Hurricane Ivan roars through Caribbean
Tempest uncovers class relations
By Pat Chin
Ivan, the "sixth-strongest hurricane in recorded history in
the Atlantic Basin," according to the Weather Channel, roared
into the Caribbean region, striking the island-nation of
Grenada directly with such catastrophic force that 90 percent
of all houses were flattened. The extremely powerful hurricane
then churned west to pummel Jamaica, the wealthy
British-controlled Cayman Islands and Cuba.
Ivan pounded Grenada on Sept. 7, leaving a trail of death
and destruction while achieving the unflattering distinction of
being the worst hurricane to hit the Carib bean in a decade. It
came less than a month after Hurricane Charley brushed Jamaica,
left a trail of destruction in Cuba and devastated south
Florida. "What's so unusual about this year's hurricane
season," said Mike Battes of the Weather Channel, "is that
we're seeing a relatively large number of major hurricanes in a
short period of time."
Thirty-nine people were reportedly killed in Grenada, an
eastern-Caribbean country underdeveloped from centuries of
slavery and British colonialism and, following independence in
1974, economic domination by the United States. In 1983,
President Ronald Reagan, a rabid anti-communist, ordered the
invasion of Gren ada to break solidarity between the Gren adian
and Cuban Revolutions--and to show the world that Washington
had gotten over its defeat in Vietnam and could militarily
subdue another country. The fact that Grenada is only twice the
size of Washing ton, D.C., did not stop the imperialist war
hawks from crowing over their "victory."
Hurricane Ivan also destroyed businesses, including hotels
in an economy where tourism is the main source of foreign
exchange. Power has been severely disrupted. The city's
emergency operations center has been leveled. So were schools,
the main hospital and prison.
Prime Minister Keith Mitchell, whose official residence was
also flattened by fero cious winds, reported that nutmeg, the
country's main export product, had "taken a tremendous hit."
(BBC News, Sept. 12) Even before Ivan struck, Grenada's
official unemployment rate stood at 12.5 percent.
The massive hurricane--which eventually had wind gusts as
high as 195 mph and an eye wall 30 miles wide at its
center--also claimed five victims in Venezuela, three in Haiti,
and four in the Dominican Republic.
It brought down trees and power lines and blew off roofs in
Tobago, where a pregnant woman was killed, and in Barbados,
where an elderly woman died.
After devastating Grenada, Ivan swirled west. On Sept. 11
Ivan "lashed Jamaica with monstrous waves, driving rain and
winds nearing 155 mph ... as it smashed away homes, ripped up
roofs and utility poles, but unexpectedly spared the island
from a direct hit. ... In downtown Kingston, 20-foot high trees
were uprooted, some flung onto the roofs of cars, and twisted
metal roof panels litter the streets." (Barbados Daily Nation,
Sept. 12)
At least 15 people were killed. Stores and shelters are
running out of food, among other things. Meanwhile, the
Jamaican government has deployed police to protect the property
of residents who are more well-off than the huge number of poor
Jamaicans in a post-colonial society plagued by class division
and discrimination against dark-skinned Jamai cans who make up
the majority.
The British-owned territory of the Cayman
Islands--population 43,000 people--also got slammed by Ivan,
with water up to five-feet-deep engulfing many homes. But there
is less damage there since "the Caymans were better prepared
for the punishment than were Grenada and Jamaica."
Why? Because "the Caymans have strict building codes and
none of the shantytowns and tin shacks common elsewhere in the
Caribbean." (MSNBC.com, Sept. 13)
The Sept. 12 Web edition of Bloomberg described this wealthy
capitalist Carib bean enclave: "The Caymans, renowned as a tax
haven, provide near-total financial secrecy for companies,
banks and accounts. There are more than 500 banks and trust
companies with deposits of more than $1 trillion. ... That's
more deposits than there are in New York City."
More than 40,000 companies are registered there. In no time,
two British naval vessels arrived to survey the damage.
With the hurricane approaching, Pre sident Fidel Castro
called on all Cubans to take every measure to save lives,
"given that everything else can be reconstructed." (Granma
International, Sept. 13 Web edition)
By the time Ivan brushed Cuba's western tip with heavy winds
and huge waves, 190,000 people had been "mobilized to protect
the population and material resources." More than 1.3 million
people were evacuated, along with 550,000 animals and 1 million
birds.
Close to 2,000 shelters were opened along with 1,400
canteens for the institutionalized. Hundreds of tons of
rebuilding materials and food had been safely stored.
Cuba is not as rich as the Cayman Islands, where most
buildings remained structurally sound and there was no loss of
life. Yet every measure was taken to safeguard the Cuban
population and its industries. This reflects Cuba's planned
socialist economy in which human needs and the means to satisfy
them take priority over property. Even the Sept. 14 New York
Times was forced to admit that "relief was palpable
everywhere."
Jamaica was the main trans-shipment port for enslaved
Africans during centuries of trade in human Black cargo that
enriched the United States, Britain and other European
countries. The island won formal independence from Britain in
1962. But, like Grenada and many other Caribbean and Latin
American countries, Jamaica's socio-economic development is
being stifled by Washington's domination of the world's
financial institutions including the International Monetary
Fund and World Bank.
And the lopsided terms of trade as evidenced in "accords"
like the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement have decimated
many already poor people and enriched still further the
multi-millionaires and billionaires that Capitol Hill
represents.
The United States has sucked billions of dollars in wealth
from the Caribbean region starting with the slave trade, which
was rationalized by religion and racism. Under capitalism it is
the poor who suffer the most during a natural disaster. Any
U.S. aid given to countries decimated by Ivan will at best be,
in true imperialist style, paltry. This illuminates the need to
fight for socialism.
Reprinted from the Sept. 23, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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