The Caribbean dancing to another tune

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Cayman Islands recently legalised same-sex relationships despite the opposition of many people, politicians and churches. This has not happened in Jamaica and much of the Caribbean because they are, on the face of it, independent countries.

Since Independence, the Caribbean countries have ceased taking orders from the likes of the United Kingdom or France, until recently. Many American possessions in the Caribbean take orders from Washington, but this is no shame as the entire Caribbean now dances to the daily tune of the ‘Great Fiddler’ or hides in the shadows.

Leaders of many countries submitting to American leadership or doing their best not to invite trouble as they feel threatened by visa restrictions, prohibition on Cuban medical teams and tariffs. Foreign affairs being their great weakness, as CARICOM has nobody to match the EU.

So who is calling the shots in the UK Caribbean colonies?

The Cayman Islands controls over a trillion dollars’ worth of American treasuries and has been stalling Britain for years on an open beneficial ownership register for the thousands of companies that exist there, owned by many, including wealthy persons and corporations of the Caribbean.

Caribbean governments have consistently failed to fill the gaps in their budgets with their tax-evading nationals who hide wealth in tax havens. That information is readily available, but not pursued.

Given today’s playfield in the Caribbean, the leaders of such tiny countries like Cayman or the British Virgin Islands command greater power, even deference from the UK, than the rest of the Caribbean, especially Trinidad. The UK has few possessions in a changing world and has been forced to tiptoe around the mega tax havens.

Britain behaves more like a Caribbean country today, having discarded the EU, being abandoned by America and now, awash in social, political and financial discord.

The wider Caribbean have not been as lucky as the British Caribbean islands, which have become powerful in the region under the UK umbrella and in some instances like the corporate beneficial register, Britain is simply ignored. Although, coming off the Financial Action Task Force grey list in 2023, the Cayman Islands government did not even order the closure of a single bank account in 2023. Even the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is tiptoeing around the Cayman Islands.

A bridge too far, even for the British or FATF.

PETER POLACK

Cayman Islands