Ask Tapia ...

Have you got questions for United States Ambassador to Jamaica Donald Tapia?

The Sunday Gleaner is giving readers an opportunity to quiz the US ambassador on topics concerning US-Jamaica bilateral relations, through its new feature, AskTapia. Email your questions for the ambassador to e ditorial@gleanerjm.com under subject AskTapia, or see our social media pages for more information.

Thanks for all the questions this week. They are tough questions, but I appreciate them.

WE HAVE to be extorting money from elderly Americans, shipping drugs to your country, and engaging in all types of criminal behaviour. Countries thousands of miles away from the United States (US) benefit more from your aid and investment because they are strategically placed. During the Cold War, President Ronald Reagan showered us with help, luckily. That was when Hurricane Gilbert struck, but, afterwards, like an ageing mistress, you have abandoned us for someone younger. The Caribbean offers a ready market for your agricultural and technological exports, but you limit ours. When we had a garment freezing you changed laws for the importation of our clothing, our banana industry was challenged by South American-grown fruits owned by Americans. Our legitimate means of making a livelihood have been stymied by our friend the US, hence, we turn to criminality. We, in the Caribbean, sit at the doorstep of the richest, most powerful country on Earth. How has it benefited us?

– Mark

Mark, thanks for your thoughts. You are right, and I have said this before, the United States has not always shown the level of interest in Jamaica and the Caribbean that we should have. However, I believe that if we spend all our time looking backward, we will never move forward. I would disagree, though, with you about how trade is stymied by the United States. We are Jamaica’s number-one trading partner. American tourists are our number-one source of tourism dollars. The Caribbean enjoys special trading status with the United States under the Caribbean Basin Trade and Partnership Act (CBTPA). We should also be very honest, when two nations are democracies, are committed to freedom of all sorts, I think it has been proven time and again that the economic and bilateral relationship is win-win. It’s not perfect, but I would challenge anyone to say that two democracies working together is not the strongest partnership for mutual benefit.

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DO YOU happen to know the reason or reasons for the revocation of the visas of Messrs Daryl Vaz and Phillip Paulwell? Sir, as the ambassador of the people of the United States to the people of Jamaica and against the background of the long-standing relationship between our two countries and in the interest of transparency in what is now a public matter, do you not think you should clear the air and tell us the reasons for the revocation? I hope you share my point of view on the matter and provide the answer that I and all well-thinking Jamaicans are seeking on this matter.

– Winston B

Winston B, my answer to you is the same I have given everyone on this subject. Due to privacy concerns, I cannot speak to any individual case.

Additional information about visas and the ineligibilities that could serve as the basis of a visa revocation can be found on the Department of State’s website at: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-res....

For more information about applying for visas in Jamaica, please visit our website https://jm.usembassy.gov/ and the website of our authorised service provider at www.usvisa-info.com. If you have a question or concern about US visas that is not addressed at either of these websites, you may email the Kingston’s Consular Section at KingstonNIV@state.gov.

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EVERY YEAR, dozens of prisoners are sent back to their homeland to finish serving their sentences, by way of prisoner-transfer treaties, of which the US and several countries are signatories. Can you speak to why the Government of Jamaica and the US have not, between them, put in place such a treaty, taking into consideration the number of Jamaicans incarcerated in US prisons and the number of US citizens who are serving time in Jamaican prisons?

– Oswald D

Oswald, if you don’t mind, I’d like to save your question for next time and give you and the Gleaner readers some of my thoughts not only on prisoner transfers but also on criminal justice as a whole and how the United States and Jamaica are working together already but where we can and should do more.