Roopnarain Persaud takes stock of the economic and political situation in the Caribbean region, along with its implications on Indo-Caribbeans population.
Economy and economic opportunities
For over a century sugar was designed to be the dominant export commodity from the Caribbean region. This was/is the agricultural produce that Caribbean economies depend upon they are dependent upon purchases and quotas by European countries. In this manner European countries continue to have power and control over Caribbean economies and politics in the Caribbean. The cultist political ‘leaders’ and corrupt government officers as a result of ‘independence’ for Caribbean countries did not bring about much change in the structure and composition of Caribbean economies.
Of recent time, however, we have seen some changes in Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. Trinidad and Tobago has resources of oil and natural gas commodities in high demand in the western industrialized economies. Guyana has a fully developed rice-producing industry with available land for increased production capacity. Indo-Caribbeans in Guyana have pioneered rice production, growth, and development. Guyana and Suriname have large develop-able natural resources of bauxite, gold and primary forests.
(Guyana under the presidency of an Indo- Caribbean, Bharat Jagdeo, has chosen to grant mining rights of its unique gold to Canadian companies and its primary forest timbers to China. Its natural deposits of bauxite have been sold to Russia for mining!) It is believed that Guyana has the single most important source of manganese.
The fabled and legendary ‘Caribbean Sunshine’ and Caribbean beaches are in high demand by European and North American tourist. And, as is to be expected, countries in the region are competing heavily with each other for the so called ‘tourist dollar.’ Jamaica, it is believed, benefits much from the American single, white, female tourists who visit often for personal pleasures. Tourism, especially eco-tourism, can be successfully and economically developed in Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Suriname with capital investments in appropriate transportation infrastructure. Labour costs is comparatively cheap and of comparative high quality.
However, the greatest economic opportunities can very well be in the expansion and growth of agriculture. There is a hungry world to feed – in the Caribbean itself, in India, and in Africa. Guyana and Suriname have develop able land and Trinidad and Tobago has resources of fuel and natural gas, immediate sources of energy.
Bio-energy is available for harnessing: windmills can make much use of the constant and prevailing North East Trade winds (that were responsible for taking Columbus and his sailors to the Caribbean.) The Caribbean region is in the tropics, a geographic region that has sunshine year round. Solar energy can be harvested constantly and at comparatively low cost.
Further, sugar cane can be harvested and used for the production of ethanol, a bio-renewable source of fuel. (Brazil is currently making much use of this source of renewable and eco-friendly source of fuel). That is of course, not to suggest that investing in these economies is easy, quick or a ‘done deal.’ But with proper and appropriate planning and legal recourse and in a consortium, it can be accomplished to reward investors with significant financial and social returns on their investments.
Political scenario
Politics in the post-colonial Caribbean region displays two affective and effective features: (1) “divide to rule” and (2) voting along racial lines. Both of these features were/are politically designed and socially applied.
After the notorious period of slavery and with the advent of indentured labourers from India, the political stage was set for “divide to rule” and voting along racial lines. Afro- Caribbeans, now “free”, as a group, tried to bargain, with their labour as a chip, with the European plantation owners. This ushered in the “trade union” movement. Most naturally, Afro-Caribbeans saw and interpreted the labour supply provided by indentured Indians as a threat to and in competition with the demands they made for their labour. This early rivalry was beneficial to the European plantation owners who exploited it for their benefit by maintaining a supply of labour at minimum costs while keeping profits high.
For a brief period of time Afro-Caribbeans and Indo-Caribbeans were willing and able to see that the common exploiter was the European colonial plantation owners. They joined their interests, meager resources, and forces together to, essentially, sell their labour to the plantation owners. The “trade unions” with a majority of Afro- Caribbean members soon began to gain some strength and later metamorphosed into political parties. The demand and struggle for “independence” commenced. Thus, like elsewhere in the world, the “independence” movement had its genesis in the demands of labour as a group.
After some decades of political and social struggles, sometimes violent struggles, many of the colonies were granted “independence”, or so they believed. In Guyana, for example, “independence” was granted by England when the PPP party won the first general election. The PPP party, at that time, included both Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese. The British was soon to engineer politically to change this unified approach by dividing Guyanese along racial lines to “divide to rule.” Dr. Chedi Bharat Jagan, an Indo-Guyanese, was the first democratically elected premier in Guyana. The British out-maneuvered him and his PPP by making him accept a political system known as “Proportional Representation” in exchange for their granting of “independence” to Guyana.
Politics of the post “independence” period is marked with the demarcation and accentuation of racial differences between Afro-Caribbeans and Indo-Caribbeans. Afro- Caribbeans were favored by the European colonists (who were Christians) because they readily and easily converted to Christianity. Indo-Caribbeans who were self reserved struggled to maintain their Indian culture and religious beliefs as Hindus or Muslims and were suffered by the now expatriate but non-the-less exploitative, controlling, and manipulative European masters. This manipulation continues up the present in the British-mindset of the elected and administrative personnels as well as in the legal, political and social structures and institutions perpetuated by either the Indo-Caribbean or Afro-Caribbean self-styled “leaders.”
At a point, Indo-Caribbeans became the majority racial group in Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname as well as the wealthier of the now two competing racial groups Christian Afro-Caribbeans against Hindu/Muslim Indo-Caribbeans and vice versa: politics along racial/religious lines commenced in earnest.
Currently there are two government and political leaders of Indian descent in the Caribbean region: President Bharat Jagdeo in Guyana and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar in Trinidad and Tobago. Other English speaking countries have government and political leaders of African descent Jamaica and Barbados, for example. We can expect a stable political process in the Caribbean as Democratic practices are enforced by Caribbean nationals, especially by Indo-Caribbeans.
