FAHIE AND MARTELLY; AMERICA'S NEW TAKE-NO-PRISONERS PROGRAM REGARDING CORRUPT CARIBBEAN OFFICIALS ENGAGED IN MONEY LAUNDERING THROUGH U.S. BANKS

If you were surprised to see the U.S. State Department sanction the former President of Haiti, MICHEL MARTELLY, after America had studiously ignored the systemic corruption in that beleaguered Island nation for decades, pay attention. It appears that there's a new attitude toward the large group of utterly corrupt Caribbean officials officials who are the rule, rather than the exception, these days.

Look at the recent case of disgraced former BVI Premier ANDREW FAHIE, if you want further proof; the U.S. Attorney in Miami, in a motion filed before sentencing, sought to increase Fahie's Offense Level to that where the Court would very well sentence him to Life in Prison, a sentence which currently does not allow for any Gain Time, and therefore where he would die in custody. Remember, Fahie's case was an undercover sting; there was actually no cocaine or dirty money involved. So why seek life?

I think the answer is the fact that American financial institutions, many of whom in New York and Miami, maintain correspondent accounts for indigenous Caribbean banks, allowing corrupt Caribbean officials to freely abuse them to deposit the proceeds of crime, are all committing money laundering offenses in the process. Whether it is the proceeds of corruption (bribes and kickbacks) from closing their eyes to drug trafficking, cash paid to facilitate illegal CBI passport sales, or some other criminal activity, it certainly looks like the United States is putting its legal foot down on geedy, amoral Caribbean leaders, to protect its banks.

Perhaps the low-key hands-off Caribbean approach that America has pursued since it got a black eye in the region for the invasion of Grenada, which was seen as "gunboat diplomacy," by West Indians, has finally ended. If this is the case, we welcome it, for far too many US banks are now caught between anti-money laundering compliance requirements and our government's pressure to resist de-risking in the Caribbean region. Indict and arrest those smug, arrogant officials, who think that their government position makes them legally bulletproof in the United States; go get 'em, DOJ.