[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 49 (Monday, March 31, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E447-E449]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              ASSESSING THE 2008 OUTLOOK FOR THE CARIBBEAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 31, 2008

  Mr. RANGEL. Madam Speaker, I rise today to acknowledge the challenges 
the Caribbean faces in this coming year by introducing the editorial, 
``Looking to 2008 for Improved Economic and Social Conditions,'' 
published in the New York CARIB News on January 8. The article posits 
that the area will have to rely on the economic gains of the last few 
years, as it faces rising inflation and an economy that will prove to 
be less robust. It hails the Caribbean Single Market and Economy as 
vital and argues that efforts to strengthen it should help the region 
stave off the grim economic picture. It notes that the impact of rising 
crime, particularly homicides, merits acknowledgement and solutions, 
perhaps by tackling those social conditions--a pervasive drug trade, 
the flurry of guns, and poverty--that are fueling that rise.
  As steadfast allies of the Caribbean, we friends of the Caribbean in 
this House should stay abreast of all developments out of the region, 
with a ready hand, an open heart, and an attentive ear.

Looking to 2008 for Improved Economic and Social Conditions, Caribbean 
          Region Expects To Consolidate Gains of Recent Years

       The World Bank has warned of a slowdown in economic growth 
     in the Caribbean while the United Nations considers it the 
     Year of the Potato at a time when food prices throughout the 
     region, indeed, the world have gone through the roof.
       By the middle of the first month of the year, Barbadians 
     would have selected a political party to run the country for 
     the next

[[Page E448]]

     five years while Grenada's electorate would have a chance 
     sometime soon to decide who should govern the Spice Isle.
       What else can we expect in the year 2008?
       Except for energy rich Trinidad and Tobago, the economic 
     picture of the region isn't expected to robust. Whether in 
     Jamaica, the Bahamas, Grenada, St. Kitts-Nevis, Barbados, St. 
     Lucia, Haiti, or the Dominican Republic the forecast calls 
     for expansion that would hardly cause elation, less than four 
     per cent. With energy and food prices seemingly spiraling 
     often out of control, inching towards record highs, the 
     various countries may have to consolidate economic gains of 
     prior years, instead of reaching for the stars.
       The next 12 months should see rising inflation as consumers 
     throughout the English, French, Spanish and Dutch-speaking 
     nations and territories are forced to dig deeper into their 
     pockets for meat, cereals, rice and other essential items as 
     global demand outstrips supply. As importing countries, 
     Caribbean states, like the rest of the developing world are 
     feeling and will continue to feel the full brunt of the 
     impact of rising prices as they have to spend more, much more 
     to buy the same amount of essential supplies they paid for in 
     2006.
       The problem isn't difficult to spot.
       While food accounts for only about one-tenth of the 
     consumer price index in the United States, Canada and Europe 
     and prices are expected to rise at about five per cent in 
     2008, the poor nations, the Caribbean among them, food 
     accounts for almost 50 per cent or more of the consumer price 
     index. In Nigeria and Bangladesh it's about two-thirds. 
     That's why the big battle governments and central bankers in 
     the Caribbean are expected to fight in 2008 as prices 
     continue to rise is going to be limiting wage increases, thus 
     creating continuing inflation. Don't be caught off guard, 
     then, if central banks tighten the money supply.
       But food and energy prices aren't the only economic worries 
     in the Caribbean.
       Coming on the heels of signing the controversial economic 
     partnership agreement with the European Union, Caricom states 
     and the Dominican Republic are entering a new relationship 
     with Europe, one which is putting the final nails in the 
     coffin of preferential trade. First it was the special 
     arrangement for bananas produced in the Caribbean, Africa and 
     the Pacific. Then it was sugar's special price being phased 
     out. Now, they must perform in a different trade and 
     investment climate that would force the nations to open up 
     their markets to more European goods. Admittedly, they will 
     have a grace period in which to do so, depending on the 
     commodity and the product.
       And that's happening at a time when Caricom is moving ahead 
     with its efforts to strengthen the Caribbean Single Market 
     and Economy, CSME. Having officially launched the Single 
     Market, the ``economy'' portion of the integration effort may 
     prove to be the biggest challenge as countries seek ways to 
     finance their continued development through taxes and other 
     measures on intra-regional trade. That's where plans for the 
     Caribbean Development Fund come in this year. With an 
     anticipated pot of more than $200 million that would be 
     earmarked to finance economic and social expansion in the 
     less developed states, the members of the Organization of 
     Eastern Caribbean States in particular see the Fund as a 
     carrot that would encourage them to commit fully to the 
     CSME.
       Make no mistake about it. The CSME is vital to the region's 
     future. Without it, the small states would virtually be 
     ignored as players in global trade negotiations. They would 
     be treated as Lilliputians which would have to take the 
     crumbs that the large and medium size economies allow to fall 
     from their tables. That's why this year is going to be 
     crucial for Caricom as it seeks to take the CSME to a higher 
     level.
       That's not all.
       Mushrooming crime rates, especially homicides, are a cause 
     for alarm, not simply in Jamaica which has one of the world's 
     highest murder rates per head of population, but in Trinidad 
     and Tobago and the Bahamas where hundreds of people lost 
     their lives at the hands of murderers in 2007. Barbados too 
     is beginning to worry and 2008 may prove to be decisive, 
     meaning if it can't keep a lid on lawlessness and killings. 
     Just the other day, a highly respected retired senior civil 
     servant, Kenrick Hutson, was shot dead at his home while 
     sitting on the terrace, within earshot of his wife and 
     daughter.
       The danger for the Caribbean is that unless the various 
     destinations get a grip on crime, it could spill over into 
     the lucrative tourism industry. The countries have become 
     increasingly dependent on visitors coming to the region in 
     search of tranquility and if they are made to feel unsafe, 
     they simply would find a safe haven elsewhere for their 
     vacations. Just as important, or even more so, is the impact 
     of crime on the local populations. Far too many nationals of 
     Caribbean states are becoming victims of crime perpetrated by 
     their neighbors or those who live not too far away. Security 
     forces, such as the police, need better training, more 
     sophisticated equipment and eager cooperation from the 
     public.
       Fueled by a combination of the drug trade, a flood of guns, 
     poverty and criminal deportees from the U.S., Britain, Canada 
     and other countries, crime can and does adversely affect the 
     quality of people's lives, heighten fear and force 
     governments to divert resources from much needed social 
     services into law enforcement. So, instead of spending on 
     education, health care and programs for the youth and the 
     elderly, governments would find that in 2008 they have to 
     hire more police officers, prosecutors and prison staff.
       If there is a consolation in this unsettling picture, it is 
     that the Caribbean is not among the worst regions of the 
     world. The Middle East and various parts of Asia are starting 
     the New Year with crises that make many of us shudder, 
     wondering what the world is coming to after the awful events 
     of 9/11.
       Apart from the atrocious conditions in Iraq, Lebanon, Sri 
     Lanka, Darfur, the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia and 
     Zimbabwe, Pakistan ended the old year and welcomed 2008 with 
     blood on its hands. This nuclear nation bade farewell to 2007 
     in a tragic fashion, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, a 
     former Prime Minister, an appalling act that triggered 
     rioting that led to the deaths of at least 50 people.
       Bhutto, a member of one of Pakistan's wealthiest and most 
     powerful families, recently returned to her birthplace after 
     spending eight years in exile in London and the United Arab 
     Emirates to avoid prosecution on corruption charges. She was 
     immediately greeted with a horrendous suicide attack on her 
     entourage that killed more than 150 people.
       The former Prime Minister went back home after reaching an 
     agreement with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who 
     until recently was also head of the Army. It allowed her to 
     participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections and 
     hopefully share power with the newly re-elected President. It 
     was a dangerous mission from the start. She was seen by anti-
     American extremists as a tool of the United States, and 
     therefore an enemy of Muslim radicals. In addition, President 
     Musharraf, who had previously toppled the government of Nawaz 
     Shariff in order to take control of the country, has shown 
     himself to be a person whose word isn't worth the paper it is 
     written on. He went back on most of the promises he made to 
     Bhutto, thus setting the stage for the mistrust and the 
     instability which culminated in her death at the hands of a 
     young man who blew himself up after firing shots at her. She 
     was destined to play a powerful role in her country once 
     again but that was not to be.
       An international independent investigation into her killing 
     must be undertaken to bring the perpetrators of her 
     assassination to the bar of justice. Without such an inquiry 
     the Musharraf administration would remain under suspicion as 
     a brutal and murderous co-conspirator.
       Bhutto's sad end in Pakistan is a sharp reminder to all of 
     us how dangerous some places in the world have become and it 
     tells a story of the Caribbean's good fortune in being a 
     politically stable region where governments are far more 
     interested in upgrading people's daily lives than possessing 
     the bomb and remaining in office at all cost.
       Our hearts go out to those Ms. Bhutto has left behind, 
     especially her children.
       We didn't believe she was the answer for what ails 
     Pakistan. During her years at the helm, Pakistan was a 
     politically divided country where well connected politicians 
     and families lived off the fat of the land, like feudal 
     overlords while more than 40 million people lived in abject 
     poverty.
       Another thing. U.S. policy in the Indian sub-continent is 
     now in shambles. The Bush administration unwisely encouraged 
     Bhutto to go back to Pakistan, knowing that her family's 
     enemies in and out of the army and the radical community 
     wouldn't rest until they had done her harm. Unfortunately, 
     they succeeded.
       The Bush White House embraced Musharraf, whose dictatorial 
     tendencies are well known. His lack of respect for the 
     independence of the judiciary and the press should have made 
     him a pariah in Washington's eyes. But the Republicans looked 
     the other way because of its ``war on terrorism.''
       Washington's contradictory policies are evident in its warm 
     relations with Musharraf and its disdain for Venezuela's 
     leader Hugo Chavez. Although the Latin American President was 
     voted into office by wide margins in free and fair 
     elections, the U.S. labeled him a dictator and joined 
     forces with his enemies to try to discredit him.
       Perhaps, 2008, President Bush's final year in office may 
     bring some meaningful and positive changes in his foreign and 
     economic policy.
       An important change would be its stance on the issue of 
     Antigua, Internet gambling and the World Trade Organization. 
     The WTO's recent decision to give Antigua the greenlight to 
     secure compensation following the U.S. high-handed attack on 
     a legitimate business that once employed thousands of 
     Antiguans was probably not what the government in St. John's 
     wanted. But it is a step in the right direction.
       The Baldwin Spencer government should be applauded for its 
     tenacity and its ability to remind Washington that the law of 
     the jungle, might is right, can backfire. The U.S. acted to 
     outlaw Internet gaming in Antigua and other countries while 
     allowing gambling at home, in the form of lotteries, off-
     track betting on horse races and in casinos in Las Vegas, 
     Atlantic City and other parts of the U.S.
       We trust that the U.S. abide by the WTO ruling and make 
     2008 the year when it ended its unworthy battles against a 
     tiny neighbor which wants nothing more than to boost its 
     economy and improve living the conditions of its people.

[[Page E449]]

       This year should also see New York playing the role of host 
     to Caribbean Presidents and Prime Ministers who are due in 
     the City in June to meet with business and political leaders 
     and the large Caribbean immigrant community.
       U.S. Congressman Charles Rangel, Chairman of the powerful 
     Ways and Means Committee of the House of Representatives, who 
     is perhaps the region's best friend on Capitol Hill is 
     expected to do his part in making the meetings a success.
       They are to be a follow-up to last year's Caribbean 
     conference in Washington which culminated with sessions with 
     Mr. Rangel and other members of his Committee, the Black 
     Caucus and President George Bush.
       Clearly, then, 2008 promises to be a year of action.

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