Standing with Jamaica in this hour of crisis

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Many years ago I spent ten days with my young daughters in Negril, a town in the Hanover and Westmoreland Parishes at the western extremity of Jamaica. The people were welcoming and – as we stayed in a village community, we got a better sense of local life and culture then had we stayed at a more insular resort.

Montego Bay, Negril and nearby areas took the direct force of a category five hurricane which has assuredly destroyed the stalls where local fruit, vegetables and fish provided income for farmers, fishermen and vendors and sustenance for people in the area.

Negril’s old nightclubs, record and novelty shops possibly have been destroyed – as may have been the small wooden frame house where my girls decorated shells gleaned from Seven Mile Beach. The shanty town by the river must exist now only in memories, home movies and photographs.

Parts of Haiti were also devastated, a catastrophe compounded by the failure of the state which is largely ruled by street gangs and warlords.

With 10 per cent of US naval assets positioned in the Caribbean – in a display of hegemonic power or – potentially, as a strike force against Venezuela, one might hope that these awesome resources could succour the humanitarian crisis in Jamaica, an island that has given so much to the world.

To the people of Jamaica, the American people stand with you and we will do all than we can to support you in your hour of need. I pray that our government will do the same.

I know that Jamaica will endure and rebuild; but for those that have been lost, may their memories be a blessing.

ERIC RADACK

Santa Fe, New Mexico