EDITORIAL: An attempt at division?

The old strategy of divide and rule should be one well known to our readers. The obverse of this is the old adage that unity is strength. Hence, when it is perceived that a grouping might pose too potent an opposing force if fully united, those who stand to gain most from the fission among that grouping’s members will try to divide them on some ground, most likely by presenting the allurement that the particular member’s or members’ interests are not coterminous with those of the others and that it would be preferable for that member or members to paddle its or their own canoe(s).

While we are careful not to attribute such motives to the Trump administration, the recent invitation to the leaders of some member states only of CARICOM, and the leader of Santo Domingo to meet with President Donald Trump and some members of his administration at his Mar-a-Largo resort does reasonably leave some room for suspicion.

This notion is reinforced by the response of the Prime Minister of St. Lucia, Mr Allen Chastanet, to criticisms emanating from his fellow regional leaders, Mr Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda, and Dr Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent and the Grenadines, as reported in last Wednesday’s edition of this newspaper.

We gather from the report that the two aforementioned leaders had earlier expressed some consternation over the meeting that allegedly included some discussion on the ongoing Venezuela political situation. It is well known by now that CARICOM has adopted a position that the matter should be most efficiently resolved by meaningful dialogue and peaceful negotiation, opting to favour neither the de jure President, Snr. Nicholas Maduro, nor the much younger pretender to the presidency, Snr. Juan Gaudio. The current US administration however, seems bent on regime change in the country, a stance that is at variance with the regional one.

Mr Chastanet chose not to comment directly on this matter, however, according to the report, making it clear that he was “elected by the people of St. Lucia to represent St Lucians”. This much is incontrovertible, but we do not get the impression that Mr. Browne and Dr Gonsalves were being critical of the nature of the bilateral relationship between St Lucia and the US, but rather that there should be any discussion of the Venezuelan contretemps, purportedly on behalf of the regional grouping, with an administration that holds a markedly different perspective of its optimal resolution.

So we do not query Mr Chastenet’s desire to enlist US assistance in order to improve the national security of St Lucia, the discussions surrounding investment by US interests there or his efforts to secure a US consulate in St Lucia in order to preclude “St Lucians now having to do all the way to Barbados to get US visas”.

We are happy to note nonetheless, that Mr Chastanet has reaffirmed his continuing respect for CARICOM positions. We have been made privy to some social media posts of the respective leaders as they waited, seated stiffly like errant schoolboys in straight-backed chairs, to be ushered into the meeting with Mr Trump and, as the commentator on the post noted, “We certainly do not treat our dignitaries that way in these parts”.