The hallmark of an authoritarian government is the amount of chaos it dumps onto the laps of a silent population. Which effectively positions them as sufferers, and into a cycle of bread-winning, sleep and even more bread-winning. The finer points? Well, there are no subtleties in the face of the extreme stress Donald brings. But is Trump the quintessential evil strongman? He is after all the most powerful president in the world. Signs are in the affirmative yet Donald comes off as a bigot, widely unenlightened, and terribly unrepresentative of what it means to be leader of the world’s best democracy…
He has signed more than 70 executive orders as of February 20, the most in any US president’s first 100 days in more than 40 years. Those orders are, by and large, repressive to the working class and stifling to people of colour and other minorities living in the United States. They also hinge on the painfully archaic belief that a god (built in DT’s image no doubt) created Earth in seven days. So for him it’s no big deal for that deity to restore the upper atmosphere to where it was when Adam and Eve honeymooned in the Garden. In fact the Donald has also probably already cut a deal with the Almighty to grab real estate scorched by his wars.
Here in the Caribbean we may now just shake our collective head at Donald Trump’s follies, thinking his actions have little to do with our present happy existence. But it does. Already Trinidad and Tobago is weeping as the Dragon Gas deal with Venezuela lies dormant, and with it this country’s biggest near chance of keeping the proverbial wolves away.
Haiti, another fellow Caribbean state, long beleaguered by poverty, is already impacted by Trump. USAID - now mothballed, was a major donor to Haiti; providing significant funding for humanitarian aid, health projects, and development programs, with a focus on building resilience and addressing the country’s needs. We could go on and provide the list of Caribbean nations affected by the ‘pause’ of USAID but let’s go for the higher level picture of how USAID worked for us up to December 2024:
- Disaster Recovery and Resilience:
- USAID supports countries in the Eastern Caribbean in recovering from natural disasters like Hurricane Beryl, focusing on economic resilience and revitalisation.
- Security and Law Enforcement:
- The Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) funds maritime and aerial security cooperation, law enforcement capacity building, border and port security, justice sector reform, and crime prevention programs.
- Economic Development and Food Security:
- USAID supports farmers and builds food security through programs like CAPA (Caribbean Agriculture Productivity and Access).
- Youth Empowerment:
- USAID is designing an education activity for youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET) between the ages of 15 to 24 years old, focusing on soft skills development and employment outcomes.
- Climate Change and Disaster Resilience:
- USAID is working with the CIMH (Caribbean Meteorological Institute) to build regional resilience through improved disaster recovery and response systems and improved hydrological and hydrometeorological early warning systems.
Stick a pin
We’ll stop talking USAID here with the understanding that the program has a similar but bigger footprint on the African continent - with similarly devastating effects there becoming apparent daily as it stays moth-balled. What should be of concern for Caribbean people however is: What happens when Trump turns his biases on us?
There are some theories as to the man’s motivations, the biggest being that he is an agent of the far right Christian movement and not averse to using his presidency to further empower that class of elites we so childishly call the One Percent. For those who struggle to make the connection, look back to Europe in the years of the Greater German Reich.
While such suppositions are still merely talk, there is high likelihood that the polycultural make-up of the Caribbean, along with its diverse DNA pool, hold few attractions for Trump. Which to be clear - and we should again look at Trinidad and Tobago’s license to drill and market Venezuelan natural gas in the face of US sanctions. Take Trump’s re-licensing ’the Dragon’ as a marker of his feelings toward these island states. In short, if Trump casually repeals OFAC’s (Office of Foreign Assets) permission despite his country’s long-standing relationship with T&T, what will he do to the rest of the Cariibean archipelago in time?
The picture is not rosy. A few paragraphs up we were discussing Donald Trump’s utter disregard for the legality and or moral ramifications) of his recent executive orders (70 at time of writing). But it is Trump’s eerie similarity in behaviour and obvious admiration of strongman type leaders present and past, that we of the Caribbean want to think about. Because - our lands are attractive, has value, has business potential and tellingly - fields no real army. This is not a trite vibe. The current American president already speaks unilateralism. How long before he moves to dreaming of annexing his empire in our Caribbean?
Probably by the time he gets his fingers burnt in his tariff wars. By then our territories will look like soft little targets for his bruised ego. This should likely mark the time the Caribbean capitulates without firing a shot to become the ward of Alabama State. Or we finally unite and act as the remarkable people we are.
Authors note: There is nothing to admire about Donald Trump’s actions and I sympathise with his constituents for their moment of weakness in the November 5 (2024) election. However, American inaction, until Trump and his policies are no more, will not have helped the Climate Change cause. For me it indicate the start of this century’s genocides. Having me a face to hate helps - a lot. Taking care of my Caribbean runs a close second.