Robert Buddan/ColumnistDOHA IS the capital of Qatar. Qatar is a Moslem country with an 'illiberal democracy', if it has a democracy at all. It does not permit demonstrations just so. The World Trade Organisation (WTO) moved its Ministerial Conference to Doha in 2001 (hence the DOHA Round) because previous meetings in Seattle and Cancun were broken up by anti-globalisation demonstrators. The WTO wanted a safe, undemocratic haven out of reach of protesters who see it as a rich man's club quick to open up the markets of the developing countries but slow to remove protective barriers in the developed ones. The Doha meetings proceeded peacefully.
Jamaica is not like Qatar. It is a democracy with a long history of protests. The Government of Jamaica hosted two international meetings in late August and early September. The first was a meeting of energy ministers from the Caribbean to discuss the PetroCaribe Initiative. The second was a meeting of Caribbean government leaders to sign this initiative. The Opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) planned a protest against rising cost of living that coincided with the meeting of September 6. The Government allowed the protest to be held.
Unlike the rich man's club, the PetroCaribe group is something of a 'poor man's club'. Its signatories are all developing countries like Haiti, Cuba, Guyana, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic. Rich and powerful countries like the United States oppose it.
THE IRONY OF PROTESTS
The irony of the JLP's protest is that it has never directed one on behalf of the thousands of sugar and banana workers subject to WTO decisions that threaten their industries, livelihoods, and parish economies. The JLP prefers to narrowly and conveniently blame national institutions like the Sugar Corporation of Jamaica, the Jamaica Public Service, and the Government of Jamaica, and its solution is to 'fire them'. How would that change oil prices and global trading rules?
The other irony of the JLP's protest is that it was held to embarrass the governing party at the time of the PetroCaribe Summit. Yet, it is this party that has cultivated the relations with Venezuela since the 1970s that now make Jamaica the leading beneficiary of PetroCaribe in CARICOM. Jamaica's membership was important enough for Venezuela to agree to host this first Summit in Montego Bay. Jamaica was the first CARICOM signatory to PetroCaribe and Jamaica's minister with responsible for energy, Phillip Paulwell, was elected vice-president of the governing council.
In contrast, The JLP has been ambiguous at best about CARICOM and Caribbean-Latin American integration, and has more often than not, been unhelpful over relations with countries like Haiti, Cuba, and Chavez's Venezuela. Yet, PetroCaribe is the best Latin American-Caribbean cooperation agreement yet achieved being the only initiative available to countries like Jamaica to buy oil more cheaply, save foreign exchange, obtain investments in the energy sector, secure loans for social and economic development, and get markets for trade in other products.
It was an ironic time for the JLP to have staged its protests. We learned that because of PetroCaribe, Jamaica could save J$5 billion this year, and J$10 billion a year at current oil prices. Jamaica's oil bill doubled between 2001 and 2004, and might jump to US$1.2 billion this year. This would cost us almost as much as we get from remittances or earn from tourism or bauxite.
BEING CONSTRUCTIVE
A week after the protests we also learned that because of the Bolivarian Alternative the first group of 23 Jamaicans had returned from Cuba after receiving free eye operations restoring the sight of some. Another group is to leave shortly. PetroCaribe and the Bolivarian Alternative continue to prove that they are vital for less developed countries and for poorer people. The JLP's protest, deliberately planned on the occasion of the PetroCaribe Summit, was, therefore, insensitive, to say the least.
The JLP could spend its time joining lobbies to get the oil marketing multinationals that are making whirlwind profits to reduce their margins like the French are doing. It could support the British government's call for OPEC countries to step up oil production so that prices can go down.
The JLP could join Cuba and the Dominican Republic, countries that have been plagued by frequent blackouts, to produce energy saving plans. Cuba has even called on Venezuela to help to improve power plants and electricity supply in the region, as Grenada wants. They could ask that Trinidad join PetroCaribe as a partner in many of the projects that have been initiated by Venezuela.
Mr. Golding has only offered threats of more demonstrations and raised the bogus scare of a revolt if government increases the tax on gas, something the Government already resisted when making up this year's budget. He has only tried to turn a global crisis to national political advantage. Organising a protest on the eve of the People's National Party (PNP) annual conference and on the occasion of the PetroCaribe Summit was clearly political. To have disrupted the start of the new school year and national life shows how far the JLP will go.
ENERGY PARTNERSHIP
Mr. Golding and his party should join the Government in an energy partnership. The JLP should declare its support for PetroCaribe so that should it form the next Government we will know that the benefits will continue. Mr. Golding wants the savings generated by PetroCaribe to be used on education, power generation, energy efficiency and improving productive capacity. There can be no disagreement with this. But the Government does not have unilateral power to determine how these funds are to be spent, with or without the JLP. Therefore, the JLP needs to build credibility with Venezuela and PetroCaribe as well. Two-party agreement would strengthen Jamaica's hands when it consults with Venezuela over how the savings can be used.
If Mr. Golding wants to make sure that the Government does not spend the loans on winning the next elections, the JLP should sit with the Government to make sure that spending conforms with the PetroCaribe agreement, especially since he expects a general election 'soon' and since local government elections are due by March anyway. It might be that Mr. Golding thinks it is time to get his campaign rolling but negative street protests on issues over which we have little control is not the way to do it.
PROTESTS EUROPE
Protests and threats of protests are developing in Europe over rising oil prices too but that situation is different. Europeans can do something about the price of oil. It is their marketing multinationals that are reaping windfalls. Some of their governments are oil producers. They have the influence over OPEC to increase supply. They have storage capacity and can release oil on their market to stabilise prices as the U.S. did after the Katrina crisis broke. They can change what happens on their oil markets.
The JLP must demonstrate that it has an alternative economic policy and that it is responsible enough to govern. Mr. Golding of all persons should realise that the country has moved beyond opportunistic protests. This was the argument behind his new politics in 1995. What we see instead is a political style that is intemperate, confrontational, populist and intellectually lazy. We still await his new politics.
You can send your comments to robert.Buddan@uwimona.edu.jm or infocus@gleanerjm.com
