Keeping your head down

The issue pertaining to Wayne Chen’s visa cancellation, has the higher elements of Jamaica’s social order in a paroxysm of frenzy and fear. The embarrassment quotient seems too much to bear. The US visa is worn more often than not as a badge of honour and for that badge to be removed reduces Jamaica’s finest to no better than the unkempt hoards.

Chen’s hapless misfortune could have been handled better. He was quick to respond making it very clear that he has never been involved in any nefarious activity and that he is a citizen of impeccable character and that the state has furnished him with plum appointments. He even embroiled his wife in this affair and intimated that he would strenuously be requesting answers from the US authorities.

Then the government was dragged into a private matter and was forced to respond in some measure.

The issuing of visas is not a right but a privilege and it can be withdrawn at anytime without an explanation. Chen should know this. Better to deal with this matter behind the scenes while putting a brave face on it. By dragging the government into this it has exacerbated growing tensions between the two countries.

Chen is a well-educated man, a leading business personality who is a dear friend to the current administration. His good character has never been besmirched in any way and he should exhibit resolve in that knowledge. He should not have to declare his antecedents and accomplishments. His visa cancellation could well be a case of a mix up, a misunderstanding and should be handled with minimum fuss. Who knows? There may be another Wayne Christopher Chen out there, a man who has come under the US authorities’ attention.

There are those who say there must be something untoward about this and that the United States would not simply cancel his visa inexplicably. The fact is the United States does not want Wayne Chen in its country and does not feel compelled to give an explanation. Furthermore it would set a dangerous precedent if every time it decided not to grant a visa or cancel one for that matter, it felt it had to issue detailed explanations as to its actions.

The Chen situation also highlights another disturbing matter — Jamaicans, especifically the upper orders place more value on US entry documentation than they do their own and this is a cause for concern. When a foreign passport or visa has more cache than your very own it is an indictment on how you regard your country. Those who can opt to have their children educated abroad, seek health care in foreign climes and desire residency in other countries do so more often than not because they place little value in their own country and tacitly acknowledge it as a failure. It is important that the more gifted and able play their part in building their country and defining its place in the world and not look with covetous eyes to other nations.

Irritating the big dog in the backyard

The debate on the extradition of Christopher Coke has gone into high gear and puts Jamaica squarely at odds with the United States. Some say why hold the country to ransom over one man who in effect is deemed undesirous. Others are of the view that a citizen’s rights must be defended at all cost and that the laws of Jamaica must be upheld and so to its constitution. But in the world of real politic the Prime Minister’s intransigence may well have dire consequences. Already reports are coming in thick and fast condemning the country’s levels of corruption. Only this year, the country received much needed help from the IMF and other multi-lateral agencies. More often than not Jamaica is holding its hand out for all sorts of aid and counts on the largesse of others to get by. So what do these benefactors expect in return for such benevolence and magnanimity? A country where the rule of law prevails and the rights of the citizen are upheld. A country where the economy is well managed. A country where corruption does not form a cancer in the organs of government. A country where its government places the well being of its people at the forefront of its duties. It is something when a poor man accepts your charity then spits in your face. Jamaica cannot afford to be perceived as a vile corrupt country. This scares away necessary investment and makes Jamaica a pariah in the international community. Jamaica cannot allow itself to be deemed a rouge state. Such stigma would send it into an abyss beyond recovery.

Obama will look to bring Jamaica to heel. Last week saw Israel thumbing its nose at the United States and the Obama administration does not want to be perceived as weak and lily-livered on the international stage. The United States is patently aware of the influence of both Venezuela and Cuba in the region and the annoyance that is Jamaica will be dealt with – that you can count on.

Golding cannot allow Jamaica to become a gangster’s paradise yet at the same time he is right in declaring that the rights of Jamaican citizens must be upheld regardless of the dictates of foreign powers. However he would be wise on this one to put the matter before the courts and seek the support of other countries on this one. Sure Jamaica is “little but tallawah” but let’s not forget that the United States is the world’s pre-eminent power capable of making life difficult for the Little Rock. Jamaica cannot allow it to be said that it is a country dictated to and run by gangsters and dons whose power supersedes that of elected governments.

Lynching Lynch

Why hasn’t the government or the Prime Minister for that matter issued a statement on the American Airlines affair as it relates to the Minister of Tourism and the Director of the Jamaica Tourist Board? With the Contractor-General like a dog with a bone, this matter should be on its way to some sort of conclusion. Both Bartlett and Lynch made a move to get more airlift into the country at a time when a dramatic fall in tourist arrivals did not bare thinking about. With Air Jamaica on its way out, their move was timely. With the country, already struggling with a revenue shortfall, one of its leading foreign exchange earners taking a major hit would place the government in an even greater pickle. In Parliament, the Prime Minister vigourously defended the rights of the infamous Mr Coke in a most forthright manner yet continues to remain mum on backing Bartlett and Lynch. Funny that! Until.