Caribbean L 38 ife, November 8-14, 2019 BQ
US visas taken away
to renounce his American citizenship
to satisfy parliamentary qualification
rules, has proverbially lost both ‘corn
and husk” as his ordinary entry visa
has now been pulled. Confirmation
about the revocations have come from
both camps in the past week.
The cancellations have caused deep
tensions in the halls of both government
and the opposition, leading to
widespread speculation as the reasons
behind the thinking of the Trump
administration.
So far no one has proffered a possible
credible explanation for Vaz’s
plight but many islanders and political
pundits are focusing on the fact that
Paulwell might be in the cross hairs of
officials in Washington who are upset
with him for being the point man to
the Cuban government on telecommunication
liberalization and increased
internet access.
Given decades of hostilities between
Washington and Havana, American
telecommunication providers would
lose out big time if the sector is freed
up as they would not be able to bid as
services providers because of the economic
and other forms of blockades in
place against Cuba. Paulwell has also
been a key player in keeping the dialogue
open between the Caribbean and
the Venezuelan government which the
Trump administration has vowed to
topple by any means necessary.
Jamaican author Chester Francis
Jackson argues that Paulwell is being
spited because of his work in Cuba,
in particular, as American companies
will” not benefit from the move because
of their own punitive embargo.
“The US did this before when they
blacklisted Jamaican business, cancelled
their visas and the visas of
lawyers for daring to do business with
the Chinese firm, Huawei. If Prime
Minister Andrew Holness had any balls
at all, the thing to for him to do is
to summon the US ambassador to
Jamaica House for an explanation,”
said Jackson.
Regarding the police officers, local
media is reporting that six members
of the force have lost their visas largely
because of alleged extra judicial killings
and other infractions. The list
includes Senior Superintendent Terrence
Bent who had headed up the
now disbanded quick response unit,
accused of a number of extra judicial
killings over the years.
As Jamaicans brace for the possibility
of even more cancellations, the
Gleaner Newspaper said in an editorial
this week that both the US, the government
and the opposition owe the
populace some kind of logical explanation.
“When the United States revokes the
visa of a member of another country’s
government, or a senior member of its
opposition, as happened with Jamaica
recently, that is a significant development
that requires explanation, if not
from the United States, then from the
affected parties. For, while it is not
absolutely necessary for a Jamaican
minister to hold a US visa to do his
or her job, the United States remains
the world’s greatest power and international
partner with which Jamaica
conducts business. The revocation of
a visa can complicate that relationship
and, in the absence of an explanation
of the reasons for the decision, the tendency
of the public is to assume it has
to do with the integrity of the persons
involved,” the paper said.
Continued from Page 1
Williams wins general elections
Tuesday night at the victory party at
the Bar Chord on Cortelyou Road in the
Flatbush, Brooklyn. “We did it! Again!
“I have so many people to thank,
including my family, my staff, everyone
who volunteered, everyone who came
out to vote today; and a special thank
you to Council Member Joe Borelli
for running a substantive race about
our ideas and very different visions for
the City,” he added. “We don’t agree
on much, but we do agree that we can
fundamentally change what the public
advocate can be.
“I want to make sure that by the
time I’m done with my tenure here, no
one ever questions again why we need
a public advocate,” Williams continued,
stating that, over the last eight
months, he’s been hard at work trying
to re-shape the office of public advocate.
“Over the next two years, we’re going
to continue our work to re-shape the
city,” Williams said. “When I was here
on election night eight months ago, I
said that if I had started treating my
own mental health years ago, I’d be
married by now. Well, it was worth the
wait.”
But he said he is still working,
“because since then, it’s been clear
around the City, we need to re-evaluate
our own mental health. Whether it’s
police officers, losing their lives to suicide
at record high rates, or our city’s
response to others in mental health
crisis, and who we have responding.”
Williams, 42, said these are among
the issues he’s taken on since getting
into office, adding: “It’s such a privilege
to be given the chance to continue
to serve, because there’s so much left
to do.”
He said those include affordable
housing; homelessness; rent rise; students
struggling for high quality, equitable
education; and congested, dangerous
and streets.
Continued from Page 1