Clinton captivates
Published:Wednesday | October 27, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Gary Spaulding, Senior Gleaner Writer
Former United States President Bill Clinton on Monday night electrified Jamaicans who turned out to hear him speak, telling them energy costs were hitting them harder in the pocket than they should.
Applause greeted the comments and many of the faces of those in the ballroom of the New Kingston-based Jamaica Pegasus hotel lit up.
After this, nothing could darken the mood.
In the presence of political leaders, past and present, Clinton, the 42nd US president, said that instead of relying on fuel they should put to good use the natural resource that is solar energy.
"The Caribbean could be the first part of the world that could be entirely energy sufficient, and that could happen in Jamaica," he said.
Clinton's charm oozed as he flattered the crowd, raving that Jamaicans were the fastest in the world.
When he quipped that if he had the physique of Usain Bolt his career choice would have been very different, laughter rang out.
By now, the audience was hanging on to every word and Clinton would not disappoint.
Sober, attentive
But the crowd soon grew sober and attentive as he launched into a wide-ranging, thought-provoking presentation, still punctuated with humour.
Clinton, who led the US from 1993 to 2001, told arresting stories of his success in getting antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to fight off the AIDS epidemic in Jamaica and other Caribbean countries.
He said this was precipitated by an exchange with St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Denzil Douglas.
Clinton said he started his work when the international market was disorganised, price gouging of AIDS medicine was rampant, people were dying in droves on the African continent, and the disease threatened to take over the Caribbean.
That was eight years ago.
Clinton said all this changed with his intervention.
In the case of Jamaica, Clinton said his fight against the HIV/AIDS virus started in Portland five years ago, to the extent that all pregnant mothers were being tested and the level of the disease being passed from mother to child was zero.
The former US president was clearly proud that his work has paid off to the extent that ARVs are reaching 2.6 million people with the HIV/AIDs virus.
However, he spent the bulk of his 40-minute presentation on the issue of countries making the best of the interdependence that was created by globalisation.
Clinton said there were three causes for the maladies afflicting the globe.
He cited profound inequality of resources among and within countries, which he characterised as a global challenge; inherent instability caused by the perfecting of technology; and an unstable economic model.
Despite some gloomy prospects, heralded by the global economic meltdown that he said was caused by the shenanigans within the financial sector in his country, Clinton expressed confidence that things would turn out well.
"If we want to make the most of the 21st-century world, we must deal with the issue of interdependence," he declared. "I am very confident in the 21st century."
Last-minute sobriety
According to Clinton, time and again mankind had veered towards the edge of wiping itself out, but had come to its senses at the last minute.
His greatest concern was dedicated to the category of persons across the globe whom he described as the poorest of the poor.
"These people don't want miracles, they want change," he asserted.
Clinton lauded non-governmental organisations and exhorted the Government not to rebuff them, even in the face of opposition, as they have a role to play in alleviating poverty.
He said the poorest of the poor were the victims of this era of interdependence.
"You have to have a plan and do what you can," Clinton declared.
"We just need to devise plans that are realistic and achievable," said the former president. "We have to change mindsets, we have to find solutions to the challenges," he declared.
"You must not get discouraged by failure. You don't quit, you do something else," Clinton said. "We fail in our organisations many times and we just try something else."