NEW YORK, USA — Former Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding has earned the backing of many within the Diaspora community here for what is being described as his “bold, factual and truthful position” on the souring relationship between Jamaica and America, two staunch allies.

Speaking in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania last week, Golding expressed hopes that “the United States will soften the tone of its relationship with Jamaica and rekindle the strong, decades-old bond between both nations which Jamaicans cherish.

Saying that current demands by Washington are “at odds with the very essence of true friendship”, he pointed to the many challenges facing the island as 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 former Jamaican leader, who stepped away in 2011 and handed over the reins to now Prime Minister Dr Andrew Holness, was addressing the annual Team Jamaica Bickle Independence Gala on Emancipation Day, August 1, 2026.

The gala celebrated Jamaica’s 64th anniversary of Independence and raised funds in support of Jamaican and other Caribbean athletes’ participation in the yearly Penn Relays in the US, a must-stop on the annual sports calendar for speedy Jamaican high school students.

Diaspora activist Irwine Clare Sr

Golding appeared to be voicing sentiments many Jamaicans in his US audience feel but could not express themselves. Some murmured among themselves that he must not fear losing his US visa.
Called to ask his view Sunday, Golding said he did not wish to trivialise the matter and he had said enough on the subject.

But reacting to the former prime minister’s assessment of the bilateral relations, Stafford Grant, founder and president of the US-based Jamaica Ex-Service Men and Women Foundation, said after the speech:
“Golding didn’t just give a speech, he gave Jamaica a masterclass in geopolitical survival. His address laid bare the brutal reality of being a small island nation caught in the cross hairs of superpower diplomacy.
“The former prime minister’s speech should serve as a profound wake-up call for every Jamaican. His vocal defence is more critical than ever, and I trust Jamaicans will understand that international diplomacy is shifting from collaborative negotiations to unilateral madness,” Grant declared.

Raymond Rhoden, a Florida-based retired adjunct professor, described Golding’s stance as “bold, principled, factual and diplomatic”, adding that he believes Jamaica needs to stand up and take a principled position on the current situation.

Irwine Clare Sr, co-founder of Team Jamaica Bickle, said the issues raised by the former head of government were “pungent, timely, and well articulated on behalf of the voiceless and those who have avoided the conversation due to fear of reprisal or just being downright spineless”.

Dr Rupert Francis

“This speech must also be placed in context, because clearly he [Golding] recognises the agonising situation that Caribbean leaders find themselves in, especially against the backdrop that they do not speak from a united perspective,” said Clare Sr.

In his address, which was punctuated by applause, Golding spoke of 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 arrangements between the US and a number of Caribbean countries, as examples of actions 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 at your head and insisting that you must be reasonable and do things their way is not friendship,” Golding suggested.

“The United States has put us under severe stress, and that’s not what friends are for,” he said, pointing to the damage the Jamaican economy could suffer should Jamaica stand up and try to fight back.

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

Noting that Brazil is large and provides a US$57-billion market for American exports, Golding warned that little Jamaica is not in that league, struggling to find markets for its own goods.

“With the US market accounting for half our total exports, if our exports to the US market were slapped with a 50 per cent tariff our manufacturing sector would fall apart and thousands of persons would lose their jobs,” said Golding.

Agreeing with Golding, Dr Rupert Francis, who heads the Jamaica Diaspora Task Force on Crime Intervention and Prevention, argued that “we need to get back to the more amiable friendship we had with the United States for many years”.

University lecturer Dr Allan Cunningham said Golding’s speech focused on what he describes as the “hypocrisy of the rules-based order”, noting that “the speech acts as a call for regional realism — that without a unified foreign policy Caribbean states remain vulnerable to US cowboy diplomacy”.

Stafford Grant

Dr Allan Cunningham