GoodleighLloyd Goodleigh, Guest columnist
SPAIN IS on my mind, but then, it has always been. Having been born in British Colonial Jamaica, I have never felt any interest in British fog, dampness, brick and marble. London, Manchester, Bristol never appealed to my imagination, but I had always dreamt of far away places "with strange sounding names". Sevilla, Cordoba, Grenada, Toledo, Pamplona and Valencia. Spain brought you face to face with Africa, fired one's imagination.
In those days, as a Kingstonian, persons from Oracabassa, Port Maria seemed to reside in far more exotic places than Sandhurst Crescent, St. Andrew. Spain was forced into my imagination recently.
Someone blew up Spanish trains two weeks ago, killing 200 persons and wounding 1,400. How horrific! The practice from the last century of killing civilians instead of soldiers, continues. But then, in Jamaica, we accept over 1,000 murders a year and don't even count the wounded, how horrific!
In Jamaica's case, in order to continue to believe in my country, my fellow citizens and myself, I sometimes avoid seeking the answer. Most times, however, I don't succeed, because it is astounding how the human mind can be seduced into reverie by a sight, a sound, a smell and where it will end up. The sight of bulls charging down narrow avenues in Pamplona, Spain, and a quarter of a million individuals sheathed in white, topped with scarlet neck bands. The feast of Sanfermin, wine, music, merry-making and the expectant smell of blood and death. I start to reflect on the Spanish fascination with dangerous bulls courage, death and grace; and Jamaica's connection with Spain; because the British did a very good job of eradicating the Spanish connection from our collective memories. For many of us, all that is left is Spanish names for towns and places and Columbus.
Roman Spain Mithraeum "Temples to the rock-born Persian God Mithras, who had killed the divine bull from whose body sprung all plants and animals on which man exist."
CHOSEN BULLS
The ritual of Taurobolium, Roman soldiers massed in a room, special chosen bulls have their necks cut on a grate above them, warm blood on expectant combatants. A custom the Persians probably got from Egypt Africa that is our first connection.
Spain would go from Roman occupation in which it provided three Roman emperors. It would be ruled by Visigoth and Moors before it took over its own destiny. After 1492, it would produce a series of adventurers Coronado, Hernando de Soto, Cabez de Vaca, Herman Cortes, Pizzaro, Columbus. They would help form an empire in the Americas and Africa. Their names would become synonymous with gold, silver and genocide. But Spain would also become the centre of Western art, music, drama, poetry, philosophy and literature, just as dramatically Spain would go into decline and become one of the poorest countries in Europe, a decline some would argue fuelled by an influx of gold and silver from its colonies, creating wealth that was not based on production and even more devastating, creating wealth that was not used for productive purposes. Spain's contradictions by 1939, would lead to civil war, 900,000 dead; 175,000 assassinated; 250,000 homes destroyed 400,000 in exile a dictator would emerge, but today, Spain has made the transition to democracy and become a member of the European Union.
Beyond names of towns and places and Columbus, what parallels exist between the Spanish experience and Jamaica's; what vestiges of their occupation exists? Spain's interest in Jamaica centred on what Eric Williams called the "Trinity", gold, sugar and slaves. They found very little gold in Jamaica, but as I indicated, gold and silver from Latin America fuelled lifestyles in Spain and created inflation that ultimately would ruin Spain's economy.
Spain's experiment with wealth and lifestyles unrelated to production or productive work, has its modern counter parts in Jamaica in the form of the drug trade. Drugs and the proceeds of the drug trade have been tolerated at all levels of the society in the mistaken belief that because it builds big houses, purchases flashy cars, facilitates five-star hotel ownership, road construction, supermarket ownership and a trailer load of women, that it is a collective good.
While it accomplishes these things, for the few, it destroys our national institutions as it corrupts them, demotivates the honest and the owners of legitimate enterprises, encourages gun-running, murder, crime, causes all our citizens to be treated like criminals in many parts of the world, destroys our work ethics, causes inflation and breeds resentment by the many. The macro-economists have not figured how the drug trade factors into inflation. How often have you heard the comment 'Only drug dealers can afford that', in relation to land, houses and cars?
We have forgotten that despite the drug trade, Colombia, Afghanistan, the Golden Triangle, Peru, are not regarded as emerging centres of wealth and prosperity in the world, but Singapore, a relatively drug-free society, is one of the world's emerging centres of wealth with a per capita income of over US$30,000.
Take Saudi Arabia wealth from oil, palaces, polo ponies, individuals receiving incomes not to work its per capita income has fallen from US$26,000 in the 1980 to below US$7,000; its reserves from US$120 billion to below US$21 billion.
We are a trans-shipment centre. It is estimated that 20 per cent of the drugs going into United States, pass through Jamaica. But we have also just become the poorest English-speaking Caribbean country after Guyana whose per capita income is no greater than ours even St. Kitts is ahead of us. Just like Spain our contradictions will have to be worked out.
SUGAR
Spain left us a legacy that still bedevils us state subsidies for the sugar industry. By 1525, in Spanish Jamaica, there were 30 sugar enterprises in Jamaica, all in receipt of state subsidies in the form of:
Loans to start a sugar enterprise
Moratorium on debts of sugar planters
Government's experts assigned to industry
No import duties on machinery and materials for construction and operation of sugar mills.
Does all this sound familiar? Maybe after nearly five hundred years, we should come to the conclusion that the sugar industry is a charge to the public purse. Five hundred years is a long learning curve.
Maybe we have not understood that if you keep doing the same thing you will more than likely get the same results.
Sugar and subsidies are not all that Spain has left us. Slavery is another of its legacies. Columbus had landed on May 3, 1494. He was struck by the beauty and magnificent scenery and by the "abundant population of Tainos". He was met by a fleet of 70 canoes.
Francisco de Goray would make slaves of the Tainos and Pedro de Esquivel would be their chief oppressor. Ironically, he is remembered Pedro Plains, Pedro River,Great Pedro Bay. Slavery would decimate those Jamaicans and by 1501 Spain would start importing slaves from Africa.
We share many more connections to Spain Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, Colombia, the rest of Latin America; the first arrival of our Jewish population; maroons, jerk meat; Savanna-la-mar, Ocho Rios, Don Figueroa Mountain and St. Jago de la Vega the list is extensive.
As we face an uncertain future, read the Spanish stoic Seneca. To understand "Lampoon" read Cervantes.
As we move into the Free Trade of the Americas, we had better all re-acquaint ourselves with things Spanish. Having been to Spain I still dream.
