Clear The Murky Waters! Editorial (mirror 24.08.2013) The events of the week present a good lesson on how crime and politics affect each other, and the impact this has on all citizens. Many would argue that law-abiding citizens get caught in a position of their own choosing, because it is their action or inaction which determines the performance of the people elected and appointed to govern and administer the business of the country. The present state of the relationship between the Government of St. Lucia and the United States of America is still murky, despite the Prime Minister’s Address to the nation on Tuesday night. After much earlier speculation over an incident in which the Commissioner of Police was prevented from travelling to the U.S. on business, the Prime Minister finally confirmed that the Royal St. Lucia Police Force was effectively under U.S. sanctions. He said: “Yesterday (meaning Monday), I was also advised that the United States has gone one step further and suspended all assistance to the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force.” According to Dr. Anthony, “the current events have their origin” in the 12 killings by police in 2011, during “Operation Restore Confidence” in response to a crime wave. “It is this issue which has pre-occupied the United States and which has led to the actions taken against the Royal Saint Lucia Police Force,” he said. Many citizens would like to believe that the information in Dr. Anthony’s address was directly obtained from the State Department. But they can’t be sure. The only statement directly attributed to a U.S. representative was a denial by the U.S. Ambassador to Barbados and Eastern Caribbean, Larry Palmer, that the Visa of the Commissioner of Police had been revoked. Other statements appeared to be interpretations, inferences or mitigated information, which are open to conjecture. Hence the reasoning in certain quarters, and in particular, among officials and supporters of the opposition UWP that the U.S. sanction against the RSLPF is the beginning of retribution for St. Lucia’s membership of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of the Americas (ALBA) -- the economic and social integration bloc of Caribbean and Latin American countries initially proposed by Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Fidel Castro of Cuba. Why would the U.S. single out St. Lucia in such an overt fashion just six months after it joined the group? ALBA contains 10 members altogether, including Antigua, Dominica and St. Vincent – sister OECS territories who joined the fraternity long before St. Lucia? U.S. Governments are habitually criticised universally for their inconsistent application of foreign policy, but even by the perceived double-standards of the U.S. the action against the RSLPF does not make sense, if it were provoked by St. Lucia’s embrace of ALBA. But we are prepared to give the U.S. Government the benefit of the doubt on this one, hoping that it would come out and truly clear the air on the reason(s) behind the punitive sanctions against the police. The implications for national security and political stability here should compel the U.S. to make full, honest and open disclosure on the matter. But we end were we started. It is the citizens here who bear ultimate responsibility for the governance of their country. If they consistently fail to demand better from those who administer the machinery of state, the country as a whole will lose credibility before the wider world. The events of the past few days should cause more people to pay closer attention to the voices in the wilderness demanding good governance and public administration, as well as more tolerance of those campaigning for more efficiency in the criminal justice system.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 15:54:18 +0000
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