Successful students
A Beaconite wishes to commend the students who took part in the mock House of Assembly sitting on Friday. They prepared thoroughly, spoke eloquently and provided sound arguments during their debate on the 2022-2023 Constitutional Review Commission Report. The exercise seemed to the Beaconite to be a great way to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the restoration of the legislature. Not only were the students being watched by teachers, students, friends and family, but also by current HOA members. So to the students who took the stage at the Eileene L. Parsons Auditorium at H. Lavity Stoutt Community College, the reporter would like to say congratulations on a job well done. And she hopes the HOA members in attendance took careful notes.
All by herself
A Beaconite was surprised on Friday to find that she was the only media representative at the premier’s press conference. She is still not sure why other media outlets did not take part, but she wants readers to know that the event was not intended to be a Beacon exclusive. The Premier’s Office had invited other media outlets as usual, and Communications Director Karia Christopher also expressed surprise at the slim turnout. While on the topic, the reporter would also like to note again that Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley has held press conferences much more consistently than any other premier in recent decades. Usually, he holds them every month or so, and he often brings along permanent secretaries and other senior officials. This regularity is extremely important to transparency and accountability, and the Beaconite trusts that other media outlets will make sure to attend next time. Though she made good use of the exclusive access, she thinks it is important for diverse media outlets to be able to question elected leaders on behalf of the public.
Activity as achievement?
A Beaconite has learned something remarkable about diplomacy: It is the only field where showing up is often considered a result. Read enough international commentaries and you’ll start to see the pattern — every sentence humming with verbs of motion: engaging, participating, facilitating, advocating. All the signs of great movement, yet somehow nothing actually moves. Reportedly, the premier’s special envoy recently delivered a sweeping update on the Virgin Islands’ diplomatic efforts. The list was impressive — engagements with the United Nations, trade missions to Asia, dialogues with the United Kingdom, partnerships with the Caribbean Community, and committee seats across ECLAC’s alphabet soup. The Virgin Islands, it seems, is everywhere. But the Beaconite couldn’t help but ask: What was achieved, exactly? Did the UK really loosen its grip? Did new funding flow? Were tariffs reduced, blacklists lifted, or climate grants secured? Or was the victory simply that the VI remained in the room — still “engaging,” still “advocating,” still “facilitating”? Maybe that’s the point. In global diplomacy, motion often is the message. The more meetings attended, the more secure the appearance of progress. And for small territories like this one, maybe these appearances are a kind of safety net — staying visible enough to be noticed, but not decisive enough to be blamed. Still, the Beaconite can’t help but hear an echo of bureaucracy’s favourite reassurance: “still on it.” We may not know what “it” is, or where “on it” leads, but we can rest assured that it’s being tirelessly “engaged.” Perhaps, then, the real art of diplomacy isn’t negotiation at all — it’s endurance. Showing up, shaking hands, surviving the information-exchange cycle until the next meeting arrives. It’s governance by perpetual motion. So when the Beaconite reads that “VI diplomacy is being fully employed to secure the national interest,” he has to smile. Maybe the activity is the achievement. And maybe, in this great diplomatic dance between the VI and the UK, the real success is simply that the music never stops.
