union
had put Manley in Washington’s ‘bad
books’. His support for Cuba’s role in
Angola’s war of liberation was the last
straw.
US$1 BILLION GRANT
President Reagan perceived Seaga’s
victory as an opportunity for the United
States to sponsor a free market model of
development in Jamaica. In 1981, Seaga
became the first head of government to be
invited by a president to the White House.
This was followed by a US$1 billion
grant in development assistance, and in
April 1981, with the strong endorsement
of the Reagan administration, Jamaica
secured a three-year Extended Fund
Facility with the IMF which included a
pledge of US$698 million. David
Rockefeller, chairman of Chase
Manhattan Bank, was requested by
President Reagan to mobilise US private
sector investment for Jamaica and he
immediately responded by assembling 25
business leaders to work with Seaga’s
counterpart Committee on Investment and
Employment.
Reagan’s visit was an endorsement of
his protégé and his expectation that Seaga
would make Jamaica a showpiece of US-
sponsored Free Market capitalism and a
model for the developing world, which
would contrast with the economic decline
that Jamaica had experienced under
Manley. These expectations were
never realised and in the end
Timothy Ashby, of the US
Department of Commerce, made
the following assessment of the
Seaga administration:
“Despite US$1 billion in US develop-
ment assistance, Edward Seaga failed to
transform Jamaica’s economy ... becoming
a disappointment as well as a political
embarrassment to his many
supporters … . Foreign debt more than
doubled ... the Jamaican dollar plummeted
in value by 300 per cent against the US
dollar ... a quarter of the Jamaica work-
force remained unemployed.” (Timothy
Ashby, Missed Opportunities, 1989)
SEAGA LOSES POPULARITY
At home, according to the reliable Stone
polls, Seaga lost popular support as early as
October, 1982, and although the PNP’s
decision not to contest the 1983 elections
secured the extension of his tenure as prime
minister, he was wiped out at the polls in
the 1986 local government elections as well
as the 1989 general election.
On Wednesday, April 8, 2015, Barack
Obama became the third US president to
visit Jamaica. As was the case with the
visit of his predecessor, Ronald Reagan,
Jamaica is at a critical point in its pro-
gramme of economic recovery. The
Minister of Finance, Peter Phillips, inher-
ited from his JLP predecessor an economy
saddled with a debt amounting to some
139 per cent of GDP and a record of fail-
ure to honour solemn agreements made
with the country’s international partners,
and in particular the International
Monetary Fund.
This time around, both the United States
and the IMF have been more cautious.
There has been neither a billion dollar
development assistance grant nor the
equivalent of a Rockefeller Committee.
They have waited until Phillips has shown
the capacity and determination to stay the
course. Within the IMF, as well as in
Washington, there is a growing feeling that
Jamaica could be the IMF’s first success
story and they are not about to allow the
Chinese to claim all the credit. This is the
fundamental reason for the president’s
visit. However, his coming is not a
guarantee that Jamaica is out of the
woods, but sends a most important signal
to the world. Jamaica had now begun a
conversation with the head of the most
powerful industrial nation in the world.
Take a bow, Minister Phillips.
Arnold Bertram is a for-
mer Minister of
Government during
previous People’s
National Party
administrations.
Email comments to
Arnold Bertram at:
redev.atb@
gmail.com and
columns@
gleanerjm.com
Obama, the
hope of a
generation
Gary Spaulding
Senior Gleaner Writer
FOR MANY Jamaican
youths locally and abroad,
the visit of United States
(US) President Barack
Obama may not be long but
should surely be memorable.
Shantalee Brown, a 25-
year-old Jamaican student in
the US, is not in the island
for the visit but that does not
lessen the pride she feels.
“I hope that they take
good care of my president,”
said Brown, a philosophy
student at City University of
New York.
“Feed him some real
Jamaican delicious run dung
with roasted breadfruit and
coconut water,” she added
with a chuckle.
Brown said she is both
excited and anxious about the
visit. “I hope the Jamaican
Government makes use of
the opportunity to create
greater international opportu-
nities for local businesses,
especially where the exporta-
tion of local produce is
concerned and to engage the
president in crime-fighting
talks,” she said.
LOOKING FOR BALANCE
But then, the young
Jamaican grew serious. “As
the old saying goes, ‘It is
better you teach a man to
fish than to feed him every
day’. I appreciate the support
of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) but I
would like to see more of
our local produce in the
supermarkets here (in the
US). I really would like to
see a balance in our trade
agreements. I believe that
would help to lighten our
financial burden.”
Brown expressed hope that
the Jamaican Government
will be going to the table
with a clear objective as to
what it hopes to achieve.
“It is my hope that our
Government will be coura-
geous in championing the
cause of our people,” said
Brown. “I pray that they
won’t be too overcome by
the extreme emotions that
come from meeting with the
president of the free world.”
Notwithstanding, she
wants the Portia Simpson
Miller administration to be
on their ‘A game’ during
what she describes as the
deal-making process.
“I believe America can do
more to assist us in our crime-
fighting efforts. If they
place the same emphasis on
monitoring things, we would
both be better off.” Brown said
she is also keen on economic
development and education.
Shantalee Brown
SEAGA PHILLIPS
US-JA RELATIONS
A CRITICAL STAGE IN
FILE
In this December 10, 2014 photo, Cuba’s President Raul Castro Ruz (right) watches President Barrack Obama
following his speech at the memorial service for former South African President Nelson Mandela at the FNB
Stadium in Soweto, near Johannesburg.
Tell me, Mr
President
J’cans put more
questions to Obama
Since the announcement
last month that United States
President Barack Obama is
to visit Jamaica, The Gleaner
has been asking readers to
tell us what they would want
to ask the leader of the free
world. The responses have
revealed that Jamaicans have
quite a bit on their minds,
ranging from how he has
maintained such a healthy
marriage to whether he can
aid them in securing repara-
tions. Here are some of the
questions they would ask,
whether through live audience
with the president or maybe
even a phone call:
1. Why is it that little or
nothing is being done to
reduce gunrunning from
the US into Jamaica, even
as Jamaica is constantly
asked to do more about
drugs export to the US?
2. How involved are you in
the development of Haiti
and in providing leader-
ship in the development
of the Caribbean basin?
3. There are allegations
that America is holding
back on the levels
of trade with Jamaica
because of our
Government’s refusal to
legalise homosexuality, is
there any truth to this?
4. What will be your
most significant and
effective contribution
not only to Jamaica’s
economy but also the
wider Caribbean?
5. What is your view of
visionary, transforma-
tional, transparent and
accountable leadership?
6. Can you commit US$10
billion to the Jamaican
economy? This would give
us the financial space
needed to expand our
economy without breaking
taxpayers’ legs.
7. Why is Washington
the bully of the world?
Why can’t they mind
their own business and
stop interfering in other
countries’ problems?
8. What can you do that is
not being done to reduce
the austerity measures
placed on the Jamaican
people by the IMF?
9. When will America
realise they do not own
the copyright to what is
best for the world?
10. When is America
going to start respecting
divergent cultures and
views and stop super-
imposing their culture
on others?
11. Mr President, many
people consider you a
poetic and very eloquent
speaker. Do you think
your achievements outdid
the presidential talk?