US VOTE A BIG DEAL FOR JA Democrat, Republican declare massive benefits at stake in presidential election
AFORMER White House executive has suggested that Jamaicans encourage relatives living in the United States (US) to cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton to win next month’s presidential election, hinting that this could bring a huge economic windfall for Jamaica.
Pointing out that American companies are already pumping more than US$1 billion of direct investment into the Jamaican economy, Moises Vela, former director of management and administration for US Vice-President Joe Biden, promised that this would continue under a Clinton presidency.
“The way we do that is we encourage [the American] private sector to invest in countries like Jamaica and the Caribbean basin. So you gonna see that,” Vela told a Gleaner Editors’ Forum at the newspaper’s downtown Kingston offices yesterday. “Here’s why Jamaicans should be hoping that she wins. She understands the importance of relationships with our allies around the world, including Jamaica,” he insisted. Vela added: “She understands that it’s important that, as an aspect of those friendships with countries like Jamaica, that we lift them up and that we raise them up, and that we do what we can as a nation to not do it for them, but to help our friends help themselves,” he continued. The US presidential election is set for November 8 and Vela predicted that Clinton would easily defeat her Republican challenger Donald Trump.
However, Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives, Walter Bryan Hill, predicted that Trump would win in a landslide and suggested that the billionaire developer has articulated plans that would provide even greater benefits to Jamaica and the people of the region.
As an example, Hill, a Trump supporter, said the billionaire developer’s plan to renegotiate a number of key trade deals such as