If the unwritten rule of patronage between Caribbean countries was observed, Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Jack Warner would not have had cause to state the call for regional patronage as plainly as they did.

I have no problem with any leader being blunt publicly or privately. I think people are being too thin-skinned. What is wrong with saying that aid money given to affected neighbour countries should be spent on goods and services generated by the Caribbean Community—in this case, member nation Trinidad and Tobago?

Is it that T&T and the rest of the Caribbean should remain Third World so that Europe, Australia, the US and Asia could feed off our combined wealth because some Caribbean neighbours love patronising First World countries? Caribbean territories must stop playing games when it comes to regional development and patronage. The entire Caribbean is in competition with world global markets, which are dominated by First World countries that patronise each other in ways Caribbean countries struggle to rationalise.

For this reason the Caribbean Community struggles to command a respectable share of global commerce.

All Caribbean territories are in need of foreign exchange. Therefore, what sense does it make for one or more Caribbean territories in need of foreign exchange to hand over wealth to other territories which, in turn, ship said wealth out to competing nations?

Caribbean countries should explore every means possible to keep wealth generated in the Caribbean circulating in the Caribbean. Such wealth, in the mind of the Prime Minister, naturally includes Caribbean aid issued to Caribbean partner nations. That is the logic behind her statement. Why does that have to be spelt out to people who should have the ability to think abstractly?

DeMarco Concillac

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