Global Voices » Bahamas

Bahamas: Bringing Balance to the “Corruption Narrative”

Janine Mendes-Franco — Fri, 18 May 2012 23:07:21 +0000

An interesting read on the Bahamas “Corruption Narrative”, here.

Bahamas: Power of the People

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 10 May 2012 22:32:41 +0000

“It no longer feels like hatred for me when the PLP wins, it no longer feels like time to panic”: A reflection on the country's recent elections, from Womanish Words.

Bahamas: Bloggers Comment on Election Results

Janine Mendes-Franco — Wed, 09 May 2012 15:52:59 +0000

The result of Monday's general elections in the Bahamas has given the country a new government: the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), which previously occupied the opposition bench in Parliament, was voted into power in what bloggers are calling a “landslide” victory. Rick Lowe at Weblog Bahamas gave a quick overview of the results:

Reports are the PLP have won at least 27 of the 38 seats and will form the new government of The Bahamas defeating the governing FNM [Free National Movement].

The upstart DNA [Democratic National Alliance] did not win a seat but might have been the spoilers for a couple of the seats that were expected to be won by the FNM. However, I do not think they caused the FNM to lose.

Congratulations to Mr. Perry Christie and the Progressive Liberal Party.

His gracious congratulations to the winning party came a day after he wrote this post, in which he took issue with the now-Prime Minister Perry Christie's brother “attempt[ing] to defend [the former's] economic record” by quoting the blogger “completely out of context” in his capacity as a fiscal expert:

The point being made at the time, (February 2012), was that even with such high revenue as a result of the world's super charged economy back then, it was egregious for government to be running such huge deficits. It's patently clear this was not defending the governments fiscal or economic policies.

Mr. Christie has every right to defend his perception of his brother's economic track record, but that does not give him the right to distort comments from other people.

One priority of any government should be intellectual honesty so they do not make the same mistakes twice.

On election day itself, Blogworld posted some musings about different factors that would likely have an impact on the outcome:

This is the most fascinating election period that has occurred in a long, long time, and because every prediction out there has to contend with a new, unfamiliar curve ball: the rise of the third party movement.

Note I didn’t say the DNA. That’s because the Democratic National Alliance is just capitalising on something that has changed in the country, something that I believe is going to continue to grow, even if the two-party acolytes succeed in killing the DNA off. It’s the fact that the split between two major parties in The Bahamas has developed almost by default. Its roots are in that most ancient and powerful division in our nation: the centuries-long categorisation of Bahamians of colour as “natives” (white Bahamians were “residents”) whose purpose was to serve their betters—not to lead. The FNM-PLP split, for better or for worse, is buried in this dichotomy, and for decades one could fairly safely assume that PLP supporters tended towards the privileging of black Bahamians, while FNM supporters advocated the One Bahamas movement (by which I mean the recognition that Bahamian and black are not necessarily synonymous). As a result, anyone who has voted in two or more elections should recall that no election season till this one has been allowed to pass without the invocation of race—whether from rally platforms, in letters to the editor, or by reference to the American TV miniseries Roots.

The third party movement has queered that pitch. The 2012 election is historic in any number of ways, but one of the most significant is that I have not noticed any real reference to race in the campaigns…The simple fact is that race is no longer a major issue for most Bahamians. I am not saying that it is no longer relevant in our society; what I am suggesting that it is no longer a primary determinant of one’s ability to succeed in The Bahamas. And because of that, the principles on which both the FNM and the PLP were founded are growing obsolete, and both parties have for some time been losing their ‘base'.

The post continued:

There’s something else that’s important here, and something else that the pundits appear to have overlooked. The greatest obstacle to the ability of a third party to gain traction among Bahamian voters was its ability to get its message out. Until the by-election in Elizabeth in 2010, third parties needed considerable sums of money simply to make their voices heard. The advent of Facebook and Twitter, however, has changed the ground completely…much of what has enabled the green wave to continue to gather has been the presence of third-party candidates on the internet, their activity, their accessibility, and their willingness to engage in dialogue with potential voters. This is quite different from the traditional Voice-of-God politics that the older parties continue to practise.

Because of that, I think this election is too close to call. I believe anything could happen when the results start coming in an hour from now. Anything. A landslide victory for the FNM, say with the 4 x 7 sum of 28 seats? Sure. A landslide victory for the PLP, with the same numbers? Definitely. A split house, with (say) a tie between the FNM and the PLP, with the DNA holding the balance? Possible. A minority or coalition government, with the DNA calling the shots? Even that.

As it turned out, her second prediction was the most accurate. Weblog Bahamas concurred that the election was a “landmark” one, saying:

This particular Election, unlike the 1992 Election, demonstrated a coming of age for the Bahamian people (c.f. 1992, when we embarked on a course of political maturity, having harboured a single political party for far too long, so were mere political adolescents in the process).

What 2012 shows, however, is that the process is complete and we, as a people, are finally mature politically.

The blog, in a post by Edward Hutcheson, also suggested that this was “an historic opportunity for Mr. Perry Christie”:

Mr.Christie is getting a chance that few men get so late in life, and his effective use of this opportunity will require that he takes a few pages out of the political playbook of his outgoing nemesis.

The promises made, the grandiose ‘belief driven campaign', the pastoral crew who have gone on record as wanting to get even with those who have done them wrong, the MP’s who think they have an ordained right to be Cabinet ministers, these and many other demands will require a Percival Gladstone Christie that we may have envisioned but never seen. He can play it safe and let it be business as usual, but to the miss the opportunity of being counted among the number that only Bahamians can number? To be mentioned in the same breath as Pindling and Ingraham will take putting “believing” and ‘putting Bahamians first' into a context where there is no separation between what a leader is saying and what he is prepared to do for all Bahamians.

But there was another outcome of these elections that bloggers have been discussing - the resignation of former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham as leader of the Free National Movement and his announcement that “he will not be sworn in as the member of Parliament for North Abaco and he will not swear in as leader of the opposition”. Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit commented:

Of course, Ingraham has been down and out before - in 2002, when the entire FNM cabinet was wiped out. But this time there will be no return - age and circumstance will see to that…In addition to doing the right thing and resigning as party leader, Ingraham also said he would not take up his North Abaco seat, throwing the FNM into an immediate leadership quandary…

Ironically (and sadly for some), Ingraham's retirement from public life came only one day after he asked the Bahamian people to give him a final chance to complete ‘the work of my lifetime', by re-electing the FNM to a fourth non-consecutive term.

Ingraham's swan song as prime minister was a time of immense progress and much-needed infrastructural investment. But the fall-out from the Great Recession also made it a time of economic stress for average Bahamians, who expressed their discomfort by voting in sufficient numbers against the party in power.

The thumbnail image used in this post, VIP-Bahamas-parliament, is by est _studio_jari, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Creative Commons license. Visit est _studio_jari's flickr photostream.

Bahamas: Election Suggestion

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 03 May 2012 22:36:04 +0000

Two posts from Weblog Bahamas on the country's upcoming elections, here (about a contentious oil drilling issue) and here (which offers a suggestion on what should guide voters come Monday).

Bahamas: Last Thoughts on Elections

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 03 May 2012 08:00:28 +0000

Bahamians go the polls in the country's general election on Monday. With less than a week left before voting day, bloggers are posting their thoughts about their political choices.

Rick Lowe, writing at Weblog Bahamas, calls it “an interesting time in Bahamian politics” as he examines, point by point, the claims of a former Free National Movement (the incumbent) Cabinet Minister that Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham is “untrustworthy”:

Is this being untrustworthy or is it the way majority rule works? More than 51% of the FNM supported Mr. Ingraham and not us. But should we harbour resentment or lick our wounds and move on?

All this begs a question. Did Mr. Ingraham and his supporters feel they could not trust the Dupuch team? Looking back on all this, it seems quite plausible.

Circumstances and information change perspectives. I know my perspective has changed over the years and my epiphany was coming to the realisation that the larger government gets the worse off we become as citizens.

However, when we get knocked down we have to get up, dust ourselves off and start all over again. I licked my political wounds, so to speak, and prefer to spend my free time learning, thinking about and critiquing public policy and offering alternatives that might make our country a better place for those of us here today and future generations.

Meanwhile, Political Bahamas Blog reports that the new political party on the scene, the Democratic National Alliance, is calling for the resignation of the Leader of the Opposition, Progressive Liberal Party leader Perceval “Perry” Christie over alleged connections to the Bahamas Petroleum Company.

While Weblog Bahamas' Edward Hutcheson wonders “what the nation would look like now if a different choice was made in 1984″, Bahama Republic sees it fit to give “a last prediction” about the upcoming elections:

The Bahamas will have the same government after the election as it does now. Nothing will change. That's right, I called it. But: This is not saying that I believe the FNM will win, that Hubert Ingraham will be Prime Minister again. This is saying that regardless of which party will send more MPs to the House, and regardless of whether the Prime Minister's name is going to be Hubert Ingraham, Perry Christie, or Branville McCartney, the policies put before us, and the style of governance will not significantly change.

Bahamas, you deserve better. But unless you demand better, you will only get same old, same old.

The thumbnail image used in this post, “Voting”, is by KCIvey, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0) Creative Commons license. Visit KCIvey's flickr photostream.

Bahamas: Elections Getting Closer

Janine Mendes-Franco — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:27:07 +0000

With just two weeks to go until the country's general elections, the Bahamian blogosphere has been filled with political discussion. Blogworld yesterday compiled her usual Twitter Weekly Updates, which gave a good overview of the issues being discussed. The dark horse in the elections race (this is apparently the first year in the history of Bahamian politics that there is a strong third party contender - The Democratic National Alliance) tweeted:

@mydnaparty: @nicobet Our vision for ALL Bahamians is for us to be esteemed higher than any material or natural resources. We are worth so much more.

…to which she responded:

@nicobet: Great start–Details?>>RT @mydnaparty @nicobet Our vision for ALL Bahamians is to be esteemed higher than any material or natural resources.

Under the hashtag #Bahamas2012, @nicobet posted several tweets to the various political parties letting them know what voters were looking for:

@nicobet: #Bahamas2012 @YourFNM @MYPLP_Believe @mydnaparty We need a vision. We need deliverance from paternalism. We need, after all, a nation.

@nicobet: #Bahamas2012 Democracy is turning down the emotion & turning up the mind. Educate, investigate, interrogate. #DemandDebates

Other issues were also coming to the fore:

@nicobet: @sbaranha: Q: Which party transformed rusty steel into our national stadium? A: Communist Party of China. #DemandDebates”>>w/Chinese labour

@nicobet: Principles have to cut both ways. Under #PLP loan scholarships were being regularized, the way #FNM regularized mortgages. 6 of one & other. #

Edward Hutcheson, blogging at Weblog Bahamas, talked about the one-sidedness of the political discussions:

As May 7th approaches, all registered voters and people who we think are registered will be faced with a common problem. Someone is going to tell you how you should be voting. PLP, FNM, DNA or Independent.

It really does not matter, someone’s representative or even the candidate is going to get in your face in an attempt to have a one-sided discussion with you, based on their overly informed opinion. I would implore you to have the discussion, and, listen carefully to what they are saying. Those who would be fair will give you their opinion and not try to ‘win the argument'. Those who would try to win the argument will be coming from an environment where discussion is not really allowed, a place where persons dressed in the same colours are routinely slapped down for expressing views that are dissimilar or not as radical as they should be.

There are winners and losers in each election, but the real winners are the persons who can look over the fence or May 8th and say, ‘Good morning' to their neighbour, sincerely.

In another post, he called politics “a game” in which “there are no rules”:

The game board is comprised of players who claim that they want what is best for us. They will say anything and do anything to get ‘another chance', to do all the good things they would like to do for us. The good thing about political gaming is that we get to see them trying to do their best, but the worst of who they are always finds a way on to the stage. Those of us who are burdened with the task of voting, must be just as committed to our responsibility as citizens as the candidates are to playing their games. We will have to judge the newcomers by what they are saying and what we know about them from their public and business involvements. We will have to judge the experienced fellows as we relate what they have done to what they have previously said they will do.

Here is a suggestion. If you are still confused about what you hearing and all the stuff that is going on, get a hold of the recent financial disclosures made by the candidates and do the leg work to see which companies they are involved with. What you are looking for, are persons on opposite sides of the political spectrum who are actually business partners or associates, or who share responsibilities on different boards. If the company or association is a successful one, then you will have to question the disconnect between their public and private personas, which allows them to sit at the same table and make rational decisions but use public political behaviour to sow discord and separation among the persons they want to lead. We will have to have our own rules in place to deal with the political gamers.

Finally, Political Bahamas Blog republished mainstream newspaper articles which they felt were relevant, including criticism of key political parties not yet putting forward a manifesto and the impact that women voters could have at the polls.

The thumbnail image used in this post, “The finger that voted”, is by caribbeanfree photo, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Creative Commons license. Visit caribbeanfreephoto's flickr photostream.

This Week in the Caribbean Blogosphere

Janine Mendes-Franco — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 00:07:54 +0000

In last week's summary of the regional blogosphere, a young comtemporary artist from Barbados made the observation that the region is “more than the beach and coconuts.” Here's a round-up of what Caribbean netizens were talking about this week, with not one mention of beaches or coconuts…

Jamaica
Jamaican bloggers were understandably excited about the launch of the Bob Marley movie yesterday, which also happened to be International Weed Day. Cucumber Juice, who already “saw the new documentary about Bob Marley as part of the 2012 DC International Film Festival”, wrote:

The documentary is worth every second of its 145 minutes. On its 4/20 opening day Marley will also stream on Facebook. All of the reviews that I have read – and there are many, from the New York Times to local papers in Silicon Valley, California – are enthusiastic about the film. I agree with the seemingly widespread sentiment that Marley is a well-needed portrait of Bob Marley the man, not the superstar, not the celebrity, not the prophet…just a man. It was something that his granddaughter Donisha Prendergast urged us to have in mind as we watched – think of Bob the man not Bob the celeb – but the caution wasn’t necessary even as I saw footage and heard the famous songs; I couldn’t help but think about him outside of the context of superstar, maybe even the first Third World superstar.

I still believe as I did during and immediately after the film that every Jamaican must watch this film. And I still say that without any hesitation, reservation, or hyperbole. Why? Because Bob Marley is an important historical figure and he is Jamaica’s own. Even though he has touched millions – maybe he belongs to them too – he’s Jamaica’s own first. It is simply important to know our history, and this documentary is a good place to start.

Jamaica Woman Tongue, meanwhile, took issue with the “complete mockery of the national flag” that took place during a political swearing-in ceremony:

This juvenile act proves that we have sunk to a new low in national politics. Even the flag is no longer safe in the mindless colour war between orange and green fanatics.

The distasteful anti-green flag is forcing us to take a fresh look at the meaning of this national symbol. We can no longer assume that as a society we all accept the grand idea that national pride is wrapped up in what is really just a piece of cloth. It seems as it we are quite prepared to cut up the cloth to suit our rather limited political agendas.

The Bahamas
Politics were also top of mind with Bahamian bloggers this week, as the country's general elections draw closer. New blogs have been adding depth and dimension to the online debate: in response to one of its posts, Blogworld wrote:

I tend to fall into its camp with regard to the ways in which we view ourselves, our fundamental conservatism and fear of confrontation, our need of “brain-un-washing”. I particularly agree with the idea that 2012 and possibly years to come ‘may see the continuation of the unfinished revolution of the 1960/70s.' I’m not sure I share all of its cynicism, and while I am as unimpressed with the “achievements” of the past five years as the author is, I have not been convinced that a return to a PLP administration will be the magic bullet that solves all our problems.

Her compatriot, Rick Lowe, blogging at Weblog Bahamas, thought that it was time for him “to hit the off button” when it comes to election propaganda, while Political Bahamas Blog republished a mainstream media opinion piece which suggested that:

It is imperative to state that a leader will be judged by and for successive generations based on his/her ability to, among other things, manage the economy in a manner that balances economic prudence, socio-economic expectations and infrastructural development.

Haiti
Haitian bloggers were talking about the magnitude of the country's cholera epidemic. Dady Chery noted that
“Haitian health officials have approved a medical trial of the oral cholera vaccine Shanchol on poor women and children”, saying:

This trial is being presented as a vaccination campaign and will curiously be administered in two of Port-au-Prince’s slums by researchers from Gheskio (Center for Haitian Studies of Kaposi Syndrome and Opportunistic Infections) a group closely associated with Partners in Health (PIH) that studies AIDS and enjoys generous funding from USAID…

To avoid possible abuse it is essential that, in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, the medical trial be monitored by a panel of impartial observers.

We can help the Haitian poor by giving them correct information and the choice to make appropriate decisions for themselves and their children. If poor women and children get coerced into becoming the guinea pigs for western pharmaceuticals, Haiti will add yet another sordid story to its long list of abuses.

Cuba
Diaspora bloggers were looking at numbers this week - Uncommon Sense republished statistics from “the opposition Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation”, stating that there have been “almost 2,400 political arrests in first 3 months of 2012.” Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter took a longer view of what he called “the rising body count in Cuba.”

Pedazos de la Isla posted a recap of “another violent weekend in Cuba”, while Laritza Diversent blogged about the plight of “Sonia Garro Alfonso, a member of the Ladies in White and the Afro-Cuban Independent Foundation”, who was recently arrested. Crossing the Barbed Wire focused on another Lady in White, Yakelin Garcia Jaenz, whose husband is in prison:

She has been beaten and harassed by paramilitary Rapid Response Brigades and has been arrested arbitrarily for various hours, despite the fact that she is the mother of two small children.

Translating Cuba posted an article dealing with the case of El Ñaño, the imprisoned Rastafarian priest, while Havana-based Iván García was focused on the fact that Cubans are too busy “in search of their daily food” to notice “the flowers of the flamboyant on Havana’s Santa Catalina Avenue already [beginning] to change color”:

Increasingly, many Havana families find it difficult to put a decent meal on the table…The issue of food is a national headache. It takes about 90% of the money that a family receives. And so everyone may not always eat decently.

Trinidad and Tobago
Globewriter blogged about a group whose mission is to “empower youth to deal with difficulties regarding sexual orientation and gender identity/expression”:

Sitting in that first meeting held at a conference table at the University of the West Indies I looked at the young faces and listened to them emphatically stating that young people being driven to despair because they were lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered or questioning was not acceptable and I can’t really describe how proud I felt and how full of hope for the future.

His post gave details about “a project that will be a first for T&T – a Day of Silence which will be observed on Friday”:

This might seem like a small act to achieve a very big change – and it is – but it is a start and it will mark a major turning point in the fight for LGBTQ kids to be given the dignity and respect that they deserve as equal human beings. This is also being done in a country in the English speaking Caribbean – not normally viewed as an especially tolerant environment for such vulnerable kids. In practice T&T is nowhere as unwelcoming as say Jamaica but there are still discriminatory (though rarely enforced) rules on the books and LGBT people face discrimination on a daily basis simply because of who they are.

In support of the cause, his blog was silent until midnight on April 20.

Other Trinidadian bloggers were focused on the arrest of Ian Alleyne, controversial host of a popular television show, “Crime Watch.” The Eternal Pantomine said:

The People’s Police Commissioner Ian Alleyne has been arrested and it was all done on national television!

I get confused…under which act? Dangerous Dogs? Mental Health? Both?

Bear in mind that Ian come like a saviour/messiah figure to many members of the society who feel they can’t get justice from the police and judicial services here…if nothing else shows you how decrepit a society we have become, Ian Alleyne’s rise from pastor’s son, to obscure television host….to Trinidad’s Batman is a metre gauge that we shouldn’t ignore.

Mere minutes after Alleyne’s arrest the meme generators was on fire and youtube was under pressure. There is a part of me that even wondering if the entire arrest was staged given how over the top this entire thing has been. Raids for rape tapes and now raids to arrest…. If there is a show today….it will be EPIC.

Kudos to TV6 who has successfully removed itself from culpability by insisting that Alleyne responsible for his own show…that way the station never have to get any flack for the filth aired on the programme while getting all the viewership, advertising and ratings.

In a follow-up post, she repeated her point about the television station's culpability and raised questions about Alleyne's track record:

Since Ian doesn’t own a television station, or broadcast rights…nor in fact pressed play on the tape button, doesn’t the TV station have some culpability in this matter? Didn’t the station allow the tape to be aired not once but TWICE…showing the face of a minor engaged questionable circumstances.

All yuh see why I asking if is the Mental Health Act or Dangerous Dogs Act? Because somebody in tv6 has to be liable too…because is the station broadcast the thing.

Another issue I have is this…ppl keep calling Ian the poor people’s champion and alleging he has done so much for this country…how many of Alleyne’s arrests have resulted in solid convictions? Because a crime is only solved when there is a conviction…so, how many solid convictions has Alleyne’s show really resulted in?

Could it be people have faith in Ian because he does put on a good (pappy) show

The thumbnail image used in this post, “Bob Marley”, is by murdelta, used under an Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) Creative Commons license. Visit murdelta's flickr photostream.

Bahamas: Election Discussion

Janine Mendes-Franco — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 08:00:45 +0000

Bahamaians go the polls on May 7 in the country's 2012 general election. Bloggers have already started talking about it. In this post, the discussion continues…

Blogworld, in a post in which she summarized her Twitter Weekly Updates for 2012-04-15, responded to a Twitter user wondering about whether or not to vote:

@nicobet: RT @KnowlesAsh Should I even vote? All 3 parties seem inadequate. >>> My dilemma exactly. We still have one more document to go though #PLP #

In fact, much of her highlighted tweets in the post focused on the upcoming elections, dealing with everything from the quality of party manifestos to the need for political debates. As an educator, she was also interested in other key issues, which she drew attention to using the hashtag #DemandDebates. Other observations from Blogworld about how the elections race was developing included:

@nicobet: Disappointed. No real faith in people expressed. A conservative, cautious manifesto when we need radical vision. Train citizens not servants #

@nicobet: Looking for some real alternatives in the economic arena but saw more of the same. Investment in servitude not creativity. #DemandDebates #

@nicobet: Are we going to see governance in next 5 years rather than continued political point scoring? Not an auspicious beginning #DemandDebates #

@nicobet: #DNA talking issues. #FNM Manifesto up. #PLP we're waiting – #DemandDebates #

Which brings us to the three political parties who will be fighting it out with the hope of emerging victorious come May 7. The two main contenders in the parliamentary democracy are the incumbent Free National Movement and the opposition Progressive Liberal Party. But this year, it may just be a three-party race with the Democratic National Alliance, which, whether or not some like its style, at least seems to be getting attention. Bahama Pundit made a few election forecasts here, but with a few weeks to go before polling day, it remains to be seen how everything will play out.

In the interim, bloggers are looking at issues. At Weblog Bahamas, Rick Lowe wondered about the opposition's ability to deal with crime:

I'm usually wary when people in the political class keep repeating that a programme they've designed worked as planned but the country just needs more of it. Just more resources (taxpayer money) are required for the bureaucracy to solve all our problems.

And this is the case with the PLP's Urban Renewal 2.0.

I'm not a sociologist nor a psychiatrist, but I know the rhetoric we're getting is not the solution. If political parties must get involved all they need to do is agree that crime is a national issue that affects all Bahamian's, FNM's and PLP's alike and work together for possible solutions.

Maybe a joint political rally on crime? There will be lots of people there at least.

How about starting neighborhood crime watches in constituency offices?

I don't think Urban Renewal 2.0 will solve crime just as Urban Renewal 1.0 didn't.

The country deserves more than cute slogans.

The blog also questioned policy recommendations, and compared the pros and cons of Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham and Leader of the Opposition, Perceval Christie.

As expected, the Internet and social media have been facilitating important discussion about the elections (quite apart from the political entities themselves making use of micro-blogging sites like Twitter to get their message out). The site Bahamas Elections 2012 allows netizens to make their picks for the successful candidates, and this post examined how discussion on Facebook could impact the outcome.

The thumbnail image used in this post, “Voting”, is by League of Women Voters of California, used under an Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0) Creative Commons license. Visit the League of Women Voters of California flickr photostream.

This Week in the Caribbean Blogosphere

Janine Mendes-Franco — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 18:40:43 +0000

It has been another interesting week in the Caribbean blogosphere, with netizens discussing everything from crime to elections…

Trinidad & Tobago

There was outrage in the blogosphere over the death of two-year-old Aliyah Johnson, a victim of child abuse. Guanaguanare was worried “that [it] will amount to nothing”:

The sort of callousness that did not recognise or respect her humanity/divinity is not something that was just one lifetime in the making. This sin is generational and it will also be generations before it is lifted…and only if we begin right away to work towards that future.

Government offices and officials can only do so much. We are the ones, however, who have actually heard the cries and have seen the bruises and other signs of abuse. We continue to be the silent witnesses in our neighbourhoods and maybe even in our own homes. We have to stop pretending that it will all go away…

In a follow-up post, the blogger linked to a video that could help “[address] the problem of child abuse and the wider problem of violence (and the connection between the two) in our country.”

The Eternal Pantomime added:

Remember Daniel Guerra? Remember he was picked up in a car a stone’s throw from his house, by a parlour, and days later his body was found in the Tarouba waterway system?

Remember the Prime Minister wrote a Letter to Daniel, that was really a letter promising to save all the children of Trinidad and Tobago promising that what happened to Daniel, Akiel, Sean Luke, Amy, Hope…would never happen again…

Well…crimes against children are on the rise, and the government has been quietly dismantling social work and welfare projects that can assist in these situations…So think about little Aaliyah now, who, according the forensic report was beaten to death… This is going to happen again and again partly because this society is very sick and partly because very few systems are properly enabled to deal with these issues…when last you hear about the trial against the two boys that killed Sean Luke? I done talk…

Bloggers in Trinidad and Tobago also focused on other issues this past week, including the Dangerous Dogs Act “as news of yet another innocent child being violently ripped and torn apart by yet another, dangerously-aggressive, unrestrained dog makes the rounds” and patients' rights, as cancer patients who were over-exposed to radiation at a national facility continue to seek justice.

The Bahamas

More north along the Caribbean archipelago, Bahamian netizens had elections on their mind. Blogworld, who recently posted her own voter's manifesto said:

So, in the parlance of the day: Papa has rung the bell.

I can talk the talk like any other Bahamian in 2012. Papa = the current prime minister, Hubert Ingraham. ‘The Bell' = the announcement of a date for the next general election. I know how to translate the statement.

I just don’t know what it means.

She went on to explain:

Some time ago, I wrote up my own manifesto (since the political parties vying for leadership of the country hadn’t seen fit to share any of their promises or policies for the next five years) as a voter, a participant in a process that is commonly called “democratic”. Since that time, others have joined me in making similar statements, and a few voices have called for our leaders and other politicians to have the balls to step out from behind their carefully crafted propaganda and open themselves up to discussions of issues with reasonable citizens.

But, disappointingly, and with one important exception (Branville McCartney of the DNA) they haven’t.

And this, to my mind, does not bode well for our future.

So my question is this. Given the passion and energy being expended in tearing down the other parties, or the other leaders—in dismissing reasonable questions and observations as ‘FNM' or ‘PLP' or even ‘DNA'—each of these being intended as insult, what happens the day after elections, when one party has won and the other(s) has/ve not? How do we work on building a nation of Bahamians?

So as we stare down the home stretch, as we slide into these last three weeks before Bahamians go to the polls and cast our votes, I would like at least one day to be dedicated to having the people who are contesting the elections to tell us what their vision is for this nation. Where do we go from here? How do we find our place in the twenty-first century?

Weblog Bahamas‘ Rick Lowe, meanwhile, hoped that “the level of discussion will be raised for the campaigns”:

If this is what we will get from the opposition it certainly seems to narrow the choice. It also makes me wonder why we must refer to some M.P.s as honourable.

Cuba

Cuban diaspora bloggers acknowledged the passing of Miami-based Catholic Bishop Agustin Roman. Notes from the Cuban Exile Quarter said:

Cubans have lost the physical presence of one of the great leaders of the Cuban exile community who passed away yesterday night at the age of 83 but his spirit and his writings live on. Monsignor Agustín Román wrote and spoke about the challenges facing the Cuban people and…offered a profound analysis of the state of the Cuban dissident movement that remains extremely relevant.

Pedazos de la Isla said of a speech the late Bishop made “about the importance of the internal Cuban opposition, dissidence, or Resistance”:

As he explains in this heartfelt piece, no matter what you call those brave Cubans inside the island, they all fight for justice. And justice is what Roman also represented in his 84 years of life. Although he is now physically gone, he will always spiritually guide not just Cuban exiles, but all Cubans, into freedom. His example was one worth emulating- a true man of God, a true Catholic, and a true Cuban. He was not afraid to tell the world that his brothers and sisters were in need of freedom, he was not afraid to say that he was an exile, and he was not afraid to explain why he was exiled (he was sent out of the country at gunpoint by the Cuban regime). Agustin Roman did not live off of hate or bitterness, and yet, he was clear in explaining that fighting peacefully was not a sign of weakness, but instead a sign of great strength and courage.

babalu shared details about the funeral arrangements:

This afternoon, Father Agustin Roman will be laid to rest. At noon today, a funeral procession will leave La Ermita de la Caridad and make several stops throughout Miami.

Diaspora bloggers also expressed concern about the safety of the man who was arrested before the start of a Papal Mass in Santiago de Cuba for shouting “Down with communism!” and published a translation of an interview with the man's mother.

On island, bloggers were talking about the trial of El Ñaño, an imprisoned Rastafarian priest. (This post gives some background on the case). Even before yesterday's trial, bloggers were tweeting about his innocence; they also live-tweeted the court proceedings, ending with the following update:

The trail has ended but the judgment may be delayed for months.

Other Territories

Jamaica: Abeng News Magazine kept its readers au courant with the latest developments in the Trayvon Martin case.

Puerto Rico: Gil the Jenius likened the country's increasing violence to a cancer.

St. Vincent & the Grenadines: And Still I Rise marked the thirty third anniversary of the La Soufriere eruption.

Barbados: Contemporary artist Sheena Rose commented on the stereotypical image many people have of the Caribbean:

The more I travel, the more I realize that people do not know the Caribbean. I get the feeling that they thinking we live at the beach all day, have the steel pan playing and drinking coconuts all day, living in a paradise. Yes to me, my home is my paradise but it have more than the beach and coconuts.

The thumbnail image used in this post, “VOTE”, is by PropagandaTimes, used under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Creative Commons license. Visit PropagandaTimes' flickr photostream.

Bahamas: The “Get Ahead Syndrome”

Janine Mendes-Franco — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 14:36:28 +0000

Rick Lowe thinks that the only thing that's consistent about Bahamians is their inconsistency.

Bahamas: Anti-Crime Ideas

Janine Mendes-Franco — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:20:46 +0000

With crime being top of mind, Weblog Bahamas‘ Rick Lowe asks: “Without society's willingness to report crime and suspicious looking people or incidents - how do we move forward?”

Bahamas: University of the Bahamas?

Janine Mendes-Franco — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:14:56 +0000

Larry Smith at Bahama Pundit wonders what the keep-back is with establishing a Bahamian university, saying: “An autonomous university would be a big step to achieving such a counterweight to political inertia (and I suspect that's the real issue here).”

Bahamas: Same Old Election Game

Janine Mendes-Franco — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:06:17 +0000

Blogworld “regard[s] the incoherencies that pass for election rhetoric with a sense of disgust” and explains why.

Bahamas: Freedom of Information Debate

Janine Mendes-Franco — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:53:54 +0000

“Once passed, the legislation will be brought into effect by the middle of this year, binding any future government. So we are late again, but potentially a big step closer to delivering more openness and accountability in public affairs”: The country is getting ready to debate its Freedom of Information Bill; Bahama Pundit's Larry Smith reports.

Bahamas: A Belief in Democracy

Janine Mendes-Franco — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 13:58:11 +0000

“To date, my country has not put in place anything to serve and build me; to every politician who has served in parliament in the time I have been voting, people like me have been invisible. In our democracy, we do not count”: Hence the reason Blogworld puts forward her Voter's Manifesto, which garners one response, here.