U.S.V.I.: Powell Skips Through St. Thomas...

SECRETARY OF STATE ARRIVES, LEAVES IN SECRECY

by Jean P. Greaux Jr.

April 5, 2004 -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell departed St. Thomas Monday morning for Haiti after a weekend stopover with his family and a cadre of State Department personnel.

Powell left St. Thomas at 10:45 a.m. Monday on board a DC-9 aircraft en route to a round of meetings with Gerard Latortue, Haiti's new prime minister. The meetings come several weeks after the departure of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Sources said Monday that Powell had been on-island since Saturday, arriving here on board a Gulfstream jet, which dropped the delegation off before returning to Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington.

Other sources said a bouquet of flowers and a basket of fruit from the V.I. government awaited Powell when he arrived Saturday about 11:30 a.m.

Awww flowers...and fruit too...that was mighty sweet of those "sources".

This reported "secrecy" does beg the question; Was it more about Powell and his family taking a short well-deserved break in our Caribbean sun, or was it primarily about local security issues?

Anyway, I hope this visit by the most powerful man of Caribbean ancestry on the planet was at least somewhat productive for we the taxpayers of the V.I.

Unfortunately I suspect our local officials dem^© weren't on the political ball, as there is much that our local government would not like Washington to be aware of.

The local political model seems to be: The less federal attention - the better the fishfry.

Sorry for the scrolling marquee title...I couldn't resist trying out a new tag...besides in my often shallow estimation, it emphasizes the transitory nature of Colin Powell's St. Thomas Trip.
Just be thankful I overlooked the blink tag...this time
;^)