The Hill News

What a difference a year makes!

One year ago, as I started my tour of duty as Jamaica’s tenth Ambassador to the United States, recognizing that in a post cold war world, Jamaica and the Caribbean’s importance to the USA was centered mainly around their concerns for their third border security and the ravaging impact of the transnational narcotic trade which used the Caribbean as a transshipment point.

Jamaica grappled with the effects of the severe global economic crisis which exacerbated the existing conditions of a declining economy and a crushing debt burden. The recession lessened the demand for exports, reduced remittances, decreased international travel and contributed to closures in the bauxite industry, all the major revenue earning areas of the country.

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