Dear Editor,
I HAVE long argued that COVID-19 is much more than a pandemic; much more than a matter of health. COVID-19, along with its deadly arm, also has a social component; a psychological component; an economic component. It is in the context of the latter that one needs to analyse Prime Minister Mia Motley’s unfortunate, untimely and prejudicial recent comments.

CARICOM has 15 member states. For the purpose of this analysis, the five associate member states are irrelevant. All of the 15 member states have small economies. Of these 15 member states, only two are blessed with an abundance of natural resources: Namely Guyana and Trinidad. Of these 15 member states, 10 depend on tourism from Western societies. The main source of income of 10 is tourism. This represents nearly 70% of the CARICOM member states dependent on tourism. Without tourism, the vast majority of the CARICOM member states’ economies will collapse. This was very much evident in the 2007-2009 Great Recession. Many of these small CARICOM tourist-dependent economies sustained a massive financial hit. Many are still on economic walking aids as a result of this crash.

Then, in 2020, these very economies were hit by the global pandemic, COVID-19. With this pandemic, air travel is virtually at a standstill for months. As a result, these struggling economies are now visited with another economic killer punch, at a point when they are most vulnerable: Recession! And even when the airports are reopened, air travel will be sluggish for an indefinite period. This is likely to be the case for at least until the end of 2020. This must be dire for these countries and small islands.

It is without doubt that our oil discovery has caught the attention of the West. It is without doubt that the development of the West economies was as a result of economic exploitation of the natural resources of Third World countries. “How Europe underdeveloped Africa,” by Dr. Walter Rodney, a must read. It is without doubt that the West wants regime change in Guyana. In the PPP/C, the West knows that they have an extensive dossier on the leaders. It is a known fact that Guyana was reduced to a narco-state. The criminal fingerprints of many of the PPP’s leaders are all over this dark period in Guyana’s painful history. The West knows that if PPP regains power, with their assistance, then they can use this as leverage to control our oil. The West knows that they do not have such leverage over the APNU+AFC, hence they desperately need them out. Self-interest personified. It was obvious that the West was at the forefront of the attempted regime change in Guyana. They employed the threat of sanctions to intimidate the APNU+AFC leaders. They spoke of democracy and all manner of euphemisms to hide their true intent. They placed all their bets on the PPP. All their attempts backfired subsequent to the recount. As a result, their credibility came into question for supporting the fraudulent horse in the PPP. Despite this embarrassment, they refused to give up. They seriously cannot allow Guyana to use her oil for her development. It is this predicament that birthed an engagement with CARICOM. Nearly 70% of the CARICOM economies will require economic assistance from the West.

Barbados included. Mia Motley gained all 18 seats in the last Barbados General Election on the back of an economy which was very much close to recession. The only way out of this economic abyss is financial assistance from the West, since their economic-sustaining tourists are not coming any time soon.

Self-preservation over CARICOM preservation. No longer our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. Insularity destroyed West Indies cricket and will soon destroy our CARICOM. Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Our foreparents must be turning in their graves. I am reduced to tears.
Regards,
Dr. Mark Devonish