October 26, 2005
The Caribbean Corruption or Perception of Corruption Problem
Tony Best of Carib World Radio said October 25, 2005 that, " Caribbean nations seem to be failing in their efforts to root out corruption or eliminate the perception of it."
He said, "According to the latest global survey conducted by Transparency International, with the exception of Barbados, the levels of corruption or perception of corruption in several Caribbean nations were either considered "very serious" or "severe." Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Guyana, Belize, Haiti, Suriname and the Dominican Republic were on that list of nations with that problem," Mr. Best added. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 12:35 AM | Comments (0)
October 18, 2005
Caribbean Leaders Seek Support for Regional Bloc
On November 15, 2005 St. Lucia Prime Minister Kenneth Anthony, Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur and Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo will hold talks in Guyana with "regional opposition leaders, Bruce Golding of Jamaica, Edison James of Dominica and Robert Corbin of Guyana," Robert Persaud, Guyana's government spokesman has announced, according to The Daily Journal of Venezuela.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:57 PM | Comments (0)
Rich Nations Still Benefitting From Caribbean Brain-drain
Sir Ronald Sanders, a former Caribbean diplomat turned corporate executive and columnist noted in an October 18, 2005 Caribbean Net News column that: In a report that should deeply trouble the Caribbean, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reveals that a majority of Caribbean countries have lost more than 50 percent of its people who have been educated beyond secondary school. They have migrated to the countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the worlds.
Mr. Sanders added: "The report says, for example, that the tertiary educated labour force (people with more than 12 years of schooling) has been reduced by 89 percent in Jamaica and 82 percent in Guyana." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:48 PM | Comments (0)
September 30, 2005
U.S. Virgin Islands to Host Caribbean Fire Service Confab in October
According to Caribbean Net News, "the U.S. Virgin Islands Fire Services will host a conference bringing together fire chiefs and rescue agencies from more than eleven Caribbean countries October 4- 9, [2005]." The announcement was made by "Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Merwin Potter." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:20 AM | Comments (0)
CARICOM Sets Up Caribbean Consumer Council
A Caribbean Consumer Council has been inaugurated with a mandate "to help crystallize the efforts of the consumer protection movement in each Caricom [Caribbean Community] member state, as preparations for the full implementation of the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME) move into high gear," according to the Antigua Sun.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:14 AM | Comments (0)
Mandelson: EU Aid 'Has Not Helped Caribbean Exports'
Ireland Online reported today that EU [European Union] Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said yesterday [September 29, 20056] that decades of preferential access have not boosted Caribbean exports to Europe, and urged countries to end their economic dependence on single agricultural crops." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:05 AM | Comments (0)
September 20, 2005
How Realistic is PetroCaribe?
Lloyd Noel, described by Caribbean Net News as "a former Attorney General of Grenada, prominent attorney at law and political commentator," has an informative article at Caribbean Net News headlined: "Law and Politics: How realistic is PetroCaribe and when?
It's a commentary on the September 7, 2005, bilateral agreements that President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela signed in Montego Bay in Jamaica, with ten CARICOM States.
The oil deal is called "PetroCaribe." Here is the text of the agreement signed at the Fist PetroCaribe Summit in Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, in July 2005.
Here is CARICOM's statement on the Second PetroCaribe Summit. Some Caribbean nations did not sign the agreements.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:39 AM | Comments (0)
ACP Nations May Not Get Sweet Deal on Sugar Prices
Prensa Latina, the Latin American News Agency, reported September 17, 2005, that, the 18-member African, Caribbean, Pacific group (ACP) of sugar producing countriescould see their sugar export earnings fall by as much as 400 million euros a year and receive only 40 million euros as compensation for their losses, once the EU (European Union) applies its plan to reduce sugar minimum prices and production by around 40 per cent.
"The former European colonies have warned that the EU plans to modify the sugar and banana regimes will mean a catastrophe for their peoples and economies," Prensa Latina said.
Talks between the ACP and the EU got underway September 19, 2005 in Brussels, Belgium.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 05:10 AM | Comments (0)
Boniface Alexandre's Optimism on Hati's November 6 Elections
Haiti's interim president, Boniface Alexandre, was quoted by The Associated Press on September 19, 2005, as saying Haiti's November 6, 2005 elections "will be completely inclusive, all sectors and all political parties will be included in the vote."
"I continue to be hopeful that the election campaign will take place in a peaceful climate," he said. "For months now the country has been living in a climate bordering on chaos. Armed gangs have been holding a number of parts of the capital hostage."
I think Mr. Alexandre is a too optimistic. Haiti doesn't have a history of peaceful elections and governance. See "Interim Haiti Leader Seeks Peaceful Vote."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 04:42 AM | Comments (0)
September 06, 2005
'Caricom Needs a Single Marketplace for Debate, Consensus'
Former Caribbean diplomat Sir Ronald Sanders reports in the Antigua Sun that:Some sort of Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) will come into being on 1 January 2006. It may not include all the members of the Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom) as was intended, but a few countries will make a start.
He said, "What is remarkable about the CSME process, which has been in discussion for over ten years, is that no public information policy was designed to accompany it until very recently, and the implementation of the information program has been left to the means of individual governments."
For more, see "Caricom needs a single marketplace for debate and consensus."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)
Venezuela, 13 Caribbean Nations Hold Talks About Oil
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez met today in Montego Bay, Jamaica with officials from 13 Caribbean nations "to agree terms for supplying them with cheap oil," notes the BBC and other publications.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:26 PM | Comments (0)
August 19, 2005
Trinidad and Tobago to Import Labor
"The Trinidad and Tobago government has announced that it has no choice but to import labor from other Caribbean countries because of the country's rapid pace of economic development," according to Caribbean Net News. Read more here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:57 PM | Comments (0)
Passport Requirement for Caribbean Visits Put on Hold
Prompted by complaints from Caribbean tourism officials, the Bush Administration withdrew "a proposed December 2005 deadline for implementing new rules that would have required Americans to show passports when returning from the Caribbean," The Associated Press reported August 18, 2005.
Although I haven't visited the Caribbean in years, I would view having to show a passport upon returning to the U.S. the same as I would if Americans were required to show identify papers upon returning to their home states after visiting Florida. I say that because of U.S. dominance in the Caribbean. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:48 PM | Comments (0)
August 16, 2005
Latin America, Caribbean Close to Universal School Enrollment
"Latin America and the Caribbean are among five regions that are said to be close to universal primary school enrollment," according to the Jamaica Observer. Read more here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:04 PM | Comments (0)
August 12, 2005
Is U.S.' Caribbean, Latin Policy Short-Sighted?
Océane Jasor, a Council on Hemispheric Affairs (CHA) Research Associate notes, in an article August 5, 2005, article on CHA's website that, As the U.S. became increasingly security-driven after 9/11, it turned to the Caribbean for support at the UN concerning the war in Iraq and other Middle East issues."
"To Washington's surprise," he added, CARICOM did not automatically align itself with the U.S. cause, despite President Bush's threat -- passed on to the Caribbean by its then hardline White House Latin America aide, Otto Reich, via Barbados television -- where the latter stressed that the U.S. would always remember those countries that did not give their entire allegiance to the U.S. in its overseas engagements."
"But CARICOMs decision should have come as no shock to a Bush administration that repeatedly has ignored the Caribbean's vital economic problems, centering on trade issues."
For more see "Washington's Short-Sighted Policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean." I found the article very informative.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)
Belize Lauded for Efforts to Maintain Regional Stability
General John Craddock, commander of United States Southern Command, commended Belize for its "efforts to maintain regional stability" during an August 11, 2005 meeting with Prime Minister Said Musa.
He was on "a one-day trip to Belize to conduct meetings with government officials," according to Caribbean Net News. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)
August 10, 2005
Caribbean Court of Justice Hears First Case
Caribbean Net News reported August 9, 2005, that "A bomb threat on Monday [August 8, 2005] threatened to shut down legal proceedings on the first day's sitting of the newly-inaugurated Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) in Port of Spain, Trinidad." Here' more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 02:03 AM | Comments (0)
July 03, 2005
CARICOM Summit Underway In St. Lucia
"Critical trade and economic development issues, including rising oil prices, a gloomy future for sugar exports to Europe and relief from the region's debt burden, are expected to dominate the 26th annual Caribbean Community Summit," according to Rickey Singh, Caribbean correspondent for the Jamaica Observer. The summit is underway in St Lucia.
See "Caricom summit begins today: Critical challenges dominate agenda" for more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 01:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Will Rising Oil Prices Hurt Caribbean Tourism?
Sir Ronald Sanders of Antigua and Barbuda, "a business executive and former Caribbean diplomat who publishes widely on small states in the global community," writes in a July 3, 2005 article in the Jamaica Observer that, "Throughout the last winter season, tourism in most Caribbean countries was sustained by an increased number of visitors from Europe. This is likely to change in the coming months, hurting revenues and employment in the industry."
He said, "There are two factors that will impact the number of visitors from Europe. The first is the rising price of oil, which has now reached US$60 per barrel, and the other is the decline in the value of the European currency, the euro, against the US dollar." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 01:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 08, 2005
Was U.S. Indifferent Towards Latin America At OAS Forum?
"Put it down as another missed opportunity," wrote David Adams, the St. Petersburg (Florida) Times' Latin American correspondent in a June 8, 2005 article headlined "U.S. indifference toward Latin America evident at forum."
In his analysis, Mr. Adams said "the United States hosted the annual meeting of the top political forum in the Americas this week, yet came away pretty much empty-handed." He added: "Meeting on U.S. soil for the first time in more than two decades, the General Assembly of the Organization of American States could have been an occasion for the Bush administration to re-engage with a hemisphere it has overlooked in recent years. Instead, the meeting painfully demonstrated how out of touch the United States is with its southern neighbors." The article is definitely worth reading.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:24 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
CARICOM And The International Community
The Barbados Advocate opined in a June 6, 2005 editorial that, "efforts to reform the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) present an opportunity for CARICOM (Caribbean Community and Common Market) to sensitise the international community on the issue of security from the perspective of the vulnerabilities of small states."
"In fact," the paper said, "CARICOM could inform a new definition of security focusing on the realities and threats that the region experiences on a daily basis and which cause insecurity. Barbados Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dame Billie Miller, alluded to these changes while addressing the eighth meeting of CARICOM's Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR), last week in the Bahamas." See "CARICOM trying to get world to see our view" for more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Ex-Trinidad Prime Ministers Elects to Stay in Jail: Why?
On June 7, 2005, a court in Port-of Spain, Trinidad "reduced the bail for Trinidad's jailed opposition leader and former prime minister," Basdeo Panday, "who once again insisted on staying in jail as a form of protest," according to The Associated Press. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Rickey Singh Analyzes Trinidad's 'Two Big Unwelcome Firsts'
Prominent Caribbean Journalist Rickey Singh opined in a June 5, 2005 column that: In our Caribbean community we have grown accustomed to news reports of ex-heads of government/state, former or serving cabinet ministers, top business executives and even judges and religious leaders being hauled before the courts on a range of charges, including corruption. "But last Tuesday's [May 31, 2005] arrest of former Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Basdeo Panday on charges of financial corruption, and his protest decision to refuse bail and to stay in prison and represent himself whenever he has to appear in court must certainly mark a first in the judicial and political history of the Commonwealth Caribbean.
"Indeed," he wrote, "Trinidad and Tobago, a Caricom plural society seething with socio-political divisions and nerve-wracking rates of murder and kidnappings, has now chalked up their two biggest, and certainly unwelcome 'firsts' with their mix of politics and the law." See T&T's two big unwelcome firsts" for more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Nine Months After The Last Hurricane
Political commentator Lloyd Noel, a former Attorney General of Grenada, noted June 7, 2005 in a Caribbean Net News column that, "The new hurricane season officially started on the first of June, with some serious and very frightening predictions from the experts -- yet nine months after the last Ivan the terrible, we are still waiting on the clean up to take place" in Grenada.
"I am not here talking about removing all the damaged roofs and rafters from the buildings, mind you -- I am referring to the eyesore that still surrounds the devastated National Stadium in St. Georges," he added. Read more here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 06:09 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 29, 2005
Why U.S. Ordered Some Americans Out of Haiti
"A surge in carjackings, kidnappings and gang roadblocks around the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince has gotten so bad, the American Embassy in Haiti on Friday [May 27, 2005] ordered the evacuation of all nonemergency workers and family members," reports the News-Press of Southwest Florida. The publication said, "The situation is fueling concern among members of Southwest Florida's Haitian community, as well as workers with local aid groups active in the Caribbean country." Read more here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 04:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Is Suriname's election An ‘example for the Caribbean’?
"CARICOM Election Observers have commended the electoral officials and the Surinamese people for their responsible behaviour and the maturity displayed, which undoubtedly reflect their confidence in the electoral process and commitment to democratic principles," according to Ivan Cairo, Caribbean Net News 'Suriname correspondent.
"Polling day in the general elections in Suriname on Wednesday May 25, 2005 was characterized by calm, good humour and friendliness between supporters and agents of opposing parties outside the polling stations, said chief of mission Clem John Friday [May 27, 2005] at a press conference in the Surinamese capital Paramaribo," Mr. Cairo wrote. Here's more. Also see "Caribbean Electoral Observers Mission Now in Suriname."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 22, 2005
Remembering Caribbean Scholar Walter Rodney
Highly regarded Caribbean Journalist Rickey Singh has a significant commentary in the May 22, 2005 edition of The Jamaica Observer headlined "Remembering Walter Rodney," a Guyana-born scholar and author who was assassinated on June 13, 1980 in Georgetown, the Capital of Guyana.
"Next month, a very significant political/cultural event will take place in Guyana to mark the 25th anniversary of the most sensational act of assassination of a Caribbean icon to have shocked governments in this region and Africa and peoples in many countries of the world," Mr. Singh told his readers.
"It was the murder of that outstanding Caribbean thinker and political activist, Walter Rodney on the night of June 13, 1980 by a bomb that was concealed in a walkie-talkie and delivered to him by an officer of the Guyana Defence Force, Sergeant Gregory Smith, acting as an agent of the then governing People's National Congress," headed by Linden Forbes Burnham, who ruled Guyana for decades until his death.
Mr. Rodney, who earned a PhD from from School of Oriental and African Studies in London, became an icon to Pan-Africanist with the publication in 1972 of How Europe Underdeveloped Africa. Here's more of Mr. Singh column, which analyzes the forces behind Mr. Rodney's assassination.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 07:49 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 19, 2005
The Caribbean Regional Seminar on Decolonization
The Special Committee of 24 on decolonization held a Caribbean regional seminar May 17- 19, 2005 on Canouan Island, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Here is U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's message to the seminar. Here's a U.N. Information Officer's report on the meeting. And here is a press release summarizing the views of experts on the decolonization process in the Caribbean.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Haiti Set to Become Member of Caribbean Development Bank
"Haiti is set to become an active member of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), but only after several administrative arrangements have been finalized, CDB President Compton Bourne said Wednesday [May 18, 2005]," according to an Agence France Presse in Caribbean Net News. It will be interesting to see what kind of contribution Haiti, the poorest country in the hemisphere, can make.. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 10:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Head of Caribbean Development Bank Worried over Slow Progress
Prensa Latina reported May 19, 2005 that, the " President of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank, Professor Compton Bourne, expressed concern over the region´s social status, saying they were not on par with the Caribbean´s economic development." According to Prensa Latina, he was quoted by the Caribbean Media Corporation as saying:There has been social progress but insufficient in its distribution across households and districts to cap the wells of discontent which threaten the sustainability of future economic growth.
"He made the remarks while "addressing regional and international delegates at the start of the two-day 35th annual meeting of the Bank´s Board of Governors" May 18, 2005. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 09:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 17, 2005
Who Will Be Caribbean Losers in the Banana Wars?
Rebecca Rush, a researcher at the Council on Hemispheric Affairs asserted in a May 17, 2005 commentary at Caribbean Net News that, "Ever since the U.S. charged in 1999 that the European Union (EU) trade preferences given to developing African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries were not in accordance with World Trade Organization (WTO) regulations, the economies of many Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries have been rendered incapable of competing on the world market and are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Here's more of "Banana wars continue: Likely big losers will be CARICOM's Windward Islands."
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 15, 2005
CARICOM Wants EU to Fund Diversification in Region's Sugar Indiustry
"Caribbean Community (Caricom) trade and agriculture ministers want the European Union to provide funds to diversify the sugar industry in the region and upgrade ageing factories," according to BBC Caribbean. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 01:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Taiwan's Tan Sun Chen Visits Two Caribbean Nations
Tan Sun Chen, Taiwan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, is on "a two-leg diplomatic tour" that will take him to "the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines." Wang Chien-yeh, deputy director of of Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affair's Information and Cultural Affairs department, described the nations as "two of the Republic of China's allies in the Caribbean." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 01:46 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 07, 2005
Dominica's Prime Minister Calls for Unity Following Elections
Dominica's prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit has urged the country to unite behind his Labour Party government after it won eleven of the twenty-one seats" in general election held May 5, 2005, according to BBC Caribbean.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:37 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
May 01, 2005
Roelf Meyer Visits Guyana to Talks About Apartheid Experience: Why?
Roelf Meyer, who "served in the apartheid government of President F.W. De Klerk and in the Unity Government of President Nelson Mandela, was in Guyana recently "sharing his experiences of the apartheid era, in the hopes that it will help the racially-divided Caricom nation heal its more than 40-years of wounds," BBC Caribbean. Com reported. Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 04:08 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Caymanians Reportedly Want More Autonomy from Britain
BBC Caribbean.Com reported April 28, 2005 that, "The political parties in the Cayman Islands are gearing up for the May 11, 2005 election in a campaign that's been described as "more adversarial" than in previous years." The report said, "Although economic stability is a main election issue, governance, autonomy and empowerment are high on the Cayman agenda because Caymanians want more say in the running of their daily lives." The Caymanians are British subjects. Read more here.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:59 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 24, 2005
Writer: Caricom's Lack of Unity Frustrating
Lorna Callender of the St. Kitts and Nevis Democrat has an excellent commentary on a phenomena that plagues smaller nations in some regions of the world. That is the failure to vote as a bloc in world and regional bodies. In an article headlined CARICOM lack of Unity Frustrating, she noted that, At the OAS meetings recently, CARICOM countries were poised to dominate the outcome of the elections. Holding 14 votes out of a maximum of 34, CARICOM could have decided who would hold the post of OAS Secretary General, if they would only agree to vote en bloc. This they did not do. After the first tied vote of 17/17 for the candidate from Chile and the one from Mexico, one would have thought that CARICOM countries would go into caucus and decide on the outcome. This too, apparently did not happen; there was a second tied vote.... And yet a third tied vote.
Ms. Callender said, "A few days before the election, CARICOM announced that it could guarantee at least 10 votes for the Chilean candidate. When the countries were listed, the name of St. Kitts and Nevis was not there, though the reporter felt that it was likely that St. Kitts and Nevis would vote with the rest. We are left to wonder why St. Kitts and Nevis did not declare its hand? Was it waiting in the lobbying game for further benefits? And whom in fact did we vote for eventually?" Caribbean leaders should read her article and heed it.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 03:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 21, 2005
Albert R. Ramdin is Caricom's Candidate for OAS Post
U.S. Newswire reports in a press release that, "The candidate from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) for the post of Assistant Secretary General at the Organization of American States (OAS), H.E. Ambassador Albert R. Ramdin participated in the first meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Community of South American Nations on 18 and 19 of April 2005." Here's more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at 11:44 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
