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How did spiced rum become a homeland security threat in the Caribbean?
The Muckraker Blog ^ | 8/19/2010 | G.W. Shulz

Posted on 08/20/2010 5:00:53 AM PDT by cll

Virtually everything today is in one way or another a potential danger to U.S. national security. There are foreign terrorists, of course. Beyond that authorities cite drug cartels, downturns in the economy, espionage, street gangs, counterfeit goods, right-wing militias, left-wing environmentalists and the multiple personalities of Mother Nature.

Beautiful Caribbean locales, on the other hand, face their own hazards. For the Virgin Islands, one of several U.S. territories many Americans forget have deep historical, political and economic ties to the mainland, it’s apparently adult beverages and “Puerto Rican terrorists” that together form a feasible threat.

First, background. The story begins with daiquiri-addicted Americans who love the taste of sweet rum at home and while away visiting sun-drenched vacation resorts. More specifically, it’s the Spring Break love potion known as Captain Morgan, manufactured by a company called Diageo PLC, the U.K.-based conglomerate behind such intoxicating substances as Guinness beer and Smirnoff vodka. Certain rums like Captain Morgan are produced in vast Caribbean distilleries.

From there the story leads to a monthly magazine called Homeland Security Today, which, at the risk of offending those fine folks, would not be easily mistaken for the New Yorker and certainly won’t be appearing next to Cosmo at the check-out stand anytime soon. Its readers are narrowly focused, many of them government contractors and bureaucrats, so an intriguing revelation within its pages could slip by without much notice.

The June issue of Homeland Security Today contained a feature from its editor, David Silverberg, who described changes the Virgin Islands have been making to better prepare for catastrophes and build a stronger culture of emergency management.

Established as a U.S. territory in 1917, the cluster of stunning beaches and seaside hills is by no means free from peril, despite what travel brochures suggest. Droughts can occur on the Virgin Islands due to a dependence on limited rainwater, in addition to the possibility of hurricanes, tropical storms, earthquakes and tsunamis. Plus, hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude oil are refined on the island of Saint Croix every day, Silverberg writes.

But emergency managers in the Virgin Islands didn’t emphasize any of these scenarios when they developed a response exercise last year to challenge the area’s preparedness capabilities. Instead, according to a brief sidebar from Silverberg headlined “Rum and radicals,” they came up with a narrative seemingly capable of causing diplomatic problems by pretending that a group of Puerto Rican terrorists called “The People’s Hope” planned to attack facilities on the islands with improvised explosive devices.

Puerto Rico is also a U.S. territory located not far west in the Caribbean.

Why Puerto Rico?

The response exercise leads back to rum, Silverberg implies. An ambitious governor of the Virgin Islands who took office in 2007 but went to school in Ohio, John deJongh, persuaded Diageo, parent of Captain Morgan, to move its rum-making operations from Puerto Rico to his tropical destination. DeJongh did so by promising massive subsidies to Diageo, but the departure would also cost Puerto Rico jobs and tens of millions in tax revenue.

Officials in the Virgin Islands argue that Diageo planned to head elsewhere with Captain Morgan anyway, but the perception of a coup enraged the Puerto Rican community, both on the island and the mainland. This summer a group that coordinates New York City’s annual Puerto Rican Day Parade rejected Diageo as a sponsor following a years-long relationship between the two.

Rum taxes collected from the drink’s sale to consumers in the United States are administered by the federal government, so Washington found itself at the center of an ugly political clash over the fate of Captain Morgan. Leaders in the Virgin Islands planned to use those rum taxes to lure Diageo eastward, while advocates for Puerto Rico sought to stop what they characterized as a bailout for the company and keep production where it’s been for more than two decades. The whole thing is now known as the “rum wars.”

There are reported racial tensions as well. The Congressional Black Caucus has actively defended deJongh’s campaign in Washington, while Puerto Rico is linked politically with Hispanic lawmakers.

So now consider in that context not only what’s regarded by one side as a drive to “poach” jobs and income needed for public services, but also an exercise for emergency responders in which one government refers to the citizens of a nearby government as terrorists. According to Homeland Security Today:

"The scenario was fictional and intended mainly to test areas of responsibility and jurisdiction among island responders – but the real resentment continues. As recently as April, deJongh was fighting legislative efforts in Congress to nullify the deal and keep Captain Morgan rum in Puerto Rico".

Aggressive lobbying under the capitol dome is one thing. But are Puerto Ricans aware that the folks next door have imagined them as something far worse? The rum wars may in the end serve as a larger commentary about the use of labels in the global war on terror.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government
KEYWORDS: captainmorgans; puertorico; rum; rumwars; virginislands

1 posted on 08/20/2010 5:00:55 AM PDT by cll
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To: rrstar96; AuH2ORepublican; livius; adorno; wtc911; Willie Green; CGVet58; Clemenza; Narcoleptic; ...
Puerto Rico Ping! Please Freepmail me if you want on or off the list.


2 posted on 08/20/2010 5:02:06 AM PDT by cll (I am the warrant and the sanction)
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To: cll

Heck, I’m still trying to figure out what my cold medicine has to do with Homeland Security...

I haven’t been able to purchase a decent cold medicine in years because I refuse to give them my drivers license and sign the logbook.

Regards,


3 posted on 08/20/2010 5:05:42 AM PDT by VermiciousKnid (Sic narro nos totus!)
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To: cll
The Puerto Rican Navy is dispatched to the USVI/BVI every summer for "Operation Christmas in July" but they're all usually drunk by the end of the first day, which has made it impossible to suppress the troublesome neighbors.


4 posted on 08/20/2010 5:13:54 AM PDT by cll (I am the warrant and the sanction)
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To: cll; SilvieWaldorfMD
Jamaican Sangster's Rum Cream is my favorite.
5 posted on 08/20/2010 5:17:06 AM PDT by Perdogg (Nancy Pelosi did more damage to America on 03/21 than Al Qaeda did on 09/11)
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To: VermiciousKnid

Some cold medicines contain an ingredient that can be distilled to make crystal meth. Pardon my early morning lack of detail; not my area of expertise.


6 posted on 08/20/2010 5:22:15 AM PDT by Pecos (Liberty and Honor will not die on my watch.)
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To: Pecos

Oh, I know that, Pecos...I just don’t care.

Drug addicts are going to get their fixes no matter what, and I’m tired of having to change my life every five minutes because of them. Now they’re thinking of taking the regular cough medicine off the shelves to keep kids from getting high on Robitussin. (Of course, most of those kids would never have thought about getting high from cough medicine except that they learned about it DARE class...but that’s another issue.)

When you’ve got a house full of sick kids and are told you’ve already met your monthly quota of 1 bottle of decongestant...it’s hard to work up a ton of sympathy for the meth heads.

This legislation was tacked on to the Patriot Act, and as I said before, I don’t understand what Nyquil has to do with whacked-out Muslims flying planes into buildings.

Regards,

PS: I once had to pick up a powerful painkiller (and controlled substance) in advance of having my wisdom teeth out. Did I have to sign a logbook or give them my driver’s license? Nope. The next week I was told I had to do that in order to buy the good (useful) Mucinex for the kids’ colds. I refused, went home, made some chicken soup, and broke out the Vick’s Vap-O-Rub. Ridiculous!


7 posted on 08/20/2010 6:22:18 AM PDT by VermiciousKnid (Sic narro nos totus!)
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To: cll; Perdogg

The new Bacardi “Bahama Mama” is EXCELLENT, and, of not sipped properly, it could send you to the ER. Also, Bacardi’s “Rum Island Iced Tea” is unbelievable... those are my two favorites.

My local liquor store here in Waldorf now sells “Bahama Mama” — Yiiiiiiiiiiiiipppppeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


8 posted on 08/20/2010 9:46:21 AM PDT by SilvieWaldorfMD
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To: cll
pretending that a group of Puerto Rican terrorists called “The People’s Hope” planned to attack facilities on the islands...

Some smart guy could probably start selling tee-shirts with "The People's Hope" on one side and "Don Q" on the other.

9 posted on 08/20/2010 10:34:27 AM PDT by marron
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