Wednesday, January 17, 2018
By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Staff Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
PRESS Secretary Anthony Newbold said the Minnis administration supports CARICOM’s condemnation of the disparaging comments US President Donald Trump reportedly made about Haiti, Africa and El Salvador last week.
He could not say, however, whether the administration had any input in drafting the statement or if it knew beforehand that CARICOM, which represents Caribbean interests, intended to make the statement.
He was asked about the matter yesterday after Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) leader Philip “Brave” Davis complained the administration should have released a separate statement condemning Mr Trump’s remark, not hiding behind CARICOM’s statement.
Mr Newbold did not respond directly to Mr Davis’ assertion yesterday, saying: “He’s the leader of the opposition, he can voice his opinion, but he’s the leader of the opposition.”
He continued: “Government of The Bahamas stands with the position taken by CARICOM. I didn’t have that conversation with the PM (on the Bahamas’ involvement in the statement), but that is the position that The Bahamas government will take.”
According to US reports, President Trump questioned during a recent meeting at the White House why the country is “having all these people from shithole countries come here?” He suggested the country should bring people from countries like Norway, not Haiti.
In a statement over the weekend, CARICOM said: “CARICOM condemns in the strongest terms, the unenlightened views reportedly expressed.
“Of additional concern is this pattern of denigrating Haiti and its citizens in what seems to be a concerted attempt to perpetuate a negative narrative of the country.
“We are especially saddened that such a narrative emerged around the time of the anniversary of the devastating 2010 earthquake, which took so many lives of citizens in that country.
“The Caribbean Community expresses its full support for the dignified statement of the government of the Republic of Haiti in reaction to this highly offensive reference.
“It should be recalled that Haiti is the second democracy in the Western Hemisphere after the United States, and that Haitians continue to contribute significantly in many spheres to the global community and particularly to the United States of America.
“CARICOM therefore views this insult to the character of the countries named and their citizens as totally unacceptable.”
Mr Trump has since denied he used the offensive expletive, but said he did use tough language at the immigration meeting. However a Democratic lawmaker who was in the room at the time confirmed Mr Trump used the offensive words that were reported.
Comments
Baha10 says...
Be clever Minnis, not reactionary. You and/or Brent were very clever to abstain on the UN Jerusalem Vote the other day, indeed one of the smartest Foreign Policy moves in years, which did not go "unnoticed" by the US. As for what was now "supposedly" said, what if Trump had swapped reference to Norway to The Bahamas, would we still be offended, as he easily could have based on GDP and lack of Bahamian refugees looking to escape, or is the Norway reference too racially convenient to ignore ... "If" true? There is no question the language "if" true is offensive, but is the message inaccurate?!? Places such as Haiti for all its rich history, is nonetheless a "Failed State", thanks to which we indeed face similar immigration issues to the US that must be addressed, if we are not to end up in the same state. "If" confirmed, which it has again, yet to occur, decry the language, but be clever enough not to question the content, as that is the message, as we again face the same problem, indeed I guarantee we ourselves would welcome Norwegians over Haitians any day, assuming of course we might like to consider actually manufacturing something here one day ... imagine a Car Factory or Computer Chip Maker in Freeport right off the coast of Florida ... I will ask my Gardner tomorrow if he is up to the task and sadly his answer will be "Yes Daddy" as he proceeds unrequested to destroy countless dollars of landscaping or just leave dripping taps on for no apparent reason only to be discovered sometimes weeks later. Yeah these Refugees, many now Bahamian due to a 50+ yer failed Immigration Policy, have certainly helped in promoting "Forward, Onward, Upward, Together". Just be sensible Bahamas, as if these wretched souls were Norwegian, I would be saying the same thing, which has nothing do do with not sympathizing with their plight, but this is our Country and we are already well on a downward slide to join them ... then what? Oh yeah, we can blame everyone, but ourselves, when ultimately we inherited, as the Former PM would often lament "the best little Country in The World."
Posted 17 January 2018, 6 p.m. Suggest removal
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