The Big Issues

"It was luck that prevented nuclear war. We came that close to nuclear war at the end. Rational individuals: Kennedy was rational; Khrushchev was rational; Castro was rational. Rational individuals came that close to total destruction of their societies." - Former US Defense Secretary Robert McNamara in the 2003 documentary, The Fog of War, reflecting on the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

Before Covid-19 became a global pandemic in early 2020, it seemed that the most pressing international policy issue was climate change. Climate protests were regularly in the headlines across the developed world. Activist Greta Thunberg, a Swedish teenager, was regularly on front pages. What about now? Now, surviving Covid-19 is the biggest challenge on the immediate agenda of world governments. 

But perhaps not much has changed. Perhaps we mistook media attention for political, corporate and popular interest. Just because the media was consumed with climate protest coverage just prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, does not mean that the world's leading governments and corporations were moving heaven and earth to actually respond to the problem. 

It is admittedly difficult for humans beings to collectively respond to an existential crisis, as evidenced by the continued threat of nuclear weapons to humanity. Such weapons still exist in large numbers today, many on permanent alert, aimed at planned targets, to be launched at a moment's notice upon the decision of just a handful of the world's Presidents and Prime Ministers. 

Today, responding to the climate crisis requires that those very same Presidents and Prime Ministers, and the people and corporations whose interests and livelihoods they defend, agree to immediately and drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is possible in part through rapid investment in, and proliferation of, existing clean energy technology and infrastructure. Leaders, industry, and citizens, must agree to do this no matter the short to medium term economic fallout. In this episode, Caribbean experts discuss the severity of the climate crisis and the pace of the global response. 

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

In Haiti, back-to-back disasters are exacerbating the country's many problems. On August 14th at 8:30 am local time, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the south-western coast of Haiti causing large-scale damage across the country’s southern peninsula. 

Only two days after the quake, Tropical Depression Grace dumped extremely heavy rains in southern Haiti, causing flooding in the same quake-affected areas. It is reported that the death toll has surpassed 2,200 with more than 12,200 people injured. 

Almost 53,000 homes have been destroyed and more than 77,000 have sustained damage. About 800,000 people have been affected and an estimated 650,000 people – 40 per cent of the 1.6 million people living in the affected departments – are in need of emergency humanitarian assistance.

Haiti is still reeling from the July 7th assassination of its President Jovenel Moïse and the ensuing political crisis. It is still facing an escalation in gang violence since June that has affected 1.5 million people. On this segment we talk about the atmosphere in Haiti now, and how people there are responding to the latest disaster.

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on August 29th, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

The first to be shot dead was 32-year-old Alexis Mussington. It happened on a night in Grays Farm. Another man, 45-five-year-old Radradatt Ramlakhan, was also shot dead by stray bullets during the shooting. Later in the week 32-year-old Gibson Ricardo Christmas of Green Bay was shot dead. One week, three dead.

In this episode, we discuss crime and violence in Antigua and Barbuda. We ask why why some communities seem plagued by gun violence and gangs. Are there effective strategies to reduce these problems, and do we have the resources to see them through?

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on August 29th, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

Curfew hours are increased from 8:00 pm to 5:00 am. Gyms are closed. Restaurants are restricted to serving take-out only. Summer camps are ordered to close. Churches are ordered to seat 25 members only. Wakes and receptions are to be limited to 25 people. Informal gatherings are limited to 10 people. Those were the restrictions announced on Wednesday, August 25th, 2021 in response to an rapidly increasing number of Covid cases.

But the restrictions have upset many, especially some bars, restaurants, clubs and gyms, teetering on the brink of collapse as they have to open and close over and over, regardless of whether they abide by the Covid safety protocols while they are open. It's frustrating. It's exhausting. Now, as they are asked to close, again, many want to see some evidence that suggests that their venues are actually responsible for the newly transmitted cases of Covid, and that it is not the case they automatically get closed down if cases go up. 

For the average citizen too, it's frustrating to have to be indoors by 8:00 pm, and to not be able to patronize certain places. Many vaccinated people are frustrated, feeling as if their being vaccinated ought to have prevented further socially and economically debilitating measures like curfews and business closures and restrictions. But cases are going up. And for different reasons. High among them, is when people, jabbed or not, don't follow the basic rules - keep your distance, don't gather in large numbers, don't frequent other's homes, wash your hands, and cover your face.

Additionally, we have the Delta variant, which is more transmissible. We now know that vaccines do less to guard against transmission of the virus in the case of Delta, even though they still offer strong protection against hospitalization when you have the virus. Herein lies another element of popular frustration. Back in February, March and April, many got the impression that being vaccinated would return things "to normal". That was before the heightened transmissibility of the Delta variant, even among the vaccinated, became more clearly understood. 

In the latter half of July, the government announced a mandate for only vaccinated persons to be allowed to go to gyms, bars, restaurants and clubs. Many took it as the beginning of a new normal. Crisis mode restrictions would be a thing of the past as a new regime of vax-only rules would take effect. Many simply got the wrong impression. Policing the spread of Covid-19 is far more complex than policing the movement of the unvaccinated. We now know that even with such a regime of vax-only rules in place, Covid-19 transmission could still prompt a crisis if hospitalizations increase, which they will, if a large number of people are unvaccinated, which is still now the case. In any event, the vax-only mandate was made with no effective way of enforcing it. Compliance was most likely minimal. 

So as cases go up again, we ask, what's to be done? The health system must not become overwhelmed. That would be disastrous. 

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on August 29th, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

Life is about to get much worse for many people in Afghanistan. The militant political party, the Taliban, have taken over the capital Kabul from the Western-backed and United Nations (UN) recognised Afghan national government, ending 20 years of insurgency and civil conflict, and occurring after the majority of United States (US) and allied military units rapidly existed the country earlier this year. In this episode, a UN diplomat and a retired UN diplomat, both from the Caribbean, discuss the implications.

For many of our Caribbean listeners, we know Afghanistan may be a mystery. It's a place where Caribbean nations will have had little political or diplomatic engagement, if at all. But it's a country that has featured consistently in world news and North American media since the early 2000s, and immediately after the September the 11th 2001 attacks. It's situated between Pakistan, Iran and China, among a few other nations. 

The complexity of its internal ethnic, political, and religious struggles, as well as the carnival of foreign interests that have a stake in its affairs, cannot be aptly summed up by narratives as simplistic as 'terrorists vs. America' or 'oppressed people vs. US imperialism'. Unfortunately, such narratives are what many here in the Caribbean will have adopted over time without having had much need to delve into the topic of Afghanistan, which to be fair, had little bearing on Caribbean development problems.

But, amidst the furore in the Western and international media over the chaotic collapse of the weak and vaguely legitimate Afghan national government - which NATO allies had been propping up for years - and the rather shocking ineptitude of the Biden administration in pre-empting the chaos with a more orderly and guarded evacuation of willing foreign nationals, the events in Afghanistan represent several important things. 

For the US and NATO, they represent the end of the post-9/11 era of coupling counter-terrorism with nation-building in the Middle East and Asia, as well as damage to US and NATO prestige. But it also represents the return of a volatile, militant political party (The Taliban) which was originally ousted by the US in the 2001 invasion for giving haven to terrorist networks (such as Al-Qaeda) that organised and sponsored attacks on the West. In summary, the Taliban's return is a threat to international security. 

For Afghans, the Taliban represents different things. For some, it's the party they want in power. But for many trying to flee, or now living there in fear, it represents the rebirthed supremacy of Islamic fundamentalism and all the accompanying repression - repression of women, girls, LGBT people, art, education, speech, and human and political rights. Importantly, there's an entire generation of youth since 2001, who have grown up not knowing such repression. For Afghanistan's neighbours, the Taliban's return also signals a potential migration/refugee crisis if more people flee the new regime. 

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are: 

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on August 22nd, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

Regardless of one's opinion of those in power, violence and the threat of violence is seldom ever justified in a democratic society at peace. So when Information Minister Melford Nicholas told journalists on August 12th that such threats had worsened recently, everyone was alarmed. But why the worsening of these threats? And who should respond? And how?

According to Nicholas and Prime Minister Gaston Browne, social media and website comments are one of the more preferred avenues for some to level such threats - a reminder of how cyberspace often gives a person a feeling of distance, anonymity, and impunity when meting out abuse. Across the Caribbean, the popularity of leaders is, perhaps, at an all-time low, as governments enforce lockdowns, curfews, business closure, and vaccine mandates, in response to Covid-19, and despite recent regionwide protests against such measures.

It's worth remembering that St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves was hit in the head by a projective during an anti-government protest on Thursday, August 5th. If you were paying attention, it unleased a wave of pitiless and unsympathetic vitriol online, from jokes, to lightheartedness, to praise for the aggressor, to calls for the same to befall other Caribbean leaders.

The national mood worsened after August the 8th, in Antigua, when police riot units used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse an anti-curfew, anti-vax, anti-government protest on Market Street, St. John, in a move many saw as heavy handed, and even as an attack on civil liberty. But it was a move which the Prime Minister later praised, denouncing the protesters in a rhetoric strewn televised address. So, obviously, people were pissed. But does that anger ever justify reckless violence or the threat of violence? Our guests say 'no' resoundingly. But neither are they impressed by how Browne has responded to the recent threats.

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on August 22nd, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

Amongst the vast pantheon of Black political activists, organisers, agitators, philosophers, thinkers, and leaders, some view Marcus Garvey as the strongest voice that there has ever been for Black nationalism. He is considered one of the fathers of Pan-African political thought, advocating Black economic nationalism and more controversially, repatriation to Africa. 

On this segment we talk about the Jamaica-born Pan-African icon who inspired people of Black African descent globally, at a time when Africa was being colonized, slavery in the Atlantic World had not long been abolished for as many as 100 years, and racialized class oppression was the reality of African peoples throughout the Americas. This episode marked Garvey's birth 137 years ago in August 1887. We asked our panel, what is it that Marcus Garvey worked towards during his life, and what is his legacy?

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on August 22nd, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

Nonsensical and inflammatory are how speakers characterized the Prime Minister Gaston Browne's response to Sunday the 8th - the day non-violent protesters gathered at the VC Bird Bust on Market Street were blanketed with tear gas and chased by riot officers when they would not be moved, leading to rioting. Many have condemned the police show of force as excessive. But he stood firmly with the police when he addressed the nation the day after, launching a blistering hyperbole-filled, rhetoric-strewn attack at the main opposition party, which was not involved in organizing the protest. He also made false claims about the actions of protesters.

Then there's the issue of the Public Safety Minister, Steadroy "Cutie" Benjamin, who promised the day before the protest during a radio interview, that the protesters "have another thing coming" if the went ahead and gathered at the VC Bird Bust unlawfully. Yet, the Prime Minister has sought to distance his government from the decisions taken on the day, saying that no minister gave any instructions for what was done by police. Our panel says the government needs to stop the rhetoric and deal with the public frustration toward public health polices.

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

The PM's August 9th address: https://www.facebook.com/558698930896002/videos/1936518663180874

Browne said protesters who gathered had allowed themselves to be "needlessly" used by "desperate" politicians and "known criminals" to further political aims. For Browne, the peaceful gathering on Sunday, which many, though not all agree was unlawful, was a conspiracy by people "operating in the dark and shadows" to "promote lawlessness" and "ruin our country".

The Prime Minister also falsely claimed that protesters were attempting to march away from the VC Bird Bust when they were gassed, and that it was this that caused police to deploy gas them. But Observer's own reporters were on the ground and were in the stationary, non-violent crowd, when riot officers began using tear gas, astonishingly, having not even taken the time to clear their own officers from the crowd. 

Browne made another false claim when he said the protesters were "aggressive" prior to being gassed. Again, Observer's reporters were on the ground, and while rioting broke out after the gassing, protesters were non-violent up to the point that tear gas was fired at them. Yet, for Browne, the albeit obstinate crowd, which included the elderly and children, "posed a threat to the wider community" suggesting it was justifiably gassed. He didn't mention the children in the crowd, the fact that police gassed their own officers, or the fact that many non-participants were gassed in their homes or in nearby areas.

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on August 15th, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

Reckless and Unprepared. That's what commentators thought of the police response to the Sunday the 8th protests, at which riot officers fired tear gas - a riot control agent - into a crowd that was not rioting. Ironically, though unsurprisingly, the gassing of the crowd inflamed the moderate tension and sparked actual rioting which took place well into the night.

In this episode our guests ask common sense questions. Why didn't the police just cordon off the area if they were really trying to prevent a march from happening? Why didn't they negotiate with leaders to split the group if it was deemed too large in Covid-19 circumstances? Why wasn't it enough that leaders were arrested after the event? Why use such force, when anyone could easily have foreseen the outcome being far worse, than if they had not escalated the situation.

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

Why was it seemingly an overriding objective that the Sunday afternoon gathering on Market Street - when St. John is at its least busy - was broken-up by any means necessary? Was the town so busy that Sunday afternoon that demonstrators needed to be moved at any cost? Would they not have gone home as night approached? Added to that, the police appeared so uncoordinated, that riot officers did not evacuate other uniformed police from the crowd before they fired the gas, sending policemen and policewomen scattering as frantically as protesters themselves. Reckless. Unprepared.

Yet, Commissioner of Police Atlee Rodney said "no" when asked if in hindsight anything should have been done differently. No? There were children in the crowd, as well as older persons, all gassed. Bystanders were affected in nearby areas. Nearby residents were affected in their homes. Officers chased people into the bus station and onto residential streets. Rodney called it all "unfortunate". See the full press conference here.

The entire saga has perhaps made it clear that the police either have little to no real guidelines governing the use of riot control agents; or that if such rules exist, they were not observed on Sunday the 8th; or that if such rules both exist and were followed, the rules are so weak and unrestrictive that they allow for tear gas to be launched into a peaceful assembly which threatened no one, simply because it was unlawfully gathered.

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on August 15th, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.

People have a right to protest. But that right is subject to reasonable laws and laws respond to our environment. And Covid-19 is our new environment. That being said, being gathered unlawfully does not give the police a clear justification for drastic displays of force. In this episode, two lawyers and an activist discuss the freedom to protest against the backdrop of the tear gassing of a non-violent assembly of protesters on Market Street on Sunday the 8th of August - an assembly which police deemed unlawful. 

The level of force used by police to disperse the non-violent but obstinate crowd was wrong, needless and abusive, guests say. As for the protesters, our guests say people should respect and abide by the law, and recognize the danger that gatherings have of spreading Covid-19. But they worry about the extent to which emergency laws and unreasonable decisions by those in authority may result in an unreasonable curtailment of the right to protest. 

The host is Kieron Murdoch. The guests are:

If we must exercise our right to protest in conjunction with fair and reasonable decisions by the police, then we rely on the police to be fair and reasonable, right? Otherwise, our rights may be infringed. Why did the denial of permission for the march come mere days before the planned date? The request was reportedly sent more than two weeks in advance. If organizers were willing to demonstrate in one area, and not march (since permission was denied) why not accommodate them? 

Beyond the debate over a march (permission denied) vs picket (no permission needed supposedly), public health rules restrict the number of people who may gather a public space. It would seem obvious that the demonstration was at least in breach of that. Were organisers not themselves, reckless to have congregated so many people in such a space? As for the police though, if numbers were anticipated to be too large, why not work with organisers to break up the event into smaller actions? 

Protesters went into the event and came away from it feeling stifled, as though police unreasonably frustrated their attempt to demonstrate, then doubled down with force, even though demonstrators did not march. The police commissioner has dismissed claims of having any agenda, pointing to numerous peaceful pickets throughout the pandemic which did not encounter resistance from law enforcement officers. That's certainly true.

Yet, many are wary of governments and their police forces when they have emergency powers which allow them to curtail movement, and restrict assembly. How divorced are the police from the whims of ministers? Public Safety Minister Steadroy "Cutie" Benjamin warned just on Saturday, August 7th, that those who planned to participate "have another thing coming". You could see why some remain suspicious of police motives on Sunday the 8th.

This programme first aired on NewsCo Observer Radio 91.1 FM on August 15th, 2021. Get the latest news from Antigua and Barbuda at the Antigua Observer online.