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Secretary General, Irwin La Rocque
Secretary General, Irwin La Rocque
Alicia Nicholls – Caribbean Trade Law and Development blog

A few days ago I had the pleasure of being on the Regional Integration panel at the 17th Annual SALISES Conference held this year in Barbados where I presented a paper co-authored with founder and president of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Young Professionals Network (ACP YPN), Miss Yentyl Williams. The consensus all the panelists had reached in our papers was that as small fish in a very large pond, Caribbean countries are facing a growing swell of global trade and other socio-economic tides which are deepening our marginalisation in the global economy.

We argued that the region desperately needed to deepen and widen its integration process or face being further relegated to the back of the global shoal. Of course, what we were saying was not novel and indeed, has been one of the oldest and most compelling justifications for the regional integration project.

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169 responses to “Caribbean Countries Should Integrate or be Left Behind”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    Thanks Alicia, a depressing though realistic account of the current state of play in the Caribbean.

  2. caribbeantradelaw Avatar
    caribbeantradelaw

    Thanks, David! I guess you also saw Moody’s downgrade of Barbados’ credit rating.

  3. David Avatar
    David

    @Alicia

    Yes read it. In your view how does it impact on our fragile state? What further decisions are to be made given the dull forecast by Moddy’s?.

  4. Jeff Cumberbatch Avatar
    Jeff Cumberbatch

    “The time for talking is over. It is time for action”.

    Alicia, did the Ramphal Committee not say this exact thing nearly a quarter of a century ago? Congrats to you and t your coauthor on an engaging analysis.

  5. Jeff Cumberbatch Avatar
    Jeff Cumberbatch

    *to

  6. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    How will anyone be able to convince the Caribbean leaders that they must find the will, start looking outward as opposed to inward, do something as opposed to nothing.

    The bigger countries been telling them for years, they refuse to listen….who will they listen to in 2016.

  7. David Avatar
    David

    When BU learned that the PM of Antigua was appointed to head the Caricom sub committee to engage on the Correspondent de-risking issue challenging the region that is when we through our hats in the air.

  8. caribbeantradelaw Avatar
    caribbeantradelaw

    @David, sovereign credit ratings downgrades like these may make it more difficult for the country to borrow on international capital markets due to the increased riskiness of their debt. It also affects domestic and foreign investor confidence. Already we have seen the private sector expressing some skepticism over the conflicting data on the country’s economic position.

  9. David Avatar
    David

    @Alicia

    Is it not true Barbados has been successful in attracting concessionary finding from China for example? Therefore the downgrade is less of an issue for all practical purposes?

  10. caribbeantradelaw Avatar
    caribbeantradelaw

    @Mr Cumberbatch, thank you sincerely! ๐Ÿ™‚ Indeed, the Ramphal Commission did and it is truly heartbreaking, if not downright frustrating, that years later we are still saying the same thing. Many of the recommendations in the Ramphal Commission Report “A time for Action” published way back in 1992 have still not been acted upon.

  11. David Avatar
    David

    And who should we hold accountable for not acting on the Ramphal report?

  12. caribbeantradelaw Avatar
    caribbeantradelaw

    @David, true but for how long will this concessional financing last? China is currently experiencing its own slow down.

  13. caribbeantradelaw Avatar
    caribbeantradelaw

    @David, Caribbean leaders are afraid to “cede sovereignty”, hence the emphasis on intergovernmentalism as opposed to supranationalism. If we continue to see integration as cession of sovereignty as opposed to pooling of what little sovereignty we have, then we will be stuck in this holding pattern. The late Professor, Norman Girvan, may he rest in peace, always stressed this.

  14. MoneyBrain Avatar
    MoneyBrain

    In theory we should integrate BUT in practice it will never work. The point is lucid, every little island has so called leaders that want to control their lil space.

    Bim should jump into bed with a large entity like Canada. Bim should enter a symbiotic relationship as a remora to a shark. The human leaders in Bim would not like such an easy and obvious solution for the betterment of the people. Does it work for the people in Martinique? Does PR have better infrastructure?

  15. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Shiite !!….NOT AGAIN…!!
    Yuh mean Bushie has to rev up the damn whacker on EVERY topic?
    Wunna have any idea how much it cost in gas? ….and nylon…?

    Look, this idea that the ‘integration’ of the various Caribbean territories could somehow place us in a better position to respond to the current global challenges is not only OLD and DATED. …but it is also simplistic …and just plain WRONG.

    Unless we properly understand the BASIC problems that cause the stagnation, it is really silly to be jumping to these illogical ‘solutions’ which, (like CSME did for us) just exacerbates the already DIRE situation.

    How the hell would being BIGGER be of any assistance …when there are MULTIPLE countries that are already MUCH BIGGER that we could EVER BE…that are also in duck’s guts?

    How is being BIGGER – and having to accommodate the cultural, social, economic, historical and other differences of multiple more DIFFERENT people, going to improve our efficiencies?

    This “integrating thing” is easy game for meaningless panel discussions ..where glib cliches win the day, but ON THE GROUND, …it is just a lotta shiite…
    What problem does it solve?

    Steupsss
    …fortunately, BBE provides the gas and nylon….and the whacker is outfitted with special ABS systems…. so if wunna got the weeds, bushie got the time…

  16. TheGazer Avatar
    TheGazer

    I was going to comment earlier, but I felt my contribution was so negative that it would best to keep my mouth shut. I see that others share a similar opinion to my own.

    As we move further from colonial times, our leaders will realize that they are “answerable to none”. These ‘demi-gods” will see any form of Caribbean unity as a threat to their self interest and power. For the longest time, I have felt that all of these islands are traveling toward a black hole. The countries with minerals may prolong the time towards self-destruction, but unless there is a radical change of direction, their societal collapse is inevitable.

    If we could not get it done when giants like Barrow, Adams, and Williams trod the land, how will we get it done with a bunch of Lilliputians? We are past our zenith and are spiraling towards our doom/.

    For Barbados “lawyers in the news” and “Naked Departure” and the various postings all point to the fact that systems such as family, police, teachers, and the courts have started to rot. Perhaps we lack the strength and the will to weed out the rotten parts and become ourselves “again”.

    It is heartening to see the Jeffs, Davids, Caswells, PURDYRs, CTLs, Afra Raymonds, WW&Cs (to name a few) all trying to save these sinking ships; having the belief that the can perform this Herculean feateat. Eventually they will realize that it is a Sisyphean task. As someone pointed they are rolling the same rock as Sridath Ramphal (I did not even google his first name). Realization has already set in for a few.

  17. TheGazer Avatar
    TheGazer

    *they can perform this Herculean feat

  18. ac Avatar
    ac

    Now Bush shit Now that u have once again expressed your boisterous and cantankerous well structured annoyances of criticism to integration
    Please tell the BU classroom in what way or ways you can offer any alternatives to solving the socio and economic malaise that are a hindrance and which stagnates and depletes the goals of positive movement towards the small islands nations in a fast paced and ever changing world of globalization

  19. MoneyBrain Avatar
    MoneyBrain

    Bushie are U saying that piling ever larger scoops of excrement on top of excrement does not make it gold? LOL I wid U pun dis!

    For integration to work we will require some superior technological apparatus that detects and destroys the power hungry, corrupt bastards that infest this world and our islands in particular. Who gin develop dat??????????

  20. David Avatar
    David

    @Bush tea

    Do you agree the world has divvied itself into trading blocs and common agreement spaces? If yes where does it leave us (Caricom).

  21. ac Avatar
    ac

    i agree it is time to rethink and all nations to get back to the originality and purpose of integration and reconsider the alternatives. Obama did it with Cuba after fifty years of repetition the same political rhetoric Obama set out on a different path with words to the effect which stated after fifty years of doing the same thing and getting it wrong it is time to try something different Maybe it is time small island nations take a critical view of what they are doing wrong and get on a path of doing what is best for their nations survival

  22. David Avatar
    David

    A very distant related point but,,,

    TnT PATRIOTS <tt.patriot@yahoo.com>

    01:24 (5 minutes ago)

    HOT HOT HOT !!!  Who are the local and Caribbean people in this? read the EXPRESS for that (they had a teaser in today’s edition) or try to wade throught thousands of pages of the report, see below for links.

    Key findings: The Panama Papers by the numbers

    By The International Consortium of Investigative JournalistsApr 3, 2016

    The largest cross-border journalism collaboration ever has uncovered a giant leak of documents from Mossack Fonseca, a global law firm based in Panama.

    The secret files:

    • Include 11.5 million records, dating back nearly 40 years โ€“ making it the largest leak in offshore history. Contains details on more than 214,000 offshore entities connected to people in more than 200 countries and territories. Company owners in billionaires, sports stars, drug smugglers and fraudsters.
    • Reveal the offshore holdings 140 politicians and public officials around the world โ€“ including 12 current and former world leaders. Among them: the prime ministers of Iceland and Pakistan, the president of Ukraine, and the king of Saudi Arabia.
    • Document some $2 billion in transactions secretly shuffled through banks and shadow companies by associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
    • Include the names of at least 33 people and companies blacklisted by the U.S. government because of evidence that theyโ€™d been involved in wrongdoing, such as doing business with Mexican drug lords, terrorist organizations like Hezbollah or rogue nations like North Korea and Iran.
    • Show how major banks have driven the creation of hard-to-trace companies in offshore havens. More than 500 banks their subsidiaries and their branches โ€“ including HSBC, UBS and Sociรฉtรฉ Gรฉnรฉrale โ€“ created more than 15,000 offshore companies for their customers through Mossack Fonseca.

    Explore the data for more of the key numbers from the Panama Papers files, or read more about this project.

    Key findings: The Panama Papers by the numbers

    Key findings: The Panama Papers by the numbers

    The largest cross-border journalism collaboration ever has uncovered a giant leak of documents from Mossack Fons…

    OFFSHORE LINKS OF MORE THAN 140 POLITICIANS AND OFFICIALS EXPOSED

    By The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists

    April 3, 2016, 2:00 pm

    A new investigation published today by ICIJ, the German newspaper Sรผddeutsche Zeitung and more than 100 other news organizations around the globe, reveals the offshore links of some of the planetโ€™s most prominent people.

    In terms of size, the Panama Papers is likely the biggest leak of inside information in history โ€“ more than 11.5 million documents โ€“ and it is equally likely to be one of the most explosive in the nature of its revelations.

    The leak exposes the offshore holdings of 12 current and former world leaders and reveals how associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin secretly shuffled as much as $2 billion through banks and shadow companies.

    The files contain new details about major scandals ranging from Englandโ€™s most infamous gold heist, an unfolding political money laundering affair in Brazil and bribery allegations convulsing FIFA, the body that rules international soccer.

    They also provide details of the hidden financial dealings of 128 other politicians and public officials around the world and show how a global industry of law firms and big banks sells financial secrecy to fraudsters and drug traffickers as well as billionaires, celebrities and sports stars.

    The Panama Papers expose offshore companies controlled by the prime ministers of Iceland and Pakistan, the king of Saudi Arabia and the children of the president of Azerbaijan. They also include the names of at least 33 people and companies blacklisted by the U.S. government because of evidence that theyโ€™ve done business with Mexican drug lords, terrorist organizations like Hezbollah or rogue nations, including North Korea and Iran.

    The leaked data covers nearly 40 years, from the late 1970s through the end of 2015. It allows a never-before-seen view inside the offshore world โ€“ providing a day-to-day, decade-by-decade look at how dark money flows through the global financial system, breeding crime and stripping national treasuries of tax revenues.

    The leaked records โ€“ which were reviewed by a team of more than 370 journalists from nearly 80 countries โ€“ come from a little-known but powerful law firm based in Panama, Mossack Fonseca, that has branches in London, Beijing, Miami, Zurich and more than 35 other places around the globe. 

    The firm is one of the worldโ€™s top creators of shell companies, corporate structures that can be used to hide ownership of assets. The law firmโ€™s leaked internal files contain information on 214,000 offshore companies connected to people in 200 countries and territories.

    The data include emails, financial spreadsheets, passports and corporate records revealing the secret owners of bank accounts and companies in 21 offshore jurisdictions, from Nevada to Hong Kong to the British Virgin Islands.

    It is the largest cross-border media collaboration ever undertaken. Journalists working in more than 25 languages dug into Mossack Fonsecaโ€™s inner affairs and traced the secret dealings of the law firmโ€™s customers around the world. They shared information and hunted down leads generated by the leaked files using corporate filings, property records, financial disclosures, court documents and interviews with money laudering experts and law-enforcement officials.

    Most of the services the offshore industry provides can be used for legal purpose and are by law-abiding customers. But the documents show that banks, law firms and other offshore players often fail to follow legal requirements to make sure clients are not involved in criminal enterprises, tax dodging or political corruption. The files show that these fixers and middlemen protect themselves and their clients by concealing suspect transactions. In some instances, they work to head off official investigations by backdating and destroying documents.

    The Panama Papers make it clear that major banks are big drivers behind the creation of hard-to-trace companies in the British Virgin Islands, Panama and other offshore havens. The files list more than 15,600 paper companies that banks set up for clients who wanted to keep their finances under wraps, including hundreds created by international giants UBS and HSBC.

    The disclosures from the law firmโ€™s leaked files dramatically expand on previous leaks of offshore records that ICIJ and its reporting partners have revealed in the past four years.

    Offshore links of more than 140 politicians and officials exposed

    Offshore links of more than 140 politicians and officials exposed

    A new ICIJ investigation based on a trove of more than 11 million files reveals the offshore links of some of th…

    FULL DETAILS here:

    The Panama Papers

    The Panama Papers

    Politicians, Criminals and the Rogue Industry That Hides Their Cash

    ————————-

    POLICE RAPID RESPONSE – call 911 or 999 

    * Protect Our Children – REPORT CHILD ABUSE!

    CHILDLINE 800-4321 Children’s Authority 800-2014

    NATIONAL FAMILY SERVICES DIVISION 627-1163

    VICTIM AND WITNESS SUPPORT UNIT 624-8853

    CHILD GUIDANCE CLINIC 726-1324



    โ€œGive me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.โ€

    โ€• John Milton

  23. ac Avatar
    ac

    OSA when asked why he thinks that Caricom has stagnated

    Asking why has CARICOM stagnated? He saidโ€ฆโ€ the answer lies in small minds that rule CARICOM territories. While large Poland and big Hungary want to integrate, tiny islands are ruled by men that want to be a countryโ€™s leader. They want to be known as the Prime Minister. While the world moves on and countries search for modernization, small leaders in the Caribbean are happy to be the Prime Minister of a fowl penโ€.

  24. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ AC
    Sweetheart, if you really want some advice to pass on to your stumped friends in the DLP feel free to ask…. wunna may not like the answer, …but Bushie is willing to give them…

    @ Money Brain
    No surprise that you full of blenzers…. you got sense.
    For some unknown reason, poor people don’t EVER seem to get it… that there is a simple reason why they are poor…. and it mostly has to do with them doing shiite on top of shiite… …and somehow SERIOUSLY expecting some thing ‘sweet’ to eventually be the outcome…

    If you take 14 backwards, bribe taking, banana republics ..led by a collection of mindless brass bowls such as Froon and Mia…what the hell would you expect as an outcome…? that they would suddenly become Obama like?
    Wunna ever heard of George Bush? …that is a FAR more likely outcome…

    @ David
    The world is divided into blocks because the ‘blockheaded idiocy’ that continues to think that the 18th century maxim …. ‘Unity is Strength’ still applies…

    IT DOSN’T…. in those days people fought with swords… after they killed of one another, those ‘left over’ were winners… nowadays there is no limit on killing power…

    ‘Unity’ only converts 16 little targets into one, bigger, juicier target…

    Take the people that just captured BHL and kicked out the Bajan shiite leaders to install foreigners…. Do you think they would be any less effective if ALL the regional beer people were united? …..or would the takeover have been even more attractive…?

    The solution to rabbits surviving in a jungle full of lions is NOT for all the brass bowl rabbits to assemble in one place ..under a common brass bowl female rabbit ..and make hunting easier for the lions….
    It is for the brass bowl rabbits to grow some FANGS, some BALLS …and most importantly, some COMMON SENSE…

    Even the much vaunted EU model has imploded …after the short-term trade bullying benefits that they managed to achieve have been exploited…..and the migrant catastrophe is the final nail in its coffin…

    Why the hell in 2016 would we look at such a failed approach?

    Time to face up to REALITY skippa….
    Either we grow some BALLS, CLAWS and COMMON SENSE …using creativity, innovation, and our BEST NATIONAL TALENTS ….and then doggedly, productively and efficiently use these to carve out a niche for ourselves…. or we can start selecting our final “resting places” as cheap labour for predators such as FLOW. EMERA, MASSY, FIRST CARIBBEAN and the new owners of our damn beer…

  25. David Avatar
    David

    @Bush Tea

    Your view is well known and although drastic gives reason for pause. BU remains concerned about the lack of regional harmonization on things like one airspace, one foreign policy, one governance framework for managing pan Caribbean companies among a few others.

  26. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ David
    BU remains concerned bout the lack of regional harmonization about things like one airspace, one foreign policy, one governance framework for managing pan Caribbean companies among a few others.
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    Are you not equally concerned about the lack of world peace, the fact that crime continues to wreck lives ….and that ac continues to plague BU…?

    IT IS HOW LIFE IS…
    The challenge is to DEAL WITH THE SHIITE…. not hope for it to go away…

    Caribbean fragmentation is just like crime … it will remain with us…
    The shiite governance framework however (like ac) can be addressed…. starting with ours…which can then become a model for others to adopt instead of following the damn materialistic albino models….
    We CAN focus on merit and performance instead of mendicancy and nepotism…

    ….if only the damn man Caswell would BUP ….or if Jeff would ORDER him to do it…. ๐Ÿ™‚

  27. ac Avatar
    ac

    bush tea

    Even the much vaunted EU model has imploded โ€ฆafter the short-term trade bullying benefits that they managed to achieve have been exploitedโ€ฆ..and the migrant catastrophe is the final nail in its coffinโ€ฆ

    /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    there you go again mouthing conservative rhetoric without analyzing the full picture and to what extents some of the external problems are attributing to the challenges that are confronting the EU which for the most part cannot not be avoid if the nations collectively are bind by unilateral agreements

  28. ac Avatar
    ac

    Godd nite bush shite u are a fart hole i have said it before and i say it again

  29. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Good night to you too ac sweetheart….sleep tight
    (should be easy with the man gone to Arizona….)

  30. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Breaking news!!!

    http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/549c1e96-f9e7-11e5-8f41-df5bda8beb40.html#axzz44p86GyPW

  31. Colonel Buggy Avatar
    Colonel Buggy

    In 1958 we were a long way off from integration, as 1962 proved. And currently ,54 years later, we are still bragging about who has the best passport in Caricom/English Speaking Caribbean.

  32. Sunshine Sunny Shine Avatar
    Sunshine Sunny Shine

    My friend Bush Tea

    What can a divided Caribbean do that they are currently not doing, compared to what ‘a united Caribbean’ can do base on what they should stop being afraid of doing and simply engage it? Would it not be time well spent not pursuing a cause for unifying the various economies of scales across the Eastern Caribbean as oppose to objecting to an amalgamated Caribbean seeking to stave the effects of globalization on their single markets and island state economies? Doesn’t the factors for an amalgamation provide the greatest incentive for a united Caribbean to have some semblance of economic strength and bargaining power more so than the efforts of each individual developing state (IDS) seeking to effect a factor of – to each’ s own? I am always impressed with your analytical ability, even though what you have written sheds a perspective that is deserving of some debate. However, the Caribbean is placed in a predicament for survival. The insularity remains strong and intact and the bias, that is obvious in trade, remains against certain islands like Barbados from having their goods featured prominently in some islands like how some islands have theirs featured prominently in ours. There must be some validity in a unified caused no matter the obstacles or the perceived confrontations. Because at the end of the day, Bus Tea, the cost of doing nothing will be far greater than the cost of doing something. It is a price to pay all round and, one, that we must be willing to bite the bullet and deal with the wounds as they come. If this is not viable alternative than what is?

  33. Vincent Haynes Avatar
    Vincent Haynes

    The Caribbean community has to be allowed to follow it present downward trajectory and collapse big time……only when such happens will leaders emerge…..the rebuilding process will take some time and will involve pulling together,hopefully a focussed Carbbean entity will emerge.

  34. David Avatar
    David

    The following article outlines the challenge for our region as far as regional integration is concerned.

    รขย€ยœwhere national law does not conform with the parameters laid down by Community law, it will be the latter that ultimately must prevail.

    Until we are brought to a fuller understanding and appreciation of how the national interest resides in the regional interest, the idea that Caricom law should prevail over national law will be a hard pill to swallow especially among those accustomed to wielding unfettered power.”

    http://www.trinidadexpress.com/20160403/editorial/a-champion-challenge

  35. Sunshine Sunny Shine Avatar
    Sunshine Sunny Shine

    Vincent Haynes

    Why is it that the only way for Caribbean leaders and its people to see the light is when it hit rock bottom’? What use is education if all it does is make you become covetous and haughty.

  36. balance Avatar
    balance

    Like Mr William Demas I am an unrepentant believer in full Caribbean integration. We fail to unite at our own peril. One day coming soon our two by three so called nations would simply be swallowed up or bypassed by global events dictated by size and what one has to offer. Embarrassing slogans masquerading as national anthems simply wouldn’t cut it.

  37. ac Avatar
    ac

    the problem lies with visionless and ego maniacal leaders who (and) to quote OSA rather be PM of fowl pens that be pioneers of a secured national interest
    Most of them like Bush shite rationalize the national interest under a blinded view of isolationism
    When one reads of the reasons those who avoid the course of integration there is an obvious theme of resentment jealousies and self interest that keeps integration from becoming a reality

  38. David Avatar
    David

    Alicia you mentioned the name of the late Norman Girvan last evening. Not sure if you recalled around 2009/10 he was very vocal in his criticism of the late David Thompson for what he perceived as not doing enough to move the CSME/Caricom project forward. He was supported by UWI lecturer Tennyson Joseph. In fact the criticism forced minister Chris Sinckler who was responsible for Foreign Affairs at the time to publicly respond. It probably had to to do with high expectations set by OSA. Greater than 5 years later with the chair of Caricom rotated to other countries we are not closer to forging an effective integration movement although the HOGS share a different view.

    Let us be cold in our analysis be the pragmatist and not the ideologue – it is clear that Bahamas, Jamaica, T&T (to a lesser degree) and a few others have no great appetite for surrendering significant parts of their sovereignty. For a functional common market to work a few key pillars have to be established as far as how we deal with freedom of movement and mobility of labour, settlement of financial transaction, regional travel, harmonization on governance issues to name a few. We need to perform a status check of where we are.

  39. David Avatar
    David

    Correspondent Banking concerns raised in IMFโ€™s Staff Report on Belize

    by caribbeantradelaw

    Alicia Nicholls Though noting that the termination of major correspondent banking relationships with Belizean banks has so far had a limited impact on that country’s financial system and economic activity, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest staff report on Belize pursuant to its Article IV consultations agreed that the "recent termination of corresponding [โ€ฆ]

    Read more of this post

  40. Ping Pong Avatar
    Ping Pong

    It is early day’s yet but…Barbados does not yet appear as a tax haven in the analysis of the Mossack Fonseca papers. This may be good news in that we can hold out to the world that Barbados is not party to the global corruption of tax evasion and money laundering. However the bad news is that the release of these papers may herald or justify a crackdown (if not a closing down ) of the offshore business sector globally. When the next shoe drops (i.e. the election of Hilary Clinton) the Caribbean will be in serious trouble.

  41. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    AC…..as pretty as it all sounds, are you telling all of that to Fruendel, telling us will not move mountains, we already know, tell it to Prime Minister Fruendel Stuart, he is at the helm, as a matter of fact, is he not also the chair at Caricom and all that they SHOULD be doing.

  42. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ SSS
    What can a divided Caribbean do that they are currently not doing
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
    Good morning Mi’ lady…
    As usual you get to the point of the matter…

    What the Caribbean NEEDS to do that they are currently not doing has NOTHING to do with togetherness. It has EVERYTHING to do with curbing brass bowlery….. and you MUST surely see that it is much easier to deal with brass bowlery as individuals, then as families, then as communities, then as countries and finally as a Caribbean region.

    Not to worry, Bushie WILL lose this argument…. there are STRONG GLOBAL forces working assiduously towards a single-world-government as we speak – with the expectation that this will solve all our global problems too…
    They are even more wrong than Alicia is…. but we will all only realise that after they succeed with their one-world-government….

    The CORRECT approach is for change to move from bottom to top…
    ..from Individuals, to families, to communities …all the way to the global family.

    Bushie has already identified the Co-operative philosophy as THE SINGLE best political system currently in existence ANYWHERE. Cooperatives are about the COLLECTIVE good. They are about RESPECT for individuals, about sacrifice, about pooling resources, about volunteerism, about DOING THE RIGHT THINGS.
    Cooperatives have outstanding AND PROVEN systems of governance that WORKS… even in brassbados – and this can be seen by ANYONE…

    Cooperatives then come together to form umbrella bodies that work in more ways for the collective good…

    Unfortunately, even though it is highly used in the ‘developed’ world, it is NOT their naturally preferred approach. It is not ‘materialistic’ enough for their liking… and of course we are guided by what the materialistic albinos identify as ‘success’….

    The Cooperative is an ideal model of how Caribbean unity CAN actually be achieved.
    BUT IT WILL NEVER BE ACHIEVED by creating an umbrella body first …that then seeks to force behaviours down on other countries, communities, families and individuals…

    Common sense therefore tells us that our present LIMITED resources should NOT we wasted chasing the damn wind…. but in building proper foundations…..
    Bushie knows that you will get this…. unlike many others ๐Ÿ™‚

  43. ac Avatar
    ac

    Now bush shit you have not only opened my ears but my mouth is wide opened wanting to know of this ” Co-operative political system already in existence”
    But then again if what you say is true isnt that the same philosophy that has inspired the calls for integration one which seeks to pool resources collectively as a united front

  44. David Avatar
    David

    @Ping Pong

    You are right to be concerned because this is no laughing matter. To quote what the pundits are saying in response to the revelation – “the records show a pattern of covert manoeuvres by banks,lawyers and companies concealing suspect transactions or manipulated records in ways that facilitated illegality”.

  45. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ ac
    Some advice for you…
    If yuh can’t read…
    Don’t write…

  46. chad99999 Avatar
    chad99999

    Fellow Bajans,
    Please do not believe the bad ideas blasted at you every day by the poorly educated elites who ate responsible for managing our economies.
    All Caribbean economies are tiny. The combined fully “integrated” economy of the entire English-speaking region is still tiny and the difference between the two is insignificant. Throw in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, if you like and it still makes little difference. The benefits from regional trade are just as insignificant and not even easy to measure, but we are constantly told that we can’t live without them, or we’ll be left behind.
    But consider the costs. We taxpayers have to fund the lifestyles of hundreds of diplomats, lawyers and economists who constantly travel first class around region and the world “administering” an endless series of agreements, treaties, and institutions required to keep this project growing. Our new institutions are corrupt and unaccountable: Try “leading” a board of directors with members from 10 different sovereign countries.
    It is all a bad joke.And to cap it all, there is the threat posed to people of the eastern Caribbean, who with free trade and freedom of movement are slowly being outnumbered and overrun by Hindus from Guyana and Trinidad. What will Antigua, Grenada and Barbados be like in a hundred years? All will have prime ministers named Singh, Ramlogan or whatever. And the black man will once more be pushed down.
    Not a pretty prospect.

  47. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    AC…jackass, cooperatives are used very successfully in Canada, and very limited in the US, it works, do you even know what a cooperative is google the damn thing, then sit and think.

  48. Due Diligence Avatar
    Due Diligence

    Ping Pong – David

    Agree

    Panama Papers – Good or Bad for Barbados?

    I have not seen any mention of Barbadosโ€™ financial services (offshore) industry in the media coverage of the Panama Papers.

    The Toronto Star (and no doubt the others in the consortium) will have a week of reporting on this matter.

    The Star http://www.thestar.com says the 21 jurisdictions involved are:

    *British Virgin Islands, Panama, Seychelles, Samoa, Bahamas, British Anguilla, Nevada, Hong Kong, U.K., Belize, Costa Rica, Wyoming, Malta, New Zealand, Cyprus, Niue, Uruguay, Ras Al Khaimah, Singapore, Isle of Man, Jersey.

    The absence of Barbadosโ€™ name from the jurisdictions being investigated has to be a good thing.

    One possible benefit to Barbados could be that companies domiciled in BVI and Panama etc may move their domicile to Barbados to avoid the spotlight. One such company could be Unique Travel Corp., apparently the ultimate parent of Sandals and Beaches.

    http://www.sandals.com/contact/worldwide/

    That light is being shone by media around the world on โ€œthe hidden world of offshore tax havensโ€ may be a bad thing as it will bring pressure on the governments of the rich nations to tighten up their laws and enforcement of existing laws that permit tax avoidance schemes.

    That Barbados seems to be the jurisdiction of choice for Canadian businesses (and individuals) to use for their tax avoidance schemes, the Toronto Star reporting could have serious negative implications.

  49. Well Well & Consequences Avatar
    Well Well & Consequences

    Chad…the black man through greed, insularity, ignorance, pomposity and just like being plain dumb, remember “Barbados is has a very successful business environment, with highly intelligent whites, with blue collar…….”…so the new age dumb black male, who lead majority black countries are the ones putting themselves at risk, once again, to become second class citizens in their own country, endangered species and hunted to be exploited…again…the education and degrees and titles, did not work.

  50. Vincent Haynes Avatar
    Vincent Haynes

    Sunshine Sunny Shine April 4, 2016 at 5:22 AM #

    You have hit the nail on the head…..our downfall on hindsight was sticking to the western capitalist system of education…..which produced what we are seeing now.

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