Jamaican culture is under threat, and if we are being honest, has been under threat of extinction. Our culture, one of community, music and art rooted in Africa, food, and everything else that makes a culture, is under threat of being replaced by the culture from our northern neighbour. A person who was an adult in the 70s, if they were to take a time machine and come to 2026, would find the culture alien to them and struggle to understand how a country that was once so proud of its identity and was willing to showcase It, now gladly puts it aside for a foreign culture alien to how we have operated.
We used to have a culture built around community, community child rearing, community farming, community cooking, etc. That sense of community was needed coming out of slavery, when the black masses had nothing and therefore had to come together to better survive. This culture stayed with us and was visible all the way to the 1980s, but it has now given way to the domination of US culture, in large part to TV, movies, and now the internet. This brings with it the cult of materialism (the want and lust for material goods) as well as the culture of individualism, which puts the individual before the collective.
This change can be seen in many ways, such as how we interact with people, the levels and types of crimes committed, and even in how the state interacts with its people. But one way this loss of community, and everything that it entails, can be seen is the breakdown of CARICOM and the divide-and-rule strategy which has been invoked to do this.
The clearest evidence of this divide and rule can be seen with the behaviour of Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana, 2 countries which have seen not only an embrace of the US but a corresponding shunning of CARICOM. In letters sent out, we see these 2 countries either not signing or openly condemning the statements. We see them running counter to CARICOM as a zone of peace by openly calling for US military installations.
These countries are acting as wedges, dividers and openly calling for the shake-up of the region to go against what CARICOM and the Caribbean leaders have previously agreed on. The divide and rule has got so bad that we now see US troops openly in Guyana, possibly at the Venezuelan border, in what can only be called a needless escalation, as both countries argue over the Essequibo region.
As a person who has Indian family members, it does not stop me from being honest about the situation in those two countries. A big reason why the divide and rule tactics have been so successful so quickly in Guyana and Trinidad is because of the ethno-politics which takes place. We see at the top the same racist brahmins that we see in the US and UK conservative and republican parties. These racists have no truck for CARICOM, as in their eyes it would dilute the Indian majority they currently enjoy. Until and unless this is addressed, these two countries, more than any, will be the outliers always susceptible to breakaway, especially with their industrial capacity and oil wealth.
Not to be outdone, Jamaica is welcoming the USS Nimitz as the US Southern Command allegedly draws up plans for a potential attack on Cuba. The arrival of the Nimitz signals the end of any talk we have about an independent foreign policy, as this visit by the Nimitz at this time can only be interpreted as the US making sure that countries in the region are on board, or at the very least silent on the potential for US aggression against Cuba.
The meetings with politicians, military and civic leaders all signal that the US intends to get its ducks in a row as it did with Venezuela when ships visited Guyana and Trinidad, and politicians, along with the local military, were engaged in a series of conversations which still largely remain private. This follows fast on the heels of Jamaica terminating its medical agreement with Cuba and a half-hearted defence of Cuba where the PM left the door open to “democracy”, read regime change, happening in Cuba. People are rightly worried about this visit and are scared that the country that stood firm and allowed Cuban troops to transit to Angola to liberate it from the apartheid regime is now, in a backdoor way, allowing military aggression against that same country.
People who are worried are not naive to what the US can do; anyone familiar with our history knows full well that the US can strangle us without batting an eyelid, but that is no reason for not having a spine. This could and should have been handled with a strong and united condemnation from CARICOM, but the divide-and-rule is succeeding here, and as such, we will not be getting that condemnation.
Certain things should be non-negotiable. Who our friends are, what our culture is, who we trade with, etc should all be in that realm but currently are not. On a national level, at a foreign policy level, and at the regional level we seem to be buckling to outside influences. As the world lurches from a unipolar one to a multipolar one it is a mistake to give up our culture and our friends. We are a region forged in slavery and colonialism, we have more that binds us than divides us and it is time we stand firm and defend it. No to individualism, no to materialism, and no to US aggression against Cuba. Yes to regionalism – that should be our guiding mantra!
