...the Caribbean routes used to ship cocaine and other drugs in the 1970s and 1980s are the most logical for drug traffickers

'Drug traffic may return to Caribbean'

tribune242 editorial


ALTHOUGH the Bahamas has not been named, a top US State Department official said Tuesday that drug traffickers may return to old Caribbean smuggling routes as law enforcement pressure builds against them in Mexico and Central America.

According to an interview by Curt Anderson of the Associated Press in Miami, William Brownfield, assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement, said the Caribbean routes used to ship cocaine and other drugs in the 1970s and 1980s are the most logical for traffickers.

Those routes led most often to South Florida but also to other Southern US states.

During those years the Bahamas was an important transshipment port for the drug cartel, especially Pablo Escobar's Medellin cartel, which got a foothold in the Bahamas through Carlos "Joe" Lehder of Norman's Cay notoriety. Norman's Cay became a refuelling base for the last leg of the cartel's journey from Colombia to the US.

Escobar was hunted down and killed by the Colombian police after a long series of battles. Lehder, extradited to the US, is still serving time in an American federal prison.

"I do not see it right now, but simple logic and common sense tells you that you probably are going to see it in the next two or three years," Brownfield said in the AP interview. "They are going to look for alternative routes."

Right now, less than 3 per cent of cocaine and other illegal drugs is smuggled into the US through ocean routes, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Traffickers most commonly bring the drugs produced in Colombia, Peru, Bolivia and elsewhere north through Central America, or off its coasts, into Mexico and then over land into the US.

But Brownfield said the cartels are "in the process of being chased out of Mexico" and are beginning to eye Central American countries as an alternative base of operations. And that, he said, would make the Caribbean once again a more attractive option than moving drugs through South America or up the eastern Pacific coast.

Brownfield was in Miami this week for meetings at the US Southern Command headquarters between US ambassadors in Latin America and their counterparts at the State Department in Washington. Among the topics being discussed are regional security plans for both Central America and the Caribbean aimed at disrupting criminal organisations, securing borders and increasing cooperation.

Attacking drug organizations takes a comprehensive approach, said Brownfield, who was previously ambassador to both Colombia and Venezuela.

"You cannot just do eradication, just do interdiction, just do laboratory takedowns ... You must address all aspects of the problem, and we cannot do it alone," he said.

One emerging threat is the increasing use of submarines and semi-submersible vessels to transport large amounts of cocaine up the Central American coastline. The Coast Guard and US Customs and Border Protection earlier this year detected a true submarine in the Caribbean near the Honduras-Nicaragua border that sank but had more than seven tons of cocaine aboard.

"The first ones looked like something kids would put together in the backyard. Now what we are seeing is pretty sophisticated stuff," Brownfield said. "I don't see this yet as a crisis, because we don't see the numbers. But it is their ability to transport anything that should cause us some concern."

November 09, 2011

tribune242 editorial

Caribbean Blog International

Abuse, armed robbery, housebreaking, rape, assault, murder and attempted murder are rampant in The Bahamas... and speak to social breakdown... and in fact, constitute an on again off again war against the social and economic system

Gangster’s Paradise Part 3

By Ian G. Strachan

Abuse, armed robbery, housebreaking, rape, assault, murder and attempted murder are rampant in The Bahamas, and speak to social breakdown, and in fact, constitute an on again off again war against the social and economic system.  There are no shortcuts.  I propose seven areas of focus in terms of improving the situation.  I address the first three today.

Inequality and social justice

Poverty is the breeding ground of violence.  Check the location of murders and the residence of murder accused and victims.  Look at education and income levels.  This recession, the lack of skills of the citizenry and their lack of hope, are breeding violent criminality – not in all poor people, but in enough poor people to terrorize a seven by 21 island.  Baha Mar, in this respect, can’t be finished fast enough.

It does not help that our system of taxation burdens the poorest the most.  It doesn’t help that crass materialism parades itself before the hungry, underprivileged, and marginalized each day, provoking them to question the order of things and take risks.  There aren’t enough jobs, or there isn’t enough pay, to make the life of crime seem like a foolish option for many young men.  The death of their brothers, cousins and friends in the streets doesn’t seem to matter either.  And though we hunt down and lock up the drug dealer, we elect his lawyer to Parliament and make him a knight.  What message does that send?  It is cheaper to invest properly in a citizen’s education, health and socialization than it is to police, hospitalize, imprison, punish and rehabilitate that citizen.

Education

First, Bahamians no longer see the value of formal education.  Most parents are unwilling or unable to make the sacrifices necessary to ensure that their children function as civil, thoughtful, analytical, creative adults.  Seventy to 80 percent failure in math for instance, means 70-80 percent of students can’t reason well.  That’s alarming.

I believe that too many Bahamians believe they don’t need to do well in school to make it.  They are wrong.  Many in our labor force have found out the hard way that when you are uneducated, you may find a job but you will rarely find a good paying one.  Our expectations are far too great when compared to what most of us can earn.  Add to this the fact that the work ethic of our high school graduates seems to deteriorate further with each passing year.  Many men who entered the job market in the 60s and 70s with nothing but a junior or high school education knew a trade and worked hard.  Many are successful businessmen today, walking in step with peers of their generation who got college degrees.  The gap doesn’t seem so wide for them; however, the achievement gap that now exists between school leavers and college grads is big.

Second, the entrance requirements for the teaching profession must be raised and the salaries and benefits must be raised at the same time.  Educational administrators (principals as well as ministry technocrats) must be held accountable for failure and rewarded for success.  How can a system produce such levels of failure and fire so few of the people paid to fail?  We want criminal justice, but what about educational justice?  Make examples of those at the top before you squeeze those at the bottom.

The goal of our schools should be to produce responsible, civil, analytical, creative, trainable citizens.  Such people will almost always believe they have options that go beyond violence and criminality.  Most high school leavers in this country aren’t “criminals”, but they are citizens who, in a myriad of ways, can make life choices that contribute to the culture of disorder, incivility, destructive individualism, blind consumerism, civic impotence, foreign dependence, political ignorance, mediocrity, low productivity, prostitution, predation and poverty.

Third, our schools aren’t producing citizens who understand each man, woman and child’s responsibility to and dependence on “the other”.  A key plank in the proper education/socialization of our citizens could be a national service curriculum and program.  This should target all students.  We want at-risk youth to have wholesome experiences and nurturing adult guidance that builds skills, builds community and builds esteem, but we also want to foster a sense of social responsibility and duty to the community and to nation-building in the well-to-do young Bahamian.  Environmental stewardship, social outreach, agriculture, fishing, infrastructural maintenance, military and public service and so much more can be incorporated into such a program.

Fourth, college attendance is a serious problem.  Our goal as a country should be to ensure that one in three Bahamians attains higher education.  Currently it is closer to one in 10. This affects human potential, the social fabric, and our overall economic horizons.  They will be able to approach life’s challenges with greater resilience and creativity. In a recent study by College of The Bahamas (COB) faculty, who surveyed a pool of over 300 prison inmates, it was discovered that 90 percent of those inmates had no tertiary education and over 50 percent of them had dropped out of school.  College education is not the panacea for all that ails us but it is a crucial tool in the effort to build a more prosperous, versatile and peaceful society.

Parenting

The way that parenting impacts our nation is powerful and dynamic.  Having an economically depressed, frustrated, neglectful and possibly violent person for a parent is tragic, but doesn’t show up on our crime radar, and that is a large part of why this very potent area is hard to properly address.  The state, by and large, cannot police parenting.  However, this does not mean that the state cannot and should not try to heavily influence parents and provide greater social and economic support for families.  Funding may not be as great as we would wish, but how we distribute the funds we do have can always be evaluated and reevaluated based on clearly set objectives.  What are our objectives?  I have read many manifestos and still can’t point you to where our nation’s objectives are when it comes to family and parenting.  Well, here are the five objectives that have guided France’s family policy over the last several decades:

Solidarity – to compensate families for the economic costs of child rearing;

Pronatalism – to encourage a higher birth rate;

Social justice – to redistribute income to low-income families with children;

To protect the well-being of children; and

In more recent years, to protect parental choice among family types regardless of whether parents choose to work outside the home or to remain at home to rear children.

All of these, save perhaps number two, should interest us greatly.  The size of the population and the budget of a nation certainly allow a nation like France to have far more programs and initiatives; however, what money is needed to have a clearly-stated objective?  And once we are clear on what we want to accomplish, then we can allocate whatever funding we have appropriately.  There is a clear connection between parenting, violence and criminality.  COB researchers found that 18 percent of the inmates who were high school dropouts, dropped out to help their families.  Thirty-one percent indicated that they had been abused, 47 percent of them by their parents.  Forty-nine percent witnessed violence (abuse) in their homes, 66 percent of that violence was physical, not including sexual abuse which was another five percent.   The initial exposure to violence as a way of life and as a problem solving technique is most often in the home, the least regulated place in society.

So how do we get past the barriers and reach parents where they are?  When a child is born, who is assigned to the mothers, particularly the 623 teen mothers we had last year, to help them with their most important social responsibility: parenting?  Are teen mothers, unemployed mothers and mothers living in poor, high crime neighborhoods automatically assigned a case worker and nurse to monitor them for at least one year?  If not, why not?  How can our laws enable women to stay at home longer after giving birth instead of being forced to return to work, sometimes as quickly as six weeks later due to economic pressure?  What are we doing to encourage young fathers to be more involved, positively, in their children’s lives?  How closely do we regulate child care for babies and toddlers? Why is there such a wide range of standards for paid child care in this age group?  Infant and toddler care should not be better in East Bay than it is on Balfour Avenue.  This age group is far too vulnerable to be subject to inferior care because their parent(s) are low income generating.  Regulating the business of child care, and income won’t be a barrier to good care.

Another point of concern is when we sign heads of agreements with major investors, if we have no family objectives before us then we end up agreeing to things that potentially hurt families.  We allow multimillion dollar investors to ignore basic day care for workers so that the option is unavailable for young children to be close to their working mothers.  I especially would like to see this happen in the hotel sector where shifts are spread across 24 hours.  In fact, perhaps we need laws or industrial agreements that protect single mothers of infants/toddlers from overnight shifts and Sunday work.

Next we conclude this series with a look at community development, creating a climate of discipline and order in our society, and our notions of criminal justice.

Nov 07, 2011

Gangster’s Paradise Part 4
Gangster’s Paradise Part 2

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

There seem to be more questions than answers regarding the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) party... questions that will certainly be answered on General Election Day

The Democratic National Alliance

By Philip C. Galanis

The mission of the Democratic National Alliance (DNA) is to ensure that the needs and aspirations of Bahamian people – to be owners with the government in the political, cultural, and economic development of the nation – are met.

DNA mission statement

Since its launch in May, 2011 the Democratic National Alliance (DNA), the newest political party on the Bahamian landscape, has gained considerable traction with the Bahamian public, especially those who are clamoring for something different in our body politic.  The pervasive pronouncement is that Bahamians are tired of the behemoth Free National Movement (FNM) and the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), or at least of the leaders of those two goliath political machines.  So far, the DNA has named 26 candidates to contest next year's general election and promises to field a full slate of candidates, which is unprecedented for such a new political party.  Therefore this week we would like to Consider This... Does the DNA have staying power?  Can it form the next government and what kind of governance could we expect from this fledging political party?

Historically, third parties have not fared well in Bahamian politics.  The last endeavor of an organized third party, the Coalition for Democratic Reform (CDR), met the fateful disaster of not having any of its candidates poll sufficient votes to enjoy a refund of their deposits.  Therefore, what makes the upcoming contest any different?  Have Bahamian voters sufficiently matured to embrace a third alternative?

Some political pundits and pollsters have suggested that Branville McCartney, the DNA's self-appointed leader, is the most popular politician in Bahamian politics today and that his magnetic mass appeal stems from his courage in taking on his former political mentor, the Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham, much as the latter took on his political mentor, the Rt. Hon. Sir Lynden Pindling in 1992.  The only thing that Bahamians love more than a winner is a brash, brazen leader who is prepared to buck the established order.  Will McCartney and his DNA "green team" have what is required to translate those ingredients into a winning team?  And if the DNA cannot win an outright plurality, will they be spoilers, winning enough seats to form a coalition government?

Why now?

Many Bahamians have repeatedly asserted that while Ingraham and Christie are tried and tested, there is a perception that they are tired, with few new ideas, have exceeded their relevance on the political stage and that now is the time for them to exit.  Furthermore, both of those leaders are now in their sixties, and many developed and developing democracies are trending toward leaders in their forties and fifties, including the recent change in Jamaica.

That the DNA has gained any traction at all seems to support the proposition that Bahamians are now ready for a tectonic shift in the established order.  Their appeal could be as much grounded in their freshness and youth as in a yearning for a generational shift, precipitated by our changing demographics.  The DNA seems to be gaining considerable appeal among young voters who increasingly constitute a very large segment of the voting populace.   Furthermore, the DNA has positioned itself as a party of the middle class, compared to the PLP and the FNM who are seen to represent grassroots and elitist voters, respectively.

The DNA's challenges

The most pronounced challenge which the DNA has to overcome is its inexperience.  With the exception of its leader, none of the DNA candidates have any experience in governance.  Those who say that Lynden Pindling and his team did not have any experience in government when he first became premier in 1967 are missing a very essential point.  While it is true that Pindling and his team were inexperienced in actual governance, they were certainly experienced in parliamentary democracy, with many years experience in Parliament before attaining majority rule.  This is an extremely important difference and one that should not escape or be easily dismissed by the green team.

The DNA's first test will be a demonstrable ability to construct a national election machine to stage a national campaign.  If it can do that, the most essential question which McCartney has to address is whether the Bahamian people are prepared to hand over the government to such an inexperienced group of newcomers.   And if the DNA were to win, it will take a very long time for a DNA government to learn the system of governance along with the workings of the deeply entrenched and all-powerful public service, as well as to obtain a basic understanding of how to run a country.  The DNA's first test as government will be the preparation and defense of a national budget, no mean feat for even a seasoned political organization.   And, no matter how brilliant the ideas and vision of the DNA, in our present precarious circumstances, we must ask if our country can afford the time it will take these political newcomers to learn the ins and outs of how to run the country.

Another important consideration is that most of the DNA's announced candidates are unknown on the national scene.  What does the electorate really know about its candidates and their backgrounds?  What do they stand for and have they been successful in their various professional or occupational endeavors?

In addition, the DNA has not yet clearly articulated its platform.  What differentiates the DNA from the other mainstream parties?  We are still not certain what the party stands for and how it will implement its agenda.  What skills do they have in drafting the legislation that it will have to table in Parliament in order to implement its programs and policies?    Who will comprise the cabinet and what experience will such persons bring to their various portfolios?  And is the DNA prepared to make the many appointments to boards, commissions and the foreign service?  These are the essential decisions that will have to be taken almost immediately if the DNA is transformed from a political party to a government.   These are the issues that members of the electorate will have to consider when casting their ballots on Election Day.

Conclusion

We believe that the next general election will be keenly contested, fiercely fought and extremely exciting.  As we saw in the Elizabeth by-election, many races will be cliffhangers and every single vote will be important.

One thing is certain.  There seem to be more questions than answers regarding the DNA, questions that will certainly be answered on Election Day.

Philip C. Galanis is the managing partner of HLB Galanis & Co., Chartered Accountants, Forensic & Litigation Support Services. He served 15 years in Parliament.  Please send your comments to: pgalanis@gmail.com

Nov 07, 2011

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

...for those Bahamians who think there is no reasonable offering to vote for at the next general election - 2012, ...you should rest assured that there are many other ways to participate in the advancement and governance of The Bahamas

Does it matter if you vote?

thenassauguardian editorial

Interesting debates always emerge when the question is posed as to whether or not citizens living in democracies should feel obligated to vote.

Most democracies were fought for. People who campaigned for freedom, self-governance and civil rights were jailed; some were murdered; some were beaten and many others were victimized. Some of these fights were actual wars.

In this context, we all should take the vote seriously. It is not a right, but a gift fought for by those who came before us.

As we all sit and evaluate the political parties and independent candidates who will offer for public office in the run-up to the next general election, we should make every effort to determine if there is someone on the ballot good enough to vote for.

Those who do not think there is anyone good enough to vote for should consider entering the race or the political process.

But if the ballot is filled with poor candidates, what should a voter do?Should voters feel compelled to vote?

No, they should not. Voting is an important part of the democratic process. However, voting should not be confused with democracy. Democracy is about self-governance. As citizens, we have a responsibility to do this everyday not just every five years.

By working at a charity, providing assistance to the homeless, democracy is at work; by volunteering as a mentor at a school, democracy is at work; by raising an educated, hardworking law-abiding citizen, democracy is at work.

So for those who think there is no reasonable offering to vote for at the next general election, you should rest assured that there are many other ways to participate in the advancement and governance of The Bahamas.

A group of residents in a community can easily come together, approach their public school, and start an after-school literacy program for the children falling behind, for example.

Simple initiatives such as these, if done by many individuals or by many groups, can do much to change the lives of the disadvantaged and the soon-to-be lost.

Elections are important; voting is important. But if you think the mainstream political parties are pathetic and the independents are incompetent, do not distress. You can exercise your democratic power everyday by doing something to help build the community.

Nov 04, 2011

thenassauguardian editorial

Caribbean Blog International

To address our crime problem comprehensively, we must address our way of life comprehensively... But we haven’t the will

Gangster’s Paradise Part 2

By Ian G. Strachan

This week we continue our series on crime in The Bahamas.  It seems fitting to take stock of the research and consultative work that Bahamians have already undertaken. We will work backwards about 20 years, with reports we have easy access to.

We begin with Police Sergeant Chaswell Hanna’s 2011 study, “Reducing Murders in The Bahamas: A Strategic Plan Based on Empirical Research” (available at 62foundation.org/resources).  These are among the more interesting facts and observations made by Hanna.

First, the murder rate for the past 12 years (I have added the last two years):  2000-74; 2001-43; 2002-52; 2003-50; 2004-44; 2005-52; 2006-61; 2007-78; 2008-72; 2009-79; 2010-94; 2011-109 so far.

Between 2005 and 2009, the period Hanna studies most closely, 13 percent of murders involved domestic violence, 18 percent took place during robberies, eight percent happened outside or in bars and night clubs and 61 percent involved a firearm.

Hanna notes that of the 349 classified murders between 2005 and 2009, police were only able to build 243 cases – 231 charges were filed but only 130 murder cases were sent to the Supreme Court.  Only 34 cases were completed in the time frame and there were 10 murder convictions, eight manslaughter convictions and zero executions.

So for cases that actually were completed, there was a 53 percent conviction rate.  But of the 349 classified murders between 2005 and 2009, only 37 percent resulted in a trial.  And, so far, only five percent of murders resulted in someone being convicted of either murder or manslaughter.  To put this another way, 95 percent of the murders during this period remain unpunished.  This is despite the fact that police believe they have identified the murder suspect 73 percent of the time between 2005 and 2009.  Hanna claims that 54 percent of murder suspects offered a full or partial confession.

Hanna noted that “most local murder incidents in New Providence occurred in communities where annual household incomes fell below the island’s average.  This indicates that preventive strategies aimed at particular offenses ought to be complemented by, and complementary to, broader long-term initiatives to address poverty and social exclusion.”

There’s more.  He adds: “Findings in this study revealed that 46 percent of persons charged with murder [2005-2009] had prior criminal records involving violence.  In fact, 15 percent of these suspects had been previously charged with another murder.  Further analysis disclosed that 34 percent of persons charged with murder during the study period were on bail.”

 

Previous crime reports

From Hanna’s report we move to the 2008 National Advisory Council on Crime Report (available at 62foundation.org/resources).  The council was headed by Bishop Simeon Hall.  This report makes an array of recommendations from the standpoint of policing, the judicial system, incarceration and rehabilitation and prevention.  In addition to calling on government to encourage and assist citizens to establish voluntary crime watch programs, such as the citizens on patrol program and to expand the educational, vocational and entrepreneurial projects and programs currently being taught at the prison, inclusive of the training of personnel, the report pays particular attention to youth development.  It calls on government to:

• Strengthen and/or develop community centers and national afterschool programs.

• Strengthen rehabilitative services for all special populations – youth, disabled, substance abusers and persons diagnosed with mental illnesses by the use of multidisciplinary support teams.

• Promote positive lifestyles and culture for young people.

• Ensure the wider dissemination of information on youth organizations, programs and services.

• Strengthen the national educational curriculum to instill a greater sense of national pride and self-esteem in young people.

• Significantly raise the standards and performance of our education system and our nation’s students.

• Support and/or expand existing parental training.

• Strengthen and make mandatory the family life studies program in all schools.

Thirteen years earlier, in 1998, Burton Hall, David Allen, Simeon Hall, Jessica Minnis and others submitted the National Commission on Crime Report.  I have a particular interest in the following points made by the team, although these are only a fraction of the ones made:

• The incidence of “domestic violence” throughout The Bahamas is of such a level as to be a cause for grave concern among all residents, and innovative measures are required to cure this plague which replicates its consequences among succeeding generations.

• Commissioners are of the view that the reversal of our present problems begins with the elementary need to teach people how to parent.

• Commissioners add their voices to the lament of the small number of men who have remained as teachers in the system.  This problem tends to perpetuate itself in that young men, seeing teaching as “womens’ work,” would not be inclined to themselves become teachers.  The reasons for this are complex, and obviously tied up in the question of remuneration.

• New Providence is filthy.  That is the stark reality ... squalid surroundings strongly suggest a mentality conducive to other forms of anti-social activities, extending even to criminal behavior.

• We have no evidence that Haitians are, as a people, any more prone to violent or criminal behavior than are other peoples, including Bahamians.

• While a number of churches have developed community centers and host, for example, afterschool homework quarters, it appears to us that the physical facilities controlled by various churches remain largely underutilized.

The 1998 report revealed that really, nothing much had changed since the Consultative Committee on National Youth Development, led by Drexel Gomez, shared its findings in 1994.  Among many other things, it called on government to:

• Discontinue social promotion and, at the same time, produce alternative programs for under-achievers.

• Establish a training/research center for teachers to provide ongoing monitoring of the educational system with appropriate emphasis on the social, emotional and cognitive needs of Bahamian youth.

• Provide ... special incentives to males to enter the teaching profession.  Our committee considers that the virtual absence of male members of staff in the primary system is adversely impacting on the performance of male members of the student body.  Our committee is also of the view that this matter should be addressed as a national emergency requiring special measures to alter the present imbalance.

• Commission the Department of Statistics to conduct a youth labor survey

• [Initiate] A “Media Summit” at which the government and all social partners, particularly the media, advertisers and sponsors, will be invited to consider a national policy on the media and to identify ways and means to establish stronger indigenous media.

• [Cause] The Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas [to] place special emphasis on the production of appropriate youth programs for television and radio.

• Encourage sponsorship of local educational programs by the creation of fiscal incentives.

• [Encourage] The private sector to promote and sponsor productions that convey a sense of Bahamian identity.

• [Develop] Community centers at the neighborhood level or constituency level.

The committee wishes to recommend that community centers be established as part of the fabric of each community to assist young people and adults with lifelong skills and personal enrichment programs.  Such facilities can rekindle the sense of community participation and cooperation among the people who must take charge of their communities.  The strategy employed by the government to ensure that at least a park is in each constituency throughout The Bahamas is an important step in the right direction. Equally important is the need for a policy decision to ensure that a community center is part of each community.

 

What have we done with this research?

More on this final note.  The committee envisioned that these centers would develop programs to “satisfy the educational, social, economic, spiritual, cultural, sporting, civic and community service needs.  Additionally, areas of day care, children’s programs, afterschool programs, teen programs, school drop-outs and adult education and senior citizens activities can be provided at the community center.  The goal should be to establish a community center in each neighborhood or settlement.”

Of course, former MP Edmund Moxey tried to model this in Coconut Grove as far back as the late 1960s and early 1970s, with his Coconut Grove Community Centre on Crooked Island Street and the now demolished, but not forgotten, Jumbey Village.

These initiatives involved a high level of community effort.  Sir Lynden Pindling is credited with calling for national service in the 1980s, but this idea was being advanced in his cabinet by men like Moxey from the nation’s first years.  Sir Lynden bulldozed and starved Moxey’s dream to death.  And in the 44 years since majority rule, I know of no other effort like the Coconut Grove initiatives by any church, state or civic group.

Why haven’t we acted on these recommendations as common sense as so many of them are?  What are we waiting for?  The people’s anguished call for the blood of the murderer will continue to go unanswered.  There will be no shortcut to peace and prosperity.  The hangman’s noose won’t save us.  The policeman cannot be everywhere at all times.  The prison cells cannot hold all the people who need to be confined, disciplined and punished.  There will be no shortcut to commonwealth.  To address our crime problem comprehensively, we must address our way of life comprehensively.  But we haven’t the will.

More next week.

Oct 31, 2011

Gangster’s Paradise Part 3

Gangster’s Paradise Part 1

thenassauguardian

Caribbean Blog International

Castro and the US Cuban embargo: Be afraid, be very afraid

By Rebecca Theodore


Deck the halls with boughs of holly. It’s the season for propaganda. The spurs of the Florida electoral school are freshly cut. There is a sweet perfume. It is the perfume of votes renewed on the minds of Republicans. The US Cuban embargo is now inconsistent with traditional American liberties. Isolating Cuba was a mistake. It is time for a different policy. An image of flexibility has arisen just before the 2012 elections, as talks on Cuba always do. Afterwards, the blockade and the sanctions will remain intact.

So strike the harp and join the chorus. There is a need for dialogue. Cubans have been continually seduced and subverted and drawn across the line. They have been pushed almost beyond oblivion behind an iron curtain. The effects are jolting. It is not the season to be jolly.

Congress tells of Yuletide treasure but each time their efforts to ease the embargo are frustrated by Republican leadership. It is clear that it is Cuban-American activists concentrated in southern Florida which supports the embargo and Republicans feel indebted to please them at the expense of garnering votes in the upcoming presidential elections.

Hence, lifting the embargo is not about freedom for the Cuban people. It is about the unwillingness of Republicans to let the larger interests of the US and their own constituents be sacrificed to the gods of electoral politics.

In a country where education and health are triumphs of a revolution and where health care is a major export that it is in even paid for in oil, critics argue that the embargo now belongs to history; for in a post-Cold War zone it has outlived its main objectives.

Thus, the blazing Yule is as egregious as it is asinine and compounds fear and hypocrisy. Intriguing questions arise.

How can an embargo be lifted when the brutal abuse of human rights continue? What about the wrath of the Helms-Burton Act, where US courts continue to impose penalties on foreign companies doing business in Cuba?

It is true that the US can no longer continue to be the global laughing stock for using an embargo as a weapon of foreign policy against the Cuban people, while at the same time failing to impose trade sanctions against China because of its poor human rights record. It would be disastrous if we returned to business as usual without pausing to take note that the Chinese government has jailed and killed far more political and religious dissenters than has the Cuban government. Yet, China is America’s third largest trading partner while the maintenance of a blanket embargo on commercial relations with Cuba still prevails.

Rumours of lifting the embargo on the eve of an election year are dubious in theory and cruel in its potential practice. It is not a victory for Fidel Castro or his oppressive regime but just an overdue acknowledgement that a five-decade embargo has failed. While the Cuban people would be a bit less disadvantaged, lifting the embargo only shows that commercial engagement is the best way to embolden open societies abroad.

Henceforth, Obama’s ‘incremental design’ should be allowed to continue with the expansion of trade and tourism, for it is trade and development that give people tools of communication, i.e. cell phones, satellite TV, fax machines, and the internet in order to destabilize tyrannical regimes.

It is trade and development that increases the flow of goods and services and enlarges the scope of ideology, technically tailoring freedom in their path, thus giving birth to democracy and demands for better democratic institutions.

Following in fearful measure, America now bears the guilty burden before the world, while Cuba at 50 faces pressure for change. Stars shine in the Havana sky as if to answer the wind's defiant call. And the moon, crowned with yellow gorse dances fearful shadows in the courtyard of the dead.

November 2, 2011

caribbeannewsnow

Bahamas Blog International

Community policing, Urban Renewal and The Bahamas' crime problem

For those who want to see the ugly head of crime in The Bahamas crushed with the utmost speed, community policing is one of the many answers

tribune242 editorial

ANY POLITICAL party that tells a community that Urban Renewal, whether it be Urban Renewal 2.0 or 4.04, is a quick fix for this country's crime problem is fooling the people by encouraging them to clutch at moonbeams.

This is not to denigrate Urban Renewal, which is a long-term solution, the effects of which will probably not be able to be properly assessed until the next generation.

However, for those who want to see the ugly head of crime crushed with the utmost speed, community policing is one of the many answers. In fact, community policing - the initiative of the Royal Bahamas Police Force - morphed into Urban Renewal and, unfortunately, into the arms of politicians during the Christie administration.

We have been told that the Urban Renewal programme received an international award. In fact, it was not Urban Renewal that received the award from the International Association of Commissioners of Police (IACP). Rather, it was the Royal Bahamas Police Force. And this was how their community initiative was described in the IACP's 1999-2006 report: "The Royal Bahamas Police Force worked with area residents to form a community task force comprising officers, members of local churches, the business community, residents, and reformed gang members. The task force patrolled the streets on foot, and in vehicles 24 hours a day, seven days a week, leaving criminals little time or space in which to operate."

Now this is where Urban Renewal came in: "The task force," said the IACP, "also worked with the Departments of Social Services, Housing, Environmental Health, and Public Works to improve living conditions."

One of the award winners was Farm Road's marching band, started by the police with the assistance of business persons. There was no political affiliation with this programme. The boast today of the Eastern Division's marching band, again a police creation, is that they are of award-winning standard. When Urban Renewal came along, the police continued their community policing programmes, but got diverted to add muscle to the work of social workers who government had introduced into the various communities under the name of Urban Renewal. Of course, things moved more efficiently when backed by a police officers' orders.

For example, if an Environmental department employee gave instructions for the removal of derelict cars, they could expect some "lip". But for the order to come from a police officer, it was a "yes, suh" and a shuffle into speedy action.

However, one of the many criticisms of what is now known as Urban Renewal was that the workers who were attached to the programme were especially selected by PLP politicians. It was soon discovered that serious people were sitting around a table having discussions with persons who could hardly read or write.

It did not take the Ingraham administration long to understand how community policing had been hijacked. As a result, the police were removed from the social services side of the programmes and sent back to doing what they did best and for which they had won an international award -- community policing. That does not mean that if needed the various social services cannot call on them for assistance. They are called on, and they do respond.

According to Mr Christie, the urban renewal programme established by his government offered people hope. It had had noteworthy results in communities in which it had been established. He promised that if returned he would renew Urban Renewal with a stepped-up programme -- Urban Renewal 2.0.

"There is a compelling need in this country for us to recognise that we are out of control with crime and that we do know the influences that are affecting the young people," Mr Christie told members of the House in discussing the various crime bills then being debated.

Meanwhile, the police are continuing with their community programmes - among them after-school programmes for young people. There are the after-school programmes in the Eastern Division, highlighting Fox Hill, the Western Division, and the Central division with the 242 model programme for young people with behavioural challenges. The Southern Division has included in its programmes a Crime Watch Group for business persons to assist them in patrolling their businesses.

And so social services -- a branch of Urban Renewal -- continues with its programmes in the communities, while the police are now free to step up their community programmes in addition to tracking down criminals.

November 01, 2011

tribune242 editorial