by Perry C Douglas
for Inclusive Economies… The Application of Technology as an Agent of Social Change
Black populations in the Caribbean have had a 400-year experience — 400 years beginning with enslavement under brutal dehumanizing conditions by Europeans in plantation-based economies, followed through by colonialism. The evolution of which has been deliberate, systematic, and shrewdly evolving; all for the economic exploitation of one race of people for the benefit of another.
Economics remains at the core of this 400-year experience. The entire system was created to extract resources from plantation economies to facilitate global commerce for the enrichment of Europeans. This stolen inter-generational wealth resource underwrote the future imperial and colonial aspirations of Europeans. The European Renaissance period, for example, would never have happened without the economic engine of slavery to finance it! The vast resource extraction drove trade, commerce, and new industries on a global scale. Creating wealthy European families in the process, allowing them to spend lavishly on science, engineering, the commissioning of great works of art, luxury, architecture, and more. European expansion in its formative years was underwritten and derived from the exploitation of free African labour. It is not very difficult to generate great profits and form industries when your resources, material, and labour are free, supported, and facilitated by the state and the associated churches.
Through this system of economic exploitation, raw materials like sugar, molasses, rum, tobacco, cotton, gold and metals, spices, hardwood, rice, and more. Saw the taking of those free raw materials, transported to Europe to be manufactured into goods for sale; creating commerce, global trade, and industry. Enormously wealthy European families were then formed from that commerce, and the foundations of inter-generational wealth transfers were established for Europeans.
George Bernard Shaw once said, “if history repeats itself, and the unexpected always happens, how incapable must Man be of learning from experience.”
Today with Beijing’s scramble for Africa and the Caribbean, history is repeating, and local populations are once again being left behind. The Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), is a clear attempt at geopolitical conquest, and poor countries are being sucked in all over again. Countries in the regions of Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean are being lured into the debt trap cheap Chinese money.
How slavery and colonialism had fuelled European economic expansion; neocolonialism is now the preferred method for Chinese global expansion. Raw materials like aluminum, steel, minerals, fossil fuels, agricultural commodities…are all needed to build China at home, (just as it did with Europe) to fuel manufactured products for export and commerce. Like the European colonizers, China extracts resources and sends them to Chinese factories, importing back cheap and low-quality finished goods, undermining local African manufacturers, for example, who end up unable to compete. Additionally, that trade and commerce create massive wealth for the Chinese, so, what’s the big difference between European colonialism and Chinese neocolonialism? Not much, same playbook!
According to the article in NewAfrican: Viewpoint: Why we should be aware of China’s ‘new colonialism,’ by African businessman Benedict Peters. We are now “slowly awakening to the growing menace of China’s plans for economic supremacy. In Africa, it is clear that China’s campaign of foreign investment is a new form of colonialism.” Writes Benedict Peters.
In the article “Belt and Road: colonialism with Chinese characteristics” author Anthony Kleven points out that “while China’s tens of billions of investments and loans are greedily gobbled up by cash-starved African states, they are not as bereft of strings as is often claimed. The BRI is trapping numerous countries in unsustainable levels of debt.” One of the many examples he gives is where China has set its sights on Guinea’s bauxite reserves, one of the world’s largest. China needs such a resource to keep its Chinese aluminum industry running. China has promised Guinea loans twice the size of its GDP—and so, an abundance of related Chinese companies has now taken control of Guinea’s bauxite reserves.
In short, China lends desperately poor countries billions for investment, knowing very well that those investments are incapable of producing enough output or return, enough to service the huge debt load taken on. Deals often have predatory type terms and conditions attached for non-performance. Allowing China contractually, to seize vital public infrastructure assets as collateral if those set terms are not upheld, i.e. neocolonialism at its most elegant form.
In the recent article titled: China’s Opaque Caribbean Trail: Dreams, Deal, and Debt by Caribbean Investigative Journal Network (CIJN.) The piece is filled with many examples of the Chinese debt-trap strategy. For Caribbean countries, one of the most visible, expansive, and expensive forms of Beijing’s engagement with the region is its financing of large-scale infrastructure projects. The CIJN investigation unveiled a trail of official secrecy, questionable procurement processes, and the looming threat of potentially insurmountable debt. The Chinese playbook is the same everywhere—huge hotel projects, highways, agriculture projects, even building a Prime Ministers fancy new house. According to CIJN, “China’s Caribbean portfolio is extensive. It includes highways and bridges, housing, energy, mining, air and seaports, tourism projects, hospitals, and even official residences, forming a part of that country’s strategic thrust into Latin American and the Caribbean.”
The investigating team uncovered, that in most cases, the precise terms of agreements are not routinely publicized, the procurement processes and concessions are a mystery. The Chinese often end up with all the labour contracts, and their labour practices lack adherence to any type of building code and other health and safety standards.
A 2012 independent forensic audit of the Jamaica Development Infrastructure Programme (JDIP) and the Palisadoes Shoreline Protection, and Rehabilitation Works Project concluded there was “non-adherence to allocations approved by Parliament and the Ministry of Finance. There was also the arbitrary issuance of Variation Orders and selection of sub-contractors along with the unprogrammed and arbitrary allocation of funds for institutional strengthening,” according to the audit document.
According to clause 13.3 of the contract ($630 million North-South Highway project signed with China Harbour Engineering Corporation (CHEC) on June 21, 2012):
“The Government shall unconditionally and irrevocably waive any right of immunity (to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law) which it or any of its assets now has or may acquire in the future in any jurisdiction.”
To add insult to injury, the highway deal, in a case study conducted by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB,) found there was “no way costs could be recouped through toll payments.” Hence, China now said that since the investment couldn’t be recouped through toll payments, land adjacent to the highway should be given as compensation. Jamaica of course had already agreed to those terms in the clause. China, of course, enforced it and the Chinese company promptly brought in 1000+ workers from China to begin work on a commercial project—free land, no Jamaican worker participation, no contracts for Jamaican firms, no economic benefit to Jamaica.
“New roads, new businesses, new hotels, and booming Chinese immigration has led to many companies being staffed with more Chinese workers than local Bahamians.”
– Forbes
In practical terms, this meant that the Jamaican state allowed China, in a case of a breach of contract by the Government of Jamaica, or actions that the Chinese have determined results in non-performance, would be actionable on Jamaica’s sovereignty. When contextualized, the clause essentially allows for the GOJ to forfeit any current or future owned assets to China, for debt recovery by seizure. A blatant neocolonialism play and encroachment on sovereignty.
Bunch of crap from Perry Douglas.
Guys the 2B+ we owe is not to China. Its IMF, WB and Paris group (Western countries.) Grenadian Chinese loans is a drop in that bucket. Where is the outrage for our real debt?
By the way we should have far more tolerance for loans used for capital expenditures. Its loans for recurrent foolishness like IMF fiscal support instruments at userer interest rates that they keep hiding under the table we should be worried about. Strangely we are not…once it come from merica or Barclays or IMF???
Despite all the Whatsapp foolish lies about assets taken (pure bull crap) its Chinese and BRICS money that have the third world humming. Thats what is powering infrastructural development and empowering Africa with some of the highest growth rates in the world. Thats what built 2000 houses in Gtenada after Ivan and Emily when the traditional suckers have us nothing.
Americans dont have to sing “We are the world” for starving Africans no more to give us scraps. Ever ask yourself why? No instead now they make whatsapp videos to make us cunumunus join them in a fight against our own interests…..lol.
Good thing Africa and China not worrying with all that. Lets stay there and keep drinking coolaid from the same people that made us slaves and kept us dirt poor for centuries. Instead China and Africa and the third world keep building airports and ports and railways and getting technology going. The very things that is lifting hundreds of millions out of poverty. Instead of feeding us fish from France and England to keep us ever dependent, China, India and others helping us build boats to fish and helping us get into their vasts markets too. Its not perfect but its incomparable to the rape we had from England, France and others
Way to go China and Africa and the Caribbean.
Let the sour grapes burn them.
Great article! I hope Native Grenadians read it and wake up instantly. We need to realize that we are under attack without bombs. There is no time dancing and singing when the war spreading through the whole island.
These are planned actions with intentional results. Be aware and take actions to slow the neocolonialism down in Grenada.
I have read the article and the comments. Now I need one of you to tell me how? How do we change it.? A lot was said but I am yet to see the answer to the question.
The government makes a lot of decisions behind closed doors and under the counter. We only hear about it after papers are signed and tress are cut down and tractor moving so again HOW?
The people voted for change a few years ago and was failed by the ndc party so again HOW?
I need someone to answer me with that. I really want to see the HOW.
we will need to build the country ourselves. IF WE DONT WANT CHINESE WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO WORK HARD AND IT WILL PAY OFF!! WAKE UP AND STOP BEING LAZY GRENADIANS!!!! WAKE UP AND WORK HARD!! FORGHAT SLAVERY MENTALITY!!! WE NEED TO WORK HARD!!!!! WAKE UP!!!!! LETS DEVELOP THE COUNTRY OURSELVES. WE ARE LEFT TO FEND ON OUR OWN. IF WE WORK HARD WE CAN OWN A MANSION AND DRIVE A BENTELY OR A PORSCHE!!! WORK HARD!!!!!!! LETS OPEN UP FACTORIES AND START EXPORTING OUR PRODUCE AGAIN!!
NO ONE IS GOING TO HELP DEVELOP THISCOUNTRY BUT OURSELVES. WE NEED TO WORK HARD BUT STILL ACCEPT FOREIGNERS AT THE SAME TIME. IF IT WASNT FOR THE CHINESE WE WOULDNT HAVE THAT STADIUM. LETS WORK HARD WILLINGLY AND LETS BE PROUD GRENADIANS WILLING TO HAVE A BETTER FUTURE! UNITY AND EMPOWERMENT. EATING KFC FRY CHICKEN AND PARTYING IS BULLSHIT.
we need to start developing the caribbean and grenada ourselves. i am also with the chinese but not with their colonisation plan. it seems like we have no other option and no other choice but to accept the chinese. but let me tell everyone the truth. the europeans raped and exploited the caribbean for their own benefit and purpose. the americans make money off of us when we buy their goods making them richer. the japanese take our car money. this is the last scary decision that we can make and it is with the chinese. its either we accept them for development or else we are left on our own. its time that if we cant accept the chinese we need to build our countries our selves. hopefully when we get that oil find the government does not turn money hungry and corrupt but seeks the interest of grenadians. We need to understand that the chinese may seem helpful but we just dont know what will be the end result. we just have no choice. no other country but china would do anything for us. if we dont want chinese we have no decision but to build our country ourselves. thats why we need to come together and unite as black people and STOP BEING LAZY AND START WORKING HARD TO IMPROVE OUR COUNTRY AND ECONOMIES. We are tooo lazy and dont want to work. FORGET THE AFTER SLAVERY RUMOR AND SAYING. We neeed to work and work harder!!!!!! WE CANT BE LAZY OR ELSE THE CHINESE AND AMERICANS WILL TAKE OVER AGAIN. WE NEED TO SURVIVE AND SURVIVAL IS HARD WORK. We will need to work but at the end of the day it will pay off! LETS DEVELOP OUR COUNTRY OURSELVES. Education and Empowerment.
Why would America want Grenada? America wants you to run your own country. Don’t expect handouts. China is not your friend. You have land, resources, ability to make contracts that benefit you and your country. Corruption happens in your Government when you sit by and give them all the power over you. This is your country. You have your health. God gave you a brain. Use it. Make your own business. You don’t have to have a lot of money to start a business. Look around…what do people need and want. What are you good at? What do you like to do. Don’t let someone else make that decision for you. Get out there and DO IT!!
Perry Douglas claims that the European Renaissance would never have happened without slavery because slavery provided the financing.
This might sound like wisdom to Grenadians, because several West Indian historians have made similar statements. C.L.R. James, Eric Williams and Walter Rodney, in particular, have popularized the argument that slavery in the Caribbean made Britain prosperous, even financed the Industrial Revolution.
So let me point out that in Europe and North America, these are considered to be totally bogus ideas, unsupported by the academic research that has been carried out on British banking transactions of the 18th and 19th centuries. No respectable university-based economists in the Western world would teach what Eric Williams or Walter Rodney claimed.
In fact, eminent economic historians like Stanley Engerman in the United States and David Richardson in the UK have concluded that the West Indies sugar plantations had only a trivial and unremarkable effect on the British economy. You should read the scholarly literature on the economics of slavery before agreeing with guys like Perry Douglas.
It’s correct Chad. The colonies never had any significant impact on the GDP growth of the colonial powers. But the point in the article is that companies from China are utilizing the weaknes of Caribbean goverments. And so are companies from other countries. E.g. the building project at Levera which is un lawful due to enviromental protection laws.
Repeatedly, we close our eyes and ears to imperialism – and now China’s new aggressive colonialism. Why? I think this is occurring for two reasons. First it is obvious that we lack confidence in ourselves and believe that foreigners are better than us, know more than us and are superior to us. So we “invite” them in to take advantage of us. Second, our acceptance of the colonial playbook is so ingrained in our culture that it has become the only option that we gravitate to for our development. Put another way: the Chinese are not here because we have no other choice. They are here because we want them to be here, because we are too lazy and want “Kentucky Fry Chicken” solutions to our development challenges, and because our nationalism is not strong enough for us to really care about what will happen to us in the future.
thank you so much. lining up for free kfc in grand anse wouldnt help our country grow.