Jamaica's reparations request (July 30, 2021)

A Jamaican proposal for reparations would ask Britain for compensation for the Atlantic slave trade's impact on the former colony. 

The government's reparations petition is based on a private motion by Jamaican lawmaker Mike Henry, who said it was worth some 7.6 billion pounds, a sum he estimated is roughly equivalent in today's terms to what Britain paid to slaveholders after abolishing slavery in 1834. To compensate slave owners, the British government took out a 20 million pound loan - a very large sum at the time - and only finished paying off the ensuing interest payments in 2015.

Opposition leader Mark Golding said there’s bi-partisan support for the effort and also pointed to a CARICOM initiative to seek reparations which Jamaica is part of. CARICOM’s 10-point program for ' ‘reparatory justice’ ‘is framed as a development strategy to use reparations payments to deal collectively with economic and educational challenges facing the Caribbean.’

(Reuters, Caribbean Life News)

Climate Justice and Energy

• An international climate minister's meeting in Paris wrapped up this week reaffirming the commitment to prioritising loss and damage — a contentious article under the Paris Agreement which small island developing states have been lobbying to put on the agenda, reports the Jamaica Observer. Loss and damage includes the effects of sudden-onset climate disasters such as hurricanes, as well as slow-onset events such as sea level rise.

• Caribbean countries are experiencing the full range of climate impacts, from coastal erosion driven by sea level rise, to extended drought periods, to more frequent and severe hurricanes and tropical storms, warns Jamaica-based ocean scientist Danielle Nembhard. “A liveable future for all Small Island Developing States hangs in the balance as we barrel towards a threshold from which recovery is unlikely," she told Ours to Save.

• From heatwaves to flash floods, the Caribbean islands continue to be among the regions most threatened by climate change. Islands and coasts see their future most compromised, inciting migration to “safer” regions. These instances of dangerous climate change and migration in the Caribbean are captured by extraordinary Haitian photographer Cristina Baussan, reports Kulture Hub.

• Guyana is a carbon sink and a climate leader, but has been airbrushed out of the global climate movement due to its status as a developing country, environmental lawyer Melinda Janki told the Climate Curious podcast by TEDxLondon. She makes the broader point that the people who have contributed the most to climate change are not really the ones that are bearing the brunt of it.

• IT technicians have detected what they have described as a collective and continued effort to bring down Kaieteur News' website that appears to be well funded. The newspaper is highly critical of Guyana's oil extraction management. 

Environment

• Locals near the Dominican Republic's Puerto Viejo mine say Barrick Gold is literally poisoning the area -- Jacobin. 

Finance and Economics

• The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the risk of a debt crisis for low- and middle-income countries, warns Unicef. In many countries, debt payments outweigh government budgets for social expenditure.

Covid-19

• The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) wants the region to develop platforms for producing and distributing new vaccines and medicines as part of “a concerted regional health strategy." (Caribbean Media Corporation)

• The Covid-19 pandemic has deepened preexisting socio-economic inequalities in Jamaica. The pandemic largely exacerbated extant issues of low, uncertain incomes, with the added risk of catching the virus and falling ill, according to a report by the Caribbean Policy Research Institute.

• CARICOM should be proud of the success of a Caribbean woman who was at the center of the effort to manage the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean, the Dominican born Dr. Carissa Etienne, the Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), writes Sir Ronald Sanders.

Regional Relations

• CARICOM countries called on the U.S. to lift its trade embargo against Cuba. In a July 26 letter sent to President Joe Biden, CARICOM chairman and Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne said that “strong and mutually beneficial relations” have been developed between Cuba and the Caribbean countries over a 49-year period and CARICOM regards “Cuba and its people as a valuable and respected member of our family of Caribbean nations”. (Caribbean Media Corporation)
  

Indigenous Rights

• Belize's Supreme Court ruled in favor of Maya land rights in Jalacte Village vs. the Attorney General, ruling that the government breached the Maya Peoples’ constitutional rights, obligating Belize's government to return the lands that had been taken without the community’s consent and ordering compensation of the equivalent of $3.12 million, reports Cultural Survival.  
  

Migration

• More than 10,000 migrants from Haiti, Cuba and several African countries, many trying to reach the United States, are overwhelming Necoclí, a town on Colombia’s north coast on the way to the dangerous Darién Gap. Migrants are spurred by worsening conditions in Haiti and Cuba, and the recent reopening of South American borders. But officials say the surge is creating a public health emergency in the midst of the pandemic, reports the Washington Post.
• The U.S. could soon be facing dual migrant crises stemming from Haiti and Cuba. In response, the Biden administration has preemptively warned migrants not to try to come to the U.S. by boat, reports Vox.
• The first group of almost 100,000 Venezuelan migrants without legal status in the Dominican Republic have received visas allowing them to work, open bank accounts and join the social security system under the country's Migration Normalization Plan, reports the International Organization for Migration.

Culture

• The Museum of Contemporary Art of Puerto Rico is an institution for activism, according to its executive director and chief curator, Marianne Ramírez Aponte. “In Puerto Rico we are facing so many challenges: financial difficulties, social inequality, challenges in our education system, climate crises plus earthquakes and hurricanes," Ramírez told Forbes. She explains that they approach these issues in a cross disciplinary manner and regularly work with scientists, human rights organizations and environmental groups.  

• “Landfall” and “Stateless,” two new films about Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, portray complexity rarely granted to Caribbean narratives, according to the New York Times. "The films lean into ambiguity and uncertainty, resisting a binary vision of pure abjection or simple victory."

• The World Food Travel Association (WFTA) named Grenada and its sister islands Carriacou and Petite Martinique the world’s first “Culinary Capital.” (Caribbean Life News)
  

Hello again, I'm returning after a welcome two-week break. We welcome comments and critiques on the Caribbean News 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.

15 killed in Port-au-Prince (July 2, 2021)

At least 15 people were killed in Port-au-Prince on Tuesday, apparently in retaliation for the murder of the spokesman of  group of disgruntled police officers known as Fantom 509, said Leon Charles, director general of the national police force, at a news conference. Among those killed were two journalists and a political activist. They were killed execution style using heavy automatic rifles in the Christ-Roi area of Petion-Ville. Police said the attack is still under investigation and gave no details on whether it was staged by a single person or multiple shooters. Charles blamed allies of Fantom 509 for the mass killing but did not provide any evidence. (Reuters, Al Jazeera, Associated Press)

The United States condemned what it described as a systematic violation of human rights, fundamental freedoms and attacks on the press in Haiti, urging the government to counter a proliferation of gangs and violence, yesterday.

A political mission from the Organization of American States presented its findings yesterday, and is recommending that Haitian President Jovenel Moïse promptly appoint a new prime minister and cabinet, urgently take steps to establish a climate of security and appoint a new elections body so that Haiti can hold legislative, local and presidential elections before the end of the year. 

But the delegations of St. Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda to the OAS raised concerns that the mission’s failure to facilitate dialogue as spelled out in its marching orders meant that the visit could not be seen as a success, reports the Miami Herald.

Earlier this week Haitian authorities announced that a postponed (and controversial) constitutional referendum will be held on Sept. 26, the same date as presidential and legislative elections. (Reuters)

In a statement yesterday, members of a newly formed Haiti Caucus in the U.S. Congress blasted the referendum decision and the OAS report, which they said “deeply troubled” them.

In view of increasing gang crime and autocracy, German development organizations, including Brot-fuer-die-Welt, called for the German government and the other members of the Core Group to immediately abandon their support for Moïse.

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Elsa becomes first hurricane of 2021

Tropical Storm Elsa strengthened into the first hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic storm season this morning, threatening to unleash flooding and landslides in the Caribbean. Elsa became the earliest E storm on record, beating out Edouard, which formed July 6, 2020. Elsa is the fifth named storm of the season in the Atlantic. (USA Today)

The links between hurricanes and climate change are becoming more apparent. A warming planet can expect to experience stronger hurricanes over time, and a higher incidence of the most powerful storms, reports the New York Times.

A hurricane warning is in effect for Barbados, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as St. Lucia. A hurricane watch is in effect for southern Haiti from Port Au Prince to the southern border with the Dominican Republic. The system is expected to continue on a general west-northwest path over the Caribbean and is likely to remain a hurricane while approaching Hispaniola and Jamaica this weekend. (Accuweather)

Economics and Finance

• The international proposal to establish a global minimum corporate tax rate is a significant issue for the Caribbean, which should respond regionally, argues Sir Ronald Sanders. Alliances are vital, he writes, because "if the G20 endorses the plan, smaller countries will again be cast aside – the hapless victims of the world’s powerful states, as they are with climate change and getting vaccines to fight COVID-19." (See last week's Just Caribbean Updates.)

• It is important to unite with other countries outside the region as well, according to Sanders. "Low taxes help Caribbean countries and others to attract investment they desperately need, because their exploitation and under development, for centuries, have made it difficult for domestic investment alone to drive their needed economic growth and social improvement."

• The coronavirus pandemic has created the need for a new Bretton Woods -- but "one proposal missing from the table is for a much-needed shock absorber as risks such as climate change and falling biodiversity intensify," writes Avinash Persaud in the Financial Times.  Barbadian-style natural disaster clauses are an example of how such a tool could help.

• Caribbean Development Bank President Dr Gene Leon said the institution's current size may need to be revisited if it is to remain an effective partner for the region. In his inaugural address, Leon pointed to the predicted financing gap which will impinge on Caribbean countries’ efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as one of the factors driving the need for such a rethink.

LGBTQI and Gender

• Caribbean nations are losing $4.2 billion a year in missing tourism, productivity and competitiveness to laws that discriminate against LGBTQ people, according to a new report by Open for Business. (Al Jazeera)

Migration

• Thousands of Haitians are crossing into the Dominican Republic without legal permits, stoking perennial xenophobia in DR. Smugglers say Haiti's exacerbated political crisis has changed migration demographics: more children are fleeing Haiti, reports Vice News.
• Guyana's government withdrew the automatic six-month stay granted to Haitians on arrival in the country, revoking an earlier order that allowed nationals from Haiti to enter the country without a visa. The move comes after authorities found 10 Haitian children in a hotel room without documentation, and as officials signal increasing numbers of Haitian and Cuban people without legal status. Haiti, despite being a full member of CARICOM, has not always enjoyed free movement into member countries under the CARICOM Single Market and Economy. (Caribbean National Weekly)

Regional Relations

• The U.S. embargo against Cuba hasn't only affected that island. "The collective economic development of the Caribbean has been impaired as the embargo inhibits trade, investment and tourism with a market of over 30 million people," said Jamaican Spokesman on Foreign Affairs Lisa Hanna. (Caribbean Chronicle, see last week's Just Caribbean Updates)

• Nascent scientific cooperation between Cuba and the U.S. was also thwarted by Trump's reversal of detente. (JDSUPRA)

Food Security

• El Toque has a multimedia deep-dive into Cuba's food crisis -- and looks at how archaic production, lack of supplies and climate change, among others, have contributed to an island with three problems: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Cuba imports more than 70 percent of its food, an increasing challenge given the country's current economic crisis, compounded by the pandemic. Cubans trying to navigate the labyrinth of actually obtaining food are stymied by cost and availability.

Climate Justice and Energy

• Small island nations on the climate crisis frontlines have been overlooked in overseas aid, according to advocates of the universal vulnerability index (UVI). Researchers from the Commonwealth secretariat and the Foundation for Studies and Research on International Development (Ferdi) say the new index should be an alternative to GDP as a measure for aid allocation. (Guardian)

• In a new report by the World Resources Institute, researchers argue for transformative adaptation, a concept based on the idea that climate change is pushing systems, including agriculture, to the brink of collapse and that fundamental changes are needed to tackle the challenges wrought by global warming. Rather than maintaining current systems, transformative adaptation, the authors say, will mean shifting which crops are grown where, or hundreds of millions of people could face “catastrophic hunger.” (Inside Climate News)
  

Covid-19 Impact

• Caribbean and Latin American countries continue to be hammered by increased coronavirus infections and deaths, highlighting the stark inequalities in access to vaccines around the world, according to the WHO. Economic inequality, the huge informal economy and the difficulty of implementing public health measures in Latin America and the Caribbean have all been major obstacles to containing the Covid-19 there, reports the New York Times.

• The cost to the global economy of the tourism freeze caused by Covid-19 could reach $4 trillion by the end of this year, according to a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. The varying pace of vaccine rollouts are expected to particularly affect developing nations and tourist centers. Ecuador’s GDP is projected to fall by 9% in the worst-case scenario and 7.5% at best. (Guardian)
• U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona that Puerto Rico will receive nearly $4 billion in federal education pandemic relief funds to help boost the U.S. territory’s fight against Covid-19. (Associated Press)
  

Education

• There are about 80 medical schools in the Caribbean -- most are for-profit and tend to have more lax admissions standards than their U.S. counterparts, reports the New York Times. Though some charge tens of thousands of dollars in tuition and fees and they often fail to position their students for career success internationally: graduates from Caribbean medical schools have been frustrated by difficulties in accessing U.S. residencies. 

Human Rights

• Prisoners in Haiti often spend years in inhumane conditions subjected to ill-treatment and torture and in many cases while still awaiting trial, according to a new UN report. More than 80 percent of inmates in Haiti are in pre-trial detention, notes the report, and most prisons suffer extreme overcrowding.

Public Security

• Caribbean islands like Curaçao and the Cayman Islands, as well as Aruba, have become convenient transit points for illicitly sourced gold, bound for the United States and elsewhere, reports InSight Crime.

Histories

• Through a series of biographical essays, poems and articles, The Other Windrush shines a light on the hidden history of a 'minority within a minority': Caribbean migrants of Indian and Chinese descent - often the descendants of indentured labourers - who were the 'invisible passengers' of the Windrush generation.
  

Culture

• U.S. actor Michael B. Jordan backtracked on his plan to name a rum brand "J'ouvert," after a wave of criticism about cultural appropriation. Jeanine Mendes-Franco explores the many facets of why people were angry, and what it implies for cultural stewardship. (Global Voices)

• Jamaican-Canadian writer Olive Senior discusses her poetry collection, Pandemic Poems: First Wave -- Repeating Islands.

• The Mennonites of Belize – a Guardian photo-essay on the community’s gentle pace of life.
  

Events

15 July

• The Catastrophe of Prohibition and the ‘War on Drugs’ in Latin America and the Caribbean - WOLA
  

We welcome comments and critiques on the Caribbean News 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.