FORMER Prime Minister Bruce Golding on Saturday night expressed hope that the United States would soften the tone of its relationship with Jamaica and rekindle the strong, decades-old bond of ties between both nations as current demands made by Washington are at odds with the very essence of true friendship.

Golding delivered the message in an address to the Jamaica 64th Independence Gala staged by Team Jamaica Bickle in Philadelphia, during which he juxtaposed impressive economic and social gains in the island over the past few years with what he described as “an even more pressing and unnecessary challenge at this time” created by a global order that has “become topsy-turvy”.

“How we live, how we govern ourselves, how we progress is determined, to a great extent, by the environment in which we live and how we are able to operate within that environment. That environment has always been challenging, testing our mettle and fortitude. We went through 45 years of the Cold War when we became the bully beef in the sandwich that the two superpowers were fighting over, but I have never witnessed anything like what we are facing now,” said Golding, who served as Jamaica’s eighth prime minister from September 2007 to October 2011.

He argued that established rules are being discarded and “new rules are being handed down, not after discussions and negotiations, but unilaterally by social media postings at 2:30 in the morning when most of us are asleep”.

“The long discredited Monroe doctrine has been reincarnated. New tariffs were imposed last year on our exports to America, although America enjoys a huge trade surplus with us. What we export to the United States is less than a quarter of what we import from them,” Golding stated.

He pointed to the discontinuation of the Cuban medical mission programme, America’s fierce opposition to China’s investments in Jamaica, and the highly controversial third-country nationals arrangement between the US and a number of Caribbean countries as examples of action that run counter to harmonious relations.

“True friends don’t abuse your friendship; they don’t make unreasonable demands of you; they should be there to help you. Holding a gun to our head and insisting that we must be reasonable and do things your way is not friendship. The United States has put us under severe stress — that’s not what friends are for,” Golding told his audience.

“There are many at home and abroad who are outraged at what is taking place, who are incensed at the bullying being meted out to us, who are angry that we have not pushed back, that we haven’t stood up like President [Luiz Inacio] Lula [da Silva] who declared that ‘Brazil’s destiny is for Brazilians alone to determine — without foreign interference or subservience,’ ” Golding said.

“But we must pause for a moment to understand who we are and the pickle we are in. Brazil is a large country and provides a US$57-billion market for American exports. We are not in that league. We struggle to find markets for our goods. The US market accounts for a half of our total exports. If our exports to the US were slapped with a 50 per cent tariff, our manufacturing sector would fall apart and thousands of persons would lose their jobs,” Golding pointed out.

“An airline ticket from Philadelphia to Montego Bay attracts federal taxes of around US$65. Bear in mind that the US accounts for 70 per cent of the tourists who come to Jamaica. If that ticket were slapped with an additional tax of US$200, do you understand what that would do to our tourism industry that is so vital to our economy?” Golding posited.

Pointing out that remittances from the US to Jamaica amounted to more than US$2.6 billion last year, he said that since January this year a one per cent federal tax was imposed on such remittances.

“What if the tax on remittances to Jamaica were increased to 25 per cent or disallowed altogether as a form of punishment? We don’t have to pause to wonder what that would mean to thousands of families that cannot survive without it,” the former head of Government argued.

“Our correspondent bank arrangements are tied to the US financial system. That’s what facilitates transactions between Jamaica and the rest of the world. What if those arrangements were cut off? Our economy would be literally paralysed,” he added.

“What if companies that want to do business with us were told that they would be penalised if they did so? What would that do to our investment flows?

“Scores of people gather at the US Embassy every day hoping to obtain a visa so they can visit their family members in the US or seek better opportunities here. What if the US were to restrict the granting of visas to Jamaicans, as has been done to countries like Sierra Leone and Haiti?” he asked.

Jamaica, he argued, is not alone, as all Caribbean countries are at risk and are extremely vulnerable.

“If our governments say or do anything that the White House finds displeasing, punishment will be meted out to us as sure as night follows day. Tariffs have become the weapon of choice and retribution a foreign policy tool. Canada was recently threatened with a 50 per cent tariff because smoke from wildfires there had drifted into America,” Golding pointed out.

“So when Caribbean governments adopt a measured, cautious approach in dealing with America’s bullying tactics, it is because they understand the pickle we are in. Make a wrong move, defiantly defend the Cuban assistance programmes and our partnership with China and they pay the price. They understand how careful they have to be when their hand is in the mouth of an angry lion,” he argued.

“Some of us, in the national interest, have to be restrained in what they say; others of us, in the national interest, have to say what needs to be said, and I will continue to voice my concerns as to how America’s dictates affect Jamaica and impair the hopes and aspirations of our people. Putting America first should not mean putting Jamaica in jeopardy,” Golding insisted.

“I cautiously cling to the hope that this will pass, that the hemisphere will once again be a neighbourhood of peace, mutual understanding, and respect, where true friendship prevails, where all of its people can pursue their own destiny with dignity and purpose, and where we can look upon America as a friend indeed,” the former prime minister said before ending his address with hope for divine favour for Jamaica and the US: “God bless all of you as you continue to make us proud and keep the black, green and gold flying. God bless the United States of America, which, if it is so minded, can hold hands with us in a spirit of true friendship. God bless the land we love — Jamaica — and guide us with His mighty hand through these troubling times.”

See full text of former Prime Minister Golding’s address online at jamaicaobserver.com