2008 Speeches

July 4, 2008

Roy L. Austin
United States Ambassador
Fourth of July Celebration
Trinidad Country Club

The Honorable Ivor Archie, Chief justice of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, and Mrs. Archie
Senator the Honorable Danny Montano, President of the Senate, and Mrs. Montano
The Honorable Barendra Sinanan, Speaker of the house of Representatives, and Mrs. Sinanan
The Honorable Paula Gopee-Scoon, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Scoon
The Honorable Arthur N.R. Robinson, Former president of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago
Cabinet Ministers and other Government Ministers
The Honorable Basdeo Panday, Leader of the Opposition, and Mrs. Panday
Justices of Appeal and other High Court Judges
Members of the Senate
The Honorable Orville London, Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly
Other Members of Parliament
His Worship the Mayor of Port of Spain and Mrs. Murchison Browne
Colleagues of the Diplomatic Corps
Honorary Consuls
U.S. Embassy colleagues
Other Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, including Members of the Media

Good evening!

I warmly welcome you here this evening-- Americans, Trinbagonians, and all other nationalities, to celebrate our independence day; and I thank Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Fernandes for consenting to our use of their charming facility, the Trinidad Country Club.   

July 4th is especially important to us as it marks the start – some 232 years ago – of a noble and successful experiment in governance and nation-building.  It is also a day, commemorated across the United States and at all of our Missions around the world, which reminds us that no matter where we are, we are Americans.

This July 4 is also special for a few other reasons, both great and small.  On the grand scale, my country is undergoing that important election procedure that will culminate in the selection of a new President this November.  This race has captivated attention across the world, perhaps unlike any previous election, highlighting the increasingly interconnected nature of our planet.  It also reminds us that the promise of our Founding Fathers, driven by Enlightenment philosophy, continues to be fulfilled as our nation becomes ever more inclusive. 

The holding of the Summit of the Americas here in April 2009 will allow Trinbagonians an early and close personal view of the person who takes the presidential oath of office in January. These summits indicate an effort by nations to shrink the relational distance between one another while we expand and strengthen ties with those who are geographically distant from us.

Many of you are aware that National Day speeches frequently provide opportunities to inflict on guests – including a high level government official -- a litany of statistics and events to prove the vibrancy of a relationship.  Recognizing that I am present at my seventh July 4^th celebration, I shall refrain from the usual, secure in the knowledge that most of you are aware of the nature of the relationship between the U.S. and T&T; and, if you are new to this event, you are no stranger to the fact that the U.S. and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago enjoy very warm and positive ties.  With the coming Summit of the Americas, and bipartisan interest in Washington in continuing to strengthen our ties, I have no doubt that the person making these remarks next year will be able to look back with pride and pleasure at the previous year of our bilateral relationship.

I feel compelled, however, to add some remarks about the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) that entered the consciousness of many Trinbagonians on Wednesday. Since 2007, the World Bank declared T&T a “high income” country. Then on June 30^th, the U.S. Trade Relations office (USTR) announced the graduation of T&T from GSP, effective January 1^st, 2010. The primary implication of this graduation is that $5.1 million of goods your country exports to the U.S. will not enter the U.S duty-free after this 2010 date under GSP (repeat). These goods represent one-tenth of one percent of the $8.8 billion dollars worth of goods this country exported to the U.S. in 2007.

Regrettably, despite our embassy’s best efforts at clarifying the implications for T&T’s exports, as recently as this morning, a doom and gloom interpretation, as one TV host correctly characterised it, persists. The truth of the matter is that ALL of the goods this country currently exports to the U.S. can enter the U.S. duty-free under the Caribbean Basin Initiative. I quote from a State Department document to advise the few who may still misunderstand the financial effect of graduation on T&T: “However, we anticipate no loss of duty-free treatment for Trinidad and Tobago’s current exports to the United States due to this change because the goods that Trinidad and Tobago currently exports under GSP are also eligible for duty-free treatment under the Caribbean Basin Initiative.”

Graduation is a time for celebration. This graduation is no different. I offer you congratulations on achieving this economic distinction.

Is there any other reason for concern over your high-income status? Perhaps, but with respect to the disconcerting increase in your country’s homicide numbers. You may have noticed that in recent years as this country has become wealthier homicide has increased. It may be that you are so accustomed to thinking that poverty causes crime that you have given little thought to the likelihood that prosperity might have a similar effect. I do not plan to give you a dissertation on this relationship; but just such a causal relationship was posited from the results of empirical research more than 150 years ago. Other more recent studies have sometimes reported the same.

How might prosperity cause crime? According to Emile Durkheim, a rapid increase in prosperity heightens desires and causes rules to lose their influence just when control is most needed. During this anomic situation, deviant behaviors increase.

Is there any evidence of heightened desires in T&T? Is there any evidence of normative breakdown in T&T? With respect to the latter, ask yourself whether there has been any change in lawlessness in the society. I speak here of lawlessness that does not reach the level of criminality. Ask yourself, too, whether lawlessness helps people to neutralize or rationalize lawbreaking. How, also does it affect the socialization of the young?

Furthermore, do influential members of this society unwittingly or intentionally augment the licentious condition that pervades the society, thereby losing their effectiveness as models of conformity that help to maintain obedience to law? These are but a few of the questions you must answer as you seek remedies for the disturbing level of homicide. However, nothing that I have said is intended to suggest that rapidly increasing prosperity is the only variable that might explain increasing homicide. I dwelt on this variable because it may be most likely to be overlooked.

I started my comments by saying that this July 4 was a special one for reasons both grand and small.  I’ve alluded to a few of the grand reasons, but let me mention a small very personal reason.  As I said earlier, this is my seventh July 4^th in this beautiful and blessed nation.  This is also likely to be the last July 4 that I will spend in Trinidad and Tobago as Ambassador of the United States.  Sometime after the presidential election, I expect to receive a request for my resignation; and at some time, my lovely and supportive wife and I will be notified of the date on which we are expected to depart this country’s shores.

It has been an honor and privilege for us to serve our country and also an honor and privilege to be posted in Port of Spain.  Glynis and I have made countless friends here and been the beneficiaries of your warmth and openness.  We will miss you; and next year at this time, we will fire a salute to you and to your exhilirating country from our home in the United States.

Now, as I close, permit me to offer one last official July 4th toast: Please drink with me to the health of our American democracy and to yours, and let us commit ourselves to respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, two of democracy’s important tenets. May the Almighty bless our two nations and all others which show that they value democracy!

To long, healthy and happy lives dedicated to upholding democratic fundamentals!

I thank you for having accorded me the courtesy of your attention.

Many of you are aware that National Day speeches frequently provide opportunities to inflict on guests – including a high level government official -- a litany of statistics and events to prove the vibrancy of a relationship.  Recognizing that I am present at my seventh July 4 celebration, I shall refrain from the usual, secure in the knowledge that most of you are aware of the nature of the relationship between the U.S. and T&T; and, if you are new to this event, you are no stranger to the fact that the U.S. and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago enjoy very warm and positive ties.  With the coming Summit of the Americas, and bipartisan interest in Washington in continuing to strengthen our ties, I have no doubt that the person making these remarks next year will be able to look back with pride and pleasure at the previous year of our bilateral relationship.

I feel compelled, however, to add some remarks about the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) that entered the consciousness of many Trinbagonians on Wednesday. Since 2007, the World Bank declared T&T a “high income” country. Then on June 30 the U.S. Trade Relations office (USTR) announced the graduation of T&T from GSP, effective January 1, 2010. The primary implication of this graduation is that $5.1 million of goods your country exports to the U.S. will not enter the U.S duty-free after this 2010 date (repeat). These goods represent one-tenth of one percent of the $8.8 billion dollars worth of goods this country exported to the U.S. in 2007.

Regrettably, despite our embassy’s best efforts at clarifying the implications for T&T’s exports, as recently as this morning, a doom and gloom interpretation, as one TV host correctly characterised it, persists. The truth of the matter is that ALL of the goods this country currently exports to the U.S. can enter the U.S. duty-free under the Caribbean Basin Initiative. I quote from a State Department document to advise the few who may still misunderstand the financial effect of graduation on T&T: “However, we anticipate no loss of duty-free treatment for Trinidad and Tobago’s current exports to the United States due to this change because the goods that Trinidad and Tobago currently exports under GSP are also eligible for duty-free treatment under the Caribbean Basin Initiative.”

Graduation is a time for celebration. This graduation is no different. I offer you congratulations on achieving this economic distinction.I

Is there any other reason for concern over your high-income status? Perhaps, but with respect to the disconcerting increase in your country’s homicide numbers. You may have noticed that in recent years as this country has become wealthier homicide has increased. It may be that you are so accustomed to thinking that poverty causes crime that you have given little thought to the likelihood that prosperity might have a similar effect. I do not plan to give you a dissertation on this relationship; but just such a causal relationship was posited from the results of empirical research more than 150 years ago. Other more recent studies have sometimes reported the same.

How might prosperity cause crime? According to Emile Durkheim, a rapid increase in prosperity heightens desires and causes rules to lose their influence just when control is most needed. During this anomic situation, deviant behaviors increase.Is there any evidence of heightened desires in T&T?

Is there any evidence of normative breakdown in T&T? With respect to the latter, ask yourself whether there has been any change in lawlessness in the society. I speak here of lawlessness that does not reach the level of criminality. Ask yourself, too, whether lawlessness helps people to neutralize or rationalize lawbreaking. How, also does it affect the socialization of the young?

Furthermore, do influential members of this society unwittingly or intentionally augment the licentious condition that pervades the society, thereby losing their effectiveness as models of conformity that help to maintain obedience to law? These are but a few of the questions you must answer as you seek remedies for the disturbing level of homicide. However, nothing that I have said is intended to suggest that rapidly increasing prosperity is the only variable that might explain increasing homicide. I dwelt on this variable because it may be most likely to be overlooked.

I started my comments by saying that this July 4 was a special one for reasons both grand and small.  I’ve alluded to a few of the grand reasons, but let me mention a small very personal reason.  As I said earlier, this is my seventh July 4 in this beautiful and blessed nation.  This is also likely to be the last July 4 that I will spend in Trinidad and Tobago as Ambassador of the United States.  Sometime after the presidential election, I expect to receive a request for my resignation; and at some time, my lovely and supportive wife and I will be notified of the date on which we are expected to depart this country’s shores. 

It has been an honor and privilege for us to serve our country and also an honor and privilege to be posted in Port of Spain.  Glynis and I have made countless friends here and been the beneficiaries of your warmth and openness.  We will miss you; and next year at this time, we will fire a salute to you and to your exhilirating country from our home in the United States.

Now, as I close, permit me to offer one last official July 4th toast: Please drink with me to the health of our American democracy and to yours, and let us commit ourselves to respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, two of democracy’s important tenets. May the Almighty bless our two nations and all others which show that they value democracy!

To long, healthy and happy lives dedicated to upholding democratic fundamentals!

I thank you for having accorded me the courtesy of your attention.