The voice of the Bahamas and Caribbean continue to reflect the concerns they have over the Obama presidency.
Nassau Guardian
While some Bahamians fear that US President-elect Barack Obama's tax policies may eventually hurt The Bahamas' financial services industry, American University Professor of Political Science David Lublin said yesterday that the close friendship between the two countries will not change regardless of whether a Republican or Democrat is in power in the United States.
Obama has already indicated plans to crack down on international tax havens. He was one of the signatories of the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, legislation put to Congress last year.
While admitting that he is not an expert on tax haven policies, Professor Lublin said, "We are close friends and neighbors; we are going to remain so regardless of who is president."
Professor Lublin was responding to questions from the press during a meeting yesterday at the United Embassy where he expressed his views on the United States' relations with the Caribbean. The Bahamas marked his third stop on a Caribbean tour, after he visited Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago.
On the question of the economy, Profession Lublin said while Obama will come up with a spending plan to avoid more job losses in the United States, in a bid to jump-start the economy, he cannot magically turn things around.
He warned that there are some "tough times" ahead for the United States, and The Bahamas.
"I think what [Obama] is going to do is to have a big spending plan to try and prevent too many job losses, and a lot of it is going to be focused on our infrastructure which in many ways due to deficits in the past
has not been upgraded as much or maintained in some cases as well as it might be," the professor said.
He pointed to the 2007 "spectacular bridge crash" in Minnesota.
"This is a good way to maybe kill two birds with one stone — improve our infrastructure and help prevent more job losses that might otherwise occur. Like the current administration, he is going to try and move specifically on this. But, I think, it is going to be tough times in the US and since your trade and economy is tied to ours, it is going to probably be tough times here. In a free market economy system the government can help and ameliorate things but it can only do so much.
"Frankly to a certain extent, it is going to be beyond our government's control, and also beyond Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham's control. Ingraham can't magically make tourists arrive here in The Bahamas."
On the question of US-Cuba policy, he explained that people often tend to look for micro-changes, and don't focus on the big picture. Professor Lublin said regardless of whether a Democrat or a Republican has been in power, the thrust of US policy has been to promote real democracy in the communist country, where the people can elect their leaders just like it is done in America and in The Bahamas.
He said the United States is also seeking to promote greater respect for human rights and that those two goals are going to remain a constant regardless of who is the president.
"I don't think we are going to see dramatic changes. I think they are going to be more changes on the edge. In particular, I think it is quite likely [President-elect] Obama, like he said in a speech in Miami, is quite likely to lift the current limit on remittances and to make it easier for Cuban-Americans to visit their relatives in Cuba," Lublin said.
In terms of wholesale changing of existing sanctions, the political science professor said he believes that if Cuba were to make positive steps towards holding real elections there would be a positive response from the United States.
"That has always been the case. I always thought if Cuba held free elections, President Bush would have been more than happy to be the president when Cuba finally became another democratic nation in our hemisphere and neighbor," he said, adding, "My personal belief, also is that President-elect Obama is going to be looking at also the Cuban-American community in South Florida, which has rather strong opinions on these topics, and has had a big voice in these areas."
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
