'Dear Geno,' a member writes. 'We enjoy your columns and have been following some of the thingss you wrote about your stay in the Caribbean. My girl friend and I are planning a Caribbean cruise that will take us to several islands in Febriary. I have heard that some of the islands are potentially violent for tourists. Can you please edify us on what to expect? Thanks. Robert J., Seattle, WA.'
Robert didn't tell me which islands the cruise will take him to. But I will do my best to bring him up to date on the Caribbean and what it poses to the average tourist. By the way, he lives in Seattle, which is one of my favorite places to play poker. All the action in the Pacific Northwest is fun and can be productive for the proper kind of play.
I first arrived in the Caribbean around 2003. I found a job as editor of a weekly newspaper that served the islands of St. Kitts and Nevis, a twin island Federation separated by a 30-minute ferry boat ride.
In those early days, the islands were safe and secure. Even George, the brother of my publisher who owned a tour service and drove a taxicab, joked about road rage in America.
'Here when a driver blinks his lights or honks hiss horn at you, he is saying, 'Have a nice day. You have the right of way,' said George, smiling. 'He doesn't have any plans of shooting you.'
I found George's words to be true. The Caribbean was safe and secure, a daily delight for this American visitor.
But in the past dozen years, things have changed. Tourism has suffered because of the relapse in the global economy. Crime and increased violence have spread from St. Maarten to St. Kitts and tourists are being targeted because the criminals know that is where the money is.
I was managing a newspaper when St. Kitts and Nevis lost th sugar cane industry to Central and South America. Almost overnight, 1,400 sugar cane workers were thrown out of work.
This was a devastating blow to the Federation. How do you replace the jobs of 1,400 people when the government has a next to nothing social security plan?
I had an off-the-record interview with the then Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas, who was well known as a spokesman for the Caribbean at the United Nations General assembly in New York. I told him St. Kitts and Nevis needed a new cash crop. Why not try marijuana, which was already making inroads as a medicinal and recreational drug in a growing number of states.
'That is an excellent idea, Geno," he said. 'But if I did that, your own government would brand me a drug trafficker and probably ban your citizens from visiting our beautiful islands.'
Now it is 2016, 12 years later. Unemployment across the Caribbean is considerably higher than it was in those years. Jamaica has legalized marijuana and the government is looking forward to creating a $5 billion economy based on tourism and free-thinking Americans who like to smoke the plant.
A member of the Parliament in St. Kitts is also pushing to make marijuana legal in the Federation. This would certainly create jobs for the young men and women of St. Kitts and Nevis. And let's face it -- while nobody has ever died of a marijuana overdose, the same thing cannot be said in defense of alcohol.
The governments in the Dutch-owned islands of St. Maarten, Curacao and aruba need to change the law on private security officers. As it presently stands, securiity guards hired by banks, casinos and private business cannot arm themselves with guns. This has encouraged lawbreakers to make bold attacks on casinos, banks, jewelry stores and supermarkets. The crime rates in these Dutch-owned islands have skyrocketed and the source of blame is the government.
Casino security guards do their best under trying circumstances to keep casino guests safe. But there have been some tragic incidents that occurred on St. Maarten, including the shooting that wounded and partially paralyzed a friend of mine after he had won some money playing poker. He left the island for medical treatment and has not returned.
There are other Caribbean islands that continue to be tranquil despite the rise of crime in their neighboring islands. Dominica, Grand Cayman, Berry Island and Antigua are among these islands. I also understand that Jamaica is becoming less violent. The changing of their laws on marijuana may have been the best thing to hit that island since Errol Flynn used to live there and dock his yacht in one of their inlets.
All I can say is, be aware of your surroundings. Most of the Caribbean people I have met are poor but honest and would never think of robbing someone. However, this is not true of all of them, as statistics will prove. Good luck and have a happy vacation.
