|
Caribbean Islands Current Strategic Considerations
Britain's Withdrawal
At probably no time during the last three centuries were
Britain's strategic interests in the Caribbean less significant
than in the late 1980s. Once its former Caribbean colonies began to
achieve independence in 1962, Britain's policy had been to withdraw
from individual security, but not economic, commitments to the
Commonwealth Caribbean. In early 1987, only five British island
dependencies remained: Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Cayman
Islands, Montserrat, and Turks and Caicos Islands. These are the
smallest Commonwealth Caribbean islands, and none plays a
significant role in regional politics. British interests in the
Caribbean had been reduced mainly to trade, investment, and limited
economic and security assistance.
According to one analyst of the British Caribbean, in the early
1980s the conservative government of Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher fully supported the geopolitical view of the Caribbean
held by the United States administration of President Ronald
Reagan. As early as 1980, the Thatcher government described Cuba as
"a destabilizing force in the area" and accused the Castro regime
of exporting subversion. Britain joined the United States in
pressuring then-Prime Minister Bishop's government to hold free and
fair elections and to release political prisoners.
Despite Britain's cooperation, the Thatcher government,
according to an American official, complained about lack of prior
consultation in the decision to intervene on Grenada, which became
essentially a United States-Commonwealth Caribbean operation.
Partly as a result, the Thatcher government declined to endorse the
joint United States-Caribbean military action in Grenada in late
October 1983. Jamaican prime minister Edward Seaga noted that the
English-speaking Caribbean felt "a certain amount of bitterness" at
British opposition to the Grenada intervention, and that London
could no longer assume "some right of prior consultation in matters
that affect us here." Nevertheless, the visit to Grenada by Prime
Minister Thatcher and Queen Elizabeth II on October 31, 1985,
helped to ameliorate regional resentment against perceived British
indifference and to revive British prestige in the region.
Its greatly reduced presence notwithstanding, Britain remained
a significant political and economic power in the region in the
late 1980s by virtue of its continued status as head of the
Commonwealth of Nations. In this capacity, the British still had
certain political and security ties to their independent former
colonies. For example, the English-speaking islands continued to
rely exclusively on the Westminster model of parliamentary
democracy, and Britain continued its tradition of providing police
training. Apart from the United States, Britain also was still the
principal trading partner of the Commonwealth Caribbean.
Data as of November 1987
|
