One such consideration is whether CARICOM will give priority attention to new approaches, including effective and sustained lobbying initiatives, in dealing with the Republican administration and the now Democrats-controlled Congress, to secure more meaningful responses to CARICOM's needs.

For a start, critically reviewing the work of our Washington-based ambassadors to ascertain what adjustments should be made to improve their functions as an activist group of envoys in the capital of the nation that remains our most important trade partner, and second in aid only to the European Union.

Seeking a review at this stage of the discriminatory amendment approved by the pre-November 7 U.S. Congress to the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) on passport requirement by U.S. citizens returning home by air from the Caribbean as of January 8, 2007, may well be of academic interest at this stage, however desirable it is to have unified application, effective June 2009, that has been extended to cruise line visitors.

There are those who feel that blame for perceived lack of effective lobbying on the amended WHTI issue with the U.S. Congress should be shared by the region's major stakeholders of the vital tourism industry and the CARICOM group of ambassadors in Washington.

However, at this stage, it seems to me more relevant for our governments and institutions should consider preparing themselves to deal with the seismic shift in the U.S. political landscape resulting from last Tuesday's mid-term elections.

I have been advised by CARICOM Secretariat sources that following two meetings earlier this year with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice - first in The Bahamas and more recently in New York - there are "good reasons" to think that a significant improvement has been achieved in U.S.-CARICOM relations. This is good to know; but proof of the pudding lies in the eating.

A good opportunity for expanding and concretising gains reportedly made in U.S.-CARICOM relations - even as the Community remains firm on its principled relationships with two "enemy" governments of America, Cuba and Venezuela - will come at the ‘Conference of the Caribbean’ scheduled for Washington in July next year to coincide with ‘Caribbean-American Heritage’ month.

With that event seven and half months away, it may be useful if an initiative is taken by CARICOM to seek a formal meeting with leaders of the new U.S. Congress by either a representative delegation of Heads of Government, or at the level of Foreign Ministers on a prioritised agenda for advancing U.S.-CARICOM cooperation.

While in Washington on such a mission, the CARICOM team could also have a meeting with the Secretary General of the Organisation of American States (OAS) to discuss, among other matters, how the Caribbean region, which has the single largest bloc of votes in the hemispheric body, could have some meaningful positions of its nationals in the administrative structures of the organisation.

Major Developments

Tuesday's U.S. mid-term elections was one of four major developments last week - three of them political - but only the non-political one proving, for me, surprising and also painfully disappointing.

It was not the death sentence delivered on Sunday to ex-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein after a highly controversial political trial.

Nor was it the return, officially on Wednesday, of Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega as President, after 16 years in opposition wilderness and two previous unsuccessful bids, to offer new leadership of what is rated as the second poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere - after Haiti.

No, not even the stunning change in the power structures of the USA that has ended a dozen years of' complete dominance of Congress by Republicans, to leave Democrats in control of both the House of Representatives and Senate, came as a surprise, given the recurring forecasts of reliable opinion polls.

CRICKET: For me, the sole surprise of significance was the shocking failure of the West Indies team to retain the ICC Champion Trophy in the final duel with Australia.

Like countless West Indians, I had so arranged my work to enjoy this anxiously awaited battle in the ICC series played out in India. But enjoyment was not to be. Readers who share the painful disappointment of the West Indies’ horrible collapse know the rest.

The silly excuse offered by Brian Lara about likely "stage fright" by our team, has served only to make it an even more hurtful blow. Alas, this game of glorious uncertainties was to send the Aussies rejoicing - ahead of Cricket World Cup 2007. "Stage fright?" Give me a break, to use a popular Bajan expression.

SADDAM'S DEATH SENTENCE: Apart from the U.S. mid-term elections, another of the major political developments last week included Sunday's death verdict imposed on Saddam Hussein. That could hardly have been a surprise to those who had spent some time over the past year following the circus trial by a United States established, funded and controlled court.

In the process, three leading defence lawyers were murdered; the first appointed chief judge suddenly removed and replaced by one more pliable.

Yet, I have no tears to shed for the Iraqi political tyrant or for the U.S. administration that was so wrong in its military invasion of his country only to find itself trapped in a bloody scenario of death, destruction and despair.

Another "victory" BRIAN LARA The George Bush administration wanted a verdict to coincide with the eve of Tuesday's mid-term elections. The Iraqi regime obliged. However, as the results have established, the judge's verdict made no difference to the verdict of America's electorate. Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was to become the first major casualty of Bush's war in Iraq, within 24 hours of the Democrats electoral sweep.

RETURN OF NICARAGUA'S ORTEGA: While Saddam's death sentence was being read in Iraq, another old political enemy of previous and current Republican administrations in Washington, Ortega, was commanding the lead in Nicaragua's presidential poll. His Sandinistas revolutionary regime had fallen victim under Ronald Reagan's illegal 'Contra'-funded war (remember Colonel Ollie North?) in a cold war atmosphere.

Now he is back at the helm - minus the old passionate Marxist rhetoric but with a promise to pursue new approaches in a fundamentally changed international environment. Even as Nicaraguans were voting, the Bush administration was signalling its warning of likely cessation of aid to a new administration in Managua, because of a feared Ortega-Hugo Chavez alliance.