JAMAICA DEFENDS FAKE SOVEREIGNTY BY DENYING IMMUNITY TO SAME SEX SPOUSE OF AMERICAN DIPLOMAT
As a small country, Jamaica must know its place in the world. Small countries must establish productive relationships with global powers and never aim to offend them for frivolous reasons. However, this does not mean that Jamaica should become the lapdog of America or any other global power. For example, small countries are under pressure to comply with anti-money laundering regulations, however such regulations are ineffective and according to a 2012 World Bank report they hurt the poor. But instead of lobbying for reform, Jamaican leaders have been complying with these expensive regulations to the detriment of citizens who have to provide numerous documents when doing business. When it comes to serious issues, the Jamaican government chooses to be a lapdog, but it will exercise its powers in frivolous affairs to gain political mileage like the recent decision to not extend diplomatic immunity to the same-sex spouse of an American diplomat. Although, Jamaican law does not recognise same-sex marriage, the government could have extended immunity to the spouse of the American diplomat without this becoming public knowledge.
After all, politicians make back-door deals all the time, but the Jamaican government opted to disregard America's request and in retaliation, the latter has denied a request by the Jamaican government to extend the stay of diplomats based in Jamaica's embassy and consulates in America. We should not buy the sanctimonious nonsense that the government was only acting within the constraints of the law, because it's not unusual for Jamaican parliamentarians to flout the law with impunity. Obviously, politicians break the law when they refuse to declare their finances and this rarely evokes great public backlash. Jamaican politicians must become more strategic in their dealings with global powers and stop leveraging political sentiment to defend fake sovereignty.