New Orleans comes closer to the Caribbean as it shares with many Caribbean countries, a range of features that are characteristic of social inequality such as the increase in the poor population, the rise in crime, the percentage of imprisoned youth and those who have succumbed to drugs, elevated levels of HIV/AIDS, low levels of school attendance, together with school dropout and other problems that are proper to Caribbean countries that tend to be structural in their respective populations.

In spite of being a part of the most powerful nation in the world, thus maintaining the differences and advantages of being in the United States, these social problems unfortunately liken New Orleans to many Caribbean nations, far more than any other US city.

That social reality helps explain the destructive social impact made by Katrina on that population. Also for those reasons we understand the wave of looting that erupted there, since such behaviour is always propelled by hunger, insecurity and hopelessness in finding a way to satisfy basic needs.

Miami City, which is not the wealthiest in the United States, has been devastated by various hurricanes much more often than New Orleans, although they have not all come with the destructive force of Katrina, nor have they had the same effect, due to the hydrological conditions that place it below sea level and as a result of the fragility of the levies, etc. In the case of Miami, it was always easier to evacuate the population as a precaution against the arrival of the phenomenon, which surely must have been influenced by the better overall living conditions of the Floridian people, among whom there is less unemployment, less school dropout, less crime, less disease, and lastly, less social inequality.

There, where there is greater social exclusion, it is much more difficult to integrate the majority of the population in order for communities to be warned and prepared to safeguard their possessions and their very lives. Without a doubt, levels of social development favour the possibilities of strengthening a culture of safety since everything is based on social integration, which facilitates social participation and education, which is the key instrument for information.

Dr. Rubén Silié Valdez is the Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States. The views expressed are not necessarily the official views of the ACS. Feedback can be sent to: mail@acs-aec.org

September 13, 2005