Barbuda's disaster capitalism development controversy (Dec. 16, 2020)

Activists in Barbuda are pitted against international investors who plan to build a US $2 billion luxury resort project. Construction is already underway and affects environmentally vital wetlands according to conservationists. The Global Legal Action Network filed a complaint on behalf of Barbuda council earlier this month in the hopes of having the project stopped. The complaint alleges that construction has already damaged the Codrington Lagoon. (Guardian)

Locals are also concerned that the development is part of a broader upending of a communal land ownership system that has survived on Barbuda since slavery's abolishment in 1834. The island's communal land protections were overridden by Antigua and Barbuda's government in the wake of Hurricane Irma destruction three years ago. Locals fear the repeal will turn Barbuda "into the environmentally destructive mass tourism hub that Antigua has come to represent," reports The Intercept.

Barbuda's struggle is a microcosm of larger trends and issues from climate-induced displacement and disaster capitalism, argues Open Global Rights. 

More Land Rights and Climate Justice

• Hurricane destruction on the Colombian island of Providencia could push the local Raizal off their lands. The Afro-Caribbean community has resisted major tourism investments, but most of the land on the island is informally held and could be challenged in the reconstruction process, warns Rodrigo Uprimny of Dejusticia. In the meantime, reconstruction efforts have not yet begun on the island after Hurricane Iota destroyed 98 percent of its infrastructure, reports El País.

• Ongoing land grabs of indigenous territories in Belize, and the government's failure to respond meaningfully, demonstrate the difficulties indigenous communities face defending their land, even after a landmark 2015 Caribbean Court of Justice land rights victory, reports NACLA.
  

Migration

• The bodies of at least 21 migrants who were traveling by boat from Venezuela to Trinidad and Tobago were found over the weekend -- eleven at sea and the rest on nearby beaches. There are reports that two boats carrying 20 Venezuelans each disappeared this weekend in transit. Authorities identified 19 victims, among them four children. The United Nations human rights office called on Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago to coordinate and cooperate to protect migrants and refugees. According to David Smolansky, coordinator for the migratory crisis designated by the National Assembly, the boat could have been sent back by Trinidad. Trinidad authorities denied their personnel was involved. (Associated Press, Relief Web, Caracas Chronicles, Loop News see Nov. 27's updates.)

• The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) launched a US$1.44 billion regional plan to respond to the growing needs of refugees and migrants from Venezuela and the communities hosting them across 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. (Loop News)

• Suriname authorities told several hundred Cubans they must abandon a pier from which they are attempting to enter Guyana or else they would be evicted. They were informed that Guyana has officially denied their entry into the country. (Kaieteur News)

• Thirteen Jamaican men deported from the UK last month, despite the fact that several had lived there for much of their lives, are being set up to fail by a process that has labeled them as "foreign criminals," argues Margaret Byron in the Conversation. (See Dec. 9's updates on the deportation process.)

• Britain will step up compensation for thousands of long-term UK residents originally from the Caribbean who were wrongly caught up in a government drive to reduce illegal immigration, reports Loop News.
  

Borders

• The International Court of Justice (ICJ) will rule this week whether or not it has jurisdiction in the border dispute filed by Guyana against Venezuela. Guyana seeks to confirm full legal validity of the 1899 Arbitral Award which established the international boundary between the two countries. Venezuela has maintained its claim to 70 percent of Guyana’s territory, arguing that the 1899 arbitral award which determined the boundaries between the two countries is null and void. (Caribbean National Weekly)
  

Regional Relations

• U.S. president-elect Joe Biden plans to reverse many of the Trump administration's Cuba policies, pushing for more normalized relations with the island. That strategy includes reducing restrictions on travel, investment and remittances for the island nation that are perceived to disproportionately hurt Americans and ordinary Cubans, reports Bloomberg. The approach would leave measures that target Cuba for human rights abuses.

• The San Isidro Movement protests shouldn't deter Biden from engagement as the activism is the result of Obama era engagement policies, argues Michael Bustamante in the Financial Times.

• Tech is expected to be a central interest for the U.S. moving forward with Cuba. Though the Trump chill on Cuban relations didn't stop U.S. telecoms investment, business interest was cooled by the uncertain legal landscape, reports Politico. In the meantime, China has jumped into the market with both feet, saturating the island with low-cost telecommunications equipment.

Economics

• Cuba is ending its dual currency system on Jan. 1, and will phase out the Cuban Convertible Pesos (known as CUCs) wielded by travelers. President Miguel Díaz-Canel announced the changes in a special televised speech on December 10. (Cigar Aficionado)

• The Bahamas and Barbados tied for the top Caribbean countries in the United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index 2020, launched globally yesterday with a keynote speech by Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley. However, the income disparity between men and women persisted in 2019. (Loop News, EyeWitness News)
  

Tourism

• Barbados is among several countries that have sought to mitigate the Covid-19 impact with "digital nomad" visas, encouraging temporary residents hoping to ride out the pandemic in sunnier climes, reports the Financial Times.

• A cluster of 26 new cases of the coronavirus on Grenada has been linked to a Sandals resort. Grenada officials moved on this week to impose a partial lockdown amid the island’s new rise in cases. (Washington Post)

• The Christmas tourism outlook is grim for about 20 Caribbean territories and countries that are under a Level 4 warning from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in relation to Covid-19. Some countries, like Jamaica, are clamping down in hopes of limiting contagion, while others, like Haiti, are welcoming tourists and diaspora populations in hopes of boosting the economy in the midst of a rough year, reports the Miami Herald.

Security and Rights

• But high rates of violence and fear of kidnapping will likely deter many diaspora Haitians from returning for the holidays, according to the Haitian Times. (See Dec. 9's updates on the increase in abductions this year in Haiti.)

• Drugs flowing out of Venezuela are a threat to the Caribbean where they are associated with rising violence, according to the new U.S. House of Representatives report on Western Hemisphere Drug Policies. "The amount of cocaine moving through the region, mostly on go-fast boats and fishing vessels, has more than quadrupled in recent years, rising from 39 metric tons in 2011 to 185 metric tons in 2017. The Dominican Republic is the largest transit point, though traffickers are also moving large shipments directly into Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

• Caribbean nations have among the highest incarceration rates in the world but have been ineffective in reducing crime and drug trafficking according to an IDB report which highlighted the need to focus on reducing pre-trial detention and expanding rehabilitation and reintegration programmes: “Incarceration in the Caribbean is neither effective nor efficient in producing greater safety or just outcomes”. (Jamaica Gleaner, Nation News, Caribbean News Global, EwNews, Trinidad Express, Nationwide Radio)  

Covid-19

• A trial against a woman charged with breaching a coronavirus quarantine has provided insight into pandemic communications and oversight in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, according to iWitness News.

• Cayman Islands Premier Alden McLaughlin says a coronavirus mass vaccination campaign will be rolled out across the territory starting in January, and hopes to open local borders by March. (Caribbean National Weekly)

• Curaçao's government declared a 90-day state of emergency that permits police greater leeway in enforcing Covid-19 restrictions. (Curaçao Chronicle)

Democracy, Race, and Human Rights

• Representatives of the international community in Haiti, known as the Core Group, have expressed concerns about two presidential decrees issued by President Jovenel Moïse in November. One of the orders creates a national intelligence agency. The other was published under strengthening public security and expands the definition of terrorism. (Miami Herald)

• A U.S. Marine accused of transporting guns, ammunition and body armor to Haiti was found guilty of weapons smuggling in a U.S. federal court last week. Jacques Yves Sebastien Duroseau was arrested in 2019 at the Port-au-Prince airport with several guns and ammunition in his luggage. He reportedly sought to become Haitian president. Haiti is under an arms embargo. (Miami Herald, NPR)

• The Director of the Argentine Team of Forensic Anthropology (EAAF) Dr. Luis Fondebrider visited Guyana and is assessing his team can assist the police with the murders of West Coast Berbice (WCB) cousins Isaiah and Joel Henry as well as Haresh Singh. He visited the crime scenes and met with the families of the teenagers, reports Stabroek News.

• Bermuda’s first black and female governor, Rena Lalgie, was sworn into office on Monday. (CMC)

Corruption

• Former Bermuda Premier Dr. Ewart Brown could be facing corruption charges following a nine year police investigation. (CBC)

• Trinidad and Tobago passed a controversial procurement regulation bill, reports Global Voices.

• The United Kingdom published draft legislation which sets out the minimum it expects to see from British Overseas Territories when they publish the owners of companies registered there. The legislation – which is supported by the Overseas Territories themselves – will improve corporate transparency and deter illicit finance. (Loop News)
  

Climate Justice

• Seven Caricom countries spoke last weekend at the Climate Ambition Summit, that marked the 5th Anniversary of the Paris Agreement. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley noted that global emissions of greenhouse gases continued to rise while the window of opportunity to meet the 1.5-degree target was rapidly closing. (Caribbean Climate Blog)

• What will become the largest solar farm in the Caribbean is under construction in St. Kitts and Nevis and is expected to be complete within 18 months. (Caribbean News Service)

• ExxonMobil said it would reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, bending to pressure from investors that have been calling on the oil giant to address the risks posed to its business by climate change. But the pledge is limited and modest, and does not represent a change in strategy for the company, according to Inside Climate News. In fact, because Exxon’s new climate plan does not include a commitment to reduce oil production, this could still result in the company increasing its overall carbon footprint, notes Heated.

• Guyana and Suriname could help oil companies transition towards cleaner energy amidst investor pressure. (Menafm)
  

Anti-Colonialism and Reparations

• British Tory MP Richard Drax's fortune partially stems from his family's role as plantation owners in Barbados, reports the Guardian. The case is emblematic of contemporary reparations debates. Sir Hilary Beckles, chairman of the Caricom Reparations Commission and vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies, estimates that as many 30,000 slaves died on the Drax plantations in Barbados and Jamaica over 200 years.

Archeology

• The discovery of a 115,000-year-old iguana nest (more specifically, it's fossilized remains) in the Bahamas greatly extends the natural history of iguanas in this location. (Conversation)
  

Culture Corner

• Marina Salandy-Brown, known as the ‘Godmother’ of Caribbean literature, was made honorary fellow of Royal Society of Literature. She founded the biggest literary festival in the Anglophone Caribbean, reports Global Voices.

• Set against the backdrop of protests that toppled Puerto Rico's governor in 2019, the film Landfall shares kaleidoscopic glimpses of collective trauma and resistance after Hurricane Maria. (Repeating Islands)

• Toussaint Louverture led the most important slave revolt in history, effectively forcing France to abolish slavery, in 1794. But the Haitian revolutionary hero gets short shrift in French history books, reports the New Yorker.

• Children's books by Caribbean authors for the readers among us. (Loop News)

We are pleased to announce that the Caribbean News Updates is public, and can be accessed at this site. Let us know if you are interested in signing up to receive it regularly. We will be taking a break for the holidays and will return the first week of January.