Reprinted from Caribbean Net News
caribbeannetnews.com

An island-centered perspective may be both fair and profitable

Friday, September 29, 2006

I value the Caribbean Net News but am concerned that its coverage seems to favor a US perspective. In "Rice spurns Venezuela's bid for UN Security Council seat" little credit is given to Chavez's contribution to the independence of South American countries or the contributions of both Cuba and Venezuela to countries with less money, healthcare or educational resources. Rice's comment about potential Venezuelian vetos is strange in that the US very often plays that role in the UN, most recently in preventing a call for a cease fire in Lebanon with the resulting loss of civilian lives.

Even the article on cruise ships fails to note that larger cruise ships have the goal of maximizing cruise profits and make it more likely that the passengers spend time and money on the ship not in the towns and islands that could be visited. Small is beautiful if it places manageable numbers of tourists ashore, even overnight, to enjoy the wonders of the Islands.

Consider that this may be a general bias and not just in the stories I reference and that an Island centered perspective may be both fair and profitable.

Cliff Dillmann
Marysville, PA, USA

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