Wednesday, July 1, 2009

The Americas are collapsing particularly CARICOM and the Caribbean island governments.

Caribbean map



THE AMERICAS ARE COLLAPSING POLITICALLY, AND THE USA IS HELPLESS!

The closest turbulent historical parallel to what is happening in the American Continent, is the period in Europe and particularly Germany, between the two world wars.
The CARICOM countries are collapsing financially and politically. The governments of Caricom countries can no longer support themselves from revenues. Admittedly the real problem is one of cost, population and organization. A new paradigm of governing, using de-centralization is probably one answer to the local problems within Belize? We also need a lot of volunteer work in offering local government public services. The example I’m thinking of is; Massachusetts and Vermont in New England of the USA.
Into this turmoil has moved Emperor Chavez of Venezuela, backed by his productive oil wealth, with his ALBA TRADE BLOCK. Since there is no observable trade, for the ALBA GROUP, the European parallel between the World Wars with the Stalinist International Front and Communist party, country penetrations is similar; to the point it is almost copy cat politics of that period of European turmoil. The ALBA TRADE GROUP seems nothing more than an Empire building political action methodology, to bring countries of the Americas into the sphere of control of Emperor Chavez expansionist plans of Empire building for International politics. ALBA therefore despite the rhetoric is a FRONT ORGANIZATION an empty shell, despite the rhetoric coming out of Venezuela. We must deal with facts, not propaganda bombast.
Ideologically the difference between G7 countries and Emperor Chavez is quite different. The clearest example we have in the Caribbean is the prison island of Cuban slavery, where the individual owns nothing, is allowed no control of their individual lives, cannot accumulate wealth , or travel freely as tourists, and are possessions of a TYRANT and political system of slavery.
The methodology can be seen this past week in Honduras, where protesters for Honduras freedoms are peacefully demonstrating using signs, declaring for a country for Hondurans and not for Venezuela and ALBA, while competing counter demonstrations formented by agitators from Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela paymasters; causing counter demonstrations and using violence and breaking up stores and automobiles in the streets. As a tactic of the old discredited Communist International these divisive actions still work 70 years later on new generations, who do not study this part of European and Russian history. This is an old idealogical war being repeated.
Even so, with the failure of the USA and in particular the example of the huge state of CALIFORNIA in bankruptcy, unable to support their own government and bureaucratic services, the people in Central America and CARICOM island countries can only realize that there must be a paradigm shift in the way we govern our countries. Self suffiency is possible for all Central American countries. How to do it is the debate and function of government policy. In Caricom this is not so.
Confusing the issue is the struggle among the G 20 and the G7 group to control the world economy. The BILDEBERG GROUP annual meetings, the alternative web sites are saying; are forecasting a die off in world population by planned disease and starvation, reducing the human population by about 2 billion people. The wilder web sites say the Flu Pandemic is a laboratory designed genetic virus to do this. That the economic contraction and financial difficulties will be used to starve two billion people worldwide. Out of this will come the new World Order with the United Nations printing an international currency.
In the third world of Central America and the Caribbean, we do not know what to believe anymore, other than the USA and the Europeans do not care about third world countries, other than as markets for their value added products and our being a source of basic commodities and want to keep it that way. The rise of China and India and S.E. Asia aspirations for a higher standard of living is changing the world landscape. The demand for oil is rising and the number of countries building economies based on oil products is rising also.
In the Caribbean, and CARICOM; islands like Antigua and Barbados, are overcrowded and they are deporting fellow CARICOM county illegals they say on Caribbean Newsline. There is to be an urgent meeting shortly to deal with CARICOM about free labor and movement and decide this issue once and for all. So they say, but CARICOM is essentially falling apart as a one country idea. Behind the urgency is the need to pay for individual local sovereign governments, with educated salaried types and politicians holding their hands out and looking for get rich quick opportunities. They do not want a change in the status quo, securing them upper middle class incomes in their societies. Unfortunately, like a Hurricane, or Tsunami, the world is changing and the CARIBBEAN countries as non-productive island states, have nothing else to offer and the brain drain and migration of their growing excess populations must continue.
In Belize, we are building a new nation and currently blessed with land in excess of our population, making us relatively wealthy as a country. Our problem is primarily the cost and organization of government. Our 5000 new higher educated graduates this year in Belize are a source of wealth for our pioneering growth. Even so, we are going to lose a lot of them to migration off shore, those that are not entrepreneur orientated, or of tough pioneer stock, willing to deal with the challenges. Those that leave I can only share a long life of observation. Get a USA nurses degree. Employment for certified nurses has always been good for over a 100 years and the salaries are great and the mobility offered wonderful for around the world travel. There has always been a shortage of registered certified nurses, male or female.
The problems in Belize were created by Said Musa and Ralph Fonseca when he put our country into deep national debt, some 11 years ago. While some of this was corrected by the austerity 5 years of governing in their last five year term, the incoming UDP Barrow government compounded the economic situation with a $200 million dollar borrowing spree this past year and continue to do so with continued borrowing in lieu of innovative leadership capabilities. Attempting to maintain the status quo. This is impossible as any Hurricane will teach you. Essentially we are a wealthy country potentially for our population and land assets, but we need to get the new paradigm shift in governing, better organized and planned out. We cannot normally afford what we have, like California. No matter the resistance by entrenched bureaucrats and political parties, the immediate future needs us as a people, to restructure everything in how we govern. The economy will look after itself, if we can figure out how to deal with the size, operation of government services and cost of same. We need a new paradigm and the OLD GUARD realize this, but their comfort zone is locked up in this old model we use. We need to become lean and mean like the private sector does, when money runs out.
Economically the immediate future belongs to the development of export cottage size businesses. How to do this is the function of BELIZE CABINET policy. An example would be enhancing the importation of Holstein milk cows for increased production of milk, for which there is a shortage in our country and this in turn cramps the export potential for example, of cheese exportation entrepreneurship. A value added product industry we can use. There are many similar examples that require imaginative cabinet policy answers. Tax breaks maybe? Subsidies? Free land?
On the good side, the news is we have $180 million in foreign reserves, the highest in the last four years and this can if necessary, handle at least one hurricane strike, should we be so unlucky this season of 2009. If we have no hurricane it would be marvelous if we could double the foreign reserves in another year.

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