PowerPoint; Caricom States, Angela Davis

PowerPoint is made possible by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. This is PowerPoint, an Information Age clearinghouse for issues affecting the African -American community, the nation, and the world. And now, PowerPoint's Kenneth Walker. Marley Manley Montego Bay, Negril, Ocho Rios, Dunes River Falls. The names and places resonate and ripple with images ranging from the passionate and dynamic to the sunkest and exotic. That's Jamaica. And this time on PowerPoint's Ambassadors Roundtable, we're going to talk about the politics, the economy, and the history of Jamaica. Our scheduled guest, Jamaican Ambassador Richard Bernal, has been called away by the Prime Minister's Office to a meeting in Mexico City. But our friends at the Embassy have gone the extra mile to guarantee PowerPoint's listeners a

comprehensive look into modern Jamaica and the region. Joining us from the Jamaican Embassy, Pamela Koch Hamilton, Deputy Chief of Mission, and O 'Neill Hamilton, who's not related, he's the Director of the Office of Information at the Embassy. As we talk about Jamaican politics and society, we'll also take a geo -political side -trip for insights into Caribbean Island nations, members of the Caribbean Economic Community, or Caracom. And with the U .S. taking steps to lower restrictions on Cuba, we'll explore Jamaica's relationship with Cuba, and how that U .S. action will impact the region. Jamaica and other Caribbean Island nations are like visions of paradise. Jules suspended on crystal -clear -jade -colored waters, but like the Biblical Garden of Eden, a serpent lurks in paradise. In the guise of high unemployment, poverty, illiteracy, and encroachment of cocaine, as South American

cartels take advantage of a region -wide trade imbalance, especially with respect to the export of bananas. These are all very human problems in a part of the world where the atmosphere disarms you, brings you back to a point that, compared to our own super -high -tech society, compels you to feel your humanity. But what does the future hold for Jamaica, and what about Cuba and the still -struggling Haiti? We'll talk about all of that, and you can get in on the discussion by calling the PowerPoint hotline at 1 -800 -989 -8255, that's 1 -800 -989 -8255, and call a friend. Tell them PowerPoints on the air. Our discussion begins in a moment, but first, PowerPoint news with Verna Avery Brown. This is PowerPoint, news and information to empower the community. I'm Verna

Avery Brown. Shannon Wright, the English teacher who took a bullet for one of her students when shots rang out at a Jonesboro, Arkansas Middle School last week, has been eulogized as a heroine. The minister at Wright's funeral said the mother of a two -year -old gave her life doing something positive for children. President Clinton says he's determined his visit to Africa will not be a one -shot deal. From Johannesburg on Saturday, Clinton announced a series of measures, including $500 million in loans, to spur investment, and plans for an African trade summit in Washington. He dedicated the Johannesburg Trade Center, named for his first Commerce Secretary, Ron Brown, who died in a plane crash two years ago. He considers himself an angel of death, and police are investigating the hospital worker's claims that he killed up to 50 terminally ill patients. Efron Salivar was jailed after his confession, but police say there wasn't enough evidence to hold him. Investigators say they may have to exume bodies to gather evidence, and suspect that such a complex investigation will probably take a long time. Green Bay Packer star Reggie White has taken a lot of flak in the

media for his speech last week. The speech was billed as one about tolerance and harmony, but has instead triggered an avalanche of controversy. PowerPoint news and commentary took its microphone to the MCI Sports Center in Washington, D .C., and asked sports fans for their reaction to White's comments. But before we hear their reaction, let's first hear exactly what he said. Reggie White addressing the Wisconsin legislature. When you look at the Black race, Black people are very gifted in what we call worship and celebrate. A lot of us like to dance, and if you go to a Black church, you see people jumping up and down, because they really get into it. White people were blessed with the gift of structure and organization. You guys do a good job of building businesses and things of that nature. And you know how to tap into money. Pretty much better than a lot of people do around the world. His Spanish were gifted in family structure. And you can see a Hispanic person,

and they could put 20 -30 people in one home. They were gifted in the family structure. When you look at the Asian, the Asian is very gifted in creativity and inventures. If you go to Japan or any Asian country, they can turn a television into a watch. They're very creative. Then you look at the Indians. They've been very gifted in the spirituality. When you put all of that together, guess what it makes. It forms a complete image of God. And White's comments about homosexuality were quite controversial. And because the Bible speaks against it, we've allowed rapid sin, including homosexual and lion, and to me lion is just as bad as homosexuality. We've allowed this sin to run rapid in our nation, and because it was run rapid in our nation, our nation is in the condition it is today. And the process of history, homosexuality has never been castrated. Many of them never died. Homosexuality is a decision.

It's not a race. White's comments drew a rash of criticisms from gay rights and civil rights organizations. But White stands by his comments and says he's surprised that they sparked such an uproar. Fans at the MCI Sports and Entertainment Center in Washington, D .C. had mixed reactions. Well, I really don't understand what he was trying to say. I mean, the point he was trying to make was that, you know, we all different nationalities. I can understand that, you know, the complete, he said we all make the completeness of God. But it seemed like he was saying that each race was not gifted with that race, like saying blacks don't know how to make money or they don't know how to love. Like they can't put 20 people in the same house. I mean, I really don't understand what he was trying to say, but I could see him saying those are the characteristics. But to say that we've been blessed to know the Spanish people have been blessed to know how to put 30 people in one home. I just didn't really agree on that. But far as the homosexuality, I do because I'm a Christian and that was from the Bible. So I agree with him about the gay should not have rights and so according to the scripture.

But I mean, everybody's not going to believe that. But I stand on them with that on the homosexuality part. Well, I think Reggie had good intentions. And I guess like everybody else said, he would have clarified a little bit more. But I think what he was attempting to do was something good. And... Even the part about homosexuals? Well, I really didn't hear that part of it. That's why I missed... The part that you did hear, you felt that he was not a fence. You weren't a fence about it? I wouldn't, I mean, it wouldn't the first time that I heard somebody say something like that. I think he's a bit insensitive. Because we all human regardless of our sexual preference. Everybody have a right to do whatever they want to do as long as they don't... ...infringe on another person's sexual preference. And what about the comments that he made with regard to the different races? I think Reggie ought to really go back to the poll pit and do a

little more meditating and studying before he makes such comments. Reaction of sports fans at the MCI Sports and Entertainment Center in Washington, D .C. And finally, try to imagine comedian Chris Rock as the comic book character Jimmy Olson in the upcoming movie Superman. Director Tim Burton has reportedly offered Rock the role, but Rock hasn't decided if he has time to be in the movie. Nicholas Cage is reportedly playing the role of Superman. For PowerPoint news and commentary, I'm Verna Avery Brown. Stand up for your right, get up, stand up, don't give up the fight. Welcome back, I'm Kenneth Walker. How many

times have you felt like just chucking everything and moving to a Caribbean paradise where you could spend your days with your toes stuck in the sand gazing out its sparkling blue water within unlimited supply of umbrella drinks? How often have you said to yourself, that's the life I'd really love to have? Well, think about this. If the global economy is bad news in your neighborhood, consider what it could do to small Caribbean nations still struggling with tourism and agricultural exports. And if you think your block is a favorite destination for international drug dealers, consider the largely unprotected coastlines of many Caribbean island nations that are witnessing a tremendous upsurge in activity from South American drug wards. So this hour, PowerPoints ambassadors round table takes a look at the trouble in paradise. As always, we want to know what you our listeners think. So give us a call at our toll free hotline at 1 -800 -989 -8255. That's 1 -800

-989 -8255 to help explore what's going on in Jamaica and the Caribbean. PowerPoint is pleased to welcome Pamela Koch -Hamilton, who's the deputy chief of mission with the Jamaican Embassy and O 'Neill Hamilton, the director of the Embassy's Office of Information, both of you welcome. Thank you very much. Miss Hamilton, most of us who think about Jamaica at all, think about the vacations we'd like to take there. Try to round out the picture for us in terms of the population, the economy, the kind of government, some of the challenges that you face. Well, right now our population is 2 .5 million and has been that way for at least the last seven to ten years. We've had mass immigration in a lot of ways. And even people moving to Jamaica, people moving out. Yes, we've had quite a bit of brain drain to some extent, but it has

also, we've had a lot of people returning in recent years. So we've actually established a returning residence program and we've been encouraging the return of a lot of our professionals to help build the economy. As you're aware, we're a small developing economy and we have all the difficulties that go with that. And as a result of that in this free trade area of the America's process, we have actually cheered for the last two and a half years, the working group on smaller economies, with the specific mandate by the ministers of the 34 countries of the hemisphere to look into how smaller economies can be facilitated in the process of integration. And that we will not be destroyed or let's put it this way disadvantaged by the economic integration. Mr. Hamilton, how is the global economy affecting Jamaica so far? Well, we have to look at Jamaica right now entering the process. Well, within, I suppose, the context that this is

the beginning of a process. This is not a process that has seen any real movement yet. The free trade area of the America is a concept, which is now moving into something that is solid. And so that if we are to look at Jamaica within the context of an economy, a country that is fully integrated, this is not yet the case. And so we, not unlike many other nations in the region and also throughout Latin America, are now putting things in place, are now taking the first embryonic steps to ensure that we move towards integration, that we liberalize our economies, that we take our place in whatever this new dispensation and call the free trade area of the Americas will in fact offer us. I think I recall hearing or reading about a dispute about the banana exports and how European nations or your exports to Europe are in some jeopardy. What's that all about?

Actually, that situation started in 1991. Essentially, the African Caribbean and Pacific nations are involved in an agreement called the Loma Convention with the European Union. Under that agreement, we have certain preferential arrangements for the export of our bananas to Europe. Essentially, we only take up 10 % of the European market, and that's all of the African Caribbean and Pacific exports of bananas, and we take up 3 % of the world market. The rest is dominated by large multinational corporations such as Chiquita, Del Monte and Dole. Unfortunately, with the advent of the European Union, the single market system had to find a way to rationalize across the board the importation of bananas into the European Union, before what existed were

marketing arrangements by country. The London Paris would have different arrangements with their former colonies, which in the Caribbean and in Africa. They did not in any way affect the European Union as a whole. However, when the single market came into effect in 1992, it became necessary to rationalize this process. It is that change which unfortunately created us disputes between the European Union and what we call dollar banana exporters, or the Latin American exporters. They then took us to the WTO dispute settlement mechanism. World trade organizations. World trade organizations, sorry, it tends to be all had to me in a way. And both panels ruled against the European Union's new import regime for bananas. As such, what will occur if this decision is implemented is that many of

the particularly Eastern Caribbean states will suffer dramatically if they are unable to export their bananas. I'll give you an example. For St. Lucia, 56 % of their total merchandise exports is bananas. For Dominica, 55%. And for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 48%. To under this world trade organization, ruling all of that is in jeopardy. All of that is in jeopardy, yes. What are the alternatives? Well, it's something. What I'm planning to do. At this stage, we are still trying to negotiate a situation where we will be able to find some way to continue to export. And at the same time, the Latin Americans will be satisfied. Those far we've not come up with a viable solution. There have been suggestions by the United States of a trade aid package.

Unfortunately, this is not something that we think is acceptable simply because it suggests that we should get aid for the next five to 10 years to allow us to move out of bananas. However, it has not proposed an available alternative crop to replace bananas. And one thing we must remember about bananas is one, it is all year -round crop. It's not seasonal. Therefore, it's trade -off and employment opportunities in linkages to the rest of the economies of the island are integral to ensuring that they continue to survive. And so, those far we've heard nothing that we think is viable. And just to kind of piggyback on that. Of course, Kenneth, Pamela, besides being the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission, she is also the Trade Advisor, if you will, to the ambassador. So this is her purview, and obviously there's her focus. But I just like to add, I was attending a forum on Friday at the Center for Strategic and International

Studies here in Washington. And the meeting had a representative from the island nation of Dominica. And he actually made a presentation. And in his submission, he spoke to the creeping sense of foreboding that seems to be gripping his country. As they see the eminence, the possibility, in fact, the objective reality of this WTO ruling taking effect in Dominica. And nobody actually sees yet any real options or alternatives to address what they will have to face, significant rise in employment and just general social dislocation. We're talking with Pamela Koch -Hamilton and O 'Neill -Hamilton with the Embassy of Jamaica. You can get in on this discussion by calling the PowerPoint toll free hotline at 1 -800 -989

-8255. That's 1 -800 -989 -8255. What is the juxtaposition, the relative proximity of the United States to Jamaica and the other Caribbean nations? Is this a good thing or what are the challenges in that relationship so far as you two are concerned? Well, geographically speaking, of course, we have been looked upon as America's backyards, so to speak, in fact, certain senators very recently also used that term, which was something that we thought had gone by the way. But for the most part, we are geographically within the American orbit. We are very proximal, of course, to Miami. And, of course, our other island system nations, surround American territories like the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. And so there is, of course, great access to American commerce and also

to significant parts of the American apparatus, which, of course, given its industrial and technological strength, has a very significant outreach. And I believe that that proximity also has its own negative possibilities, if you will, because of the nearness. There is a great appreciation on the path of the Caribbean's youth in particular of what the possibilities are in regard to existing in a developed country, the United States. And, of course, it is purely human, to want to, of course, obtain experience, have more of the same kinds of privileges that Americans enjoy. And so this, again, is a challenge in the relationship to, I guess, balance our own expectations

against what we see as, I suppose, a glaring chasm, so to speak, in terms of development. And so these are things that we, as a region, are seeking to address and address, I think, rather quickly. Mr. Hamilton, you mentioned earlier the proposals for trade and aid flowing out of the United States in the light of the banana controversy. But, address, fill that out more for us, but also deal with, if you can, the United States has NAFTA with Mexico and Canada. And it's, the House of Representatives have just passed this trade bill for Africa. What, how does Jamaica and its sister Caribbean nations, how are they fixed in terms of these trade agreements and access to the American market? I'm glad you asked that. That's part of our greatest difficulty right now. In

1981, in 1981 to 1982, the United States Congress passed on the Reagan, the Caribbean -based initiative. It was then renewed and became CBI -2 and pretty much became permanent. Unfortunately, since the advent of NAFTA, we have been trying to attain what we've termed NAFTA parity. Simply because what has been occurring is that there's been a massive movement of investment, relocation of industry, from the Caribbean to Mexico as a result of the different advantages offered on the NAFTA as opposed to CBI. In particular, the textiles and the parallel industry has suffered dramatically. In Jamaica, for example, we have had a situation where just recently it has been announced that another major firm from the United States will be relocating to Mexico and we have lost thousands of jobs as a result. We have lost also thousands of dollars in foreign exchange and this situation

does not seem like it will obey it until we get NAFTA parity. What are the prospects for that? I'd like to zone optimistic, however, experience over the last five years has not taught me to be so. We have tried more than five times to attach it to some bill. It was to be attached to the NAFTA bill. It did not go through NAFTA implementing legislation. It was supposed to have been attached to the GAT implementing legislation. It was dropped. Yes, and tariffs and trade. It was also supposed to have gone through last year. It did not go through this year. We are attempting to attach it to the Africa trade bill. We are not sure that it will get done. I'm afraid there doesn't seem to be a lot of optimism in the region. That the United States will do this. Once again, we're talking with Pamela Koch

Hamilton and O 'Neill Hamilton, both with the Embassy of Jamaica here in Washington. You can join our discussion by calling 1 -800 -989 -8255. That's 1 -800 -989 -8255. We're going to go to the phones now and talk to Dexter in Atlanta with station WCLK. Welcome to PowerPoint Dexter. Hello. Yes, hi. Good evening. My name is Dexter. Again, my question is in reference to the banana industry within the Caribbean island. I was curious about the strategic plan in reference to keeping to make as well the other Caribbean island in the market and finding way of aligning itself with the island. Is there any kind of plan of action strategically to at least find a way to keep yourself in the market or maybe even joining somewhere else to make sure you don't lose this industry? Thanks, Dexter. Thank you so much for your interest in this

area. We have been making every attempt to ensure our continued competitive nature and also viability in the region. However, it's also very difficult when you consider that geographically we're limited in scope. You're talking about islands that are 60 ,000 people, 40 ,000 people. They can fit well within a lake in the United States and disappear. So to the extent that we're able to expand and have economies of scale similar to those existent in Latin America, it is very difficult. However, what we have been trying to do is increase our decrease our production costs, increase our economies of scale and attempt to export on a more competitive basis. But the reality is that this is limited simply by our geographical limitations. Thanks a lot so much for the call and the question Dexter. Go right ahead, Chef.

The question is, what is the most important thing to do in this area? I find that Jamaica may be using, they may be in a better position than they think they are. And I guess coming from my side, I'm not seeing a whole picture. Actually, I agree with you totally. We actually are examining that situation where we will create niche markets. That is something that is very much on the agenda and as you know as Jamaicans we don't quit. We're not quitting country and therefore we are examining all the other options and seeking to create niche markets for particular types of bananas. Also for banana derivatives

such as puries and fillings and so on. So that's something we're looking into. Thanks again Dexter. We really appreciate your calling, your questions and your comments. We've discussed some of the challenges in terms of trade and the NAFTA encouragement of businesses to move out of Jamaica and other Caribbean nations. And you've begun to address some of the things you're trying to do like niche markets and banana buy products. What else is being attempted in the area of economic development given the limitations you face? Actually one of the areas that we've been very successful in which is why the lack of NAFTA parity has been hitting us so hard. Actually I'm sorry to have done that. We're going to continue. I want you to pick up on that point when we come back. We're coming up on 29 minutes after the hour. We're talking with two officials from the Jamaican Embassy on Jamaica and the Caribbean. Our discussion on PowerPoint continues when we come back.

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Public Radio and this is PowerPoint with Kenneth Walker. Welcome back. We're talking once again with Pamela Co. Camelton, the Deputy Chief of Mission with the Jamaican Embassy and O 'Neal Hamilton, who is the Director of the Embassy's Office of Information. You want to talk to them about Jamaica and the Caribbean. You can give us a call at 1 -800 -989 -8255. That's 1 -800 -989 -8255. You were saying before we took our break about some of the positive aspects or some of the attempts that Jamaica and other Caribbean nations are making to try to improve their economic situation. Thank you very much Kenneth. One of the areas that Jamaica has gone into and did very well in was the area of apparel manufacturing. It's always seen as one of the first stepping stones towards industrialization and movement away from primary commodities. And so what we did was we began to enter into under

the 807 program, which is a US sponsored program. We began to invest in a lot more apparel manufacturing companies in Jamaica, diversified our economic base substantially. In 1994, our largest earnings were 595 million US dollars just from that area alone. And as unfortunately since 1995, we began to see a slowdown and a downturn because of the lack of naftar parity and the lack of investment in that area because of the investment in Mexico. So that has hit us very hard. In addition to which we've also been going into non -traditional products, non -traditional agricultural products, such as sweet peppers, such as puries and going into manufacturing instead of just staying with primary commodities. We've continued of course with the primary commodities but we're seeking in every way to diversify. We're also going into services.

We've done a lot in tourism. We continue to do very well in tourism. Is that the dominant area of the economy? No, actually it's boxing. Tourism right now has, well, strict Jamaica. Has well -striped boxing at us because number one income earner right now. In fact, last year we exceeded one billion dollars revenue from this industry. And this is something that is a primary concern to the government in terms of building the sector, enhancing the sector, expanding the sector. And essentially looking at a product that will really be suited and structured to be very palatable to the American consumer for the most part. That continues to be our primary product staple in this respect. We are also moving to diversify in terms of the non -traditional markets. The Japanese have been coming

to Jamaica and droves. And they've been pretty excited about having a stick in the region outside of the United States. Where their traditional tourist interests were during the 1980s. Latin America as well. And also the Europeans, primarily French and the Germans, have also been increasing their patronage of our tourism product. So this is something that is within the whole context of areas that can be termed as concerning or troubling. A definite bright spark. Certainly the civil lining on that economic load, if you will. And something that really pertains to some positivity in the medium to long term. Great. Powerpoint's hotline is 1 -800 -989 -8255 -1889 -8255. We're going to go to the phones now and talk to Hugh and Philadelphia with Sister Station W -H -Y -Y.

Welcome to Powerpoint, Hugh. Hello, good evening. I got a question that I'd like to address to your panel tonight, Kent. Right ahead. And that relates to the leadership of Jamaica right now. It seems to be a lot of inflation on the island according to the figures that I have. Back in 1962, right before independence from Britain. It was $0 .80 American to purchase one Jamaican dollar. Now it's $0 .35 American dollar will buy you $0 .35 Jamaican dollar. So my question is, how's the leadership of the country enhanced or directed the current economic situation? It seems to be a lot of controversy over the current leadership, especially the PNP party. I was down there for seven days and I just got back and it seems to be some disagreement. As you tackle Hugh's question, try to weave in if you can.

Jamaica's actually had a pretty volatile political history. There were the years with Prime Minister Michael Manley. There seemed to have been at least from this side of the ocean and a lot of upheaval in turmoil. Address the Hugh's question about how leadership is implicated in both the prospects for success and in the previous challenges that Jamaica has undergone. Well, to answer Hugh's question, I certainly like to certainly turn to the very immediate past. In December 18th of last year, we had our general elections by all accounts, an extremely peaceful election. In fact, Jamaica, not unlike its Caribbean neighbours, has throat certainly the last half of this century. It has been a sterling and shining example of what an institutionalized democratic system really means. The two parties

system, which we have in Jamaica, essentially just like here, they are the parties but they are two dominant parties. Have always been at the center of the political process and that inherent competition has historically cracked rise or political system. The United States every year in its report certainly speaks a note in very glowing terms. The history of democracy that we have had in that region are a commitment to democracy. Obviously, there have been times when there have been conflict inside of the country. A lot of those, of course, had to do in some ways to the general geopolitical situation that was taking place in our hemisphere. In fact, in the world at that time. And the fact is that for the most part, though, and again, the Department of State in their annual studies will underline and on the squirtists that they have been extraordinarily pleased

with our accomplishment in this regard in terms of having representative democracy and really being serious about bringing our populace into the democratic process. But what impact has the current leadership realistically had on the economic situation? I mean, you mentioned earlier that because of the new economic union in Europe that that's had a negative effect in terms of the ability of Jamaica to increase and export. But Jamaica is a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations. So how has that had a positive impact or should it have a positive impact? Has that helped? Or is there no help from being a member of the Commonwealth of Nations? Well, first of all, I wanted to go back a little bit and just address the economic issues to a certain extent. I don't think it's fair to

attribute the economic situation that Jamaica finds itself in today to the PNP government today. I think some of the difficulties we've had came from as far back as the major oil crisis in the early 1970s when a lot of very vulnerable economies simply fell apart because of that situation. And it has been a hard road for most third world countries to recover from that. I also think that this government has done very well in maintaining the stability of the dollar over the last couple of years. We have actually revalued the dollar. It was actually 42 years ago, 40 to one, and it's now 35. We've actually also increased our national reserves for the first time in quite a lot of years. We have positive reserves. And I think that, yes, we're having our difficulties, but I also think that we're getting to the position where we're trying to ensure that economically we're moving ahead. And it takes time to be able to

recover, particularly when you're a small country. Q. I really want to thank you for your very informed participation and your questions and good luck to you. Thank you, Ken. We had a Jamaican American on the broadcast earlier. Jamaican sons and daughters who seem to come to America seem to do very well. Do you have Marcus Garvey's a shining example, Colin Powell? Why do you think that is? Well, for the most part, I think it just grows out of our history of essentially not being able to see boundaries and borders, our whole history as a people. And this, of course, has its attendant risks, as we have seen even said in this country, but our inability to be restrained or to be contained, and to essentially have a kind of capacity to go to uncharted

territory and really blaze trails, if you will. And so that I think that at the core of this Kenneth is a sense of a nation, of a group of people not wanting to be contained, not wanting to have boundaries put around them, but wanting instead to define themselves at all times as opposed to having other people define them. This, of course, also leads to the brain drain that you were talking about, this resistance to boundaries, and so how do you overcome that? What we have been doing, as I mentioned earlier, was the returning residence program. And what we've found is actually that a lot of Jamaicans born here have actually wanted to return to the United, to Jamaica. And so we've been trying to facilitate that process, and we have had a lot of professionals returning to Jamaica. It's been a difficult adjustment for some of them, but on the other hand, I think a lot of them have fit very well and have actually been able to contribute to our country. I think brain drain for most third world

countries will continue to be a difficult prospect, because if you look at the Indian continent as well, it's the same thing, because of the differences between the levels of development, but we are attempting to keep as many as we can. Our hotline number here is 1 -800 -989 -8255. It's 1 -800 -989 -8255. We're going to go to the phones now and talk with Walter in Baltimore with Sister Station W -E -A -A. Welcome to PowerPoint Walter. Peace to you, and to your guest, much love. I'd like to ask them a question similar to your ass call, and that is in the social conditions of your country. As we, in this country, non -white people face continued daily attack from white supremacy. I wonder if your guests, in particular, their people understand that they too are under attack. And any suggestions from

a World Bank or wherever it was to change their primary export items or whatever is a system of white supremacy control, and what are they doing in a sense of combating it and making it known to the world that they are going to resist it, and they're definitely not going to just buckle over. Well, also one other point I'd like for them to comment on, and that is their difference towards the African -American plight in this country when they do come as you suggested, and by the grace of God do produce, I'd say exceed a little more than Native Americans, non -white Americans, and I commend them for that. But overall, they still remain in a second rate status, however, they seem to look down on the Native African -American. Let's get our guest a chance to

comment on that Walter. I want to thank you so much for both of those questions. As you answer his first question about the issue of white supremacy, and especially as reflected in international monetary institutions, and trade, can you try to weave in a little of this colonial history and bring our listeners up to date in terms of how Jamaica came to be in terms of its colonization and sense independence and that? Well, Jamaica, of course, was an English colony. Not unlike the United States, Jamaica was papillated and built, and its structural economic unopinings put in place through the labor of African slaves. And so that history, which is a common history with African -Americans, is something that's not lost on us. Have there been instances where,

for instance, people who have the origins in the region, mid -statements are perhaps showing some insensitivity to African -Americans here in certain respects? I'm sure they have been such cases, but I've been encouraged talking to a number of friends here in the United States who have been here for a while, in fact, have grown up here, others who have come here over the last 10, 20 years. I have been very encouraged by their very conscious effort to fully appreciate and understand the African -American reality and to understand the basis of African -America as a people to understand the attendant difficulties that African -Americans face, and the ways in which this group is attempting to address these things. And, in fact, another feature that is taking place, and I think with very increasing frequency, is certainly the cooperative work being done, for example, in New York,

between West Indian groups, Jamaican groups, and African -American groups. The participation and the handshake and the cooperation is extraordinarily strong, and I'm very encouraged by the real lack of, I guess, that historic separatism that tended to have been there, and a new kind of union that really combines both efforts and really demonstrates that there's a full comprehensive understanding of what each other's problems are. Ms. Hamilton, perhaps you could take up Walter's other point, which is the International Trade and Monetary Organizations and the apparent insistence on maintaining European and Anglo -American control domination of the smaller non -white nation's economies. Thanks, Kenneth. Just for the

information, Jamaica last year ended its lending relationship with the IMF after 2021 years. We thought so. We were very happy with the movement. We continue to dialogue with IMF and to work with them on other issues. However, we cannot deny that the structural adjustment issue regime that was imposed for numerous years has had a debilitating effect on our health sector, or educational sector, or totals. Why do you think that is? Not only in Jamaica, but African -American, other Caribbean nations. These regimes imposed by the IMF and other international monetary institutions almost require you to take money out of health, out of education, out of infrastructure. What's going on here? Let's put it this way. When I once

spoke to a gentleman who worked with the IMF in the 70s, and this was in Germany at the time, he said that we spend too much money building roads and driving cars, and we should be riding bicycles. In essence, there's no point in educating your people when you're not economically viable, so if you take money out of education and health and the social services, and simply seek to balance the economy on paper irrespective of the social consequences, then that will make everything alright. That's one very interesting observation. One heck of an interesting comment. We're talking with Pamela Koch, Hamilton, Deputy Chief of Mission, Jamaican Embassy, and O 'Neill Hamilton, Director of the Embassy's Office of Information. Hotline is 1 -800 -989 -8255. Our discussion on Jamaica and the Caribbean will continue in a moment.

Still ahead on PowerPoint. She's one of America's most important intellectual voices, a controversial icon of the radical 1970s. Angela Davis joins us in our two of PowerPoint to talk about her new book, Blues Legacies and Black Feminism. Stay tuned. There's more PowerPoint just to hear. Welcome back. I'm Kenneth Walker. We're talking

about Jamaica, the Caribbean, the United States with the Pamela Koch, Hamilton, Deputy Chief of Mission, with the Jamaican Embassy and O 'Neill Hamilton, who is the Director of the Embassy's Office of Information. On the matter of the tourism industry for Jamaica, do you see new investment there or have just about all of the development opportunities been realized? Not at all, Kenneth. In fact, the government is moving fast and furiously to certainly increase and expand this sector. As I pointed out earlier, we have been seeking to move from the traditional base, which is, of course, our American patrons to Japan, South America and also to Europe, clearly into the former Eastern Europe. We also have been getting a remarkable portion of that market that has been coming to the Caribbean, so that's also very, very encouraging. We have also been expanding our

available rooms. We are no well over 20 ,000 rooms, and this is, of course, inclusive of all the resort cottages and villas and so on. As you, I'm sure, have seen and many Americans have, certainly those who have been viewers of CNN, we have been very aggressive about marketing our industry, particularly the all -inclusive aspects of our tourism product. Certainly something that people have very, very highly favored over the last, as if five to ten years, and the plaudits and the recognitions that we have gotten for that sector have been, essentially, speak for themselves. It's been a few years for me. I was in Ocho Rios. That's one of my all -time favorite vacations. I have to tell you. Jamaican and other carer combinations have encouraged the ending of sanctions against Cuba. Let's talk about that, and why you think that's important from

the Jamaican perspective that the sanctions against Cuba were lifted. Caricom and the particularly Prime Minister Paterson has made it clear that, in our view, if we're talking about globalization and if we're talking about regional integration, then it seems reasonable to suggest that since Cuba is 90 miles to the north of Jamaica, is actually nearer to us than the other English -speaking Caribbean islands. That we ought to be able to have economic trade with them. They're a part of the Caribbean region. You don't? We now do, but if we were to follow the Hemsburton Bill, which was introduced when was it year before last year, we would not, and we would be punished for doing so. We had great difficulty with extraterritorial nature of that legislation, and so did the EU, and so did Canada and Mexico. We believe that in the

same way that United States trades with China and has opened up trade with Vietnam and other communist countries that we should also be able to trade freely. Let me also add, Kenneth, that Canada's foreign minister, Mr. Foxworthy, was addressing the 50th anniversary of the organization of American states here in Washington about two weeks back. He was very explicit and unequivocal about his country's desire to see Cuba back in the family of nations in the hemisphere, spoke very eloquently about his country's perspectives on affecting change inside of Cuba, and he felt that that could unbeknown through constructive engagement. And there's also a realization on the part of many Americans, including the American Chamber of Commerce, that interaction with Cuba and engagement with Cuba is a must. The Europeans, particularly the French, the Germans and the Spanish are moving fast and furiously. Actually, if that's done, if sanctions are lifted,

that's going to pose some real challenges. Absolutely. I mean, both in terms of a destination for a tourist spot, commodity trading and competition, this is not going to be painless. We also believe it will present opportunities. It's the largest market in the Caribbean area. Let's try to get a few more quick calls in here in our declining moments. We're going to talk to Bob in Philadelphia with station WHY. Welcome to Powerpoint Bob. Hello. I have a couple questions. Please quickly. We know if there's free trade between the islands, and if the currency between the islands united, and another question was, how about encouraging immigration from other countries, meaning technical skilled people, like Australia is doing now and how the United States is done? And I'll go back to my car and listen. Thanks so much, Bob. Bye -bye. Right now, we do have a somewhat of a customs union. There are various levels of a common external tariff, which is set at 30 % for a caricom. So we do have general free trade. We do

have some things which have been kept out. But for the most part, we do have a customs union in caricom. We also, in terms of immigration, of encouraging immigration, of professionals and technicians and so on, part of the difficulty with that is also being able to pay the level of income that these people will expect. And that is part of our problem with the whole brain drain. We're talking about competing with developed economies and being able to pay the kind of money. Granted, we do have trade -offs, we have great beaches, and we have wonderful music, and we have great people. But we have to also look at the realities that come with that. And then there's an objective issue of creature comforts that most people expect from a first world country as against a third world country. And that, of course, acts as a magnet for people who essentially seek jobs in these countries, not to mention as well. And this, of course, is a relation to a point earlier

made by Pamela. Congress is, again, seeking to amend the Immigration Act to actually move the cap upwards to accommodate more Asian. Individuals with computer technical skills for primarily for Silicon Valley. And so there is that kind of objective reality that's going on, which competes with our own needs inside of these countries to service our industrial technical and commercial areas. It's a very, very competitive process. We want to try to get one last very quick question in from Regi in Atlanta. Regi, what's your question? Good evening. I'm kind of like bottom call. Very quick. I like to ask the panelists, if America was to service the model for economic or capitalistic structure, what would they like to take away from America? The good points. And what are the bad points that they say about how we do business that they wouldn't want to take away from? Thanks a lot, Regi. Actually, I'm sorry. You're not going to have time to answer that. O 'Neill Hamilton, Pamela Co.

Hamilton, thank you so much for talking about Jamaica. I'm Kenneth Walker. This is PowerPoint. Here's what's coming your way next week on PowerPoint. Patterns of marriage and family life are changing in both black and white communities. Next time on PowerPoint, the problems between black men and women. Then in our two, we'll talk with Gary Greenberg about the African roots of Judaism. All that in PowerPoint news with Werna Avery Brown. Join us right here on this public radio station. If you would like a tape or transcript of this or any past edition of PowerPoint or to make listener comments or program suggestions, please call PowerPoint toll free at 1 -888 -682 -6500. That's 1 -888 -682 -6500. PowerPoint is made possible by a grant from the

Corporation for Public Broadcasting's Radio Program Fund. This is PowerPoint, a production of Hicks and Associates. Angela Davis is best remembered as a beautifully afro defy re -intellectual radical political activist of the 1970s. Today, she's a professor at the University of California and the author of a book about the black feminist tradition of women blue singers, Marraini, Bessie Smith, and Billy Holiday. Angela Davis joins us in our two of PowerPoint. Stay tuned. ...

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