Home Letters Maybe it is time for our Caribbean leaders to revisit the formation...
Dear Editor,
The movement to form a Federation of Caribbean states started in the 1950s, and had a very short-lived existence (1958-1962), due to various factors and perceptions that existed in that particular turbulent period of our collective history.
Our present-day reality has gone through so many fundamental political and economic changes that the objective conditions may now be more conducive for our Caribbean leaders to have a fair chance of forming a successful West Indian Federation, which has eluded our past leaders.
The objective factors that presently exist are:
1) The ideological differences that existed in the 1950s due to the Cold War are no longer around. All the Caribbean states basically subscribe to a form of liberal democracy, and practise the holding of regular national elections, adhering to the rule of law and the separation of powers of the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary.
2) The fear of ethnic groups being subsumed in the collective Caribbean population no longer poses a threat, as was exemplified in the recent attempts by the PNC to rig the 2000 national elections. It was the likes of Caribbean leaders like the Hon Mia Mottley, PM Rowley & Gonsalves, with a host of Caribbean observers from Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados etc. that called out the riggers. Race did not factor in their collective condemnation of the rigging, but the idea of fairness, justice and equality governed their thinking.
3) The recent pandemic with the inequities of acquiring vaccines has shown us in the Caribbean that we have to collectively look out for ourselves. The more we act as a unified body, the better would be our chances of a speedy economic recovery. Insularity and protectionism have no relevance in our global reality.
4) Our present crop of Caribbean leaders, especially the big four of Madame Mia Mottley, President Ali, PM Keith Rowley and PM Andrew Holness, are dynamic individuals, and, for the past year or two, have demonstrated a propensity to act together on issues. They are results-oriented leaders, and can be the springboard for the launching of the West Indian Federation.
I am quintessentially a Caribbean man, and it has always been a dream to see a unified Caribbean.
Yours sincerely,
Reggie Bhagwandin
