United States ambassador John Estrada has encouraged children from high-risk communities in east Port-of-Spain to rise above the social stigma of where they live and strive to become future leaders of T&T.
Addressing children of the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) Police Youth Club at the Beetham Community Centre on Wednesday afternoon, Estrada said they should refuse to be defined by society’s stereotypes of them.
“Some of you live in very challenged neighbourhoods. Don’t let that define who you are.
“Don’t let your circumferences define who you are. Don’t let others define who you are,” Estrada said.
Repeatedly refering to his past, Estrada, who was born in Laventille before immigrating to the US as a teenager, said he had to overcome similar circumstances to achieve the highest rank in the US Marine Corps, sergeant major.
“When I visited this country before becoming ambassador I asked a police officer, who was driving me around, about Laventille.
“He said that we let them kill themselves here. He would have been shocked when he found out that I was the US ambassador and I was from that area,” Estrada said.
He encouraged the children to strive for moral courage, which, he said, was necessary when making decisions in tough circumstances.
“Why go to work on a ditch or as a waiter when you could see drugs and make a lot of money quick? I was exposed to some of those things and I refused to do it. If I made the wrong choices, I would not be where I am today.
“There are future young leaders of this country sitting in this room right here.
“They might be challenged right now by where they are living but leadership means doing the right thing, starting at home,” Estrada said.
Refering to his military career, which included leading 17,000 troops during America’s invasion of Iraq, Estrada revealed that sometimes he was forced to execute orders that he did not agree with.
“Some of my fellow officers and I were not in support of the war effort. We knew that there were no weapons of mass destruction but in the military we do not question policy,” Estrada said.
Estrada also encouraged the children’s parents that were present to play a key role in their education.
“Parents, you can help the teachers also. All the burden should not be put on the teachers. It is not the teacher’s responsibility. They bear some but again it starts in the home,” Estrada said.
He also pleaded with affluent members of society to partner with NGOs, such as the Children’s Ark, which hosted the event.
“I always challenge the well-to-do to never forget where you come from because you have a responsibility to help and give back.
“When you continue to have those that don’t have, you are going to continue to have unrest and crime,” Estrada said.
Laventille West MP and Minister of Works and Transport, Fitzgerald Hinds, also spoke and encouraged the children to use every opportunity provided by the Government to further their education.
“There is nothing stopping you from doing well in school and going to the best schools in Port-of-Spain and then on to university with the help of the State,” Hinds said.
US ambassador John Estrada should understand and respect T&T’s Parliament process, Opposition MP Dr Bhoe Tewarie has urged.
He did so on Wednesday during debate on the controversial Tax Information Exchange Agreement which facilitates implementation of an agreement between T&T the US and other states to share tax information held by the Board of Inland Revenue and other financial institutions.
It’s designed to flesh out an agreement T&T has with the US and is designed to make T&T compliant with the Foreign Accounts Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
The special majority legislation has to be implemented by September 30.
However, the Opposition had called for it to be sent to a parliamentary Joint Select Committee for deeper scrutiny. Government has agreed and will also extend the month-end deadline
Yesterday, Tewarie said the Opposition had concerns on executive overreach, appeals and review options of aggrieved parties and on parliamentary oversight.
He said clarity was needed on how the Bill would affect on T&T citizens who were US residents, T&T citizens who were US citizens and the implications for those with T&T bank accounts overseas. He said half the business community was in that category.
Tewarie said the Opposition did not ask for extension of the deadline and had always been prepared to meet that.
He said if the local banking sector was angry the deadline was not met, he could understand.
“But I don’t understand anger at the Opposition. When we engaged the banking sector recently, some of them didn’t have the Bill. Nor did we bring the Bill to Parliament late, the Government did.”
He said he could understand why the US ambassador did not understand the situation. He said he would welcome an opportunity to engage him.
He said there was only one side to blame in this ,the Finance Minister and Government. Tewarie questioned how easy it might be for the US President to override Congress or the US Senate and at what costs.
He said the Bill had “big stick” provisions, noting a Forbes article on FATCA as a US “big stick” and violated parts of T&T’s Constitution.
Tewarie said the Opposition was not against the agreement with the US but while it wanted to pass the Bill, had concerns on aspects.