REMARKS BY THE HON.
FRED MITCHELL MP
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS &
THE PUBLIC SERVICE

September 20, 2004

FLORIDA MEMORIAL COLLEGE
FOSTERING INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

            The Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines said something at the conference from which I am now returning.  The conference took place in Trinidad and Tobago on Wednesday 15^th September.  It was an emergency meeting of the Heads of Government of Caricom.  They were meeting to discuss the impact of Hurricane Frances and Hurricane Ivan on the Caribbean region.  Much of the attention focused on the situation in Grenada.  But there was also marked concern about the fate of Jamaica, The Bahamas and the Cayman Islands.

            The Vicentian Prime Minister was concerned about an attitude which he was seeing in some nations in the Caribbean with regard to the possibility of an influx of Grenadians into their countries as a result of the damage from the storm.  He said that he had instructed the immigration officers in St Vincent to be flexible and to allow any one who could show by some means that they were Grenadian to come into St. Vincent and to stay in St. Vincent without a concern until the present emergency in Grenada had passed.  He said that it was the least St. Vincent could do because in his words “there but for the grace of God go I”

            But the statement that I want you to hear is the analysis of the forces of nature.  The Prime Minister said that the hurricanes have shown is that we are all one.  Hurricanes Ivan and Frances showed no distinctions between nations.  They simply affected all of the islands going up the chain.   In my own statement I remarked how despite the open skepticism in The Bahamas about Caricom and our participation in Caricom, when the linesmen appeared from Caricom countries to help put the power back up, there was very little complaint about the Caribbean linesmen coming from the Caribbean to help restore the power.  Right now in The Bahamas there are linesmen from Jamaica, Barbados and Belize helping to put the power back up.  

            Ralph Gonsalves’ point was that in the Caribbean we should stop fighting the forces of nature and of history and recognize that we have a common heritage and experience in this part of the world which makes us one.  The fact that we are nation states should not stop us from cooperating together.

            The hurricane had a similar affect in The Bahamas at the official level.  The Chief Minister of the Turks and Caicos Islands Michael Missick came to The Bahamas to see the damage for himself.  He has thousands of Turks Islanders and those of Turks Island descent living in Grand Bahama.  He toured the areas where they live.  The Turks Islanders helped to bring majority rule to The Bahamas in 1967.  They also helped to build the city of Freeport.  Mr. Missick brought a donation of $200,000 to the hurricane effort.  There are only some 20,000 Turks and Caicos citizens worldwide. 

            During his visit the talk turned to the relationship between the Turks and Caicos and The Bahamas.  Was it possible someone suggested that The Bahamas and Turks and Caicos might experiment with the question of a single market and economy between the two territories in the same way that the Caribbean as whole wants a single market and economy?  The Turks and Caicos and The Bahamas are close.  Their ties are significant.  Each has significant numbers of citizens in each others countries, why not someone suggested, remove all the red tape between the two states?  That of course remained at the theoretical level but it shows you what the forces of nature can do.  The fact that the small Turks and Caicos was able to give such a substantial donation was a moving fact indeed.  And one must see this against the backdrop of discrimination against Turks and Caicos Islanders in The Bahamas.

             This brings me now to the United States.  The relationship between this country and The Bahamas is very close.  We are physically close, beginning some fifty miles off shore.  From the moment that you take off from Miami toward the east, you are over Bahamian waters.  In Bimini, you can see the lights of Miami at night in the distance.  It is that close.

            The late Dr. Cleveland Eneas used to tell the story during his lifetime of the Bahamian who went to the U.S. Consul General in The Bahamas asking to get a visa to  allow him entry into the United States.  No visas are required for U.S. citizens to travel to The Bahamas.  The Consul General told the Bahamian that unfortunately he was unable to grant him such a visa to go to the United States.   But I don’t want to go to the United States said the Bahamian with a note of incredulity in his voice I only want to go to Miami.  At another time, Dr. Eneas summed it up this way: “A Bahamian believes that he has an inalienable right to go to Miami.”

            And I suspect that there are many Americans who feel the same about The Bahamas.  And so it should be with two countries whose histories are so intertwined and who share the same geography and which nature very often brushes with the same brush.   One has only to think of Hurricane Andrew in 1992.

            So just as the argument is for easier access of Caribbean people across the borders of the Caribbean states, so should there be easier access of Bahamians to the United States.  There should be no visa required for any Bahamians to travel to this country.  And we have made this same point about our citizens about travel to Europe.  Travel to Europe has been excruciatingly difficult as a result of the refusal of any European state to provide a way for visas to be issued to Bahamians wishing to travel there. Yet, Bahamians do millions of dollars in Europe of business.  None has ever been a charge on any European country and to our knowledge no Bahamian has ever been deported from a European country for overstaying his or her time in any European country.  Yet demands are made for The Bahamas to conform to European standards of behavior in international business and finance, standards that are arguably unnecessarily onerous and unfair without any compensating response from the European side.

Many of our intellectuals tried to tell us that one of the chief demands of the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas from the Caribbean side ought to have been visa free, hassle free travel and work in the United States and for the U.S. citizens in our own countries.  Perhaps, the FTAA would have gotten properly off the ground.

            The Miami Herald publishes an edition of its newspaper every day within a Bahamian newspaper.  Recently, I had the opportunity as Minister of Foreign Affairs of The Bahamas to meet with the members of the editorial staff and the publisher of the Miami Herald.  There used to be a time when Bahamian Prime Ministers as a matter of routine visited the Miami Herald and knew its publishers and editorial writers by name.  It was time in my view to renew the acquaintances.  The meeting was interesting: among the range of matters it covered were the business opportunities, the newspaper coverage of The Bahamas and a possible meeting with the Prime Minister which would have come off had it not been for Hurricane Frances.  The Prime Minister will likely come to speak to a forum in Miami in the next few weeks sponsored by the Miami Herald.  It is clear that steps must be taken to improve the communication between the media in Florida, the government of Florida and its county and city governments, and the Bahamian government.  We do a lot of business together, and together we ought to be making it easier for our citizens to access this market and for your citizens to access the Bahamians market: both on the trade and business sides and as visitors.

            I have had the wonderful opportunity over the last two years and some as Minister to be able to renew my acquaintance with the St. Agnes Episcopal Church here in Miami.   This is a repository of Bahamian culture in Miami.  Those who go there are reminders of the contribution that Bahamians made to the development of this city from the very start.  So the roots are deep here, dating right back to ninetieth century. 

            Who can forget that James Weldon Johnson was a Floridian whose Grand father was a Haitian immigrant to The Bahamas, our first Black member of the Bahamian Parliament?  Who can forget the scripts of Zora Neale Hurston as she wrote about the Saws, short for Nassaus in her seminal work THEIR EYES ARE WATCHING GOD? Who can fail to see the Bahamian connections on the Board of Commissioners of this county?

            Yes indeed our roots are deep.  The hurricane has struck us, and who has come swiftly to our aid?  The people of this good state and of this fine city.   Their affection has been limitless, and their generosity extraordinary. Thousands of dollars have passed hands in contributions to help Bahamians who are in need.

            As Minister, I have made it an article of faith to help to encourage and foster the closer links between this community and The Bahamas, and the wider Caribbean. There are people from throughout the Caribbean and Latin America in this city, and each has made this a fine example of international harmony.  We all have to work toward the possibility of increased trade, business and cultural ideas in this city and throughout the region.  The best way, I know how this can be done is through the people to people contact of which this morning’s discussion is a fine example.

 We must rise up beyond prejudice and foster togetherness.

            I think the hurricanes should show us that we are all in the same boat together.  One day it is your turn tomorrow it is mine. I want to make a special appeal for the people of Grenada whose country is on the verge of disintegration and needs all the help moral, financial and spiritual that we can all give.

            In the coming months then you should see more of official Bahamas here in Miami.  We will be encouraging you to come to our country to see what we are doing and how we can enhance opportunities for both our peoples.  I think Ralph Gonsalves was right when he asked the question: why should fight against the forces of history and of geography instead of accommodating ourselves to those forces. That is certainly the direction to move toward if we are truly to foster and build a spirit of an international community.

            Thank you very much indeed.