By Peter Polack

Peter Polack

The European Union in a brave, but belated move, indefinitely seized $210 Billion of Russian assets held in a Belgian financial clearing facility, frozen there since Russia invaded Ukraine. This is a concept frequently utilized by the USA in regard to Russian hard assets like yachts, Putin affiliates and general sanctions. There is an intention to benefit Ukraine by that action.

This would be unusual for the Caribbean as we have no imperial policies, having been the subject of same for many centuries. Forget the military force required to claim what does not belong to you.

The Cayman Islands, an associate of CARICOM, is the largest holder of American treasuries in the world at a humongous $1.85 Trillion, mostly held by funds, mostly domiciled in this business friendly tax haven.

Those assets are untouchable so long as the Cayman Islands remains part of the Western alliance.

Cayman is a colony of the United Kingdom which controls all matters of foreign affairs for those tiny islands, except trade with the Russia friendly India.  The new Premier of those islands recently hosted a meeting with representatives of India to explore deeper strategic financial services partnerships with India, a main trading partner of Russia especially with their sanctioned oil.

Cayman has no power over their foreign affairs, so the UK must have approved this curious action. Visitors and international partners of the Cayman Islands may not.

Historically, Cayman was administered as part of a parish of then colonial Jamaica which provided many teachers, nurses and doctors. It may well be that the small Caribbean islands may be regressing back in history to be administered from far overseas by giant countries. The head minion in that event is likely to be Trinidad, but first they would have to straighten out their own house.

For a very long time the first port of call for Cayman, other than Kingston, was South Florida. In the present world paradigm where leaders and governments are being dictated by the largest countries, it is not inconceivable that some Caribbean countries will be administered directly or indirectly by the USA in the near future. It may even be the result of a practical or political trade. 

Territorial acquisitions like Greenland seem to be part of the new paradigm. 

Who’s next?

It would not be a big jump for some Caribbean countries to be ruled by North America instead of Europe. The maroons of Jamaica have many lessons to teach the Caribbean about remaining independent, starting with resistance.

The UK has decided who ran their Caribbean countries for centuries and still does, writ large the recent UK direct government of the Turks and Caicos Islands. Honduras has recently been subject to the same parameter. Deciding leadership is as old as the hills for empires, not subjects.

The UK would have to remain silent on American aggression in the Caribbean and may even support it.

A hop, skip and jump to the Caribbean islands of America.

Notes

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/12/eu-to-freeze-210bn-in-russian-assets-indefinitely

Peter Polack is a former criminal lawyer from the Cayman Islands for several decades. His books are The Last Hot Battle of the Cold War: South Africa vs. Cuba in the Angolan Civil War (2013), Jamaica, The Land of Film (2017) and Guerrilla Warfare: Kings of Revolution (2019). He was a contributor to Encyclopedia of Warfare (2013). His latest book is a compendium of Russian espionage activities with almost five hundred Soviet spies expelled from nearly 100 countries worldwide 1940-88. 

His views are his own.