ROWLEY IS A REGIONAL FAILURE TOO

MONTHS before the security crisis in Haiti descended into its current anarchy, Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley pledged to work toward an international intervention.

Rowley convened an emergency meeting of Caricom leaders in Port of Spain in October 2022 and delivered lofty assurances.

He voiced deep concern over the “great situation” and gave a “firm commitment to supply humanitarian and technical assistance toward the re-establishment of democratic governance in Haiti.”

It appeared that there was finally regional leadership on the long-running life-and-death emergency in a fellow Caribbean state.

Trinidad and Tobago does not have the military might or financial resources to put boots on the ground in a chaotic land where 5,000 people are slaughtered each year.

More than that, T&T has its own killing fields.

But it was expected that Rowley would have shown resolve in lobbying international capitals to put together troops to counter Haiti’s gang warfare.

Rowley, after all, has been to Washington, London and Ottawa, and could have marketed the idea with the United States, England and Canada.

He has been in touch with leaders of Latin America and other countries.

T&T’s Ambassador Dennis Francis, President of the current session of the United Nations, could have been assigned to work through that world body.

Instead, Rowley never followed up on his promise.

Instead, Kenya, a country 7,600 miles away from Haiti, is deploying 1,000 police officers to attempt to curb the rampant warfare.

Caricom is issuing statements on the emergency instead of providing leadership.

In its declaration last week, the regional body said it was unable to reach consensus among Haitian stakeholders.

It appears that Caricom bosses want warmongers – in a land without elected officials or functioning institutions – to put down their blazing guns and kiss and make up.

The body evidently feels the niceties of diplomacy would bring peace to a land of relentless murders, brutal assaults, arson, home invasions, and raging attacks on police officers.

To be fair, Jamaica and the Bahamas have expressed interest in joining a multinational security force.

The Caricom conference in Port of Spain, funded by local taxpayers, was a wasted exercise as the Haitian body count mounts each day.

Rowley’s failure in the Haitian crisis was followed by his recent gaffe in dubbing St. Lucia’s Opposition Leader Allen Chastanet as “Tropical Trump.”

Chastanet was Prime Minister of his country from 2016 to 2021, which means he was a Rowley leadership colleague for five years.

Rowley’s broadside was not only hot-headed but also rude to a regional politician with whom he may yet share the Caricom roundtable.

In addition, the assertion about “Tropical Trump” is a blast at Donald Trump, who stands an even chance of being re-elected as President of the United States, the most powerful country in the world.

The tiny island state of T&T enjoys diplomatic and trade links with that international powerhouse.

US Ambassador Candace Bond may have taken note of Rowley’s intemperate and offensive language.

Critics may say that Rowley is now a Caribbean-wide failure.