<B>MAURITIUS</B> , a former British colony, has cultivated more esteem for America than for Great Britain since times immemorial. Admiration for the star-striped banner was alive and kicking well before this multi-cultural and multi-religious nation started to twist and rock-n? roll in every nook and corner of the island in the sixties. Well before Mauritians started to drink Coca-Cola and watch French versions of Hollywood westerns screened in leaking, flea and bug infested cinema halls.

Extreme left and Marxist ideologies that swept the island in the 1970s could hardly infuse anti-American sentiment in the population. The ?US Go Home? slogans painted on public buildings walls were quickly turned into ?USSR Go Home?, the letters ?S? and ?R? being persistently added to the original graffiti to the dismay of those trying to oust the US out of Diego Garcia. And the terms Yankee or Yanks never entered the Creole vocabulary.

The Mauritian pro-American sentiment has always been a question of heart rather than mind. Though it takes time to change people?s minds, American popularity in Mauritius has waned fast in recent years. It cropped up rapidly and has become deep rooted in a minority section of the population since the Gulf war.

It is now growing fast in all sectors, fuelled by no one else than Americans. And US ambassador John Price, not to be outdone by his fellow citizens, made a great contribution lately to firing yet more anti-American feelings.

Trying to give diplomacy and Americans a new name, he used the attractive African-American Bisa Williams as proxy to make an ugly statement telling Mauritians in a blunt and non-diplomatic style, that the counterfeiting industry was fast becoming ?the sixth pillar of the economy?.

The Foreign affairs and International trade minister reacted to his statement by a blunt statement in his address at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry AGM. If Mauritius has to ?create other pillars for its economy?, it will, but it is definitely not eyeing ?the intellectual property rights of anyone for that purpose?. And Bisa Williams, public affairs officer at the US embassy tried a few days later to correct Price?s stance by publicly acknowledging the Mauritian efforts in cracking down on international trademark counterfeiting. It was too late. The shot has already gone.

<B>Fingerprint incident</B>

To add insult to injury, ?bushman? John Price fired faster than his shadow just after his first statement. He informed Washington of a so-called terrorist threat letter received by the US embassy in Port Louis. All diplomatic representatives had received a similar letter. Government, though believing it was only a bad joke, had stepped up security. Price?s overreaction has unfortunately caused Mauritius to be listed with insecure countries, thus harming our efforts to promote the island as a safe tourist haven .

Measures taken concerning fingerprints for a visa application to the US have also been interpreted as a base act in Mauritius. Former chief justice Rajsoomer Lallah refused to comply. He preferred not to attend a meeting of the UN Human rights commission than to be subjected to such ?humiliation?. Former president of the Republic, Karl Offman, also refused to travel to the US when he was ?invited? for the fingerprint session. Things were finally sorted out.

Many more Mauritians have had a bitter taste of America through the Ralph Lauren affair. The latter?s international trademark officer, David Brown, is reported to have been very arrogant to the delegation of Mauritian businessmen . He is said to have told them ?do it my way or else take the highway?. They just wanted to explain that they were not entirely to be blamed as they started production under this trademark after having paid a franchise. When David Brown imposed a fee of Rs 20 m on them, it was interpreted as America?s insatiable need to dominate.

But now businessmen in Mauritius are having a good laugh. The righter of wrongs, John Price?s development company in the States will have to pay a 9 million-dollar judgment for ?cheating two former partners in a shopping mall deal?. The US Supreme Court has turned down his appeal.

A pity it all turned out that way. It was in fact an American who first sang loud to the world the praises of Mauritius. In 1897 novelist Mark Twain wrote: ?You gather the idea that Mauritius was made first, and then Heaven; and that Heaven was a copy of Mauritius?.

So, according to Mark Twain, God copied heaven on the model of Mauritius. It is now said that the Bush administration tried to play an identical trick on Mauritius. They sent to the island a live copy of one of the Dalton Brothers, Averell, created by Morris in Lucky Luke. Averell is the guy who blunders and really puts his foot in it each time he opens his mouth. A very dirty trick indeed in the diplomatic world?