Caribbean interests seeking security aid

Caribbean interests seeking security aid Caribbean interests concerned about the high cost of security technology, especially for some of the region's smallest countries, plan to lobby Washington to provide financial assistance for those costs.
   Jose Perez-Jones, senior vice president of Miami-based Seaboard Marine and chairman of the executive committee of the Caribbean-Central America Association, said at the association's Miami Conference on the Caribbean that the CCAA and other Caribbean groups would approach the U.S. Congress for help.
   Moderating a panel discussion on Caribbean region problems and solutions, Perez-Jones, as well as others at the meeting, said they would approach Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., to get the process started. Rangel is chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee and has been among the most active members of Congress in addressing Caribbean trade and economic issues. Last month, he requested an International Trade Commission investigation into ways the United States could adjust trade policies to help Caribbean nations' economies.
   Perez-Jones asked Ralph Moss, a Washington lobbyist who knows Rangel and who was at the Miami meeting, to approach Rangel about the issue. Moss agreed with the approach, saying, 'The CCAA should be an advocate for member states that can't afford the 'you shall' legislation coming out of the U.S.' The line drew one of the biggest rounds of applause at the session.
   In addition, Fernando Rivera, chairman of the Caribbean Shipping Association, said his organization would sign on and lend its weight to the lobbying effort.
   The panel and members of the audience said that while countries like Jamaica and the Dominican Republic have made great strides toward improving security issues, smaller nations simply cannot afford to meet the post-9/11 security standards requested by the United States.
   That is especially troublesome because for many of the smaller nations, U.S. trade is critical for economic survival.
   'If you have a population of 60,000, you can't afford to put up $14 million for a container scanner,' said Stephen Bell, general manager of the Caribbean Shipping Association, in an interview with the Florida Caribbean Connection. ' Jim Dow