A lecturer at The College of The Bahamas labelled the government as
being pro-communist, with a record of favouring Cuba, Venezuela and
China over North America and Europe.
Dr Dexter Johnson, a law professor, who supports a Bahamian nationalist
party, made the remarks Wednesday on Real Talk Live with Jeff Lloyd.
He said the government is increasingly making a calculated effort to
rehabilitate Cuba and hopes that the U.S. will lift its 46 year-old
trade embargo against that Spanish-speaking country.
"Our foreign policy has increasingly exhibited a
pro-socialist/communist and fairly radical departure from its previous
stance. We are in the socialist camp. We're in the camp of (Fidel)
Castro and (Hugo) Chavez, and now (Evo) Morales," he said.
"If you look at recent votes in the United Nations, and U.S. Ambassador
John Rood was kind enough to point this out, the last three votes in
the U.N., The Bahamas voted for China, Cuba and Venezuela against the
United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. It didn't abstain, it
voted with them (the communists)."
He added that the Bahamian people were never consulted about the
government "changing" its alignment towards socialist regimes and
explained that this was not the way to go, as a vote against the U.S.
could hurt The Bahamas in the long run.
He said it is foolish for a nation to bite the hand that feeds it,
making reference to The Bahamas, which imports approximately 90 per
cent of all its food from the U.S. In addition, 85 per cent of The
Bahamas' tourists come from the United States.
"While your hand is in the tiger's mouth, that's not the time to tweak
the tail of the tiger. You've got to be pragmatic and decide, let me
get my hand out of its mouth slowly, let me get my economy up to
speed," he said.
"So being pro-American at this time, I am submitting, [it] is in the
interest of the development of this country, since we rely on them as
our major trading partner."
Regarding the Venezuelan-sponsored PetroCaribe energy deal, the college
lecturer said the country should reject it outright. PetroCaribe allows
Caribbean countries, especially non-oil-producing ones, to purchase
fuel at a discounted rate from Venezuela. The result of that purchase
would greatly increase Venezuela's regional influence as Latin
American's lone OPEC member.
With reference to the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME), he
said "We've also been allowing radical and semi-radical Caribbean
leaders to push us to the forefront as a mouthpiece."
He was referring to the Prime Minister of St. Vincent, Ralph Gonsalves,
a Marxist Leninist who reportedly toned down his socialist rhetoric in
order to appeal to the St. Vincent electorate.
"I can go on and tell you about other leaders who are, basically what I
call closest socialists, seeking to utilise this so-called Caribbean
solidarity to rally around their hero, Fidel Castro," he charged.
"This is why the U.S. Ambassador recently commented on the fact [that]
while The Bahamas was at the U.N. suggesting that we should trade with
Cuba, nobody said anything to Castro about his human rights
violations."
Bahamas Voted Pro Communism