Tillerson’s Jamaica visit will divide CARICOM, Unless… Ambassador Curtis A. Ward While Secretary Rex Tillerson’s scheduled visit to Jamaica has been received with some level of scepticism, any visit by a U.S. Secretary of State to Jamaica should be welcome news. Ordinarily, such visits are expressions of good working relationships, and often used to strengthen ties even further. On the other hand, there are also visits by U.S. Secretaries of State which are triggered by disagreements on...
Conversation with Earl Jarrett – CEO of JN Group and Chair of Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference 2017 Ambassador Curtis A. Ward, Host – CaribNation TV (20 Sept. 2017) — In a wide-ranging conversation on the role and importance of the Jamaican Diaspora to Jamaica, Mr. Earl Jarrett, CEO of JN Group, who was chairman of the Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference 2017, provided an approach which should find resonance with members of the Diaspora; and which offers specific ideas for the way...
P.J. Patterson, In His Own Words – Interview with CaribNation TV I sat down as CaribNation TV Host with the Most Honorable P. J. Patterson, former Prime Minister of Jamaica at his New Kingston Office in Jamaica in July 2017 for a conversation which covered a broad range of issues. This conversation with the former Jamaican Prime Minister occured while the Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference 2017 was underway at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston, attended by over a thousand Jamaicans...
Implementing the U.S.-Caribbean Strategic Engagement Act Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (21 July 2017) — As pointed out by Representative Eliot L. Engel (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, in his opening remarks at the Committee’s hearing on implementation of the U.S.-Caribbean Strategic Engagement Act of 2016 – Public Law No: 114-291 (the Act) on July 19, 2017, having received the U.S. Strategy for Engagement in the Caribbean (the Strategy) report submitted...
Caribbean Response to COVID-19 Conversation Hosted by Ambassador Curtis Ward for CaribNation TV and The Ward Post Special Guests: Dr. Joy St. John, Executive Director, Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA); Dr. Douglas Slater, CARICOM Assistant Secretary General – Human and Social Development; Professor Dr. Clive Landis, Chairman, University of the West Indies COVID-19 Task Force This discussion explores the many important ways Caribbean regional institutions are...
Caribbean Diaspora aroused demonstrating discontent Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (04 December 2019) — Discontent within Caribbean diaspora communities is growing in intensity. To most governments in the region, peaceful demonstrations on the streets far removed from the homeland are viewed as non-threatening and inconsequential, thus easily ignored and dismissed. But they should take heed! What they see is only the tip of the iceberg. Traditionally, diaspora’s passionate patriotism has...
Collateral Damage from Trump’s Actions Destabilize Caribbean Countries Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (13 May 2018) –In just under 16 months of President Donald Trump’s administration, actions taken by the American president are sending shock waves across the Caribbean and the world. Unintended consequences – collateral damage – from U.S. actions threaten to destabilize the fragile economies and security of Caribbean countries. The Trump storm is creating new dynamics in geopolitical...
Tillerson’s Jamaica visit will divide CARICOM, Unless… Ambassador Curtis A. Ward While Secretary Rex Tillerson’s scheduled visit to Jamaica has been received with some level of scepticism, any visit by a U.S. Secretary of State to Jamaica should be welcome news. Ordinarily, such visits are expressions of good working relationships, and often used to strengthen ties even further. On the other hand, there are also visits by U.S. Secretaries of State which are triggered by disagreements on...
Trump’s security assistance cuts and Pompeo’s Jamaica promises diverge Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (25 February 2020) — On the 10th anniversary of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), former president Barack Obama’s signature security assistance partnership with the Caribbean, president Donald Trump’s Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) budget cut proposal undermines the bold promises made by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his recent visit to Jamaica. Even as Pompeo was in...
Questions I would have asked Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (29 Nov. 2018) — As a Host of CaribNation TV, I requested an interview with Jamaican Prime Minister the Most Hon. Andrew Holness to take place during his visit to Washington DC from November 25-29, 2018. With the expectation that I would have the opportunity to sit down with the Prime Minister, I was asked to submit the subject areas for the interview which I provided in great detail. I was...
Trinidad & Tobago Faces Terrorist Threat Ambassador Curtis A. Ward It came as no surprise when news broke that U.S. intelligence services had warned the Government of Trinidad & Tobago (Trinidad) of plots to carry out terrorist attacks during Trinidad’s Carnival 2018 celebrations. Trinidad has been vulnerable for years and successive governments have failed to undertake necessary and timely action to ensure that the country has in place appropriate laws, and administrative and...
CARICOM Leaders meeting with VP Harris provides opportunity to advance Caribbean security Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (30 May 2023) — The Caribbean region, which is sometimes referred to as the Caribbean Basin, is defined conveniently according to the geopolitical and security interests of the United States. While there are similarities to be found in the problems besetting the wider Caribbean Basin which includes the countries of Central America, the islands of the Caribbean, and...
Imperialism and Neo-Colonialism must Be Destroyed! Africans Stand Ready for the Revolution Most Hon. P. J. Patterson, Former Prime Minister of Jamaica AFRICAN LIBERATION DAY MESSAGE 2023 (25 May 2023) — The P. J. Patterson Institute for African Caribbean Advocacy is delighted to join in a proud and glorious salute as we celebrate Africa Liberation Day on May 25th. For the past 60 years, it has been the day on which Africans globally celebrate their heritage and struggles over...
If the U.S. wants to help Haiti, stop illicit gun trafficking from Florida Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (23 May 2023) — The situation in Haiti is perilously close to that of a failed state with very little hope of redemption. But there is still a path to stabilizing the country, bringing relief to the people of Haiti, ensuring human security for all the people of Haiti, and setting the country on a path to sustainable development. There has been and will be a lot of talk about helping Haiti...
What the diaspora is saying about Jamaica constitutional reform: Forum Outcome Ambassador Curtis A. Ward The Jamaican diaspora deliberately or inadvertently omitted by Prime Minister Andrew Holness when he named the Constitution Reform Committee to undertake an historic review of the Jamaican constitution invoked great disappointment and dissatisfaction within Jamaican diaspora communities across the world. A plethora of voices in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, where...
Inclusion + Belongingness = Respect for UK Diaspora Jamaicans: What the Diaspora is Saying about Constitutional Reform Doirean Wilson, PhD In readiness of Jamaica’s quest to become a republic by the year 2025, there are several key things that the Constitutional Reform Committee (CRC), charged with helping to ensure that this national government objective is achieved, would be advised to consider. Namely, the voice of the Jamaican people extends far beyond this beautiful “Island in the...
Imperative considerations for a New Jamaican Constitution: What the Diaspora is Saying about Constitutional Reform Franklin W. Knight, PhD By writing a constitution in 1776, the United States of America pioneered the concept of a codified way in which political states establish themselves and organize their administration. But it was also a way in which successive new states expressed their highest ideals as well as a sense of self. Those ideals and self-consciousness are fundamental...
