Opinion
- Editorial- Commentary
Rickey Singh :
Small also beautiful
WITH A month to go before the formal staging of the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago-the first small nation in the Western Hemisphere to host such a major political event involving 33 countries-some local criticisms and objections are reaching ridiculous levels.
The latest, for instance, by some business owners in Oropune Village, Piarco, want the Patrick Manning government to financially compensate them for losses they anticipate to result from compliance with restrictions relating to road traffic and security arrangements during a five-day period (April 16-20)
Prior to that Express report last Sunday, there were reported complaints about "summit stress" and the general negative impact on business operations and free movement in Port-of-Spain and surrounding areas.
Neither legitimate complaints against some restrictions nor valid criticisms on levels of government expenditure to host the Summit should arrogantly be dismissed by the authorities.
Nevertheless, there should be some restraint, objectivity and sense of realism in what's involved for a small state to host such an event, particularly by the business community that can hardly be unmindful of the trade, investment and foreign policy objectives of the host government.
If the entire 34 member nations of the Organisation of American States (including Cuba, which remains suspended-though I suspect for not much longer), had readily agreed to Prime Minister Manning's bold offer to host the Fifth Summit, what's so very wrong with Trinidad and Tobago having the honour to proudly show that small is also quite able and beautiful to welcome them all to its shores?
This is not an argument against those who raise legitimate questions on the financial burden or extent of practical benefits to the country in the hosting of the Summit.
Let's, however, be realistic: in the current circumstances of our Caribbean Community of 14 sovereign states, by a process of elimination only three stand out as potentially capable hosts-Trinidad and Tobago; Jamaica and Barbados-for such an historic hemispheric event.
Caricom had no hesitation whatsoever, as I understand it, in giving unqualified support to Trinidad and Tobago to be this region's choice to host the Fifth Summit. There was a time when "small is beautiful" was enthusiastically and lavishly parroted as a slogan across the Caribbean region.
Those who come for the Summit will perhaps see, if they are first-timers (like President Barack Obama himself), the beautiful side of this twin-island state, rich cultural history; a land of more than calypso, carnival and steelpan music-that 20th century global wonder-and a microcosm of the diverse cultures of the world.
Yes, they may also witness, or come to learn about some of the ugly or dark side of life in the society. Such as the frightening levels of criminal violence; evidence of poverty amid affluence; public corruption; signs of social conflicts and the passionate political denunciations so much part of our region's way of life.
But which of the 32 countries whose leaders are due for the Summit can honestly lay claim as a society, at this very turbulent period in world history not having to also cope with the "dark side", the ugly features of their domestic life, while taking comfort in what's also beautiful and positive?
Certainly not President Obama, who is expected with the biggest delegation, reported as 1,000 strong, many of them "advisers" and 'security personnel. Nor Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, whose oil-based economy explains an uneasy matured relationship between Washington and Caracas.
Or, for that matter the President of that Latin American colossus, Brazil's Lula Da Silva, the first Head of State of Latin America to have had an audience with the 44th President of the USA .
From Obama, expectations are high for him to be quite forthcoming in at least sketching his plans to forge a new and meaningful relationship between Washington and all the governments in this hempishere-Cuba being the last to be so identified.
So far as Caricom's agenda for a collective meeting with Obama on the margins of the Summit is concerned, our Community Heads of Government have failed to indicate in the communique released after their latest Inter-sessional meeting last week, any of the issues of significance they intend to raise with the US President.
A six-line paragraph in the communique stated that Prime Minister Manning presented an update on readiness-arrangements for the Summit and that "Heads of Government welcomed the prominent role that had been accorded to the Community and the extensive consultations on the agenda..."
No word, however, on Caricom's expectations from the Summit. I guess we have to wait for either the "Summit Declaration", or a likely separate "Statement" involving some Latin American and Caribbean states, to assess the likely prospects for our subregion to emanate from the "Port-of-Spain Summit of the Americas".
Rickey Singh is a columnist of the Trinidad Express . Petroleumworld does not necessarily share these views.
This
commentary was originally published by Trinidad Express,
Wednesday, March 18th 2009
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