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Ambassador Johnny Underscores Need for Lobbying Effort In US

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Contact: John Emmanuel

 

Wednesday, August 15, 2001 - St. Lucia’s Ambassador to Washington and the Organization of American States (OAS) has been underscoring the need for Caribbean islands to maintain and strengthen their lobbying efforts in the US in order to maximize results. Ambassador Johnny who is currently on island, says much has been achieved on the bilateral front, via a new lobbying initiative dubbed ‘Friends of the Caribbean.’

 

“It is a bipartisan group and we’re hoping that it will be as successful as the group that was formed in the 1980’s.  When I was at the Embassy during that time there was such a group and it benefited Caribbean states tremendously. When we went to Capital Hill we took our issues to them and they were very instrumental in ensuring that these issues remained on the front burner of the House of Representatives and the Senate,” said Ambassador Johnny.

 

In her words, the changing global landscape has forced Caribbean states to review their lobbying techniques, and accepting the challenge has resulted in marked changes.

 

“We are very poor countries as you know and if you want something in the US you really have to lobby. We can’t afford to pay these high-powered lobbyists and so we have to do it ourselves. We have to walk the corridors of the House and Senate and make as many friends as possible so that when issues come up that impact on us like the CBI issue, financial services and even bananas we have friends who can assist. We’ve been receiving very good support particularly from the Black Caucus,” she told reporters.

 

The Bush White House, she says, thus far has been particularly good to Caribbean nations who stand to benefit tremendously under the Third Border Initiative. Caribbean ambassadors are currently meeting to formulate projects that can be presented to their US counterparts under this initiative. The projects are expected to focus primarily on tourism, education, and financial services.   

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