Tag: CariCom

Proclaim ‘International Caribbean Day’

Posted on September 12, 2016 in Ethos, Social, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

There are some special non-Holidays on the calendar; consider:

These dates are special in that they celebrate culture; the culture of the Irish and Mexicans. Now, there is a movement to add August 1st to that non-Holiday Culture Celebration tradition; this effort is to establish Caribbean Day. (This date was originally codified as Emancipation Day in 1834 for all slaves in the British Empire).

cu-blog-proclaim-international-caribbean-day-photo-3

The Caribbean Day colors are blue yellow and black, as demonstrated in the logo here,
to depict the Caribbean sun against the blue sky touching the deep blue Caribbean Sea.

The petition is being made to the Caribbean Community (CariCom) Secretariat for the Caribbean member-states to resolve to recognize August 1, every year, as the International Caribbean Day. The petitioners want the Caribbean governments to do their part, then they will take the lead to advocate this as an International Cultural Day, in the mold of St. Patrick’s Day and Cinco De Mayo.

Petitioners? Advocates?

There is a whole movement. Consider the actual petition here from Change.org, and the Letter to the CariCom Secretariat in the Appendix below:

In Caribbean history the extraordinary importance of the 1st August 1834 is inescapable as the date which restored human dignity to the mass of Caribbean inhabitants. Today we are many people living together in harmony, respect and one love. Our descendent Caribbean children across the world are a rainbow of races, colours, and nationalities, however there is the ever growing risk that identities become diluted and confused. Therefore our movement say: on this one day people of Caribbean heritage should join in thanks giving and celebration to recognize our joint history, future and the warm fact that we all belong!

Sign this petition

This petition – along with below letter – will be delivered to:

  • Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat
    CARICOM (15 heads of Caribbean nations)

Adviser, Public Information Unit CariCom
Mr. Leonard Robertson

Source: Change.org Petition; retrieved September 10, 2016 from: https://www.change.org/p/caricom-15-heads-of-caribbean-nations-proclaim-international-caribbean-day

cu-blog-proclaim-international-caribbean-day-photo-1A champion of this movement is Attorney Hamilton Daley. As a lawyer, he is a “member of the Bar” in Jamaica and in the UK. He is a member of the Caribbean Diaspora; and a role model for enacting change and empowerment for the Caribbean image.

See an interview in the Appendix-VIDEO below where he explains the fundamentals of the movement. Also see an assortment of his commentaries here: http://jamaicans.com/author/hamiltondaley/.

The Caribbean Diaspora, broadly interpreted, contains all those born in the Caribbean region but now live abroad. The term legacy – a subset of the Diaspora – refers more to those born abroad but known to have Caribbean ancestry.

This subject of Caribbean Diaspora is also an important consideration in the book Go Lean … Caribbean . It relates a societal elevation plan for the Caribbean region that accepts the premise that the member-states have experienced too high an abandonment rate. Far too many Caribbean citizens have fled their tropical homes and created a new life on foreign shores. Yet, the love and affinity they hold for their homeland is undeniable. They must be factored in as stakeholders of any effort to pursue change in the region. The quest is simple, to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play, so that future generations of Caribbean citizens do not have to flee as well. Then to incentivize the people who have left – the Diaspora – to consider a return … someday.

As Diasporas go, our experience is not the first, nor the worst. We have the Irish history and example to glean lessons from. Their Diaspora is considered over 100 million people, while the island population is below 10 million. Despite any desire to do better, our current disposition so parallels Ireland’s history. Just like the Irish, our Diaspora love their country and culture, but have to live abroad; they want conditions to be different (better) at home to consider any repatriation.

Over the centuries, the Irish Diaspora endured a lot of misery, resistance and discrimination in their foreign homes. As related in a previous commentary, the usual path for new immigrants is one of eventual celebration, but only after a “long train of abuses”: rejection, anger, protest, bargaining, toleration and eventual acceptance. But now today, people the world over wear green on March 17th as a statement of acceptance and celebration of Irish people and culture. This is now viewed as a proud heritage for what they have endured and accomplished. The Caribbean Day movement wants to model this success for persons of Caribbean heritage.

Ditto for the Go Lean movement. Just like the Caribbean Day movement, both efforts are inclusive of all language groups, not just the English-speaking Caribbean. This is demonstrated by first petitioning CariCom, which now includes Dutch-speaking Suriname and French/Creole-speaking Haiti. The Go Lean movement takes their effort further by targeting the Dutch Antilles, French Antilles, US Virgin Islands and the neighboring Spanish Caribbean territories (Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico), in addition to CariCom. The Go Lean book relates that these 30 member-states – with 42 million people – all share the same societal abandonment disposition. The book considers Puerto Rico, for example, that had an on-island population of 3,725,789 in 2010, but Puerto Ricans living abroad in the US mainland was 4,623,716; (Page 303).

The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), a technocratic federal government to administer and optimize the economic/security/ governing engines of all 30 member-states. The quest is to provide a better direct stewardship, applying lessons-learned from global best practices.

There are a lot of lessons for the Caribbean to learn from these other cultures: Ireland … and Mexico. There is a constant need for better societal engines: economic, security, and governance. Fulfilling these needs is the underlying theme behind this Go Lean movement, to “appoint new guards” for all of the region to make the Caribbean homeland a better place to live, work and play. This Declaration of Interdependence is pronounced at the outset of the Go Lean book (Page 11):

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

The Go Lean movement declares solidarity with the Caribbean Day movement. This alignment is more than just feelings, but words and actions as well. The promoters of the Go Lean movement conducted a structured interview with the identified promoter of the Caribbean Day movement, Hamilton Daley (or HD; Author = Bold). Consider his responses here as related to these parallel tracks to elevate Caribbean image and reality:

Tell me your story:

HD: I am the founder of Caribbean Day Movement International, which started as a social media based movement to establish recognition of 1st August as a date of cultural significance for the international Caribbean community – CARIBBEAN DAY.  I am a dual qualified lawyer simultaneously practicing in both London, UK and the Caribbean, Jamaica.  I maintain offices and homes in both jurisdictions.

Though your aspiration is to unite Caribbean people through out the world, how would you feel if your children return to a Caribbean destination for permanent residency?

HD: I would be very pleased.

Considering all your travels, where in the world would you consider the best place to live?

HD: I am obviously biased in my opinion. But this has always been a motivation for the Caribbean Day movement, to convey to the world that our Caribbean homelands are the best addresses in the world. This “fact” is not always recognized, accepted or valued in the world.

But our Caribbean people have obviously abandoned their homeland, for good reasons, what we call “push and pull”: defects in the region’s economic, security and governing engines. How do you feel about the Caribbean economy?

HD: There is much room for beneficial improvement with some coordination, which sadly is lacking at the moment.

How do you feel about Caribbean security?

HD: Personal security is an issue of concern in some places, more so than in others. This is definitely a societal defect that needs to be remediated and mitigated.

Accepting that the Caribbean in general and Jamaica in particular is your homeland, what would you want to see there in … 5 years?

HD: I would hope to see all generations of Jamaicans from kindergarten to grandparents celebrating their Caribbean heritage on August 1st. I would also want to see Jamaica become a successful trading partner and better realize it’s full potential within the Caribbean family of nations and in doing so, develop its global brand.

What would you want to see in Jamaica in … 10 years?

HD: I would want to see the issues which perpetuate crime, violence and corruption to become tamed or made historical in keeping of a greater developed nation. I would want to see strong ties and bonds with the broad global Caribbean community.

What would you want to see in Jamaica in … … 20 years?

HD: I would want to see Jamaica established and reaffirmed as a safe, progressive “diamond” destination – stable, beautiful and valuable – and a strong player in the region and inclusive Caribbean Diaspora.

Thank you for your responses and your commitment to the Caribbean. We see you; we hear you and we feel your passion. We entreat you to look here, going forward, for more on solutions.

The Go Lean movement has collected the complaints of the Caribbean Diaspora like Hamilton Daley. This book was the response. The book declared that the Caribbean is in crisis, but posits that a “crisis is a terrible thing to waste” (Page 8). The book asserts that the solution for the Caribbean crisis is within reach:

The Go Lean movement is not affiliated with the CariCom or any of its agencies or institutions. This movement is not an attempt to re-boot the CariCom, but rather a plan to re-boot the Caribbean. This movement was bred from the frustrations of the Diaspora, longing to go home, to lands of opportunities. But this is not a call for a revolt against the governments, agencies or institutions of the Caribbean region, but rather a petition for a peaceful transition and optimization of the economic, security and governing engines in the region.

The Go Lean book details a 5-year roadmap, with turn-by-turn directions, for transforming our homeland. The following is a sample of the assessments, community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to impact the Caribbean region for this turnaround:

Assessment – CariCom Single Market & Economy Hope and Failure Page 15
Assessment – Dutch Caribbean – Integration & Secessions Page 16
Assessment – French Caribbean – Organization & Discord Page 17
Assessment – Puerto Rico – The Greece of the Caribbean Page 18
Prologue – New CariCom Model Urged Page 20
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Economic Systems Influence Choices & Incentives Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier Page 22
Community Ethos – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Vision – Confederating a Non-Sovereign Union Page 45
Strategy – Mission – Keep the next generation at home Page 46
Strategy – Mission – Invite & Incentivize Diaspora Repatriation Page 46
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Tactics to Forge an $800 Billion Economy Page 67
Tactical – Separation of Powers Page 71
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate to the Caribbean Page 118
Implementation – Ways to Promote Independence – Interdependence Page 120
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – A Single Market in the G-20 Page 127
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Planning – Ways to Better Manage Image – Not Unwanted Aliens Page 133
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the BritishTerritories Page 245

The efforts of the Caribbean Day movement is needed and very much welcomed by the promoters of the Go Lean movement. Even for the Diaspora living abroad, this Caribbean Day movement will have positive effect on Caribbean image. This subject has been a source of concern for the Go Lean movement. Consider the details from these previous blog-commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8724 Remembering Marcus Garvey: His Image and Perception is relevant today
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8099 Caribbean Image: ‘Less Than’?
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2025 Image of the Caribbean Diaspora – Butt of the Joke
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=857 Caribbean Image: Dreadlocks

In addition, the subject of “push and pull” resulting in an increased Diaspora has been examined further in many related Go Lean blog-commentaries; see sample list here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=8155 Gender Equality Referendum Outcome: Brain Drain Bound
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7866 Switching Allegiances: Athletes move on to represent other countries
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7682 Role Model Frederick Douglass: Single Cause – Death or Diaspora
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=7151 The Caribbean is Looking for Heroes … ‘to Return’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5759 Bad example of Greece – Crisis leading to abandonment of Doctors
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5733 Better than America? Yes, We Can!
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5695 Repenting, Forgiving and Reconciling the Past
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=5088 Immigrants account for 1 in 11 Blacks in USA
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2547 Miami’s Success versus Caribbean Failure
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2251 The Reality of Names of Caribbean people
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1433 Caribbean loses more than 70 percent of tertiary educated to brain drain
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273 10 Things We Don’t Want from the US – Discrimination of Immigrations

The Go Lean book posits (Page 3) that the Caribbean islands are among the greatest addresses in the world. But instead of the world “beating a path” to these doors, the people of the Caribbean have “beat down their doors” to get out; despite the absence of any famine, or war for that matter. This is classic societal abandonment – plain an simple.

This must stop … now! We must fix the defects that “push” our people away, and dissuade the “pull” factors that lure unsuspecting Caribbean citizens to believe that life is better “there”, wherever.

We wish Hamilton Daley and the Caribbean Day success, while we work in our quest to make our homeland a better place to live, work and play.; thusly keeping more of our citizens at home and away from the Diaspora. 🙂

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

——–

Appendix- VIDEO: Hamilton Daley (Caribbean Day) || Exclusive Interview || The Sylbourne Show – https://youtu.be/5SQlsDpIRN8

Published on Aug 22, 2016 – Joining us on the red chair we have Hamilton Daley. Mr Daley has held an illustrious career as a lawyer in both the UK and Jamaica and is the founder of the Caribbean Day Movement International. He wants to see August 1st to be declared CARIBBEAN DAY!

——–

Appendix – Actual Open Letter to CariCom:

We look forward to being still together to see this Day, here is our case:

We, the undersigned are representative of the views of persons and organisations based in or associated with countries of CARICOM membership, and expatriate Caribbean communities in the UK, USA and Canada, and other world destinations where people of Caribbean heritage may reside. Our sole purpose and cause of this our gathering is to request that CARICOM place on its agenda for regional consideration and approval, the issue of proclaiming international Caribbean Day to be on the 1st August each year.

The reason we make this request is that the Caribbean and its people have to date no single date to recognise their identity as one connected community. We make this request in recognition that CARICOM reflects the interest not only of the people resident in its member states, but also the hopes of millions of expatriates, their offsprings, relatives and associates, residing outside CARICOM’s geographical region. In common, we all, regardless of our Caribbean ancestry, age, race, creed or nationality, harbour only positive ambitions for the success and development of the Caribbean region.

During any Cricket World Cup tournament, people of Caribbean allegiance across the globe rally behind our united international sporting icons the West Indies Cricket team.

Further, we observe that for the English-speaking Caribbean, we share a degree of common representational politics in the form of the region’s international institution CARICOM. We have a Caribbean Court of Justice, and a regional University with its campuses situated across three CARICOM countries. The framework for a Caribbean Single Market Economy is in place and the region has introduced a CARICOM passport. We note also at the CARICOM heads of government summit held in Antigua in July 2014, those discussions announced the formulation of a five year strategic plan for “repositioning the Community and identifying priorities and activities that would meet the challenges of the international environment”. Amongst other things, the said plan included building economic resilience, social resilience and strengthening the CARICOM spirit of community.

We remind you that on the 25 March 2007, the 15 independent member nations comprising CARICOM agreed by resolution to synchronize a minute’s silence in commemoration of the 1807 Abolition of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The significance of this synchronized one minute, we say, is now historical in defining a moment in time when the Caribbean first sought to synchronise a sentiment across all peoples of its nations. It is maintaining and building upon this foundation that we invite CARICOM to proclaim an international Caribbean Day.

The vision of an international ‘Caribbean Day‘ is linked to the concept of celebrating the ‘rebirth’ of our Region on the 1st August. Many countries of the English-speaking Caribbean, including Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago already celebrate Emancipation Day on the 1st August. However, with respect whilst it is important that we should each never forget our history, we implore that as a developing region, the emphasis on going forward for the next 200 years should now be to create annual dynamism, rather than a day of reflection to reminisce the date colonial slavery ended.

In truth, whilst not forgetting our history, it is also right to free our minds if devotion to remembrance might keep us on the ground – instead of just keeping us grounded. For, it is our destiny that we as a people will forever rise and be greater than our past.

Therefore, we say; the past does not define our future, and we look to the words of a great man who did a good thing, after 25 years of personal sacrifice for the cause of his fellow men: “The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come. The time to build is upon us.” – Nelson Mandela

A vision of a ‘Caribbean Day’ would be an international day of celebration by Caribbean people of all races, colours and faiths, as part of one Caribbean family. It would be a day which forever promises to present the opportunity for those who reside overseas to pamper their nostalgia, as well as provide a boost to regional tourism whereby our visitors could annually island hop through the celebrations.

A ‘Caribbean Day’ would be a day in the yearly calendar when the Caribbean diasporas would gather in their communities, wherever they may congregate across the globe. It would be an immense family day, where inter-Island relationships and our children’s children would at last enjoy a day to celebrate their common Caribbean heritage.

We consider the concerns of the Caribbean diasporas, whom with each generation born overseas loses sense of ties to the Caribbean. We consider also the quantitative effect of brain drain on the region’s developing economies because the flow of talent may forever be lost to the region. We are of the view that a Caribbean Day would create job opportunities, commercial incentives and re-invigorate community ties regardless of geography and generational distance.

If the World can readily recognise dates like 14th February, 1st April and 25th December, surely it can come to recognise our 1st August Caribbean Day.

We implore upon the heads of CARICOM to endorse the proclamation of an international ‘Caribbean Day’.

Thank You.

CARIBBEAN DAY MOVEMENT FOR ITS ESTABLISHMENT

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Ambassadors to Caribbean discuss PetroCaribe-Energy, Security

Posted on February 22, 2015 in Economics, Government

Go Lean Commentary

The problem with different independent nations coming together to build consensus is that each party may have its own self-interest. Independence and consensus-building are inherently opposed to each other.

The subsequent news article highlights this point, as it relates how 5 US ambassadors to Caribbean member-states had convened stakeholders to promote an agenda of American leadership in energy security.

Something about this initiative seems conflicting!

A lack of American leadership in the past has resulted in solutions originating elsewhere, from one neighbor in particular: Venezuela. That country’s PetroCaribe initiative had been valued by many Caribbean member-states as it was a vital lifeline throughout the global financial crisis, which had combined with cripplingly high oil and gas prices in 2008. But Venezuela-PetroCaribe is in enmity with US policy.

This brings to the fore a previous lesson in American foreign-policy history, from 25 years ago: Nelson Mandela’s unconditional support of enemies of the US that were unconditional supporters of the anti-Apartheid movement. Mr. Mandela’s direct comment was as follows:

“One mistake that some political analysts make is to think that their enemies should be our enemies. That [is something] we cannot and should never do. We have our own struggle that we are conducting. We are grateful to the world for supporting our struggle…but independence means we get to choose our friends and choose our enemies” – Nelson Mandela; June 21, 1990. (See Appendix A below).

The foregoing article speaks of the US Caribbean foreign policy initiative in campaigning against PetroCaribe et al:

Title: Ambassadors to Caribbean countries discuss energy, security
By: Jennifer Kay
MIAMI (AP) — Five U.S. ambassadors to the Caribbean on Thursday reinforced the U.S. government’s commitment to helping the cash-strapped region to reduce its dependence on Venezuelan oil while addressing multiple security issues.

The panel at Florida International University followed last month’s Caribbean Energy Security Summit in Washington, where Vice President Joe Biden said the U.S. was poised to help Caribbean countries that could address corruption and make needed regulatory changes.

CU Blog - Ambassadors to Caribbean Discuss PetroCaribe-Energy and Security - Photo 1

The U.S. ambassadors to Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Suriname and Barbados and the eastern Caribbean participated in the panel hosted by FIU’s Latin American and CaribbeanCenter.

The U.S. wants to encourage more American investment in Caribbean energy projects, such as a new wind farm in Jamaica, “but we need to have and provide a safe and secure environment,” said Luis Moreno, the ambassador to Jamaica.

With falling oil prices shaking Venezuela’s economy, the Caribbean is interested in finding alternatives to Petrocaribe, a decade-old trade program created by the late President Hugo Chavez that requires member countries to pay only a small portion of the up-front costs for oil, allowing them to finance the rest under long-term debt agreements.

The ambassadors derided the program, though they acknowledged it wasn’t likely to end soon even as they push Caribbean countries to consider shifting to natural gas or other energy alternatives.

“We want to encourage individuality. We want to get these countries to sit up for themselves,” said Moreno, who called Petrocaribe “a blunt political instrument.”

Aside from Venezuela’s influence, the Caribbean faces a number of challenges that concern the U.S, such as border security, rising Chinese influence in the region, human rights, weak infrastructure, a lack of regional coordination and vulnerability to climate change and natural disasters.

There’s also been a rise in drug, arms and human trafficking in some eastern Caribbean islands as authorities put pressure on traffickers in South America, and some countries have begun essentially offering citizenship and easing travel for people who buy land or make other investments in the islands, said Larry Palmer, ambassador to Barbados and the eastern Caribbean.

Another problem is political instability in Haiti, in spite of strides the country has made in recovering from a 2010 earthquake. Long-delayed elections are scheduled later this year, but “it’s always rocky in Haiti,” said Pamela White, ambassador to Haiti.

“Let’s just pray we can get through those two days (of scheduled voting) this year so the Haitian people have the right, the democratic right, to vote in people they think will represent them,” she said.
Source: Associated Press News Wire Service (Retrieved 02/18/2015) – http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/feb/12/ambassadors-to-caribbean-countries-discuss-energy-/ 

Night Earth. Bermuda Triangle Area

VIDEO – St Lucia Clip from Caribbean Energy Security Summit – http://youtu.be/0Ho_PmQThTQ

Published on Jan 29, 2015 – Dr. James Fletcher – Minister of Public Service & Energy – who attended the US Summit on Energy Security says the meeting was a precursor to the energy and climate partnership of the America’s meeting which will take place in March 2015.

What is PetroCaribe and how does it relate to the Caribbean economic empowerment effort? (See Appendix B below). Previously, this commentary detailed a discussion on PetroCaribe-ALBA-SUCRE, identifying these economic integration initiatives started by the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (1954-2013). His advocacy of socialism often brought him at odds with the US. But still, there were benefits and benevolence in his actions.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean pursues an apolitical agenda; the only motive is the elevation of Caribbean society by optimizing the economic, security and governance engines. This serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). Further, the book, and accompanying blog commentaries, posit that American leadership may not always have the Caribbean best interest in mind, even for US Territories. Societies do better in their American interactions when they relate as protégés, not parasites. This is a reality that we must accept. The Go Lean roadmap features 144 missions to accomplish this feat of elevating Caribbean society to protégé status.

The Go Lean roadmap does align with many of the objectives of these US ambassadors; it is important for the Caribbean to pursue energy independence. As such there is a focus on alternative energy options that can be easily deployed in the region: solar, wind turbines, tidal and yes, the natural gas option as the US advocates. The cause to combat climate change and mitigate natural disasters is welcomed from the US, as our Caribbean islands are on the front lines of this battle. But the Go Lean roadmap is not 100% concurring with the US policy; we also align with some objectives of PetroCaribe, especially negotiating group discounts and delivery terms for the Caribbean member-states. Early in the book, these pressing needs were pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 11), with these statements:

i.      Whereas the earth’s climate has undeniably changed resulting in more severe tropical weather storms, it is necessary to prepare to insure the safety and security of life, property and systems of commerce in our geographical region. As nature recognizes no borders in the target of its destruction, we also must set aside border considerations in the preparation and response to these weather challenges.

vi.      Whereas the finite nature of the landmass of our lands limits the populations and markets of commerce, by extending the bonds of brotherhood to our geographic neighbors allows for extended opportunities and better execution of the kinetics of our economies through trade. This regional focus must foster and promote diverse economic stimuli.

viii.      Whereas the population size is too small to foster good negotiations for products and commodities from international vendors, the Federation must allow the unification of the region as one purchasing agent, thereby garnering better terms and discounts.

The Go Lean roadmap details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to foster the progress in the wide fields of energy alternatives and group purchasing. The following list applies:

Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices Page 21
Community Ethos – Lean Operations – Group Purchase Organizations Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Regional Taxi Commissions Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Negotiations Page 32
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Harness alternative power: Sun, Wind, and Natural Gas Page 46
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 82
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Energy Commission Page 82
Anecdote – “Lean” in Government – Energy Permits Page 93
Anecdote – Caribbean Energy Grid Implementation Page 100
Implementation – Foreign Policy Initiatives at Start-up Page 102
Implementation – Ways to Develop Pipeline Industry – Underwater Power Lines Page 107
Implementation – Ways to Improve Energy Usage Page 113
Implementation – Ways to Promote Independence Page 120
Planning – Lessons Learned from 2008 Page 136
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Public Works Page 175
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Monopolies Page 202
Advocacy – Ways to Impact US Territories Page 244

The planners of a new elevated Caribbean hereby thank the US foreign policy-makers for their dedication towards the Caribbean. This is friendly! But as matured independent nations, we accept the responsibility to “choose our own friends and our own enemies”.

We accept that in this case, the US may have altruistic motives, especially with declining oil prices possibly affecting Venezuela. But for far too often, American leadership has been motivated by crony-capitalistic intentions. The points of mitigating the risks of American Big Business were further elaborated upon in these previous blog/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=4076 US Big Media Fantasies versus Weather Realities
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3397 A Christmas Present for the Banks from the Omnibus Bill
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3326 Detroit’s M-1 Rail – Finally avoiding Plutocratic Auto Industry influence
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2887 Caribbean must work together to address rum subsidies
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2522 The Cost of Cancer Drugs
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2465 Book Review: ‘This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2435 Korea’s Protégé Model – A Dream for Latin America / Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2338 Lesson Learned – How Best to Welcome the Dreaded ‘Plutocracy’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2259 The Criminalization of American Business – Big Banks Let Loose
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2251 US Black-and-Brown populations are still institutionally disadvantaged
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2183 A Textbook Case of Industry Price-gouging
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1143 Health-care fraud in America; Criminals take $272 billion a year
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=789 America’s War on the Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=709 Post 2008 Great Recession – Student debt holds back home buyers
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=242 Post 2008 Great Recession – The Erosion of the Middle Class
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273 10 Things We Don’t Want from the US – #1: American Self-Interest

The Go Lean roadmap calls for integration of the regional member-states, a strategy of confederation with a tactic of separating powers between CU federal agencies and member-states’ governments. The roadmap calls for the regional integration of energy generation and energy distribution services – a regional grid. The separation-of-powers tactic also calls for assumption of Emergency Management agencies for the member-states. This allows for the regional mitigation and remediation of the affects of climate change. The roadmap posits that to succeed as a society, the Caribbean region must integrate and consolidate into a Single Market of 42 million people, so as to be able to compete with the rest of the world, and to facilitate better negotiations.

It is time to choose our own friends … and enemies.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people, business, institutions and governments, to lean-in for the optimizations and opportunities described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. 🙂

————

Appendix A: Nelson Mandela’s Friends

The relationship between the United States and the anti-apartheid movement Mandela led was duplicitous. Some of his most fervent international supporters were leaders of countries sharply at odds with America.

The US Government criticized Nelson Mandela for going to Libya to visit Muammar Gaddafi, and in a speech that he gave Nelson Mandela said that “they could go and jump into a pool”. He said that he was not going to turn his back on the people that was there for him in his darkest hour.

Nelson Mandela was 100% man; he didn’t allow other people to tell him what to do, and he didn’t allow people to pick his friends [or his enemies]. [Many times,] America’s enemies were Mandela’s friends.
(Source: http://s1.zetaboards.com/Express_Yourself/topic/5312294/1/).

These “friends” referred to:

  • Fidel Castro of Cuba
  • Minister Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam
  • Yasser Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)
  • Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran

—–

Additional research: Mandela Town Hall Meeting, New   York City, June 21, 1990:
http://youtu.be/q6eE9BIUfBg  – 1990 video of Town Hall meeting with Nelson Mandela of South Africa anchored by Ted Koppel on ABC Nightline in New York.

————

Appendix B: PetroCaribe / ALBA / SUCRE

PetroCaribe is an oil alliance with Venezuela which allows the purchase of oil on conditions of preferential payment. The alliance was launched on 29 June 2005 in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela. In 2013 PetroCaribe agreed to links with the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA), and to go beyond oil and promote economic cooperation. It is now considered an “economic zone”.

There are a total of 17 members, plus Venezuela; 12 of the members are from the 15 member CariCom (excluding, Barbados, Montserrat and Trinidad and Tobago). At the first summit, 14 countries joined the alliance. These were: Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haití, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Venezuela.

ALBA – The Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas is an intergovernmental organization associated with socialist and social democratic governments wishing to consolidate regional economic integration based on a vision of social welfare, bartering and mutual economic aid. ALBA nations may conduct trade using a virtual regional currency known as the SUCRE.

SUCRE – A regional currency to be used in commercial exchanges between members of the regional ALBA trade bloc. It is intended to replace the US dollar as a medium of exchange in order to decrease US control of Latin American economies. The acronym is in Spanish, as: Sistema Único de Compensación Regional. In English, this means: Unified System for Regional Compensation. The plan is for the SUCRE to become a hard currency.

Venezuela Oil

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Forecast for higher unemployment in Caribbean in 2015

Posted on December 18, 2014 in Economics, Planning

Go Lean Commentary

The quest for jobs is going to get harder. This is the point of the following news article; the regional forecast for the Latin American & Caribbean region is that economic conditions will be distressed even more in 2015.

All hands on deck!

The book Go Lean…Caribbean anticipates creating 2.2 million new jobs … despite those projected distressful conditions; see VIDEO below. The goal is to make the region “a better place to live, work and play”. So all the empowerments and remediation need to be applied now.

The quest to create these jobs will take 60% inspiration – new ideas – and 80% perspiration – hard-work and heavy-lifting. The math of this addition exceeds 100 percent. This is the key: winners give more than 100%. See story here:

Title: ILO report forecasts higher unemployment in Latin America, Caribbean in 2015
unemployment rate lose job loss of social security being joblessBRIDGETOWN, Barbados – A new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) has found an “unusual pattern” in this year’s urban employment rate in Latin America and the Caribbean, which continued to fall despite warning signs of economic slowdown.

The ILO report titled “Labour Overview for Latin America and the Caribbean 2014,” noted that the region’s urban unemployment rate may reach 6.3 per cent in 2015, which means that there will be some 500,000 more without jobs.

“There are warning signs,” said Elizabeth Tinoco, the ILO’s regional director. “The concern is that we are creating fewer jobs despite unemployment remaining at a low level,” she added.

Although unemployment has not risen due to this slowdown in growth, there has been a sharp reduction of new jobs reflected in the employment rate, which fell by 0.4 percentage points to 55.7 per cent in the third quarter of 2014.

“This means that at least one million (fewer) jobs have been created,” Tinoco said.

The ILO said that this “scenario of uncertainty” comes after a decade in which the region enjoyed significant economic growth. The unemployment rate dipped to record lows and allowed for a higher quality of jobs.

The urban unemployment rate of young people dropped from 14.5 per cent to 14 per cent but still remains between 2 and 4 times higher than that for adults. What’s more, the unemployment rate for women is 30 per cent higher than that for men, and 47 per cent of urban workers work in the informal economy.

“Many people who temporarily left the workforce in 2014 will return to search for a job next year, together with young people entering the labour market. The region will have to create nearly 50 million jobs over the coming decade, just to offset demographic growth,” Tinoco said, adding “we are talking about almost 15 million people unemployed.

“So we have to face the huge challenge of rethinking strategies to push growth and a productive transformation of the economy to foster economic and social inclusion through the labour market,” Tinoco said.

The ILO is calling on countries in the region to prepare for the possibility of a labour market which has to take specific measures to stimulate employment and protect individual incomes.
Caribbean 360 – Online Regional News Source (Posted 12-15-2014; retrieved 12-16-2014) –
http://www.caribbean360.com/news/ilo-report-forecasts-higher-unemployment-latin-america-caribbean-2015

The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The CU is set to optimize Caribbean society, starting with economic empowerment. In fact, the Go Lean roadmap has 3 prime directives:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The Go Lean roadmap calls for many empowerments, such as the infrastructure of Self-Governing Entities (SGE), to allow for industrial developments in a controlled (bordered) environment. This creates the right climate, entrepreneurial spirit, and access to capital for job-creators to soar. The book starts with a focus on the community ethos of job-creators: protecting property (in this case intellectual property), bridging the digital divide, fostering genius and better managing negotiations.

This strategy is valid for urban areas, as SGE’s can avail the close proximity of a willing work force, and quickly deploy transportation options like electrified streetcars, light-rail, natural gas buses and other transit options.

In response to the dire predictions in the foregoing news article, the fear is that despite the love the Caribbean populations may have for their homeland and culture, they will leave to find work, when none is available locally. This is factual from the past. This actuality has been the “siren call” for this Go Lean book. The foreword of the book thusly states (Page 3):

Many people love their homelands and yet still begrudgingly leave; this is due mainly to the lack of economic opportunities. The Caribbean has tried, strenuously, over the decades, to diversify their economy away from the mono-industrial trappings of tourism, and yet tourism is still the primary driver of the economy. Prudence dictates that the Caribbean nations expand and optimize their tourism products, but also look for other opportunities for economic expansion. The requisite investment of the resources (time, talent, treasuries) for this goal may be too big for any one Caribbean member-state. Rather, shifting the responsibility to a region-wide, professionally-managed, deputized technocracy will result in greater production and greater accountability. This deputized agency is the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This book advocates that all Caribbean member-states (independent & dependent) lean-in to this plan for confederacy, collaboration and convention.

Populations leaving the islands create a whole new set of problems, for those leaving and those left behind. “The grass is not greener on the other side”; see the VIDEO below of European dire forecast for 2015. The Go Lean roadmap posits that it takes less effort to remediate Caribbean life than to thrive as an alien in some foreign land. This point has been frequently addressed in blog/commentaries, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2547 Miami’s Successful Now after first discriminating against immigrants
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2251 What’s In A Name? Discrimination of Hispanics in the US.
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2222 Sports Role Model – Playing For Pride … And More
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2025 Negative Attitudes & Images of the Caribbean Diaspora in US
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1683 British public sector (Afro-Caribbean) workers strike over ‘poverty pay’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1596 Book Review: ‘Prosper Where You Are Planted’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1433 Caribbean loses more than 70 percent of tertiary educated to brain drain
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1350 PayPal expands payment services to 10 markets – More Latin Transfers
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1296 Remittances to Caribbean Increased By 3 Percent in 2013
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=857 Caribbean Image: Dreadlocks
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273 10 Things We Don’t Want from the US – Job Discrimination of Immigrations

Also consider what happens after the societal abandonment. There are less of the educated classes remaining in the region to execute effective and efficient administration of the economic, security and governing engines. The disposition goes from bad to worst. (Even the flight of non-educated classes has a devastating effect: less people to support the marketplaces). Alas, classic Anthropology provides a key assessment. This science maintains that when a community comes under assault the responding options are “fight or flight”. For the past 50 years, “flight” has been the default reaction. The Go Lean roadmap now proposes the alternative: “fight”. But this is not a “call to arms” or for a revolt against the governments, agencies or institutions of the Caribbean region, but rather a petition for a peaceful transition and optimization of the economic, security and governing engines in the region.

The fighting spirit being advocated here is the community ethos to protest against the status quo:

“I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore”.

We need jobs in the region and we need them now! The Go Lean roadmap provides job-creating solutions; so now that the forecast is for more economic distress in 2015, the urging is to double-down on this roadmap.

The points of the arts and sciences of job creations were foremost in the consideration of this book. Early, this intent was pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 14) with these statements of the need to remediate Caribbean communities:

xix.        Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores. This repatriation should be effected with the appropriate guards so as not to imperil the lives and securities of the repatriated citizens or the communities they inhabit. The right of repatriation is to be extended to any natural born citizens despite any previous naturalization to foreign sovereignties.

xx.        Whereas the preparation of our labor force can foster opportunities and dictate economic progress for current and future generations, the Federation must ensure that educational and job training opportunities are fully optimized for all residents of all member-states, with no partiality towards any gender or ethnic group. The Federation must recognize and facilitate excellence in many different fields of endeavor, including sciences, languages, arts, music and sports. This responsibility should be executed without incurring the risks of further human flight, as has been the past history.

xxiv.        Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

xxv.        Whereas the legacy of international democracies had been imperiled due to a global financial crisis, the structure of the Federation must allow for financial stability and assurance of the Federation’s institutions. To mandate the economic vibrancy of the region, monetary and fiscal controls and policies must be incorporated as proactive and reactive measures. These measures must address threats against the financial integrity of the Federation and of the member-states.

xxvi.        Whereas the Caribbean region must have new jobs to empower the engines of the economy and create the income sources for prosperity, and encourage the next generation to forge their dreams right at home, the Federation must therefore foster the development of new industries, like that of ship-building, automobile manufacturing, pre-fabricated housing, frozen foods, pipelines, call centers, and the prison industrial complex. In addition, the Federation must invigorate the enterprises related to existing industries like tourism, fisheries and lotteries – impacting the region with more jobs.

The purpose of the Go Lean…Caribbean roadmap is to compose, communicate and compel economic, security and governing solutions for the Caribbean homeland. We want a better society than the past; and perhaps even better than the countries so many of our citizens flee to. (We also want our Diaspora to repatriate; to come back home).

How, what, when for the Go Lean roadmap to effect the region with the harvesting of new jobs? The book details a series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to impact job empowerment in the region, member-states, cities and communities. Below is a sample:

Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Economic Systems Influence Choices & Incentives Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principle – Consequences of Choices Lie in the Future Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier Page 22
Community Ethos – Minority Equalization Page 24
Community Ethos – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Foster Genius Page 27
Community Ethos – Ways to Help Entrepreneurship Page 28
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Intellectual Property Page 29
Community Ethos – Ways to Close the Digital Divide Page 31
Community Ethos – Ways to Promote Happiness Page 36
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategy – Mission – Facilitate Job-Creating Industries Page 46
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Tactics to Forge an $800 Billion Economy – High Multiplier Industries Page 70
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Self-Governing Entities Page 80
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Transportation Enhancements Page 84
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation – Steps to Implement Self-Governing Entities Page 105
Implementation – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate to the Caribbean Page 118
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Self Governing Entities as Job   Creating Engines Page 128
Planning – Ways to Make the Caribbean Better Page 131
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices – OECD-style Big Data   Analysis Page 133
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Transportation Page 205
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora Page 217
Advocacy – Battles in the War on Poverty Page 222
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living Page 234
Appendix – Job Multipliers (new indirect jobs from created direct jobs) Page 259

Other subjects related to job empowerments have been blogged in other Go Lean…Caribbean commentaries, as sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3164 Michigan Unemployment – Then and Now – Lessons Learned
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3152 Making a Great Place to Work®
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=3050 Obama’s Immigration Reforms to take more Caribbean STEM workers
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2953 Funding Caribbean Entrepreneurs – The ‘Crowdfunding’ Way
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2857 Where the Jobs Are – Entrepreneurism in Junk
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2800 The Geography of Joblessness
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2750 Disney World’s example of Self Governing Entities and Economic Impacts
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2126 Where the Jobs Are – Computers Reshaping Global Job Market
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2003 Where the Jobs Are – Ship-breaking under the SGE Structure
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1698 Where the Jobs Are – STEM Jobs Are Filling Slowly
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1214 Where the Jobs Are – Fairgrounds as SGE & Landlords for Sports Leagues
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=398 Self-employment on the rise in the Caribbean – World Bank

The purpose of this roadmap is to elevate Caribbean society, and create 2.2 million new jobs.

The Go Lean roadmap provides the turn-by-turn directions for accomplishing this goal for new jobs. Based on the foregoing article, we need to lean-in now, more than ever if we want to “prosper where we are planted” here in the Caribbean. While the future always has an amount of uncertainty, there are preparations that must always be made for seasonal change; a “winter” season is coming to the Caribbean; ignorance is no excuse.

A Bible proverb says to look to the “ants” (insect) for a lesson. They do not know exactly when the weather will change, so they forage in the summer to prepare food storehouses for the winter. These lowly creatures teach us so much:

Holman Christian Standard Bible – Proverbs 6:6
Go to the ant, you slacker! Observe its ways and become wise.

Now is not the time to be a slacker nor to flee. We must stand up and be counted, fight the good fight and elevate our community.  We too can make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

————

Appendix – VIDEO: Commission revises down economic forecast  – http://youtu.be/JJimIOHy2C0

The European Commission has projected weak economic growth for the rest of this year in the Eurozone.

Unveiling its autumn economic forecast on Tuesday, the EU’s executive said that the 18-nation bloc will only grow 0.8%, a forecast below what was estimated earlier in the year. Growth is expected to rise slowly in 2015

“There is no single, and no simple answer. The economic recovery is clearly struggling to gather momentum in much of Europe. We believe that it is essential that all levels of government assume their responsibility and mobilise both demand- and supply-side policies to boost growth and employment,” EU Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs Pierre Moscovici said.

“Country-specific factors are contributing to the weakness of economic activity in the EU, and the euro area in particular. Such factors include the deep-seated structural problems that were already well-known before the crisis, the public and private debt overhang; ongoing financial fragmentation related to the sovereign debt crisis and unfinished and uncertain reform agenda in some of our member states,” Commission Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness Jyrki Katainen stated.

According to the newly appointed commissioner, the EU sanctions imposed on Russia over the Ukrainian conflict, and a weaker global economy, are damaging business confidence.

Eurozone leaders are relying on a 300 billion euro investment fund to kick-start economic recovery, after newly elected Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker promised to unveil the plan in December.

“Our first priority now is to boost investment, to kick-start growth, and sustain it over time. We will be working at full speed, under the coordination by Vice-President Katainen, to put in place the 300bn investment plan announced by President Juncker,” Moscovici said.

The EU’s unemployment rate is likely to fall to 10%, the Commission said. But as for the eurozone, it will be significantly higher.

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CARICOM Chair calls for an end to US embargo on Cuba

Posted on December 12, 2014 in Locations, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

Welcome to the fight Mr. Browne; welcome to the struggle to elevate Caribbean society.

The publishers of the book Go Lean…Caribbean monitor the organizational developments of the Caribbean Community super-national organization. The Chairman position rotates among the Heads of Government for the 15 member-states. This year’s turn at the helm is Antigua & Barbuda; just in time after the June election of Gaston Browne as the new Prime Minister. This is a “baptism in fire” for Mr. Browne, as he is new in the leadership role for Antigua and also new for the CariCom. His latest regional salvo is a “shot across the bow” of American foreign policy, calling for the end of the US embargo on Cuba. See full article & VIDEO here:

 CU Blog - CARICOM chair calls for an end to US embargo on Cuba - Photo 1HAVANA, Cuba — Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda called on the United States president and congress to end its “senseless embargo of Cuba now.”

Browne was speaking at the opening ceremony of the fifth CARICOM-Cuba Summit in Havana, Cuba, on Monday. He said that CARICOM’s solidarity with Cuba was manifested by the region’s repeated calls “in every council in every part of the world” for an end to the embargo.

The CARICOM chairman also took the opportunity to express profound appreciation to the host for its role in the fight against Ebola disease.

“Cuban doctors, nurses and technicians have not only put their lives at risk to save lives in West Africa; they have saved lives around the world by helping to contain and control the spread of Ebola. They deserve our deep respect, our great gratitude and our enduring thanks,” he stated.

The prime minister noted that trade between the two sides had grown but was mindful of the challenges that existed for its expansion. He referred to the work being done on a protocol to widen the existing trade and development agreement and stated he had no doubt that a mutually satisfactory result would be achieved.

Browne said a practical machinery had to be established to expand trade and investment.

“Central to such machinery is effective and affordable transportation for the movement of goods and people between our countries. In this connection, I call on this summit meeting to place high priority on creating mechanisms to move goods, services and passengers throughout our countries. I am convinced that if Cuba and CARICOM countries can jointly build a transportation network, all our economies will benefit,” he added.
He pointed to the advantages particularly in the field of tourism that such a network could bring.

“If Cuba and CARICOM countries can establish the air transportation links and a network of collaboration between our hotels, multi-destination tourism — that offers the distinctiveness of our culturally-rich countries — could be a winner for all of us,” he said.

The CARICOM chairman suggested that CARICOM and Cuba share their knowledge and experience in sports, particular athletics.

He joked that “if we teach Cubans to play cricket, we might produce a Caribbean cricket team that would restore West Indian cricket to the heights it once majestically enjoyed.”
Browne said that areas for co-operation between CARICOM and Cuba existed at a broad level and it was up to “us to be creative and ingenious in the ways in which we bolster each other.”

“On matters such as climate change and global warming; on financial services and the dictates of the countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and development; on the marginalization of our concerns by the G20, we should be coordinating our positions and acting in unison. We may not be able to stand-up to them alone, but they cannot ignore us if we stand-up together,” the prime minister said.
Caribbean News Now – Regional News Source (Posted 12/11/2014) –
http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/headline-CARICOM-chair-calls-for-an-end-to-US-embargo-on-Cuba-23985.html

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VIDEO – Has the US-Cuba trade embargo reached the end of the road? – BBC News – http://youtu.be/SR8CPBO6C8Q

Published on May 20, 2014 – America’s long-standing trade embargo with Cuba is facing calls to be eased from an unlikely source. President Obama’s administration has relaxed some of its provisions but there are growing calls to lift it completely.

The “acting in unison” rallying cry from Mr. Browne aligns with the assertions of the Go Lean book, that the challenges the Caribbean face are too big for any one Caribbean member-state to tackle alone. Rather, shifting the responsibility to a region-wide, professionally-managed, deputized technocracy will result in greater production and greater accountability. This deputized agency is the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). The Go Lean book is a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the CU.

Though this CU effort shares some similar goals, there is no association of the Go Lean publishers to the CariCom. Instead, the Go Lean movement is external to CariCom. In fact, the book assesses that most of CariCom executions have failed – Pages 92, 167, 255 – and proposes the CU as the next step of integration evolution for the Caribbean region.

In addition to the book, the publishers have previously addressed CariCom’s efforts and mis-firings in the following Go Lean blogs entries:

CARICOM calls for innovative ideas to finance SIDS development
EU willing to fund study on cost of not having CARICOM
The Future of CariCom
Grenada PM Urges CARICOM on ICT
CARICOM Chairman to deliver address on reparations
Caribbean leaders convene for CARICOM summit in St Vincent

The foregoing article stressed the potential for Caribbean elevation with the imminent re-integration of Cuba. The CariCom Chairman’s urging for the US to end the trade embargo is a great start – just talk – but the actions associated with Cuba’s full integration are weighty. The Go Lean book describes the heavy-lifting associated with this quest.

This book, Go Lean… Caribbean, details the step-by-step roadmap for elevating the entire Caribbean, including Cuba, into a confederation of 30 member-states of the region into a “single market”. Thusly, the prime directives of the CU are pronounced in these statements:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

The Go Lean book details the series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies designed to re-boot and integrate Cuba in to an optimized Caribbean brotherhood:

Anecdote – Caribbean Single Market & Economy Page 15
Community Ethos – Economic Systems Influence Individual Choices & Incentives Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier Page 22
Community Ethos – “Crap” Happens Page 23
Community Ethos – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future Page 26
Community Ethos – Ways to Manage Reconciliations Page 34
Community Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategic – Vision – Integrated Region in a Single Market Page 45
Strategic – Vision – Agents of Change Page 57
Tactical – Confederating a Non-sovereign Union Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Growing to $800 Billion Regional Economy Page 67
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Office of Trade Negotiations Page 80
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Federal Courts – Truth & Reconciliation   Commissions Page 90
Anecdote – Turning Around CariCom Page 92
Anecdote – “Lean” in Government Page 93
Implementation – Assemble & Create Super-Regional Organs to represent all Caribbean Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation – Foreign Policy Initiatives at Start-up Page 102
Implementation – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate to the Caribbean Page 118
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization Page 119
Planning – 10 Big Ideas – Cuba Page 127
Planning – Big Ideas for the Caribbean Region Page 127
Planning – Ways to Model the EU Page 130
Planning – Ways to Improve Failed-State Indices Page 134
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Anecdote – Governmental Integration: CariCom Parliament Page 167
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Impact the Diaspora Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Re-boot Cuba Page 236
Appendix – New CariCom Model Urged Page 255

The foregoing news article and this commentary is not the first call for the re-instatement of Cuba – 55 years is long enough. In a recent blog about the Big 3 automakers of Detroit, reference was made to the expansion of auto assembly plants of General Motors and Ford Motors in global cities. Both companies now have installations in Vietnam, a country that fought a bloody unpopular war with the US 40 years ago; (65,000 American deaths). Cuba has never shed American blood, and yet their embargo persists – this defies logic. This is why these previous blogs posit that it is only a matter of (short) time for this change, and so the blogs/commentaries feature subjects on Cuba’s eventual integration into the Caribbean brotherhood. These are detailed here:

‘Raul Castro reforms not enough’, Cuba’s bishops say
Cuban Cigars – Declared “Among the best in the world”
Cuba mulls economy in Parliament session
America’s War on the Caribbean
Cuban cancer medication registered in 28 countries
Cuba Approves New “Law on Foreign Investment”

CU Blog - CARICOM chair calls for an end to US embargo on Cuba - Photo 2Many entities in the international community have heralded a normalization of Cuban-American relations; see foregoing VIDEO and Appendix below.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean recognizes the historicity of Cuba and the polarization of the Castro Brothers (Fidel & Raul). But now that the current President, Raul, has announced that he will retire/step-down in 2017, it is reasonable to expect that the long-awaited change is imminent for the Republic of Cuba.

The CU roadmap is especially inviting to the Cuban and Caribbean Diaspora; it presents a comprehensive plan (370 pages) for the contribution of their time, talents and treasuries in the repatriation to their homeland.

Now is the time for Caribbean stakeholders, the residents, Diaspora, trading partners and governing institutions, to lean-in for this regional re-boot plan. Now is the time to end the embargo, re-instate Cuba and make all of the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———-

Appendix: UN Blasts US Embargo of Cuba – http://youtu.be/S5sZ5ZBlv4M
Published on Nov 6, 2013 – The US embargo against Cuba is being criticized by the UN, who are taking issue with the 50 year old sanctions against the socialist island nation just 90 miles from Florida’s southern shore. On October 29th, [2013] the UN voted 188-2 for a resolution to end the embargo, which it said “…lacks every ethical or legal ground.” We discuss the vote on this Buzzsaw news clip with Tyrel Ventura and Tabetha Wallace.

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Caribbean must work together to address rum subsidies

Posted on November 12, 2014 in Industries, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

CU Blog - Caribbean must work together to address rum subsidies - Photo 1

Caribbean Rum, a product from island sugar cane, is among the best in the world.

This is a familiar focus of the Go Lean…Caribbean, movement, the book and accompanying blogs feature this and another Caribbean specialty agriculture: the best cigars in the world. The book posits that specialty agriculture is a core competence of the region (Page 58). This is part-and-parcel of the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU).

With that branding of “Trade Federation”, obviously there is an emphasis on Trade activities.

With that branding of “Union”, obviously there is an emphasis on collective bargaining.

Mastery of these activities is what the following news article calls for:

CU Blog - Caribbean must work together to address rum subsidies - Photo 2THERE has been yet another call for rum-producing nations in the Caribbean to come together and confront the issues of subsidies which are affecting rum exports from this region to the United States.

Douglas Henderson, Executive Manager, Regional Sales and Marketing for Angostura, a leading rum producer in Trinidad and Tobago, said there has to be a collaborative effort to deal with the situation.

“Therefore, the challenge that we have is that in a lot of cases the Caribbean producers are having difficulties coming together to fight,” he told The Barbados Advocate.

The official pointed out that he is aware that some efforts were made to have the matter dealt with at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), in addition to the fact that both Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago are both trying to make inroads in having the subsidies removed.

“But until that happens, no company can stand still and wait. So we have to look to develop our business and do what we can,” he remarked.

CU Blog - Caribbean must work together to address rum subsidies - Photo 3Henderson was recently in Barbados where he participated in the launch of a range of Angostura Rums to the Barbados market. The launch was a co-operative effort between Angostura and Massy Distribution.

The USA is providing the subsidies to multinational spirits companies operating in the United States Virgin Islands and in Puerto Rico. Caribbean governments and producers who are members of the West Indies Rum and Spirit Producers Association (WIRSPA) have dubbed the subsidies inconsistent with trade rules of the WTO.

Just recently, the Barbados Ambassador to the United States, John Beale, issued a similar call for Barbados and the Caribbean producers to mount a campaign against the subsidies. He said that as a result of them, Barbados’ rum exports to the USA had declined by more than 20 per cent so far in 2014. Rum accounted for over $80 million in foreign exchange inflows into Barbados last year.

“Every Caribbean rum producer is affected by the subsidy and it is going to place those countries – US territories – at an advantage over us,” Henderson said.

He explained, “The USA market remains a huge market for any Caribbean producer of rum. Rums are growing in the USA and again when you come into the market and your price point is at a level that the majority of the market would choose not to try it, what you have to invest in advertising is so significant.”

The Angostura official further noted that every rum producer in the world is happy to compete on a level playing field. However, according to him, “a subsidy does not provide a level playing field, that’s where the concern is”, he added.
The Barbados Advocate – Daily Newspaper Online Site – (Posted 8/20/2014; retrieved 11/10/2014) – http://www.barbadosadvocate.com/newsitem.asp?more=business&NewsID=38272

The Go Lean book explained that the proper management of trade can increase wealth. The book relates the following on Page 21:

Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth: People specialize in the production of certain goods and services because they expect to gain from it. People trade what they produce with other people when they think they can gain something from the exchange. Some benefits of voluntary trade include higher standards of living and broader choices of goods and services.

The foregoing article alludes that the Caribbean member-states can do better in managing their trade negotiations (with the US regarding subsidies) with more efficient collective bargaining. This commentary asserts that it is a preferred option for the member-states to delegate this negotiation responsibility to the CU rather than going at it alone. The Go Lean book serves as a roadmap to empower the region’s trade engines. This effort is dubbed Trade SHIELD and defined in great details in the book. The acronym refers to:

Strategic
Harvest
Interdiction
Enforcement
Logistics
Delivery

All in all, this roadmap calls for more than just negotiations (inclusive under the Strategic functionality). The Go Lean roadmap calls for confederating 30 member-states of the Caribbean (including the US territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands – also rum-producing economies – think Bacardi*), despite their language and legacy, into an integrated Single Market. The resulting entity will increase trade with the US and with the rest of the world, increasing the economy (GDP) from $378 Billion (2010) to $800 Billion. This growth is based on new jobs, industrial output and lean operational efficiency.

Size does matter! The traditional rum-producing countries (Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Martinique, Trinidad, etc.) are considered Small Island Developing States. The CU on the other hand represents the Single Market of 42 million people, in which “the whole is worth more than the sum of its parts“. In addition, the SHIELD principles specify Logistics and Delivery functions in facilitating the Trade objectives. This is a microcosm of how the CU roadmap will impact all of Caribbean society. The 3 prime directives of the CU are listed as:

  • Optimization of the economic engines so as to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus (with persecutory powers for economic crimes) so as to mitigate the eventual emergence of “bad actors”.
  • Improve Caribbean governance.

CU Blog - Caribbean must work together to address rum subsidies - Photo 4The roadmap creates some new Delivery options for Caribbean specialty agriculture (i.e. rum and cigars), namely electronic commerce and social media. Imagine subscribers on the myCaribbean.gov Marketplace or Facebook easily ordering auto-fill monthly shipments of the best products the Caribbean have to offer. The CU intends to trade with the 80 million annual visitors and 10 million Diaspora.

This export trade allows for the preservation of Caribbean heritage.

Facilitating Caribbean trade is a strong theme for the Go Lean… Caribbean book and a frequent topic for these Go Lean blogs. These points of trade against the back-drop of Caribbean economy, security and governance were detailed in these previous blogs/commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2435 Korean Model – Latin America’s Trade dreams
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1965 America’s Navy – Model for protecting Caribbean trade routes
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1847 Cuban Cigars – Declared “Among the best in the world”
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1869 US Senate bill targets companies that move overseas for unfair trade
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1609 Cuba mulls economy and trade in Parliament session
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1416 Amazon, a model of a Trade Marketplace, and its new FIRE Smartphone
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=833 CU Strategy: One currency, divergent economies
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=689 eMerge Conference Aims to Jump-start Miami Tech Hub in Exploiting Latin America Trade

The foregoing news article relates that the US is the culprit for the unlevel “playing field” for rum import-export trade activities in the region. The Go Lean movement posits that despite the reassuring words, the US is not assuming exemplary leadership for Caribbean empowerment – due to its own self-interest – that instead the region must “stand up” for its own self-determination.

This is not independence, this is interdependence! This point was echoed in the following blog commentaries:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=2259 The Criminalization of American Business – Big Agra
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=789 America’s War on the Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=353 Book Review: ‘Wrong – Nine Economic Policy Disasters and What We Can Learn…’
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=273 10 Things We Don’t Want from the US – American Self-Interest Policies

The CU roadmap works to drive the needed change among the economic, security and governing engines to guide the Caribbean member-states to the destination of elevated societies. This change is based on new community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates; sampled as follows:

Declaration of Interdependence Page 10
Community Ethos – Deferred Gratification Page 21
Community Ethos – Economic Principles – Voluntary Trade Creates Wealth Page 21
Community Ethos – Job Multiplier Page 22
Community Ethos – Security Principles Page 22
Community Ethos – Governing Principles Page 24
Community Ethos – Lean Operations – GPO’s Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Negotiations Page 32
Strategy – Vision – Integrating Region in to a Single Market Page 45
Strategy – Agents of Change – Globalization Page 57
Strategy – Core Competence – Specialty Agriculture Page 58
Tactical – Confederating a Permanent Union Page 63
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Growing the Economy to $800 Billion – Convergence of East Asian Tigers Page 67
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Agriculture Department – Licensing/ Inspections Page 88
Implementation – Assemble & Create Super-Regional Organs to represent commerce Page 96
Implementation – CPU: Consolidate / Integrate the Member-states Postal Services Page 96
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change – GPO’s Page 101
Implementation – Foreign Policy Start-up Initiatives Page 102
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Optimize Mail Service & myCaribbean.gov Marketplace Page 108
Implementation – Ways to Impact Social Media Page 111
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization Page 119
Planning – Ways to Improve Trade – GPO’s Page 128
Planning – Ways to Improve Interstate Commerce Page 129
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Create Jobs Page 152
Advocacy – Ways to Better Manage Foreign Exchange – Caribbean Dollar realities Page 154
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Foster e-Commerce Page 198
Advocacy – Ways to Preserve Caribbean Heritage Page 218
Advocacy – Ways to Impact US Territories Page 244
Appendix – Trade SHIELD Principles Page 264

Trade is very much critical to the strategies to grow the regional economy. Increased trade will undoubtedly mean increased job opportunities. The CU/Go Lean plan is to foster and incubate key industries, such as rum industry, for this goal. One of the biggest rum producers in the Caribbean, Bacardi, originated in Cuba but have since located distillery plants in Puerto Rico, Bahamas and Mexico. They have endured and persevered despite much opposition. They are proud of their survival, depicting it in TV advertisements; see the following:

*VIDEO: Bacardi – Untamable since 1862 – Procession TV Ad: https://youtu.be/lXQcbS-TH7g

Discover how the Bacardí family had the irrepressible spirit to overcome fire, earthquakes, prohibition, revolution and exile — none of which could defeat their spirit, because True Passion Can’t Be Tamed. Find out more about the Bacardí family story at www.bacardi.com

The rest of the Caribbean’s rum producers must also endure dire obstacles, and can now do so because there is help. This Go Lean roadmap proposes a new model, that of the Trade Federation, an entity to do the heavy-lifting of elevating the Caribbean economy, security and governing engines.

For the Caribbean, the status quo cannot continue – the region is already mature as a great place to “play”: tourism, carnivals/fiestas/parties, great rum and great cigars – “all play and no work”. But now, it is time for the region, the people and institutions, to lean-in to this roadmap for change, to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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CARICOM calls for innovative ideas to finance SIDS development

Posted on September 18, 2014 in Ethos, Government

Go Lean Commentary

“The pot calling the kettle black” – Old adage

It seems so out of place for Irwin LaRocque, the CEO of the Caribbean Community (CariCom) to lecture other nation-states on how they should restructure their finances, considering the fact that the CariCom organization admits that their own finances are ‘in shambles’.

But still, the purpose of this commentary is to first applaud Mr. LaRocque for identifying better options (in the news article here), and then to direct his attention (and by extension, the entire Caribbean and the rest of the world) to a published ‘better option’ for SIDS financing: the book Go Lean … Caribbean.

Title: CARICOM Secretary-General calls for innovative alternatives to finance SIDS development

SIDS Photo 1APIA, Samoa — Even as the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) examined the issue of financing sustainable development for SIDS in Apia, Samoa, CARICOM secretary-general Irwin LaRocque has suggested the need for new and innovative alternatives.

Moderating a side event titled “Financing for Sustainable Development in SIDS”, during the four-day international conference on Small Island Developing States, LaRocque said there may be a role for innovative public and private financial instruments such as counter-cyclical loans, which temporarily halt existing debt service payments when shocks strike.

He highlighted financing instruments such as the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) that provide cash flow support immediately following an insured catastrophe, as well as financing opportunities presented by the recent rise in South-South cooperation.

He stated: “Emerging donors have become increasingly important sources of both aid and loan finance for many Small Island Developing States. This development — which looks set to continue — provides SIDS with important opportunities to secure new and additional sources of development finance, as well as opportunities to learn from other countries’ recent development experiences.”

“It is important to foster greater transparency in such flows, and to ensure that debt sustainability concerns are also kept in view,” the Secretary-General cautioned however.

Continuing on the issue of resource mobilization, LaRocque acknowledged that improving domestic resource mobilization capacities was also important. He informed that several SIDS have established special funds or programmes to channel more domestic resources to environmental and conservation programmes but, despite progress, challenges remain, and for many SIDS, domestic investment will need to be supplemented by international funding given the high up-front costs of many investments.

According to the Secretary-General, financing for development to reach set multilateral development goals required innovating instruments to mobilise domestic and international development funding that involve traditional and non-traditional donors, so as to increase private sector investment and public-private capital flows in support of development.

Noting that the overall financing needs for SIDS were not only large, but were also “very difficult” to quantify based on their level of vulnerability and exposure to external shocks, the CARICOM Secretary-General said that the Caribbean had been plagued with losses equivalent to over one percent of GDP to natural disasters since the early 1960s. He referenced Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica in which losses were estimated at US$108 million for St Vincent and the Grenadines and US$99 million for Saint   Lucia in December 2013.

He added that while Official Development Assistance (ODA) and climate finance were important sources of funds for many Small Island Developing States, the proportion of overall aid allocated to SIDS was small, on the decline and heavily concentrated in just a few countries. .

“Suffice it to say, more financing will be needed to support not only countries’ long-term development, but also to address sudden major shocks such as the extreme weather events,” he said.

The Secretary-General stressed that the debt challenges facing many SIDS were compounded by the stance of the multilateral financial institutions regarding access to concessional resources by those states classified as middle income developing countries.

“The use of the narrow criteria of per capita gross national income in excess of US$1,035 (in 2013) to confer ‘middle income status’ on developing countries does not take into account the peculiar vulnerabilities, economic fragilities and lack of resilience of many SIDS including those in the Caribbean,” LaRocque also said.

The Caribbean Community had a high-level delegation at the conference which included Freundel Stuart, Prime Minister of Barbados; Dr Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister of Grenada; Dr Denzil Douglas, Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, and ministers of government of CARICOM member states.
———————
The Strategic Plan for Caribbean Community (2015-2019) can be found here: http://caricom.org/jsp/secretariat/caribbean-community-strategic-plan.jsp

Family Photo of the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States

The foregoing news article strongly identified the need for public and private financial instruments which are innovative compared to the status quo. This point aligns with the book Go Lean … Caribbean that presents a 370-page roadmap for re-booting, re-organizing and restructuring the economic, homeland security and governmental institutions in the Caribbean region. Government revenue/finance issues are covered in great details in the roadmap; the following is just a sample of some of the innovative government funding/revenue products featured in the book:

Re-insurance sidecars
Marketable Warrants
Tax Liens

The ‘shambled’ state of CariCom has frequently been featured in previous Go Lean blog/commentaries. As sampled here:

https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1193 EU willing to fund study on cost of not having CARICOM
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=1014 Jack M. Mintz: All is not well in the sunny Caribbean
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=816 The Future of CariCom
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=451 CARICOM Chairman to deliver address on reparations
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=346 Caribbean leaders convene for CARICOM summit in St Vincent
https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=308 CariCom Agency CARCIP Urges Greater Innovation

The Go Lean book delves into innovative ideas for funding member-states’ treasuries. The book serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). While federal governments normally bring a new level of governmental overhead and thus a new thirst for public finances, this one is different. The CU pledges to “give, not take”. This pledge is embedded in the Declaration of Interdependence, pronouncing as follows, (Page 12):

xiv. Whereas government services cannot be delivered without the appropriate funding mechanisms, “new guards” must be incorporated to assess, accrue, calculate and collect revenues, fees and other income sources for the Federation and member-states. The Federation can spur government revenues directly through cross-border services and indirectly by fostering industries and economic activities not possible without this Union.

The Go Lean book posits that the “whole is worth more than the sum of its parts”, that from this roadmap Caribbean economies will grow individually and even more collectively as a Single Market. This roadmap advocates the optimization of the economic and security engines and projects that the region’s economy will grow from $378 Billion (2010) to $800 Billion in a 5 year time span. The natural result of this effort is that government revenues can and will grow.

As related in the roadmap, the 3 CU prime directives include the optimization of the economic engines, establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines, and also the improvement of Caribbean governance to support these new engines.

The Go Lean roadmap therefore accepts a mission to re-structure facets of Caribbean governance with these pronouncements at the outset of the book, in the Declaration of Interdependence, as follows (Page 12):

xiii. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

The book purports that many of the revenues systems (such as identified above) are too complex for many individual Small Island Development States (SIDS) alone, and so the CU would be better suited to provide the economies-of-scale necessary for efficient deployment. This is part-and-parcel of the technocracy of the CU.

The following details from Go Lean…Caribbean the community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementation and advocacies to deploy efficient and effective government revenue options:

Community   Ethos – Lean Operations Page 24
Community   Ethos – Cooperatives Page 25
Community   Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing Page 35
Strategy –   Customers – Member-State Governments Page 51
Strategy –   Agents of Change – Technology Page 57
Tactical –   Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Anecdote –   Turning Around the CARICOM construct Page 92
Anecdote –   “Lean” in Government Page 93
Implementation   – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation   – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Implementation   – Ways to Foster International Aid Page 117
Advocacy –   Ways to Improve Governance Page 168
Advocacy –   Better Manage the Social Contract Page 170
Advocacy –   Revenue Sources … for Administration Page 172
Advocacy –   Ways to Foster Technology Page 197
Advocacy –   Ways to Foster e-Commerce Page 198

According to the foregoing news article, there is a preponderance of SIDS to look to the international community for aid. The Go Lean book describes this dependent attitude as “parasite” and instead advocates for change: a more “protégé” approach.

The Go Lean book calls on the Caribbean region to be collectively self-reliant, to act more proactively and responsively for our own emergencies and natural disaster events. This means better, more efficient governance.  A previous Go Lean commentary demonstrated how governments can be transformed through technology and efficient deliveries, by highlighting a review of the relevant book by the California Lieutenant Governor and former Mayor of San Francisco Gavin Newsom: Citizenville – How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and governing institutions, to lean-in for these types of innovative changes described in the book Go Lean … Caribbean. The benefits are too alluring to ignore: dawn of new governing and economic engines… and dawn of new opportunities. With some success, this would simply mean: a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

Download the book Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

 

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EU willing to fund study on cost of not having CARICOM

Posted on June 4, 2014 in Implementation, Planning, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

What would be the opportunity cost of not having CariCom? EU fund CARICOM Study 2

Opportunity cost is defined as …

“the value of the best alternative forgone, in a situation in which a choice needs to be made between several mutually exclusive alternatives given limited resources. Assuming the best choice is made, it is the ‘cost’ incurred by not enjoying the benefit that would be had by taking the second best choice available”.[a]

See linked VIDEO below for sample/example.

VIDEO – Opportunity Cost explained [b]:

Real Estate InvestmentClick Photo to Play

The CariCom is viewed as a failure in many circles in the Caribbean and internationally!

  • Just what is the opportunity cost for all the time, talent and treasuries exerted into CariCom thus far?
  • Could those investments have generated a better return in other endeavors?
  • Has CariCom even measured … the opportunity cost?

This CariCom “wasted opportunity” stance is also declared in the book Go Lean…Caribbean, and all of its aligned blog submissions. This issue – CariCom mis-firings – had previously been addressed in many Go Lean blog-commentaries (to date):

a. https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=816 – The Future of CariCom
b. https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=476 – Grenada PM Urges CARICOM on ICT
c.  https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=451 – CARICOM Chairman to deliver address on reparations
d. https://goleancaribbean.com/blog/?p=346 – Caribbean leaders convene for CARICOM summit in St Vincent

All in all, the book and accompanying blogs assert that the Caribbean Community construct is a failed manifestation of regional integration. CariCom has failed because it has only achieved so little of what it attempted, and only attempted so little of what’s possible – they have just stood by as “Rome burned”. Even CariCom themselves have acknowledged that their branded endeavor, CSME or Caribbean Single Market & Economy has sputtered, despite investing millions of Euros, according to this article:

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada — The European Union (EU) is willing to fund a study that would explore the opportunity costs of not having a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in place.
Ewout Sandker, head of Cooperation, Delegation of the EU to Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago and the Dutch Overseas Countries and Territories, made the announcement on Monday during the high level advocacy forum on statistics in Grenada.

As he underlined the importance of a solid data foundation for development in general, and regional integration in particular, Sandker posed some questions to the forum and made reference to the path the European Union took towards integration.

He told the gathering of senior government officials, statisticians, and representatives of international organisations that, in the 1980s, the EU conducted a study that calculated the opportunity cost of not having a fully integrated market in Europe. The results, he related, were “quite amazing”. They were an “enormous push” to regional integration and provided a good opportunity for mobilizing the private sector in Europe, which saw the benefits they were not getting by not having a fully integrated market, he said.

“Something like that could be done in the Caribbean as well, and we would be happy to provide funding for such a study (of) the cost of not having CARICOM,” Sandker said.
Over the past decade, the European Union has been providing support to the Community to strengthen regional statistics and to improve its use in policy-making. About €4M of the €57M Ninth European Development Fund (EDF) cycle to the Community was allotted to produce and disseminate economic statistics, to harmonise statistical structures across the region and to train staff to use the economic statistics to monitor the regional integration process.

The EU and the Caribbean Forum of African Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM) deepened support to the field of statistics under the 10th EDF to build on earlier achievements and to fill the gaps that remained.

From the €18M allocated to the CSME under the 10th EDF, about €2M was allocated to strengthen the intra-regional systems to produce and disseminate timely, high quality, harmonized statistics to monitor the CSME. The funding, Sandker said, was used to monitor regional integration, further develop merchandise trade statistics and to boost social and environmental statistics, among other areas.

Statistical monitoring of the integration movement, he said, was particularly close to his heart. “I’ve been working on it the first time I was in Guyana with the CARICOM Secretariat and I believe that monitoring of both compliance of regional integration commitments at the national level, and secondly, the impact of regional integration activities and processes are absolutely key to the success of the regional integration enterprise.

“If you can’t measure it; if you don’t know the compliance at national levels with different areas of integration, how can you allocate resources in a sensible way? If you don’t know, you cannot prioritise. If you don’t know what is the impact of the regional integration process, how can you argue that it is a good thing? How can you argue that you should go further and deeper,” he queried.

Source: Caribbean News Now – Regional News Source (Retrieved 05/31/2014) –
http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/headline-EU-willing-to-fund-study-on-cost-of-not-having-CARICOM-21361.html

The people of the region deserve better!

This book Go Lean… Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), a graduated iteration of regional integration for the democracies and territories in and around the Caribbean Sea. The following 3 prime directives are explored in full details in the roadmap:

  • Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion & create 2.2 million new jobs.
  • Establishment of a security apparatus to protect the resultant economic engines.
  • Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines.

EU fund CARICOM Study 1This re-boot roadmap commences with the recognition that all the Caribbean is in crisis, and in the “same boat” despite their colonial heritage or language. All the geographical member-states, 30 in all, therefore need to confederate, collaborate, and convene for solutions. This pronouncement is made in the Declaration of Interdependence, (Page 10). This Preamble statement includes this verbiage:

While our rights to exercise good governance and promote a more perfect society are the natural assumptions among the powers of the earth, no one other than ourselves can be held accountable for our failure to succeed if we do not try to promote the opportunities that a democratic society fosters. …

The vision of the CU is a confederation of the 30 member-states of the Caribbean into an integrated Single Market with a different brand name other than CSME, rather the Caribbean Union Trade Federation – and this time … we vest the entity with real roles/responsibilities and also include the Spanish, French and Dutch homelands from the outset. Tactically, the CU allows for a separation-of-powers between the member-state governments and the new federal agencies. The Go Lean book details these series of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies designed to re-boot the delivery of the regional solutions, so badly needed and hoped for:

Anecdote –   Caribbean Single Market & Economy Page 15
Community   Ethos – Money Multiplier Page 22
Community   Ethos – Job Multiplier Page 22
Community   Ethos – “Crap” Happens Page 23
Community   Ethos – Lean Operations Page 24
Community   Ethos – Cooperatives Page 25
Community   Ethos – Ways to Impact the Future Page 26
Community   Ethos – Ways to Impact the Greater Good Page 37
Strategic   – Vision – Integrated Region in   a Single Market Page 45
Strategic   – Vision – Agents of Change Page 57
Tactical –   Confederating a Non-sovereign Union Page 63
Tactical –   Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical –   Growing to $800 Billion Regional Economy Page 67
Tactical –   Separation of Powers Page 71
Tactical –   Interstate Commerce Admin – Econometrics Data Analysis Page 79
Anecdote – Turning Around CariCom Page 92
Anecdote –   “Lean” in Government Page 93
Implementation – Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Implementation – Foreign Policy Initiatives at Start-up Page 102
Implementation – Security Initiatives at Start-up Page 103
Implementation – Ways to Deliver Page 109
Planning – Big Ideas for the Caribbean   Region Page 127
Planning – Ways to Model the EU Page 130
Planning – Ways to Measure Progress Page 147
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Anecdote – Governmental Integration: CariCom Parliament Page 167
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Foster Cooperatives Page 176
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security Page 180
Appendix – Trade SHIELD – “Harvest“ Comprehensive Data Analysis Page 264
Econometrics ... measuring progress

Econometrics … measuring progress

The Go Lean roadmap for the CU stresses the importance of a solid data foundation to analyze and measure progress. This models the effort of the European Economic Community (EEC – predecessor to the EU) in the 1980s; they commissioned a study to calculate the opportunity cost of not having a fully integrated European market. The results of that study were compelling and propelled the completion of the regional integration effort. The foregoing article recommends a similar exercise for the Caribbean, so as to provide a good opportunity to mobilize the private and public sectors in the region to dive deeper in the integrated Single Market. The Go Lean…Caribbean roadmap (370 pages) is a Caribbean study in compliance with this recommendation.

Now is the time for all of the Caribbean, the people and governing institutions, to reject the CariCom status quo … then lean-in for this new integration re-boot … for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation. Now is the time to make this region a better place to live, work and play. 🙂
———–

Referenced Citations:

a. Investopedia online resource. Retrieved 2010-09-18 from: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/o/opportunitycost.asp.
b. Video link: http://www.investopedia.com/video/play/opportunity-cost/

 

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The Future of CariCom

Posted on May 9, 2014 in Government, Implementation, Planning, Strategy

Go Lean Commentary

The Future of CARICOM - PhotoCariCom has been both a success and a failure!

CariCom has succeeded in bringing together most of the Caribbean and instilling the values of regional integration.

The CariCom has failed … with almost everything else!

CariCom = Successful Plan; Failed Execution.

The book Go Lean … Caribbean is a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), as the next phrase of regional integration. The roadmap has compiled the assessment of what is wrong with the Caribbean Community as a construct; (applying lessons learned from the previous failed integration effort – West Indies Federation). Then it proceeds to detail how-what-why to manifest the requested change, and to do it right this time. This roadmap is a GPS-style, turn-by-turn direction on how to get from the status quo to the desired destination.

The foregoing news article echoes many of the same sentiments about the CariCom’s failures and inadequacies.

By: Michael W Edghill*, CJ Contributor

Recently, noted columnist on Caribbean affairs, Sir Ronald Sanders, authored an article that appeared in numerous publications throughout the Caribbean.

The catalyst for his work appears to have been the remarks of Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St Vincent & the Grenadines. Dr. Gonsalves, never one to be accused of timidity, who commented in April on the failings of CariCom states to embrace the integration process.

Taking the lead from the Prime Minister, Sanders elaborated upon some of the difficulties that have inhibited the integration process and placed much of the blame for the shortcomings of the integration process squarely at the feet of the Heads of Government of the member states.

Their lack of initiative over the years, no doubt attributed to domestic political considerations, has left CariCom as more of a theoretical body as opposed to a functional body like that of the EU.

In April of 2011, the University of the West Indies Institute of International Relations issued a report on the status of Caribbean Regional Integration.

The comprehensive report identified a number of issues that have inhibited the integration process.

Among the contributing factors were the weakness of CariCom institutions and the difficulties of integrating economies of such divergent scales.

The report went on to make numerous suggestions on how to structurally change CariCom to create an effective body.

Rather than focusing on the detailed and complex suggestions (though wholly rational, reasonable, and worthy of a closer look) for moving the integration process forward, perhaps a few robust initiatives would provide the needed catalyst for advancing towards a functional CariCom.

Restructuring the CariCom governing body: This idea would necessitate the creation of a political study group to evaluate the failings of the current CariCom governing structure outside of the widely held view that the Heads of Government of member states hold too much power in CariCom as an institution.

There are assuredly other institutional weaknesses that prohibit the governing body of CariCom from being effective. Identifying those weakness and coming up with workable solutions based upon those elements of governance that are more successful in supranational bodies like the EU would go a long way in reestablishing a reorganized CariCom as a functional institution as opposed to a theoretical institution with limited success in Caribbean integration.

Full integration of the Dominican Republic into CariCom: For too long, CariCom has been mired in indecisiveness over the question of admitting the Dominican Republic into CariCom. The recent citizenship crisis between the DR and Haiti has not helped this issue. That being said, the time has come for CariCom to finalize this question and find a way to integrate the Dominican Republic into CariCom. One of the problems that CariCom has had with integration over the years is finding a way to fairly work within the varied economies of scale that exist within the body. The unstated reality is that Trinidad & Tobago has been unwilling to serve as an underwriter for regional economic stability in the way that Germany has for the EU. The integration of the Dominican Republic should serve as a catalyst for a renewed and extensive look at how to make this work in CariCom. The DR would

add another large and growing economy to CariCom thereby potentially alleviating any perceived economic burden that integration may impose. Perhaps the creation of a scaled system of economic contribution would be a simultaneous negotiation along with the integration of the Dominican Republic. While the various possibilities are numerous, the time has come for action on this issue. And depending on the results of the integration of the Dominican Republic into CariCom, a look at the relationship between Cuba and CariCom may be subsequently appropriate. (Although the country’s controversial citizenship ruling last year will remain an impediment).

Utilizing the “new” CariCom as a unified body in new trade/investment agreements: Much like the agreement between the EU and CariForum, a ‘new’ CariCom (as created by fulfilling the prior two suggestions) should have the ability to enter into new supranational trade agreements in a stronger position and with a unified voice.

Discussions of the validity and value of ‘free trade’ as a driver of upward economic mobility for all in society are valuable but cannot overcome the overwhelming evidence that creation of new ‘free trade’ zones is the current wave in international economic relations.

Having a stronger voice in these discussions is necessary for member states that hope to continue economic growth in the future.

The “new” CariCom would be primed for negotiations on how to engage with NAFTA to the benefit of its member states.

Likewise, a new CariCom has the potential to open up a whole new range of investment opportunities, especially for those interested in renewable energy investment. If there is one thing that the individual states of the Caribbean seem to be unified on currently, it is the need to address climate change and the creation of more renewable energy sources in the Caribbean.

The ability to explore those investment opportunities as a regional body as opposed in individual states appears, at least superficially, to be of great value to the CariCom member states.

These ideas are all simply possibilities, however, and will go nowhere without the political will of the current Heads of Government of CariCom member states.

As with any supranational organization, members have to be willing to give of their authority in the first place for any changes to take place. It is now a matter of whether member states are willing to concede that there is a pressing problem with full integration within CariCom and take the steps necessary to ensure a vibrant CariCom for the future.

* Michael W Edghill, a Caribbean Journal contributor, teaches courses in US Government & in Latin America & the Caribbean. His work has also appeared in the Yale Journal of International Affairs and Americas Quarterly.

Caribbean Journal Online News Source – May 6, 2014
http://www.caribjournal.com/2014/05/06/the-future-of-caricom/

The roadmap therefore does not focus on the CariCom but rather, focuses on the Caribbean; the 42 million people (per 2010 figures) within the 30 member-states of 4 different languages (Dutch, English, French, Spanish), and 5 different administrative legacies (American, British, Dutch, French, Spanish).

The roadmap thereby sets out to accomplish 3 prime directives:

1. Optimize the economic engines so as to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.

2. Establish a security apparatus (including emergency management) around the economic engines so as to mitigate the eventual emergence of “bad actors”.

3. Improve Caribbean governance.

At the outset, the roadmap pronounces a preamble of this significance in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 10):

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to unite with others so as to connect them together to collaborate, confederate and champion the challenges that face them, we the people of Caribbean democracies find it necessary to accede and form a confederated Union, the Caribbean Union Trade Federation, with our geographic neighbors of common interest.

This is a big change compared to what the CariCom purports to offer. The CU aspires to do the heavy-lifting to impact change to this region. This commitment is codified in this roadmap, with details of community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates; as follows:

Community Ethos – Forging Change Page 20
Strategy – CU Vision and Mission Page 45
Tactical – Fostering a Technocracy Page 64
Tactical – Separation of Powers – Federal versus Page 71
Implementation –  A Detailed Five Year Plan Page 95
Implementation –  Assembling US Territories Page 96
Implementation –  Ways to Pay for Change Page 101
Planning – Ways to Model the EU Page 130
Planning – Lessons from the Previous Federation Page 135
Advocacy – Ways to Grow the Economy Page 151
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Governance Page 168
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Homeland Security Page 180
Advocacy –  Preserve Caribbean Heritage Page 218

In contrast with the CariCom, the CU aspires to elevate the entire Caribbean, with a mission to stop the gut-wrenching brain drain/human flight and encourage repatriation of the far-flung Caribbean Diaspora. These objectives are neither in the CariCom charter nor any of its executions.

The CU is structured, empowered, energized and funded to not just be a theoretical body but a functional body, primed to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work, learn and play. 🙂

Download the free e-book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

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Why not … a profit center?

Posted on May 3, 2014 in Ethos, Government, Strategy, Tactical

Go Lean Commentary

Most Caribbean countries have embassies, consular offices and/or trade mission offices in world capitals. These are normally cost centers, where the governments have to maintain the cost burden for these facilities. But why do they have to be cost centers, why not profit centers?

Why not … a profit center? As in one integrated, consolidated center on behalf of all the Caribbean member-states – a classic “cooperative” model. This strategy meets a basic requirement of retail design: traffic. All the embassy, consular and trade mission activities would create impactful retail traffic demands.

This vision comes into focus as a result of the emergence of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU), and the news article[c] below. The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the CU. The roadmap fully anticipated integrating and consolidating Trade Mission Offices (Page 116) to advance the causes of the Caribbean people in foreign countries; eight (8) cities are specified in details.

The resultant facility, and accompanying eco-system, would fulfill a CU mandate, global outreach to expand Caribbean trade within the source country, city and regional area.

From the outset of the roadmap, the intent to leverage Trade Mission Offices was pronounced in the Declaration of Interdependence (Page 13), as follows:

xix. Whereas our legacy in recent times is one of societal abandonment, it is imperative that incentives and encouragement be put in place to first dissuade the human flight, and then entice and welcome the return of our Diaspora back to our shores. … The right of repatriation is to be extended to any natural born citizens despite any previous naturalization to foreign sovereignties.

xx. Whereas the results of our decades of migration created a vibrant Diaspora in foreign lands, the Federation must organize interactions with this population into structured markets. Thus allowing foreign consumption of domestic products, services and media, which is a positive trade impact. These economic activities must not be exploited by others’ profiteering but rather harnessed by Federation resources for efficient repatriations.

The roadmap also urges the urban design approach for mixed-use developments; (Page 234). This dictates a structure designed as retail (ground floor), mezzanine for offices, and higher levels/floors for residences (apartments, condominiums, and hotels). See a sample site in a US Midwestern city here – Photos & VIDEO:

Why Not ... a profit center - Photo 1 (2)

Why Not ... a profit center - Photo 2

Why Not ... a profit center - Photo SPECIAL

VIDEO Midtown Crossing Commercial – https://youtu.be/3Ua3FjWLfKk

A model of a successful mixed-use development is the Omaha-Nebraska Midtown Crossing[a].

Consider New York City; it is one of 8 mission cities envisioned. This  map below and the Appendix Table lists all the addresses of the Caribbean embassies, consulates, and outreach offices in New York City[b] – all within a 5 mile radius. Imagine if all those facilities were in one property – a mixed-use development.

Why Not ... a profit center - Photo 4 (3)

Imagine too, a climate-controlled atrium with Caribbean fauna & flora; a food court showcasing cuisines from all the participating Caribbean countries, (up to 30); art galleries, convention/banquet facilities, exhibit halls, night clubs, performing arts theaters and maybe even an indoor entertainment center (for instance, modeling the legacy of Caribbean Pirates). This vision would generate multiple streams of revenue – a profit center as opposed to 30 cost centers.

This vision would benefit a lot of Caribbean stakeholders with support and outreach services – those desiring to live, work, learn, heal and play in the Caribbean. These stakeholders include:

  • Visitors
  • Caribbean Citizens (travelling abroad)
  • Diaspora
  • Foreign Direct Investors
  • Students

There is the need for this manifestation right now in London, England (another designated Trade Mission Office – Page 116 ); as depicted in this referenced news story[c]:

LONDON, England (May 1, 2014) — Overseas Territory representatives from the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Montserrat, the Cayman Islands and Anguilla met with United Kingdom business networking specialists, CaribDirect International Business Network (CIBN) in London last week, as the first networking session focusing on trade and investment gathers momentum.

These discussions, held at the offices of the Bermuda representative, focused on introducing the CaribDirect International Business Network (CIBN) concept; outlining its broad scope; revealing the economic and political opportunities available for the Caribbean Overseas Territories (OTs); and examining practical ways to work together for the benefit of the dependent territories of the Caribbean.

CIBN is an agency designed to facilitate and connect entrepreneurs and business people in the UK with Caribbean government and business representatives for trade and investment.

Representatives attending the meeting were Cayman Islands’ deputy director Charles Parchment, Montserrat director Janice Panton, BVI London Office director Kedrick Malone, Bermuda director Kimberley Durrant, CaribDirect director of policy Ron Belgrave and CaribDirect multi-media CEO David Roberts.

If only this profit center concept existed now … in London … and in New York.

The CU roadmap is designed to bring change to the Caribbean region. This commentary demonstrates that a lean, nimble organization structure can also be “at the corner of preparation and opportunity” and that opportunity can be made in turning a cost center into a profit center. This structure can optimize the Caribbean’s economic, security and governing engines – no matter the location. If the Trade Mission Offices were constituted as profit centers, the following details from the book Go Lean…Caribbean would manifest, with impacted community ethos, strategies, tactics, implementations and advocates; listed as follows:

Community Ethos – Lean Operations Page 24
Community Ethos – Cooperatives Page 25
Community Ethos – Ways to Improve Sharing Page 37
Strategy – Repatriating Caribbean Diaspora Page 47
Strategy – Inviting Foreign Direct Investments Page 48
Tactical – Separation of Powers – State Department Page 80
Tactical – Design Requirements for the Capital District Page 110
Implementation – Trade Mission Objectives Page 116
Implementation – Reasons to Repatriate Page 118
Implementation – Ways to Benefit from Globalization Page 119
Advocacy – Ways to Improve Trade Page 128
Advocacy – Lessons from New York City Page 137
Advocacy – Ways to Enhance Tourism Page 190
Advocacy – Impact the Diaspora Page 217
Advocacy – Ways to Impact Urban Living Page 234

The Go Lean roadmap will make the outreach, and foreign support, for Caribbean stakeholders more efficient and effective. This plan would impact and change the Caribbean and the foreign world we reach out to.

All Caribbean stakeholders – citizens, businesses and governments alike – are urged to lean-in to this Go Lean roadmap.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

———————

Appendix – References

a. http://www.midtowncrossing.com/about/default.aspx
b. http://michaelbenjamin2012.com/2012/06/21/caribbean-region-consulates-in-nyc/
c. http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-Caribbean-overseas-territories-meet-with-UK-networking-specialists-20934.html

———————

Appendix – TABLE – Caribbean States Mission Offices – New York City

Member-State

Address
Anguilla 845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022  Phone: 212-745-0277
Antigua & Barbuda 610 Fifth Avenue, Ste 311, New York, NY 10020  Phone: 212-541-4117
Aruba 666 Third Avenue, 19th floor, New York, NY 10017 Phone 877-388-2443
Bahamas 231 East 46th Street, New York, NY 10017  Phone: 212-421-6420
Barbados 820 Second Avenue, 5th Fl, New York, NY 10017  Phone: 212-551-4325
Belize 675 Third Avenue, Ste 1911, New York, NY 10017  Phone: 212-593-0999
Bermuda 845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-745-8272
British Virgin Islands 845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-745-8272
Cayman Islands 845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-745-8272
Cuba 315 Lexington Ave 38th Street New York, NY 10016 Ph. 212-689-7215
Dominica 800 Second Ave, Ste 400H, New York, NY 10017 Phone: 212-949-0853
Dominican Republic 1500 Broadway, Ste 410, New York, NY 10036  Phone: 212-768-2480
Grenada 800 Second Ave, Ste 400K, New York, NY 10017 Phone 212-599-0301
Guadeloupe 45 W 34th Street, Suite 703, New York, NY 10001 Phone  877-203-2551
Guyana 370 Seventh Avenue, 4th Fl, New York, NY 10001  Phone: 212-947-5110
Haiti 271 Madison Avenue, 17th Fl, New York, NY 10016 Phone: 212-967-9767
Jamaica 767 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017  Phone: 212-935-9000
Martinique 444 Madison Avenue, 16th Fl, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-838-6887
Monserrat 845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022  Phone: 212-745-0200
Netherland Antilles:Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Eustatius, Saba 1 Rockefeller Plaza 11th Floor, New York, NY 10020 212-246-1429
Puerto Rico 666 5th Avenue # 15l, New York, NY, 10103-1599. Phone: 212-333-0300
St. Barthelemy 934 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10021 Phone: 212-606-3601
St. Kitts & Nevis 414 East 75th Street, New York, NY 10103 – 212-535-5521
St. Lucia 800 Second Avenue, 9th Fl, New York, NY 10017 – 212-697-9360
St. Maarten 675 Third Avenue, Ste 1807, New York, NY 10017 – 800-786-2278
St. Vincent & The Grenadines 801 Second Avenue, 21st Fl, New York, NY – 212-687-4490
Suriname 1 UN Plaza, 26th Fl, New York, NY 10017 – 212-826-0660
Trinidad & Tobago 125 Maiden Lane, Unit 4A, 4th Fl, New York, NY 10038 Ph. 212-682-7272
Turks & Caicos Island 845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 Phone: 212-745-8272
US Virgin Islands 45 W 34th Street, Suite 703, New York, NY 10001 Phone 877-203-2551
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PetroCaribe press ahead with plan to eradicate hunger & poverty

Posted on April 8, 2014 in Economics, Ethos, Industries, Social

Go Lean Commentary

Venezuela Oil“He who has the gold makes the rules”; this is considered the golden rule. Today, oil is considered Black Gold. This succinctly describes the status of PetroCaribe and its regional campaign.

The foregoing news article speaks of PetroCaribe and ALBA, two economic integration initiatives by Hugo Chavez (1954-2013), the late President of Venezuela. He proved to be impactful, yet polarizing. His advocacy of socialism often brought him at odds with other western democracies, especially the US. But still, Chavez and Venezuela as a whole wield great power in Latin America and the Caribbean due to their abundance of resources and oil reserves.

The publisher of the book Go Lean…Caribbean, SFE Foundation, is a Community Development Foundation, constituted with members of the Caribbean Diaspora. The book’s first chapter defines the character and objective:

The SFE Foundation is not a person; it’s an apolitical, religiously-neutral, economic-focused movement, initiated at the grass-root level to bring change back to the Caribbean homeland – no one Caribbean State is favored over another. The SFE Foundation is not affiliated with the CariCom or any of its agencies or institutions. This movement is not an attempt to re-boot the CariCom, but rather a plan to re-boot the Caribbean

The same as is said about CariCom, in the above text, can be applied to PetroCaribe and ALBA.

CARACAS, Venezuela — The action plan for the eradication of hunger and poverty in the economic zone of PetroCaribe is showing significant progress. In order to define the specific intervention initiatives for each country, representatives from 17 Caribbean and Central American nations met in Caracas, Venezuela on 3 and 4 April 2014.

The meeting was opened by the vice-president for social areas of Venezuela, Hector Rodriguez, who emphasized on the importance of PetroCaribe for the region, noting that “this is a proposal that seeks equality based on diversity”.

Referring to the results of the action plan for the eradication of hunger and poverty, he stated, “We have the strategic goal of making the Caribbean a hunger free region.”

On this occasion, countries presented their concrete initiatives to eradicate hunger and poverty locally. The Executive Secretariat of PetroCaribe, with technical assistance from Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, will evaluate the proposals based on the guidelines set out in the action plan, which were approved by all the countries in the region. Selected projects will receive implementation funding from PetroCaribe.

At the meeting, the president of PDV Caribe and ALBA executive secretary, Bernardo Alvarez, emphasized the efficient implementation of the action plan: “We must congratulate ourselves on the important progress we have made in implementing the action plan for the eradication of hunger and poverty.”

Alvarez highlighted the leadership of FAO director general, José Graziano da Silva, in the creation of this regional initiative to end hunger: “This would not be possible without the inspiration of the director general of FAO, who was the creator of the Zero Hunger program in Brazil during the government of President Lula.”

The FAO regional representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, Raúl Benítez, noted, “The action plan to eradicate hunger and poverty is an example for everyone. This initiative is a concrete response to the 47 million people who still suffer hunger in Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Benitez acknowledged the commitment of the countries of the region, and Venezuela in particular, in the fight against hunger: “Venezuela is not only an example of a country that managed to defeat undernourishment in its territory, but it is an example of solidarity with an entire region.”

Meanwhile, executive secretary of PetroCaribe, Asdrubal Chavez, expressed optimism about the results of the action plan. “We could even reach our goals sooner than planned,” Chavez said.

The action plan is part of the priorities of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), and the Hunger-Free Latin America and the Caribbean Initiative, a commitment of 33 countries of the region to eradicate malnutrition by 2025. Its aim is to strengthen food and nutrition security of member states of the PetroCaribe and ALBA economic zone through national and regional hunger eradication projects.

The book Go Lean…Caribbean, serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU). This will serve as an integrated entity among Caribbean member-states; many of which are also members of PetroCaribe and ALBA; see Appendices below. So the advantageous characteristics of the SFE Foundation and the Caribbean Union as apolitical entities are manifested in this Go Lean effort.

According to the foregoing article, hunger and poverty are still major concerns in the Caribbean. The underlying motivation of the Go Lean book is brotherly love. Therefore who so ever, brings a solution to feed our hungry, poor brothers and sisters should be welcomed and embraced, despite their political affiliation. The roadmap is not “pro” or “con” American, but rather pro solutions; in fact the CU is described as a technocracy with a focus on delivery and merit, rather than ideologue or politics.

The Go Lean roadmap does align with many of the objectives of PetroCaribe as detailed in the foregoing article. The CU’s goal is to integrate the Caribbean member-states for permanent economic empowerment. As a result, many social benefits will flow. For example, the roadmap defines 10 [successful] Battles in the War Against Poverty (Page 222) and 10 Ways to Help the Middle Class (Page 223).

A basic economic principle is that education lifts people out of poverty. So the roadmap prioritizes education along with food, clothing, shelter, healthcare and energy as basic needs. The CU is to foster the eco-system to better deliver these basic needs of life for Caribbean people. In all, to make the Caribbean a better place to live work and play.

Download the book – Go Lean … Caribbean now!!!

———–

Appendix – PetroCaribe
PetroCaribe is an oil alliance with Venezuela which allows the purchase of oil on conditions of preferential payment. The alliance was launched on 29 June 2005 in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela. In 2013 PetroCaribe agreed to links with the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA), and to go beyond oil and promote economic cooperation. It is now considered an “economic zone”.

The PetroCaribe agreement was initiated with the aim of having solidarity with other countries in accordance with ALBA. The payment system allows for purchase of oil on market value for 5%-50% up front with a grace period of one to two years; the remainder can be paid through a 17-25 year financing agreement with 1% interest if oil prices are above US$40 per barrel. The agreement builds on payment terms from the San Jose Agreement and the Caracas Energy Accord. Energy and Petroleum Minister and President of PDVSA Rafael Ramírez said of the deal that it seeks to cut out the middleman in such transactions: “We’re not talking about discounts…We’re talking about financial facilities, direct deliveries of products, [and] infrastructure.”

There are a total of 17 members, plus Venezuela; 12 of the members are from the 15 member CariCom (excluding, Barbados, Montserrat and Trinidad and Tobago). At the first summit, 14 countries joined the alliance. These were: Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Venezuela. At the third summit, Haití and Nicaragua joined the union. Guatemala joined in July 2008 but left the organization in November 2013 stating that Venezuela had not provided them with the ultra-low financing rates that they had been promised.

Haiti finally joined the alliance in April 2006. Honduras became the 17th member of the alliance in December 2007, under President Manuel Zelaya. Belize set up the Belize Petroleum Energy Company to coordinate for the project.

Appendix – ALBA
The Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (Spanish – ALBA: Alianza Bolivariana para los Pueblos de Nuestra América) is an intergovernmental organization based on the idea of the social, political and economic integration of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean. The name “Bolivarian” refers to the ideology of Simón Bolívar, the 19th-century South American independence leader born in Caracas who wanted the continent to unite as a single “Great Nation.”

ALBA is associated with socialist and social democratic governments wishing to consolidate regional economic integration based on a vision of social welfare, bartering and mutual economic aid. ALBA nations may conduct trade using a virtual regional currency known as the SUCRE. Venezuela and Ecuador made the first bilateral trade deal using the Sucre, instead of the US dollar, on July 6, 2010.

ALBA members include Antigua & Barbuda, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Venezuela, Saint Lucia, and Suriname.

Appendix – SUCRE
A regional currency to be used in commercial exchanges between members of the regional ALBA trade bloc, which was created as an alternative to the [proposed-but-never-ratified] Free Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA). The SUCRE is intended to replace the US dollar as a medium of exchange in order to decrease US control of Latin American economies and to increase stability of regional markets.

The acronym is in Spanish, as: Sistema Único de Compensación Regional. In English, this means: Unified System for Regional Compensation

International trade between member states in SUCRE exceeded $850 million in 2013.

Eventually, the plan is for the SUCRE to become a hard currency.

Appendix – Referenced Sources:

• “PetroCaribe Meets in Venezuela, Links with ALBA”. Retrieved 6 April 2013 from: http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/9087.

• “ALBA Summit Ratifies Regional Currency, Prepares for Trinidad”. Michael Fox, Venezuela Analysis. Retrieved 17 April 2009 from: http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/4373

• Wikipedia treatment for subject PetroCaribe. Retrieved April 7, 2014 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrocaribe

• Wikipedia treatment for subject ALBA. Retrieved April 7, 2014 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALBA

• Wikipedia treatment for subject SUCRE. Retrieved April 7, 2014 from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SUCRE

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