Dear Editor,

Barack Obama’s recent visit to Jamaica was indeed significant. It is not frequent that a small island like Jamaica is able to host the world’s most powerful man. Now that the fanfare has ended, it is time to evaluate the usefulness of his visit.

The fact that the prime minister used her audience with the president to discuss the IMF programme is not surprising. During his stay he announced a multimillion-dollar youth initiative for Latin America and the Caribbean and an energy partnership was also signed between Jamaica and America. Both programmes will be grossly beneficial. However, the reality is that, within such a short time span, very little of substance could be achieved. But, as usual, overexuberant Jamaicans could not temper their expectations. Even people, we would think should know better were lobbying for bilateral investment commitments and other elaborate schemes.

But we missed an opportunity to make his visit more substantial. The disease of myopia not only afflicts this Administration, but members of the intelligentsia and the wider public in general. Too many people were expecting largesse, while deluded individuals expected the president to comment on issues relating to the CIA’s involvement in Jamaica in the 70s.

However, nothing was more disturbing than the question posed to the president by the leader of UWI’s Students’ Union. President Davianne Tucker asked Obama about the possibility of debt cancellation. The question did not specify debt owed by Jamaica to America, therefore the impression was given that if America cancelled its portion of the debt, we would be spared. This is not true, Jamaica owes internal creditors over a trillion dollars. Therefore, if America cancelled its portion of the debt our financial position would still be bad. Furthermore, China is a larger creditor to Jamaica than the US.

Notwithstanding the fallacy of such a thought, it is being said that Tucker’s question is quite profound. This just shows that in Jamaica ignorance is really bliss. Jamaica has produced many brilliant individuals. But based on the reaction to the coming of Obama, collectively its citizens are still juvenile in their thinking.

A big-picture pursuit would be to make a case for a trade mission in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley is the world’s most famous tech hub and, as a result, over the years a number of countries have established their missions in this innovative hotspot. That is where our minds should be. Work and worth, not begging and expecting handouts.

Lipton Matthews

lo_matthews@yahoo.com