by Rick Lowe

Our Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Fred Mitchell was featured in The Tribune of Tuesday, January 15, 2007 with a front page story which suggests that Bahamian’s will no longer need a visa to “enter Europe in the future.”

The story also reports on what appears to be another botched trade agreement relating to the duty free access to Europe for Bahamian producers. See this earlier blog about the trade agreement with the EU.

It appears that the public relations “expert” in Mr. Mitchell has taken over again, not unlike his grandiose announcement on trade numbers with China. In other words, he makes an obscure positive announcement (at least in his mind) about no longer needing a visa to enter Europe one day along with a negative message about being late off the mark with preparing the Bahamas position with regard to signing the Contonu Agrement with the European Union through CARIFORUM.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs gets more ink in the local papers than anyone I can think of, including your not so humble blogger, and I must admit to being suspicious of his auspicious pronouncements after his trade with China numbers debacle.

At the end of the day we will probably still have to get visas to enter Europe and will miss the Contonu deadline.