Marching Into 2010 With PEP

EXACTLY ONE YEAR AGO, the People's Empowerment Party (PEP) issued a New Year's Message in which we warned Barbadian that 2009 was going to be a very difficult year and urged the powers-that-be to commence a serious campaign to diversify the Barbadian economy beyond the traditional pillars of tourism and so-called "offshore" financial and business services.

We advocated that Barbados should seriously set about to educate its citizens to the highest possible international standards; that Government should encourage and assist Barbadians to forge ahead into a multiplicity of high-skilled/high-creativity economic activities; and that our country should proactively undertake a central role in encouraging and crafting a pan-Caribbean system of production. We noted that at a time when economic structures were collapsing in North America and Europe, it behoved us in the Caribbean to look towards each other and to take control of our own destinies by producing for ourselves.

Our New Year's message also counselled the new Government not to spurn the hand of friendship that had been extended to us by our Latin American comrades, and urged that we "get on board" with Petro-Caribe and the Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America and the Caribbean (ALBA).

One of the most striking passages in last year's message exhorted as follows: "Let us take inspiration from the great athletes of Jamaica, who conquered the entire world in spectacular fashion at the Beijing Olympics. What made Jamaica's achievement at the 2008 Olympics so different from previous games is that instead of sending their athletes to the United States and Europe for training, the Jamaicans established their very own high-performance track and field academies, and used their native intelligence to produce athletes of the very highest international calibre. The lesson is therefore that we possess the ability - all we need is the self-belief and the will to forge ahead."

Well, needless to say, the powers-that-be totally ignored our New Year's advice and exhortations of one year ago. Instead of coming together in Caribbean unity to collectively face the international economic crisis, they did the opposite and instituted an immigration reform exercise that quickly took on negative and backward connotations, and resulted in the unfortunate scapegoating of Caribbean migrants living in Barbados.

The year 2009 therefore turned out to be a very disappointing one. And so, rather than being able to join with and support our Barbados Government in charting new and progressive paths, our party was forced to spend 2009 fighting rearguard battles to minimise the damage being done. However, the PEP remains undaunted and will be forging forward into 2010 with a visionary and progressive agenda.

On the domestic front, we intend to engage in a formidable battle on behalf of all the impoverished and marginalised sectors of our population. We will ensure the burdens of the recession do not fall disproportionately on the backs of the "poor and the powerless", and that principles of humanity and equity are applied to the sharing of resources.

On the regional front, we will be playing a leading role in the staging of an historic Assembly of Caribbean People in Barbados during August, and will be advocating progressive solutions to the Caribbean's problems and seeking to promote and fast-track the idea of a political union of the English-speaking Caribbean.

And on the global front, we intend to push for the establishment of a Pan-African Commonwealth of Nations, and the development of deep linkages and relationships between CARICOM on the one hand and the African Union and ALBA on the other.

Published: December 31, 2009