IMPACT OF TRUMP’S BUDGET CUTS ON THE CARIBBEAN

Apr 22, 2017 Editorial, Features / Columnists

Shortly after the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States, President Granger stated that he did not expect any change in relations between the US and Guyana. Many felt that he was either naïve or lacked political experience to make such statement without knowing the character of the man or his policies.
Today, Granger may be haunted by his statement because the Trump administration recently introduced a budget with draconian cuts amounting to billions of dollars in foreign aid.
The reduction of the State Department budget by 28 percent would undermine the viability of a wide range of important programmes across the Caribbean. If the budget is passed, it will transfer billions of dollars from USAID to the Defense Department to make “America Great Again” and to build a wall along the Mexican-American border.
The budget cuts are likely to reduce funding in the Caribbean on several projects including health care, education, crime, clean energy, climate change all of which are funded by USAID. It seems that climate change is the clear loser; as the resources to help the region fight it have been reduced substantially.
That is not surprising since Mr. Trump has spoken openly about his disbelief in climate change, despite compelling evidence to the contrary.
Other projects that are in danger include efforts to save lives through the HIV/AIDS programme, protecting the sea defenses of Guyana, Jamaica and St Lucia from the ravages of raging tides, much-needed scholarships and training to young people and drug trafficking.
Not to be overlooked are the effective measures that have enabled women of child-bearing age to plan their families, and the Caribbean Basin Initiative which recently got an increase in funding from the Obama administration.
While cutting crucial programmes that touch on the lives of millions of Americans and to those in the underdeveloped countries, the budget appears to funnel more resources into national defense and Homeland Security. The latter is to enable US Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) to deport some 4,136 Caribbean and Guyanese nationals to their homeland. Most are Jamaicans, Guyanese and Trinidadians.
It is too early to tell the full impact the budget cuts could have on Guyana and the rest of the countries in the Caribbean, but their potential ability to continue those programmes seems difficult.
Some of the region’s leaders, including Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica, have already stated that the planned cutbacks would have a negative impact on the Caribbean where the United States has been admired and respected for its generosity of spirit, cooperation and humanitarian instincts.
He made it very clear that Jamaica will not be able to cope with an influx of Jamaican deportees, most of whom will most likely turn to crime or join violent gangs.
The budget cuts signal a new direction by the Trump administration to withdrawal from its interest of aiding the region to curb the spread of diseases, slash the flow of illegal drugs and to help the region cope better with floods, hurricanes and other natural disasters. The Trump administration new policy holds out very little promise of a fresh, long-term strategy to spur economic and social development in the Caribbean. It may instead cripple the region’s economy.
Others leaders have stated that the cutbacks would lead to the elimination of several programs which in turn would have serious consequences for the region.
It will decisively impact the various humanitarian projects in which USAID has invested in the region and will also greatly undermine the war on poverty, crime and the illegal trafficking of narcotics in the Caribbean.
Not only will Trump’s budget cuts be detrimental to the peoples and countries of the Caribbean, they may considerably isolate the U.S. in the short term.

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