The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune.

Bahamians of all political persuasions must join in the condemnation of alleged death threats against Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis. Hopefully, those responsible are caught and punished.

Political assassinations in The Bahamas would portend a situation similar to what has transpired in the Republic of Haiti since its independence from France in 1804.

Bahamians would recall the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in July 2021. Moïse was not the first Haitian leader to have been assassinated, however. Jean-Jacques Dessalines, independent Haiti’s first emperor, was murdered in 1806; Jean Vilbrun Guillaume Sam in 1915; Cincinnatus Leconte in 1912 and Sylvain Salnave in 1870.

Over in the South American country of Colombia, presidential candidates Jorge Eliecer Gaitan (1948); Jaime Pardo Leal (1987); Luis Carlos Galan (1989); Bernardo Jaramillo and Carlos Pizzarro (1990) were all assassinated. The one common denominator between Colombia and Haiti is that both are inundated with massive violent gangs that are seeking to overthrow legitimate authority.

In Colombia, it is the Marxist National Liberation Army known as ELN and in Haiti it is G9 Family and Allies, headed by Jimmy Chérizier.

One of my greatest fears concerning the lawlessness in New Providence is that the alleged death threats against Davis might embolden the gangs to start targeting political leaders, similar to not only Colombia and Haiti, but Mexico as well.

Bahamians who do not support the Progressive Liberal Party should all be concerned about the threats, as they have the potential to set a dangerous precedent in the political sphere in which even a Free National Movement prime minister isn’t safe.

Our democracy is one of the most stable and peaceful in not only the Western hemisphere, but the entire world.

We do not want a situation where gangs are intimidating our MPs. We do not want a situation in which Parliament is reduced to negotiating with the gangs in Nassau. We do not want the political turmoil of Haiti and Colombia.

Such a frightening scenario would most certainly destroy our tourism sector.

KEVIN EVANS

Freeport, Grand Bahama

February 5, 2023.