DAVIE – This is the day the summit of the Americas gets underway in the Trinidad and Tobago capital. Barack Obama continues to make history and there are ways in which the Caribbean and the rest of the Americas can help the U.S. president to make history with some speed attached.
During the talks that will take place over the next three days, it is imperative that the region makes its positions known in a most articulate way. The U.S. president on his first trip south of the U.S. border must come back with a fuller understanding of what the word Americas means.
On the matter of Cuba, already the Cuban leader Raul Castro has indicated he is ready to talk about everything, including human rights. This means the overtures made by the U.S. president are already being answered, some might say in a timid way or maybe more accurately, in character for the Cuban administration.
Change is already afoot in U.S. Cuban relationships, but there has to be more. Not only can a more prosperous Cuba be of greater assistance to the Caribbean than it has been to date, but when Caribbean countries take positions and actions in unusual and different ways, they won’t be seen as aberrant and anti-American.
Caribbean governments can teach the rest of the entire Americas, including the U.S. a few lessons in compassion and tolerance, as well as the ability to change and adapt to a new world, far different from the 1950s when the Cuban embargo was born.
Winston Barnes
Host – “Open Mic” WAVS 1170AM
Voice your opinion on “Open Mic” with Winston Barnes daily on WAVS 1170AM or listen on-line www.wavs1170am.com
