REPORT #287 May 2000
US CONGRESS CAN'T CONTROL MONEY LAUNDERING AND CORRUPTION IN THE USA; BUT ARE PLANNING TO TRY AND DO SO IN SMALL CARIBBEAN TAX HAVENS!


Produced by the Belize Development Trust

HA! HA! HA! The Miami Herald commentator, Andres Oppenheimer reports that he couldn't care less about the Caribbean Tax Havens. He doesn't feel sorry for them at all, he says! ( Herald of May 28, 2000)

Last week in the U.S. Congress, several meetings were held to consider a Clinton administration bill to target Caribbean Tax Havens. The bill apparently has a good chance of passing, say people who know Congress. The ultimate goal is to declare WAR by economics on certain small individual countries. Dominica is believed to be one of the targets. The modus operendi of this ECONOMIC WAR is to issue a black list of tax havens. The biggest weapon, a ban on U.S. Correspondent banking relations with the target countries getting too much foreign exchange international banking business.

Since the USA is the biggest money laundering country in the world and also one of the biggest for corruption, one has to wonder what is behind all this "holier than thou" rhetoric.

At issue are hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign exchange fees, banking fees, service charges, balance of payments deposits, hosting dollar reserves, selling financial instruments to foreigners and so forth. The USA and U.K. Do not like to let the pie get cut into smaller pieces. It can only come out of their slices!

In the rhetoric, a lot of bombast about corruption, money laundering and all that good sounding stuff. But you notice there is never any one single example, or set of facts. It is all hot air. Colombian drug barons, bank in New York, Chicago, Los Angelus and Miami, certainly not in the Caribbean. They can't handle the cash flows down there.

Oppenheimer's attitude of "couldn't care less" is typical of the hypocritical attitude in Congress. It gives the USA another weapon to control world economics and the USA believes in Economic War rather than military war, if at all possible for controlling market share. Oppenheimer's hypocrisy is really blatant, because the newspaper he publishes in, the Miami Herald, is continuously exposing political corruption in the City of Miami, the City of Sweetwater and Hialeah with similar exposes on the Miami-Dade County politicos. It is from crooked police, to City Hall, to Miami International Airport, to the docks and sweetheart contracts with County Government. You name it, even bond issues! There is more political corruption and money laundering done in South Dade, Florida, in one week, if you pay attention to the Miami Herald, than the whole Caribbean Tax Havens put together in five years. Not even mentioning New York, or the mid west.

When you live in a glass house, it's not a good idea to throw stones Oppenheimer of the Miami Herald. Hypocrisy doesn't become you, or Congress. Fix your own house, before you start talking about fixing others. You are talking ECONOMICS and WAR, not fighting political corruption and money laundering for South American countries.

Back to Main Belize Development Trust Page

Maintained by Ray Auxillou, Silvia Pinzon, MLS, and Marty Casado. Please email with suggestions or additions for this Electronic Library of Belize.