Dear Editor,

Ever since I have been able to read — and I have been doing so for a long time — the world has been conditioned to accept and parrot that the United States of America is the seat of democracy. In keeping with that philosophy, that country has, over the years, assumed and executed the role of world police, challenging and sanctioning countries and individuals it thinks are against democracy. While doing so, however, it has paid little or no regard for the human rights of certain sections of its own population.

The events of Wednesday, January 6, 2021 have exposed the United States of America as a country that is no better than some of those it berates with regularity.

There is no need to describe its president as everyone knows who and what he really is. The sad thing is that he is supported by over 70 million of his fellow citizens who took the trouble to vote. That is one-fifth of the general population. That speaks volumes of the folks to our north. Some of us have friends and relatives there, so we have need to be concerned.

I wish to urge the immigration authorities in the Caricom region to do exactly what the United States of America would have done if what happened in Washington last Wednesday had happened in a Caricom territory. At least, there would have been sanctions of some sort. So, we can start with the sanction of banning from the shores of all Caricom countries some of the individuals who facilitated last Wednesday’s occurrences. I know some people may say that will mean nothing, but it would be a way for Caricom to show its disapproval of a coup.

I suggest three names to start with: Congressman Paul Gosar of Arizona, and senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley. We really do not need people like them to visit our countries. In my view, they are a serious threat to the security of the region.

Seymour Pantonsrp@cwjamaica.com