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Idsa E. Alegría Ortega
During the last quarter of a century, world politics and economics have changed cons-iderably. On the threshold of a new millennium, there are few colonial countries left and, curiously enough; these are mostly to be found in the Caribbean region. The other aspect of this end of century change, mainly developed over the past decade, are regional agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico; the European Union; and the agreements between the Economic Belt of the Pacific and Japan.
During the nineties neo-liberalism has been enthroned as the valid paradigm in world economy. This economic and political model does not consider the diverse degrees of neither the country's economic development, nor the differences in political systems, cultural heterogeneity and, even less, gender differences in its plans. The central countries impose neo-liberalism, to whom the important issue is to maintain the patterns of capital accumulation of previous periods.
International dynamics have increasing repercussions on the economic structure, on the state and on civil society in all the countries of the Caribbean region. Globalization has devastating effects on the small and vulnerable states of our region.
A heterogeneous region in terms of language, ethnic groups and cultures, also possesses a wide diversity of political cultures, legal systems and a variety of political statuses. For example, Martinique and Guadeloupe are French Overseas Territories, which have enjoyed status as a region since 1974. Both are represented at the National Assembly, the Senate and the Economic and Social Council of France. However, the French part of Saint Martin and Saint Bartholomé are an under-prefecture of Guadeloupe.
In the Netherlands Antilles, Aruba maintains direct links with Holland while enjoying full domestic autonomy. Curaçao, Bonaire, St. Eustace, the Dutch part of St. Martin and Saba have autonomous governments and so far, during plebiscites have expressed their desire to maintain the status quo. Great Britain still possesses various of the small islands, some of which have showed no interest in independence, but where such a relationship is beginning to be questioned. These have separate citizenship.
The United States governs the US Virgin Isles and Puerto Rico, although in a different way. The Virgin Isles come under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior (in the 1993 plebiscite, an absolute majority voted in favor of maintaining their present status), while Puerto Rico is an Associate Free State and is treated as a non-incorporated territory. This means that it belongs to, but does not form part of the United States. Although Puerto Rico maintains some domestic autonomy, its international representation and capacity to enter into agreements with other nations is held by the metropolis.
The rest of the islands in the Region are independent countries, some of which still maintain strong links with their respective mother countries. However it cannot be said that these relationships are free from questionings. For example, since July 1996 in Barbados a Constitutional Commission has been revising the country's links with the British Monarchy.
Cuba is also located within this wide spectrum of political relationships but, although continuing with its socialist objectives, the crisis resulting from the fall of the socialist block has obliged it to take measures such as monetary and tax reforms and to promote investment of foreign capital with enormous benefit to foreign investors.
On looking with careful and feminine eyes at this summary picture of the Caribbean, several questions arise. One of them is: what have the changes in the world economy meant to Caribbean women? According to some political economists, actions such as the Initiative for the Caribbean Basin have meant a new dimension to the presence of North America in the region "through the relocation of certain labor-intensive production phases, low labor costs, tax advantages and the proximity of the region to the North American territory". These economic strategies have devastating effects on women, mainly because they are based on bi-lateralism, which makes our countries compete to see who can provide the cheapest labor.
How do the different political systems and cultures of the region affect the development of a Regional Plan of Action for women of the region? The answer is not an easy one, for even independent countries have diverse capacities for power or influence in the regional and global environment. Furthermore, countries, which are not independent, do not have sovereignty, and therefore do not have representation in regional or international organizations. Neither are they signatory parties to engagements taken on at international level, such as in the case of the Beijing Platform of Action.
And what about laws approved in the different mother countries or engagements made on signing Conventions? Are they beneficial or adverse to us? Sometimes they are beneficial, but not necessarily entirely so and, on other occasions they affect us adversely. For example, in Puerto Rico, the right to terminate a pregnancy covers us, due to the political relationship with the United States. However that right has been threatened by opposition within the Island, which is obvious, and by campaigns imported from the United States. Furthermore, if the United States Supreme Court revokes the decision of the Roe vs. Wade case, or if an anti-abortion law is passed in, to what extent will the state of right in Puerto Rico be affected? What is worse is that the Governor of Puerto Rico has before him a bylaw, approved by Legislation, which makes abortion a criminal offense.
In September 1998, negotiations were launched regarding the Lomé IV Convention. Since the approval in 1975 of the first Lomé Convention, over twenty years have gone by. Over this time, the European Union has provided 1.785 million Euro in financial and technical support to the Caribbean. The main beneficiaries of this support have been the Eastern Caribbean, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. At the end of the nineties, the European Union considers that the New World Economic Order requires fundamental changes in this Agreement. Among the proposed changes are the establishment of more stringent conditions for assistance and an increased emphasis on the private sector and NGOs to channel development.
Specifically relating to the Caribbean, a proposal has been made to widen the cooperation arrangement for the whole of the Caribbean, leading it to integrate cooperation of the countries in the framework of relationships with Latin America, using the Association of Caribbean States as its vehicle.
The Lomé proposals recognize the existence of significant differences among the countries and these require special approaches in terms of foreign policies, security and development. Furthermore, it has been recognized that conditions for diversification of the private sector are still remote and that the region continues to rely on a few agricultural products and on minerals for its exports. The instruments used to achieve the goals proposed for the Caribbean are the support of local capital; privatization of state supplied services, restructuring of public enterprises, the development of trade and monetary cooperation. Furthermore, there is a promise to review the foreign debt situation.
These proposals leave women out. Our challenge is to insist and demonstrate the need to include gender in development strategies, to formulate concrete proposals to incorporate it in programs and projects and to reject policies that are adverse to the majority of the Caribbean population. It is necessary to insist and to seek ways of linking microeconomic units to macroeconomic policies. In this aspect, one of the most interesting debates is the following: should domestic production, understood as home production, be the center of the analysis of development in the Caribbean?
Let us recognize that the differences among women are not only of class, race, ethnic groups, national origin and sexual preference. We are further transpierced and marked by the particular experience we have with the empires that governed or still govern us, and the political and legal systems that encompass us. A regional strategy for Caribbean women must consider not only social components, but also geopolitical and geo-economic ones. In this way we shall be on the way to achieving power as women and as Caribbean's vis-à-vis the most relevant actors, not only in our region, but also in the world.
This is an edited version of a paper presented at the CAFRA Conference on the Caribbean Geo-Political Situation, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 29 August 1998.
Idsa Alegría Ortega is professor of Social Sciences at the University of Puerto Rico.
Translation from spanish to english by Victoria Swarbrick