Mandatarios de la Caricom se reúnen con Obama en Jamaica para tratar agenda energética
El presidente de Estados Unidos, Barack Obama, y los líderes de las naciones que integran la Comunidad del Caribe (Caricom) sostendrán un encuentro en Jamaica cuya agenda se centrará en temas de energía y seguridad.
Fuertes dispositivos de vigilancia y el cierre de varias vías principales en esta capital fueron la antesala de la llegada la víspera del jefe de Estado norteamericano en su primera visita oficial a esta isla.
Las medidas de seguridad permanecen hoy ante la llegada de los mandatarios de Caricom, bloque regional que integran Antigua y Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belice, Dominica, Granada, Guyana, Haití, Jamaica, Monyserrat, Santa Lucía, San Cristóbal y Nevis, San Vicente y las Granadinas, Surinam, y Trinidad y Tobago.
Según el director del Consejo de Seguridad Nacional de Estados Unidos, Ricardo Zúñiga, la reunión será un espacio para discutir sobre temas energéticos y promover la cooperación y el comercio, así como la Ley de Recuperación Económica de la Cuenca del Caribe, la de Asociación Comercial y el Sistema Generalizado de Preferencias.
Las áreas que parecen más rentables son la seguridad, la energía renovable y la competitividad de la región. Esperamos más resultados y concretos, expresó el recién electo primer ministro de San Cristóbal y Nieves, Timothy Harris.
De igual forma, la primera ministra jamaicana, Portia Simpson Miller, recibirá al presidente Obama, con quien discutirá sobre la deuda y la crisis fiscal, adelantó Zúñiga.
La visita de Obama -el último presidente norteamericano que arribó a Jamaica fue Ronald Reagan en 1982- se produce a solo dos jornadas del inicio de la VII Cumbre de las Américas en Panamá.
Este hecho levanta suspicacias entre analistas, quienes entreven la posibilidad de que el presidente busque el apoyo de este mecanismo regional en la cercana cita continental, donde llega con un ambiente adverso.
En marzo Obama firmó un decreto en el cual calificó a Venezuela como una amenaza extraordinaria para Estados Unidos, hecho que provocó el rechazo de gobiernos y movimientos sociales de toda Latinoamérica.
Obama keeps promise to Portia
JAMAICA recorded another chapter in its colourful history last night when the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, set foot on local soil for a working visit during which he will engage in bilateral talks with the Jamaican Government and Caricom leaders today.
Yesterday, a beaming Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, after greeting Obama with her characteristic warm Jamaican welcome hug, told journalists that she had invited him to Jamaica when she first met him a few years ago and he promised that he would come..
According to Simpson Miller, he reminded her of his promise as he greeted her, saying: «See, I promised you and I am here».
Obama is the second sitting US president to have visited Jamaica since Independence, the first being Ronald Reagan in 1982.
At approximately 7:30 pm Air Force One — the US Presidential aircraft — touched down on the tarmac at Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston and approximately five minutes later Obama — the first black man to be elected US president — appeared at the door, waved and started his trek down the stairs to a greeting party of enthusiastic Jamaican and Caricom officials.
Chief of State Protocol Elinor Felix introduced Obama to Governor General Sir Patrick Allen, Prime Minister Simpson Miller, Caricom Chairman and Bahamian Prime Minister Perry Christie, Opposition Leader Andrew Holness, Foreign Affairs Minister AJ Nicholson, Senate President Floyd Morris, House Speaker Michael Peart, Chief Justice Zaila McCalla, Caricom Secretary General Irwin LaRocque, Jamaica’s Ambassador to the United States Stephen Vasciannie, Chief of Defence Staff Major General Antony Anderson, and Police Commissioner Carl Williams.
Minutes later he boarded one the helicopters in the Marine One fleet that transported him to the Jamaica Defence Force headquarters, Up Park Camp, from where he travelled in the presidential limousine, nicknamed The Beast, to his hotel.
Earlier, the tarmac was buzzing with activity as several US Marine Corps helicopters, Secret Service agents and scores of US security personnel, some with sniffer dogs, prepared for the president’s arrival.
At 7:20 pm, Simpson Miller arrived on the tarmac accompanied by other members of the receiving line. The prime minister displayed delight as the aircraft taxied to a stop.
The excitement at having Obama here lasted long after he left the airport as many persons snapped keepsake pictures of themselves with Air Force One in the background.
An indication of the thrill that Jamaicans feel at having Obama visit the island was evident earlier yesterday as curious onlookers watched the police-escorted buses transporting journalists and other personnel to the airport.
At Harbour View, a large crowd, from the very old to the very young, lined the streets, seemingly in the hope of catching a glimpse of the president. But security barriers kept them confined to one area with the Palisadoes stretch completely blocked off.
Motorists seeking to gain access to the airport and its environs had to declare their purpose for entering what had become a sterile area. Coast Guard vessels lined the water on either side of the Palisadoes road.
But even amidst the excitement of Obama’s arrival, journalists would not ignore the opportunity to press Simpson Miller for a response on the road work which was done in preparation for the president’s visit.
Quizzed about the wisdom of spending this money in a time of fiscal constraints Simpson Miller said nothing was wrong with it.
«My response would be, when we have our sisters, mothers, grandmothers, aunts and uncles coming we always clean up our house,» Simpson Miller said, adding that this was no different.
In addition to the bilateral talks, President Obama will host a youth forum at the University of the West Indies and lay a wreath at the Cenotaph in National Heroes Park in honour of the Jamaicans who fought and died in World Wars I and II.
He is scheduled to leave Jamaica this evening for Panama to attend the Seventh Summit of the Americas.
Caricom’s agenda for President Obama
WE have in this space provided an analysis of the likely motivations for the visit of United States President Barack Obama to Jamaica. Today we suggest what should be the tenor of his meeting with Caricom leaders.
First of all, Caricom must be aware that the president is fully briefed and therefore there is no need to waste the short time available to belabour the obvious and the known. Instead, spend the time telling President Obama what we are doing to help ourselves.
We must remember that the US is looking for partners, not mendicants or dependents. Do not bring the begging bowl into the meeting in Kingston. Instead of asking for a handout or debt cancellation, focus on mobilising private investment and converting the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (which does not include services) into a trade agreement similar to the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union.
Secondly, to get on the agenda of the single superpower, Caricom must identify and seek cooperation on points of common interest. We note that energy and security are expected to be on the agenda.
Giving aid for climate change may be a priority for small-island developing states, but it is much more likely to elicit US interest if the question of transnational crime which has ravaged the Caribbean is raised as part of the security discussions in a region considered to be the fourth border of the US. There is much common interest in security issues and the capacity to respond in terms of assets, information and systems.
The energy issue is a natural because of its vital importance to both the US and Caricom and is an area that the US is willing and eager to provide assistance for both commercial and geo-political reasons. This is especially urgent in the event of serious changes in PetroCaribe as Vice-President Biden indicated recently. Do not beg, but accept the forthcoming US offer of help.
Thirdly, the message from the US to Caricom and indeed countries like Greece and Argentina is that Jamaica is doing the right type of economic adjustment programme and others should do likewise. The visit is an endorsement of Jamaica’s economic management and political courage. Call it tough love, but it is regarded as a prerequisite for mobilising financial support.
At the same time, the US must realise that praise and hortatory remarks are not bankable. America needs to roll out a programme of rewards of financial support and debt relief for those sticking to the difficult task as Jamaica has been doing.
Fourthly, a group of small states can render valuable support to a superpower. Caricom has good relations with Cuba and Venezuela and could provide valuable diplomatic assistance on these issues which are likely to dominate the Summit of the Americas in Panama.
The brevity of this space only permits us to offer a broad agenda and a pragmatic approach to the meeting between the US and Caricom. But the visit is itself brief and Caricom leaders should not walk with a long list as there will not be enough time to go through everything.
