Vaccine nationalism -- and cooperation (Feb. 17, 2021)

India's government donated 170,000 doses of the Covishield coronavirus vaccine to Barbados and Dominica earlier this month. In turn, the two countries decided to share doses with Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) member states, as well as Guyana and Trinidad, a rare gesture of vaccine international solidarity.

“I hope that Barbados, Dominica and the rest of the Caribbean can be an example to the rest of the world about how you cooperate," said Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley. "And even when you have a little, you share and you work together, because we know that’s the only thing missing in the world today." (Caribbean National Weekly)

Fourteen independent Caribbean Community (CARICOM) states insisted on the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, in a resolution adopted by the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) by acclamation today. The resolution, presented on behalf of CARICOM by Antigua and Barbuda Ambassador Sir Ronald Sanders expressed grave concern about inequitable access and distribution of vaccines. (Barbados Today)

The slow rollout of the United Nations' COVAX Facility has left countries in the Caribbean and Latin America scrambling to obtain much needed doses of coronavirus vaccines. Earlier this month public officials with PanAmerican Health Organization said the 36 countries and territories in the Americas region that are part of the COVAX Facility will likely start obtaining doses in March -- though the initiative will only cover 20% of each country's population. (Miami Herald)

PAHO Director Dr. Carissa Etienne, who is from the eastern Caribbean island of Dominica, said equitable access and distribution remain a top priority. “The truth is many smaller countries would not have been able to access any vaccines in the short term, in any serious quantity, without a mechanism like COVAX,” she said.

Some experts have advised Caribbean countries to band together to buy 20 million doses of vaccines in order to be able to obtain enough supplies for regional herd immunity. (Caribbean News Service)

Grenada's struggles for renewables

In December Grenada's government was forced to purchase, for $63 million, a majority of shares in the national energy company, Grenlec, owned by WRB Enterprises. The case could become a cautionary tale for countries seeking to transition to renewables: the World Bank arbitration institution found a 2016 law, which aimed to “facilitate the participation of independent power producers in the local energy market and renewable energy developments” -- developed in consultation with the World Bank -- violated a 1994 privatization agreement that guaranteed WRB an 80 year monopoly.  (International Institute for Sustainable Development, Now Grenada, Jamaica Gleaner, Loop News)

The 1994 agreement -- which was taken on following World Bank advice -- stymied efforts to adopt renewable electricity sources in Granada, according to the government. The Inter-American Development Bank agreed, and said the deal “enabled a monopolistic, fossil fuel biased development of the electricity sector, severely hampering the development of renewable energy technologies”. According to Climate Home News, private home owners seeking to use solar panels had to obtain licences (which were limited) from Grenlec. 

With control of energy policy, the government is aiming for at least 30% (and up to 100%) of electricity to be generated renewably by 2030.

Climate Justice and Energy

• According to the IDB, if the Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries invest optimally in renewable electricity generation they could save US$5.7 billion in generation costs from 2020 to 2040. As a result, the share of renewable generation will increase by a factor of almost four, while reducing electricity costs, oil imports, and CO2 emissions. (Jamaica Observer)

• The economies of many small island developing states (SIDS) have been particularly impacted by the global pandemic. But the COVID-19 crisis presents an opportunity for SIDS to look beyond their vulnerabilities and identify opportunities to transition to “blue economies,” writes Catherine Cheney at Devex.

• The former head of Guyana's environmental agency, Vincent Adams, insists that ExxonMobil’s flaring of gas amid a compressor problem on its oil platform is in breach of its production permit and that the government has to be better informed so it can enforce the law, reports Stabroek News. (See last week's Just Caribbean Updates.)

• Suriname's national oil company, Staatsolie, ensures that the parent companies in the oil and gas sector take full responsibility for any oil spill that may occur in the country's waters, reports Kaieteur News.

• Weather forecasters predict 12-to-15 named storms, six-to-eight hurricanes, and two-to-three major hurricanes in this year's Atlantic basin hurricane seasons. (Cayman Compass)

Migration

• "An often overlooked aspect of climate change is the way it exacerbates the suffering of existing migrant and refugee communities," reports the New Yorker. "One danger is that migrants and refugees often settle in locations that are highly exposed to the elements, often because they are pushed there by their host governments." Another danger is that migrants are increasingly afraid to seek help from authorities, in the midst of growing nationalist rhetoric around the world. The piece focuses on how Haitian migrants in the Bahamas were affected by 2019's Hurricane Doria. After the storm, though it had promised that migrants would be safe, the government pursued a program of mass deportation.

• New York Attorney General Letitia James says she has led a coalition of 16 attorneys general from across the United States in fighting alongside US President Joe Biden to protect the undocumented Caribbean and other immigrants from deportation. (Caribbean Media Corporation)
  

Democratic Governance

• There "are worrying signs that President Jovenel Moïse is becoming Latin America and the Caribbean’s newest strongman," writes Jacqueline Charles in the Miami Herald. "Many in Haiti still vividly recall the years of the father-son Duvalier dynasty, whose brutal repression resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people and forced many more to flee. And they have watched with concern, and fear a return to dictatorship, as Moïse modifies decrees on life in Haiti and weakens state institutions."
• One of Moïse's strategies for repression is what can be termed the "gangsterization" of Haiti, Nixon Boumba told Open Democracy: The government supports criminal gangs to terrorize people and limit participation in protests.

• The United Nations voiced concern over aggressions towards journalists covering anti-government protests in Haiti. (See Monday's Latin America Daily Briefing.)

• "Questions over Moïse’s mandate stem from the 2015/2016 electoral process, but the OAS’ role in that process, and its previous intervention in the 2010 election, is now undermining the institution’s ability to play a helpful role in the current political crisis," argued CEPR's Jake Johnston last year.

• While the U.S. has backed Moïse's remaining in office, a massive protest calling for his ouster this weekend (see Monday's Latin America Daily Briefing) could turn the international tide against Moïse, according to Haïti Liberté.

• The Cayman Islands is revising its Penal Code, which contains archaic provisions, including some outlawing "witchcraft." The main focus is to address any sections or wordings in the law that have human rights implications or may run contrary to the Bill of Rights. (Cayman Compass)

Security and Human Rights

• The family of Sherwin Filley, who was shot by Guyana police on Jan, 29, while allegedly resisting arrest, placed a casket with a corpse in front of the Sparendaam Police Station located on the East Coast of Demerara. Police said actions would be taken in response. (Kaieteur News)

Anti-colonialism, Racial Justice, and Reparations

• A new study by Harvard Medical School suggests monetary reparations for Black descendants of people enslaved in the United States could have cut SARS-CoV-2 transmission and COVID-19 rates both among Black individuals and the population at large.
  

Finance 

• Relief offered by the Debt Service Suspension Initiative adopted by the G20 in April 2020, has missed those countries which would have needed it the most urgently in the Eastern Caribbean and favored those which, over a regional comparison, were the least in need, according to a focus paper by Entwicklung braucht Entschuldung.

• Caribbean private sector leaders need an institution to promote their interests internationally, argues David Jessop of the Caribbean Council.

Gender and LGBTQI rights

• High rates of gender based violence in Trinidad and Tobago, as well as the rest of the Caribbean, are partially related to socio-economic circumstances, write Renuka Anandjit and Angelique V. Nixon in Stabroek News. These have gotten worse during the pandemic, but regional governments have failed to prioritise gender violence in their response, with the exception of Puerto Rico, whose Governor recently declared a state of emergency over gender based violence in response to demands by activists. (See Jan. 28's Just Caribbean Updates)

Culture

• Yomaira C. Figueroa-Vásquez’s Decolonizing Diasporas: Radical Mappings of Afro-Atlantic Literature argues that the works of diasporic writers and artists from Equatorial Guinea, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Cuba offer new worldviews that unsettle and dismantle the logics of colonial modernity. (Repeating Islands)
  

Events

• February 18: A late 30th birthday celebration of the publication of Her True-True Name, a landmark collection of writings by Caribbean women.

• March 4: University of the West Indies -- Mona Law Master Class -- Advanced International Human Rights Law
  

We welcome comments and critiques on the Just Caribbean Updates, which is still a work in progress. You can see the Updates on our website, as well as receive it directly through the mailing list. Thank you for reading and sharing.