Grenada

I'm a big fan of the little island of Grenada. I've never actually been there, but I definitely intend to go as soon as I can. It's a developing economy, but unlike many Caribbean economies it isn't hampered by banking problems and overpopulation, and doesn't have the drug trafficking issues of, say, St. Vincent. And the agricultural economy is somewhat more diversified than many other islands.

But, Grenada was completely destroyed by Hurricane Ivan; some 90% of the island's structures were damaged in the hurricane, along with much of the agricultural and economic infrastructure. Of course a lot of people have donated money to the rebuilding, but coming as it did in the midst of a busy hurricane season Grenada hasn't seen anything like the outpouring of support that went to the tsunami area.

Occasionally I feel like people have completely forgotten Grenada, but that hasn't happened, at least not entirely. UMCOR and the Red Cross are still there, and a number of other charities; Caribbean Travel has an umbrella site for donations.

The article linked to above, though, is of interest to me for geopolitical reasons. In the aftermath of the tsunami, the Paris Club offered to freeze the foreign debt of all affected nations. Only Sri Lanka, Seychelles, and Indonesia have actually taken the offer (others are concerned about the affect on their credit rating), but it interests me to note that this offer was not extended to Grenada.

Don't get me wrong, the tsunami was a terrible tragedy. But 90% of Sri Lanka was unaffected. Still, the country was offered debt relief so that it could spend all its current budget on rebuilding. Good move by the Paris Club, but doesn't it seem like relief is yet more desperately needed by a country that saw 90% destruction? I would think so.

OxFam and Action Aid, among others, have urged the Paris Club and other donor nations to offer actual relief, rather than just freezing payments. Debt relief is a contentious issue and, living in a country that's deeper in debt than any other, it's hard for me to say we should forgive other nations' debt. On the other hand, we're America. We can handle our finances just fine, thank you very much. But these developing countries need every boost we can give them; many of them pay more for debt service each year than their entire GDP. It would be nice if the large creditor nations gave more than cursory thought to the idea.

I'd start with Grenada.