Just Caribbean Updates

Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Climate Justice and Human Rights in the Caribbean

Date: Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Human Rights:

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is currently conducting a questionnaire on the human rights situation regarding people with disabilities in the Caribbean. They invite members of civil society organizations, academia and other interested people to take part. The survey will inform the preparation of a report regarding the regulations and public policies that protect people with disabilities. The survey is done in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. The deadline is August 15, 2022. To participate, click here.

The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) has expressed concern about the National Toshoa Council NTC apparent control by the political administrations of Guyana. The Association noted that funds sought by the NTC were cut and reduced from national budgetary allocations. Kaieteur News reports.

A High Court Judge from Guyana has demanded that a 58-year-old man, who has spent nine years on remand for murder be immediately released as his, “constitutional rights to a free trial within a reasonable time” was breached. Raymond Jones of Micobie Village was accused of fatally shooting a man in 2012 with a bow and arrow. Justice Sandil Kissoon said, “Jones was deprived of an early opportunity to have his name cleared.” News Room Guyana reports.

As Jamaica’s Finance Minister announced that the public sector will increase its maternity leave from 40 days to three calendar months, and introduce paternity leave for the first time, the University of the West Indies sociologist Dr Herbert Gayle asks the Government not to limit the parameters of paternity leave. He said limiting paternity leave to married men instead of all fathers will only benefit a fraction of the population as a third of couples with children are married. The Jamaica Gleaner reports.

Drug Policy:

A referendum to vote on decriminalizing marijuana in Belize will cost the government US$5 million. In November 2017, the government decriminalized small amounts of cannabis. Now the Government is attempting to decriminalize up to ten grams of marijuana. Evangelical churches held a petition against decriminalization, and got signatures from ten percent of the population which triggered the referendum. The churches believe decriminalization will contradict God’s laws and support the gangs in Belize. Prime Minister John Briceño wants to negotiate with the churches to avoid having to spend money on the referendum. Loop Caribbean News reports.

Finance + Debt:

The International Chamber of Commerce is calling on the G20 to do three things to avoid a global health crisis among low and middle-income countries:

Reinstate the G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative for an initial one-year period to countries in need.
Establish a time-bound roadmap to agree on enhancements to the Common Framework for Debt Treatment
Agree to new issuance of IMF Special Drawing Rights.

Thursday, July 14, 2022

Cuba, a year after protests (July 14, 2022)

Cuba, a year after protests

A year after Cuban protesters took to the streets in massive anti-government demonstrations, there have been few policy changes in response to the economic, social and political demands that fueled the unrest, reports Americas Quarterly.

Government crackdowns demoralized protest organizers, and “demands for political reform, delivered by young, middle-class professionals, did not speak to the most urgent issue for the majority of Cubans: their deteriorating standard of living,” writes William LeoGrande in The Nation.

The frustrated protest movement has fed into one of the largest exoduses from the island since the 1959 revolution. Some are activists fleeing persecution, while others are seeking economic opportunities, reports the Washington Post. The migration wave is sapping Cuba of many of its youths, as well as undermining efforts to oppose the island’s government.

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Haiti, a year after Moïse's murder

A year after Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was killed, Haiti has no political solution in sight. “The picture remains grim with a seeming state of lawlessness taking hold in parts of the country,” reports the New York Times.

The investigation into the killing is stalled in Haiti, part of a broader problem of a justice system plagued by protests, robberies, gang violence and death threats, reports Voice of America. Judges and legal clerks in the case have been threatened and told to change witness testimony.

In the meantime, Haiti is rudderless. Prime Minister Ariel Henry has promised to create a new provisional electoral council, which is responsible for organizing general elections, but that hasn't happened. There hasn't been a Parliament because the government failed to organize elections in 2019, and Moïse dismissed most lawmakers in early 2020 and ruled by decree for more than a year before he was killed. Attempts to form a coalition government have faltered in recent weeks, reports the Associated Press.

Public Security

Gun battles between rival gangs have killed more than 50 people since Friday in Cite Soleil, near Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince. Shootouts between gangs in the impoverished suburb have also left more than 100 people wounded, according to Cite Soleil Mayor Joel Janeus. (Reuters)
Thousands of people are trapped without drinking water, food or medical care in an isolated area of Cité Soleil, as armed groups battle for control of the area, warned Médecins Sans Frontières this week.
Violent crime in Haiti has residents of Port-au-Prince living forms of security quarantines, in which running basic errands can be a fraught endeavor, reports the Miami Herald. Kidnappings and intentional homicides, according to the United Nations’ Haiti office, have risen by 36% and 17% respectively, compared with the last five months of 2021. In May alone, the Haitian National Police reported 200 kidnappings, an average of almost 7 cases per day.
Haiti’s Customs Agency seized an extremely large quantity of illegally imported ammunition, last week, the same day that its director was replaced on suspicion of arms trafficking. The case highlights the country's struggle in combating weapons flows, according to InSight Crime.

Human Rights

Haiti’s Cité Soleil is at risk of becoming a ‘sacrifice zone’ with its inhabitants facing extreme environmental injustices and an acute waste problem that threatens their health and safety, UN human rights experts said in a report last week. Cité Soleil is an impoverished commune in the outskirts of Port-au-Prince and home to nearly 400,000 people. An open canal serves as the commune’s sewage system and waste dumps grow into mountains over three metres high near residential areas where children play and go to school. (OHCHR)
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concluded its first promotional visit to the Commonwealth of Dominica, conducted with the purpose of strengthening and deepening the Commission's collaboration with the government. (IACHR)
Jamaican prosecutors' plans to seek the death penalty in the case of a young man accused of the throat-slashing murder of a mother and four children has provoked mixed reactions from lawyers, reports the Jamaica Gleaner.

Diplomacy

China launched a development center with Caribbean countries -- part of an effort by Beijing to step up cooperation on poverty alleviation, food security, pandemic response and green development with the region.The China-Caribbean Development Center, which was unveiled in Jinan city in Shandong province, will serve as a catalyst for more high-standard and sustainable cooperation projects to enhance the well-being of people in the Caribbean, said Xie Feng, vice-minister of foreign affairs. (China Daily)
The U.S.-Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis 2030 (PACC 2030), the U.S.-Caribbean cooperation on climate adaptation, energy security, and clean energy investment framework could be the biggest breakthrough announced at the Summit of the Americas, according to Global Americans.

Climate Justice and Energy

The US has inflicted more than $1.9tn in damage to other countries from the effects of its greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new analysis that has provided the first measurement of nations’ liability in stoking the climate crisis. The report is relevant as activists push for loss and damage to be contemplated at this year's COP27 meeting. Developing countries and climate activists have pushed for ‘loss and damage’ payments to be made to those who are suffering the most from global heating through heatwaves, floods and drought. (Guardian)

Future global biodiversity may be intrinsically linked to the adaptive and resilience capacities of island ecosystems, but terrestrial biodiversity of islands is often under-represented within climate change impact assessments -- the terrestrial island biodiversity conundrum. (SDG Knowledge Hub)
Sargassum is a brown macroalgae that has wreaked havoc on the Caribbean, decimating coastal ecosystems and threatening the tourism economy on which the region depends. New companies and initiatives are exploring ways to monetize sargassum harvesting via processing, while others are investigating how to sequester carbon by sinking the algae, reports Global Americans.
Grenada has become the world’s first country to create a digital replica of itself, a 3D model government officials can use for sustainability plans. (Geospatial World)

Decolonization and Democratic Governance

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) denounced the British government's threat to re-impose direct rule from London on the British Virgin Islands, calling the position a sword of Damocles. Bahamas Foreign Affairs Minister, Fred Mitchell said that the CARICOM leaders had issued a ‘strong statement of support” for the BVI. (Loop News, see June 17's briefs.)

Culture

Trinidadian author Monique Roffey's latest novel, “The Mermaid of Black Conch,” is inspired by the legend of Aycayia, or “Sweet Voice” — an Indigenous Caribbean woman cast off her island centuries ago and condemned to exile as a mermaid. In Roffey’s version, Aycayia is captured by American tourists in 1976. -- Los Angeles Times
Puerto Rican writer Marta Aponte Alsina has created a new way of rewriting the Caribbean beyond the stereotypes and clichés. “My interest in the Caribbean stems from a feeling I’ve had for a long time, which is that of living in a kind of cage,” said the author at a roundtable discussion held during the Barcelona Latin American literature festival KM América. (Repeating Islands)

Opportunities

The Loss and Damage Youth Coalition -- Story Telling Cohort -- From 19th July to 22nd August -- Apply Here

We welcome comments and critiques on the Just Caribbean Updates. You can see the Updates on our website, as well as receive it directly through the mailing list. Thank you for reading.

Thursday, July 7, 2022

Trinidad and Tobago protests against police violence (July 7, 2022)

Trinidad and Tobago's capital, Port of Spain, was paralyzed on Monday by demonstrators protesting police killing of three young men over the weekend. At least eight people were arrested in relation to the protests, which police claim were instigated by an "outside force." (Trinidad Express, Loop News, Caribbean Media Corporation)

Demonstrators were warned to protest peacefully and stop the disruption or risk facing jail time, but residents have sworn to continue to show their outrage until justice is served, writes Janine Mendes-Franco in Global Voices.

Protesters say the deaths form part of a larger pattern of police violence against poor, Black youths.The deaths were also part of a broader problem Trinidad faces with gun violence: 13 people were killed this weekend within 36 hours, four believed to be police-involved shootings. (Guardian)

More Public Security

An increase of police killings in Cuba, where use of firearms by security forces has been minimal since 1959, is a symptom of a poor preparation of law enforcement officers in situations of maximum tension and, in some cases, of a dangerous feeling of police impunity, argues La Joven Cuba.
A new United Nations program carried out with the Jamaican government aims at reducing illicit weapons in the country, while also addressing root causes of violence. The SALIENT program presents a true reform in the government’s strategy, which has traditionally focused on reactionary policies that have failed to dislodge arms trafficking. But the slower, holistic, data-driven approach will take time, warns InSight Crime.

Suriname's conservation crossroads

Suriname is considered a global leader in biodiversity conservation, with more than 90 per cent of its land surface covered by native forests. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres congratulated the country, which is considered carbon negative as its rainforests absorb more emissions than the country emits, during a recent visit. (United Nations News)

But Indigenous communities say their contribution to conservation, lauded by Guterres, is not matched by national regulations in Suriname, where Indigenous and tribal peoples' land rights are not codified by law, note activists.

Significant oil reserves could turn Suriname into an oil producing country within a few years, an economic boon that has provoked negative reactions among activists concerned about environmental impact. (RFI)

In fact, Guterres noted Suriname's oil and gas development plans, and said he does not favor that path. (Star Nieuws)

More Climate Justice and Energy

Seven years after Guyana's government pledged to aggressively pursue renewable energy to power the national grid, the current government is pressing ahead with the use of natural gas in a bid to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. But using gas instead of heavy fuel oil to generate electricity makes absolutely no sense according to Guyanese international lawyer Melinda Janki. (Kaieteur News)
Over half of the Caribbean's beaches could be lost by the end of the century due to climate-related sea level rise, which could, in turn, deal a significant financial blow to the region’s tourism industry, warns a new study by University of the West Indies scientists. (Jamaica Gleaner)
Global leaders, scientists, environmental advocates, and civil society groups voiced their opposition to deep sea mining during the UN Ocean Conference that ended earlier this month. (Global Voices)
Steve Maximay writes about “Just Transition” climate change considerations within CARICOM as part of a new series by the Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network looks at climate change issues in the Caribbean.
Two paradigm-shifting projects in Barbados demonstrate the country’s position as a small island state combatting climate change and the costs of the battle, writes Esther Jones in another piece of the CIJN series. She looks at new fishing regulations, which focus on measures to protect marine life, and the island-wide conversion to electrified vehicles by 2030.

Covid-19 Recovery

The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute assessed 446 public sector Covid-19 recovery initiatives in six Caribbean countries and at the regional level and mapped to what extent these were designed to contribute to: Transforming economic governance; supporting fairness, inclusion and justice in economic development; supporting environmental sustainability while recognising and managing trade-offs, and ; enabling a low-carbon transition and building resilience to address multiple risks.

Economics and Finance

The Caribbean Development Bank is piloting the Recovery Duration Adjuster (RDA), a new concept which would allow countries in the Caribbean to access financing following natural disasters and other shocks to their economies. The measure is aimed at changing the way vulnerability is measured for small island states, and would replace the current standard measurement, the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI) which primarily considers a country’s Gross National Income. (Loop News)

Migration

Haiti’s educated youth are leaving the country as fast as they can, an accelerating brain drain of migrants that often go through Latin America en route to the U.S., reports the Miami Herald. A recent national survey by the country’s Citizen Observatory for Institutionalization of Democracy found that 82% of Haiti’s nearly 12 million people would migrate if they had the chance.
Cuba’s Coast Guard was recently involved in two shootouts at sea with speedboats coming from the United States to pick up Cuban migrants, resulting in the death of one of the smugglers. The Cuban authorities said they have intercepted 13 speedboats and detained 23 people from the United States involved in migrant smuggling operations this year, reports the Miami Herald.
Denise Pitcher, Executive Director, Caribbean Centre for Human Rights, spoke to WESN about refugees in Trinidad and Tobago, the government's failure to sign the Declaration on Migration and Protection at the Summit of the Americas and the need for a refugee policy and legislation in the country.

LGBTQ Rights

The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court has ruled a law in Antigua and Barbuda that criminalises gay sex is unconstitutional. The ruling also said the twin-island nation's 1995 Sexual Offenses Act "offends the right to liberty, protection of the law, freedom of expression, protection of personal privacy and protection from discrimination on the basis of sex." (ABC)

Gender

Cuban journalists Milena Recio and Mónica Rivero’s online platform Matria features articles centering Cuban women and challenges the patriarchy, working towards a more equitable Cuba -- Startup Cuba.
A tampon shortage believed to have been triggered by global supply chain issues compounded by rising fuel costs, problems sourcing raw materials, and labour shortages has been causing distress for many Jamaican women, reports the Jamaica Gleaner.

Events

8 July -- Barbados Youth Climate Action Summit and Expo -- Register
11 July -- The Global Forest Governance Forum 2022 -- Chatham House. Register

Opportunities

Call for Manuscripts --- Brill’s Caribbean Series editor Sophie Maríñez (Repeating Islands)

We welcome comments and critiques on the Just Caribbean Updates. You can see the Updates on our website, as well as receive it directly through the mailing list. Thank you for reading.

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

IACHR rules in landmark Isseneru case (June 28, 2022)

A landmark ruling from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) found that the rights of the Indigenous people living in Guyana's Isseneru were violated. Guyana’s government is tasked with informing the rights commission of the measures it intends to adopt to provide recourse to the villagers in about two months’ time. (Newsroom Guyana)

“The reparations must include measures of compensation, satisfaction and any other which are deemed appropriate in accordance with the Inter-American Standards including the provision of any required health care services to community members affected by environmental pollution,” the IACHR recommended in its report. (Stabroek News)

Isseneru residents plan to propose compensatory solutions to the government. The Isseneru Village Council said it hopes to meet with President Irfaan Ali and members of government to discuss solutions. (Newsroom Guyana)

Human Rights

At least eight inmates have died in a Haitian prison that ran out of food two months ago. Hunger and oppressive heat in the overcrowded penitentiary contributed to the inmates’ deaths, reports the Associated Press. The United Nations Security Council released a report last week saying 54 prison deaths related to malnutrition were documented in Haiti between January and April alone.
Conditions at Haiti’s garment factories are akin to prison camps, with non-existent labour rights and where sexual abuse is rife, according to activists. About 60,000 Haitians work in the country’s 41 factories, producing clothes for more than 60 American companies. Female garment factory workers say that to get a job women are expected to have sex with a male manager, reports the Guardian.
Ten years after international luminaries inaugurated Caracol Industrial Park in Haiti, thousands of people displaced from the project are still waiting for compensation. It’s just part of how many international efforts to rebuild Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake have backfired, condemning a generation of children to poverty and causing irreversible damage to their families’ livelihoods, reports Buzzfeed.
A court in Paris found the French government guilty of wrongful negligence involving the former use of a banned pesticide in the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique but denied compensation to those affected, reports the Associated Press.
The Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected Afro-Caribbean and Latin-American people and their communities, according to a new ECLAC report that cites violation of many of their rights and increasing inequality and the incidence of racism and discrimination.

Climate Justice and Energy

Climate negotiators came together last week at the Commonwealth People's Forum in Rwanda to discuss how the coalition of 54 Commonwealth member states can advance climate justice ahead of COP27. In particular, advocates proposed a World Environment Court, a new global dispute resolution mechanism to arbitrate negotiations over climate loss and damage funding. (Jamaica Gleaner)
The persisting problems facing Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to develop, sustain and locally retain capacity indicates that business-as-usual approaches to capacity building are not sufficient to meet the needs of SIDS to secure a thriving future as the Ocean undergoes climate change-related change, according to the Alliance of Small Island States.
A series of visualizations by Florent Lavergne shows how rising sea levels could impact countries in terms of flood risk by the year 2100. (Visual Capitalist)
Ideological bias and structural inequality prevent the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from exploring possibilities for fundamental transformation, argue Yamina Saheb, Kai Kuhnhenn, Juliane Schumacher at the Rosa Luxemburg Siftung site.
The impacts of global warming will change the identity of Bonaire, warns Greenpeace, in a call for the Dutch government to take action. Sea level rise, the vanishing coral, extreme droughts, storms: the island will be facing many challenges.
A U.S. federal court of appeals ruled that the liquefied natural gas import terminal New Fortress Energy constructed without permits in Puerto Rico should have first been reviewed by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. New Fortress must now submit an after-the-fact application to obtain a permit for the terminal. That application process will finally allow the neighboring communities and the Puerto Rican public a meaningful opportunity to challenge the lack of safety and environmental considerations at the site, according to Earth Justice.

Regional Relations

Haiti and Jamaica are among the group of countries that recognized Juan Guaidó as Venezuela's legitimate leader, a stance they should reverse, argues Sir Ronald Sanders. He notes that 7 of the 13 countries in the Western Hemisphere, which originally joined the US and Canada in aggressively supporting the notion that Guaidó was in charge of Venezuela, have now abandoned that position and reverted to dealing with President Nicolás Maduro's government.
Baroness Patricia Scotland narrowly defeated challenger Jamaican Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smitt to remain Commonwealth Secretary General in a vote last week. The Dominica-born lawyer has been secretary-general of the Commonwealth since 2016, reports Reuters. (See also Caribbean National Weekly)

History and Decolonization

Britain's royals paid tribute to the 'Windrush generation' last week at the unveiling of a statue to commemorate the arrival of post-war migrants from the Caribbean. "Without you all, Britain would simply not be what it is today," Prince William, Queen Elizabeth's grandson, said at the unveiling of the National Windrush Monument at London's Waterloo Station. The statue, by Basil Watson, backed by £1m of government funding, portrays three figures – a man, woman and child – dressed in their “Sunday best” climbing a mountain of suitcases hand in hand. (Guardian)
The homage came as the government again apologised for the migrants' recent mistreatment, after a tightening of immigration policy in recent years meant thousands were denied basic rights despite having lived in Britain for decades, and dozens were wrongly deported, reports Reuters.
Contradictory Indianness by Atreyee Phukan shows that Indo-Caribbean writers and their reimagining of Indianness in the region must be considered in a postcolonial Caribbean aesthetics that has, from its inception, privileged inclusivity, interraciality, and resistance against Old World colonial orders. (Repeating Islands)
Maroons in Guyane: Past, Present, and Futures, by Richard and Sally Price, reviews the history of Maroon peoples in Guyane, explains how these groups differ from one another, and analyzes their current situations in the bustling, multicultural world of this far-flung outpost of the French Republic. (Repeating Islands)
25 maps that illustrate the Caribbean's rich history.

Finance and Economics

President of the African Development Bank Akinwumi A. Adesin said the Caribbean and Africa desperately need debt relief, debt restructuring and debt sustainability, speaking last week in Turks and Caicos. (Loop News)
The European Union's changing rules and unclear methodology on back listing are putting some of the world's most vulnerable countries at a greater disadvantage, explains economist Marla Durkharan in a discussion with the Barbados Government Information Service.

Migration

More than 140,000 Cubans were detained at U.S. borders between October last year and May. The figure surpasses the 125,000 Cubans who departed from the Port of Mariel near Havana between April and October 1980, reports the Miami Herald.

Health

Cuba’s nationally developed Covid-19 vaccines — which are used in children starting at age 2 — become a case study of how poorer countries can invent their own shots, reports the Washington Post.

Critter Corner

Gigantic bacteria 50 times larger than any bacterial species previously known to science, dubbed Thiomargarita magnifica, have been discovered in a Guadeloupe mangrove swamp. (Financial Times, New York Times)

Events

29 June -- Climate Action Global Youth Accelerator Launch Webinar -- Barbados Environmental Conservation Trust -- Register Here

Opportunities

Creativity meets Adaptation Competition -- Prepare a piece using the Theme “What does Climate Adaptation mean to YOU?” (Art, Writing and Video Competition) -- Caribbean Climate Network -- Competition open to July 5

Friday, June 17, 2022

Privy Council rules against Barbuda communal land rights (June 17, 2022)

The London-based Privy Council ruled against communal land rights in Barbuda, part of a long battle between the island's residents and the Antigua and Barbuda government. Barbudans have practiced communal land ownership for centuries; the 2007 Act codified it into law. Efforts to overturn the practice have invoked a stormy response from many Barbudans who feel it will destroy their unique way of life and erase their cultural identity, reports the Antigua Observer.

Since 1834, when the British emancipated their slaves, Barbudans as a community have owned all their island’s land. Barbuda, the smaller of the two biggest islands of Antigua and Barbuda, with a population of approximately 2,000, codified this long-existing communal ownership in 2007 in the Barbuda Land Act. The island's communal land protections were overridden by Antigua and Barbuda's government in the wake of Hurricane Irma destruction in 2017, but was the subject of the court battle that ended with Monday's ruling.

Locals fear the repeal will turn Barbuda "into the environmentally destructive mass tourism hub that Antigua has come to represent," reported The Intercept in 2020. (See Just Caribbean Updates for Dec. 16, 2020.)

With the Privy Council’s latest ruling, the development of the island now seems all but certain if plans by the government to make the island green and a high-end tourist attraction are realized, reports the Antigua Observer. Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne has argued that Barbuda's development depends on a developed property rights system that provides individuals freehold and leasehold ownership, and said that his administration continues to work towards this “by creating the registry and selling the Barbudan people’s land for $1 per plot."

Browne has called the Barbuda Land Act unconstitutional – and denigrated Barbudans who defend it to the media as “deracinated Imbeciles, Ignorant [sic] elements.”

“A change in land ownership in Barbuda could harm Barbuda’s most vulnerable people, including women, children, and the elderly,” said Juliana Nnoko-Mewanu, researcher on women and land at Human Rights Watch in 2018. A Human Rights Watch report highlighted that research in Zambia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Mozambique has consistently shown that taking away land used by communities – without due process and without adequate compensation and rehabilitation – results in serious risks to people’s rights to food, water, housing, health, and education.

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Caribbean at Summit of the Americas

Leaders from across the Caribbean participated in the ninth Summit of the Americas, which concluded last Friday in Los Angeles with new commitments to climate adaptation, clean energy, and food security. Both U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with CARICOM members and Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosted multiple Caribbean government heads.

The U.S. leaders announced the U.S.-Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis, or PACC 2030. The new initiative will elevate U.S. cooperation with Caribbean countries to support climate adaptation, strengthen energy security, and accelerate the transition to clean energy, while building the resilience of critical infrastructure and local economies to the climate crisis.

PACC 2030 specifically focuses on improving access to development financing, a priority for the region. PACC 2030 will work to expand existing access to project financing and unlock new financing mechanisms to support climate and clean energy infrastructure development in the region. Key actions under this pillar will include increasing U.S. International Development Finance Corporation financing for climate and clean energy projects in underserved Caribbean countries, as well as collaborating with multilateral development banks and multilateral climate and environmental trust funds to improve the policy environment and unlock access to additional infrastructure financing for the Caribbean.

Many Caribbean leaders criticized the U.S. decision to exclude Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela from the Summit. CARICOM Chairman John Briceño, the Prime Minister of Belize, strongly condemned the exclusion of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua as inexcusable, incomprehensible, and unforgivable. He insisted that the summit belongs to all of the Americas and “it is therefore inexcusable that all countries of the Americas are not here, and the power of the Summit diminished by their absence”.

“At this most critical juncture, when the future of our hemisphere is at stake, we stand divided. … Geography, not politics, defines the Americas,” said Briceño.

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley called for dialogue rather than exclusion: "We need to speak to those with whom we disagree. We don’t only need to narrowcast, that is the problem with the world. There is too much narrowcasting than broadcasting, there is too much talking instead of talking with,” she said. But she also called on the leaders of the three missing countries to put people before ideology.

Decolonization and Racial Justice

The UK foreign secretary decided to give the British Virgin Islands’ emergency administration two years to implement reforms to tackle endemic corruption, avoiding direct rule in the meantime, reports the Guardian.
Jamaica's government said it will create a Constitutional Reform Committee, with representatives from the government, parliamentary opposition, relevant experts, and civil society, to ensure Jamaica’s smooth transition to a republic.
“Forgotten Souls of Tory Row: Remembering the Enslaved People of Brattle Street,” the installation of bottle trees now on view at the History Cambridge headquarters in Boston represents the people – adults and children – who were enslaved by the 18th century owners of the mansions on Brattle Street (many of whom amassed fortunes through their plantations in the Caribbean). (Repeating Islands)

Development and Aid

Ten years after international luminaries inaugurated Caracol Industrial Park in Haiti, thousands of people displaced from the project are still waiting for compensation. It’s just part of how many international efforts to rebuild Haiti after the devastating 2010 earthquake have backfired, condemning a generation of children to poverty and causing irreversible damage to their families’ livelihoods, reports Buzzfeed.

Regional

The threat of food shortages -- coupled with already high prices -- means Caribbean leaders should take rapid action to ensure food security, writes David Jessop in the Jamaica Gleaner. Achieving food security requires Caribbean leaders to facilitate large-scale, well-capitalised regional and international private-sector investment in the region's agriculture, in ways that address mechanisation, training, and introduce global best practice.

Migration

Over the last year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Puerto Rico has detected and intercepted an increasing number of migrant voyages, mostly made up of Dominicans and Haitians, looking to land on Puerto Rico’s shores, reports the Miami Herald. The Mona Passage, a historic migrant route with a deadly reputation for swallowing yolas, or small migrant boats, is at the heart of the activity.
Charter flights from Haiti to South America, with premium-price tickets, provide an escape route for Haitians seeking to migrate, including many who were deported from the U.S. The flights from Haiti became a lucrative business as restrictions aimed at controlling the spread of the coronavirus decimated tourism, reports the Associated Press.

Climate Justice and Energy

Island states say a fund for climate disaster victims must be created by Cop27. Developing countries demanded a losses and damages fund during last year's COP climate talks, but settled for a “dialogue”, co-chaired by the US and Singapore. At the first session of the dialogue small island states said 2024 was too late for money to start flowing to communities on the frontline of climate impacts. They want to establish a finance facility at this year’s climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, and work out the details along the way. (Climate Change News)
A GeoPoll survey of 13 Caribbean countries found that most respondents believe climate change is happening and are at least somewhat worried about it. Hurricanes comprise their biggest concern. Most respondents have personally experienced the effects of climate change including damage to infrastructure, and some have already had to move as a result.
A region-wide stony coral tissue loss disease outbreak in the Caribbean is killing off up to 94 percent of some coral species. The outbreak is probably is made worse by coastal development and climate change, according to researchers. (Washington Post)

Public Security

The violent armed gangs that control much of Haiti are using social media to expand their reach and tighten their grip on the country, reports the Washington Post. Posts aimed at energizing recruits, intimidating rivals and terrorizing the population are challenging the platform’s ability to police the problematic content.
A powerful Haitian gang attacked and occupied the country’s Supreme Court nearly a week ago. Reports that police have still not retaken the courthouse, display authorities' inability to deal with expanding criminal groups, reports InSight Crime.
Dominican Republic environment minister Orlando Jorge Mera was fatally shot in his office, allegedly by a childhood friend, over denied environmental permits, reports Al Jazeera.

Economics and Finance

The Bank of Jamaica is preparing to issue a nationwide digital currency following recent approval from legislators, reports the Associated Press.

Education

Barbados, which recently transitioned to a republic, should reform its education system, argued former Senator and retired principal Alwyn Adams, who has described the current system as “a preservation of British rule." (Barbados Today)

Gender

The United Nations Population Fund published Guidelines for the Management of Safe Shelters for GBV survivors in the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean. These guidelines address the practical and functional aspects of setting up a safe shelter for GBV survivors, while focusing on a survivor- centred approach and on the principles of non- discrimination, respect, safety and confidentiality.

Culture

The exhibition, “Everything Slackens in a Wreck,” highlights the experiences of South Asian and Asian indentured laborers who came to the Caribbean from 1838 to 1920. Despite the violence and economic bondage of their lives in the Caribbean, they created new forms of culture and new ways of thinking that endure today, reports the New York Times.
Invisibilizadas e innombradas: Cuentos de mujeres puertorriqueñas negras by Rosario Méndez Panedas is divided into two parts: Invisibilized Women, biographies of black women forgotten by the collective memory despite the extent of their work, and Unnamed Women, imaginary narratives of slave women whose only known data are those printed in advertisements in Gaceta del Gobierno Constitucional de Puerto Rico. (Repeating Islands)
New Political Culture in the Caribbean is a collection of essays edited by Holger Henke and Fred Reno. Caribbean political discourse "has significantly shifted over the first decades of the twenty-first century, and the impact of social media and a concomitant rise of political fringe discourses have accelerated the fragmentation of the public and polity, leading to sharper confrontations in the political sphere and giving once again rise to crude forms of nationalism." (Repeating Islands)
Odyssée Garifuna, an art exhibit in Martinique, took artist Robert Charlotte to St. Vincent, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, and from the east to the west of the United States, to meet the Garifuna people. The work narrates the rootlessness [l’itinérance] of this people, born of the fortuitous meeting of deported Africans and kalinagos from the Caribbean. Over the course of the travels he embarked upon to explore one of the less valued—and even, little known—facets of Caribbean identity, Robert Charlotte substantiates the urgency of understanding how a culture evolves, endures, is transmitted or disappears. (Repeating Islands)
Ayanna Lloyd Banwo's list of “must-read magical Caribbean novels” at Repeating Islands.

Events

28 June -- Climate Resilience and the Rights of Persons with Disabilities -- SAEDI Consulting. Register here.
29 June -- DAWN-UWI WEBINAR: Caribbean Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Towards Policy Transformations? - Conversation on the policy direction and political responses during the pandemic based on case studies of Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Register here.

Opportunities

Creativity meets Adaptation Competition -- Prepare a piece using the Theme “What does Climate Adaptation mean to YOU?” (Art, Writing and Video Competition) -- Caribbean Climate Network -- Competition open to July 5

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Alex kicks off Atlantic Hurricane season (June 7, 2022)

Tropical Storm Alex became the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which started last week. It killed at least three people in Cuba this weekend. Alex formed in the Gulf of Mexico last week partially from the remnants of Hurricane Agatha, a Pacific region storm that killed at least nine people as it moved over Mexico and into the Gulf. (New York Times)

Last week marked the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season, which forecasters say has a 65% chance for an above-normal number of storms. Experts predict a likely range of 14 to 21 named storms, of which six to ten could become hurricanes, including three to six major hurricanes. Climate factors contributing to the trouble ahead include La Nina, human-caused climate change, warmer ocean waters, the Loop Current, increased storminess in Africa, cleaner skies, a multi-decade active storm cycle and massive development of property along the coast. (Guardian, Loop News, Associated Press)

Last year was the third most active season on record, with 21 named storms and seven hurricanes. But that is part of a longer trend. In the past two years, forecasters ran out of names for storms.

Studies show that climate change is making hurricanes wetter, because warm air can hold more moisture, and are making the strongest storms a bit stronger. Storms also may be stalling more, allowing them to drop more rain over the same place.

Democratic Governance, Transparency and Accountability

The Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network launched an investigative series on citizenship by investment programmes in the Caribbean. The stories examine the benefits of the programmes, along with transparency and accountability concerns in St. Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Dominica and Saint Lucia. The cross-border collaboration highlighted the economic value of such programmes to these small island developing states.

Climate Justice and Energy

Guyana's environmental authority renewed the environmental permit for ExxonMobil’s Liza 1 development in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana for five years even as the company continues to commit flaring violations owing to the failed gas compressor, reports Stabroek News.
Activists and experts had sought to use the permit expiry to push the oil major to obtain a better financial deal from its oil endowments, as well as adequate protection for the environment. (Kaieteur News) "The so-called protection that is in this permit is very weak and we are already seeing there is destruction of Guyana’s natural resource base as a result,” said Guyanese environmental lawyer Melinda Jankis. (Kaieteur News)
Colombia's Constitutional Court granted a special emergency protective measure ("tutela") for the Providencia Raizal community to Raizal leader Josefina Huffington. It is an English-speaking Afro-Caribbean community in Providencia, which is governed by Colombia. The court accepted the argument that the community's rights were put in jeopardy by climate displacement without an adequate government response in the wake of Hurricane Iota in 2020. (El Isleño)
Colombian rights organization Dejusticia asked the Court to evaluate climate change as a factor that "greatly affects the threat or violation of human rights", such as access to housing, water, health, food security that have been evidenced in Providencia. The request stressed that, as a consequence of what happened, many people have had to move from the island to San Andrés and other Caribbean municipalities. (El Espectador)
Organizations of civil society asked the United Nations to take measures to protect Raizal communities in San Andrés and Providencia. They called on the international organization to pressure the Colombian government to meet its obligations of prevention and climate event risk management for the protection of the Raizal people. (El Isleño)
Jamaica's mining minister recently called for Jamaica to plan for life after bauxite and alumina, pointing to limestone as a possible option. But the extractive limestone industry presents significant environmental challenges, and limestone plays an important role in the filtering, storage and supply of our fresh water, warns Theresa Rodríguez-Moodie of the Jamaica Environment Trust.

Decolonization and Racial Justice

The future of the British monarchy in the Caribbean looks bleak: In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, public sentiment toward the monarchy has soured, and calls for reparations for Britain’s often brutal role in the slave trade have been rising, reports the New York Times.
"There is no better example of the complex need for localization than Haiti, where it is a first step to correcting historic exploitation of the Haitian peoples and their land, including the “double debt” that has burdened the country for over two centuries," writes Tanvi Nagpal in Devex.

Covid-19 impact

Countries in the Americas should fortify their health systems to confront rising coronavirus deaths as well as the growing threats posed by other contagious diseases, including monkeypox, viral hepatitis and the flu, said PAHO Director Carisse Etienne, last week. (New York Times)

Diplomacy

The Summit of the Americas' utility is increasingly questioned by experts. Sir Ronald Sanders joins the discussion, and argues that the Caribbean would be better served by a more specific forum where regional concerns could get U.S. attention.

Food Security

IPS looks at a growing effort by small Cuban farmers to recuperate degraded land and use environmentally friendly techniques, a critical need in a country lacking in domestic food security and facing high import prices in the midst of economic crisis. At the end of 2021, Cuba had 226,597 farms, 1202 of which had agro-ecological status while 64 percent of the total – some 146,000 – were working towards gaining agroecological certification, according to official statistics.

Human Rights

Haitian prisons have suffered lack of food and water scarcity for at least three weeks, but shortages have worsened recently, reports the Miami Herald. The shortages, along with the reduction in prison visits and recreation activities, is a recipe for a prison revolt or a prison break, the latter of which has been a threat for months, according to Pierre Esperance, who heads the National Human Rights Defense Network.

Public Security

Trinidad and Tobago is likely to see a rise in violent crimes, as gangs splinter and bounce back from the pandemic, according to island authorities. It appears that gangs are splintering and, in the process, becoming more vicious, reports InSight Crime.
Seizures of military-style assault weapons in the Dominican Republic are raising concerns that criminal groups are accessing powerful firearms smuggled from the United States and elsewhere, reports InSight Crime.

Womens' Rights

Antigua and Barbuda became the first country in the Caribbean to ratify the International Labour Organisation's Violence and Harassment Convention. Convention No. 190 is the newest ILO Convention and the first to address violence and harassment in the world of work. (St. Lucia Star)

Aid

One of the first new international assistance trends to emerge in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the increased focus on the health sector and on social assistance, writes Stephen Brown in ANN.

Culture

Renowned Barbadian novelist George Lamming died last weekend at the age of 94. He will be accorded an official funeral on his native island. -- Global Voices
For the Jamaica Gleaner, "Lamming’s death was another pointer to the end of the era of that first generation of West Indian writers, artists, and intellectuals who, despite the turmoil of their colonial experiences, discerned the existence of a genuine Caribbean civilisation and fought for its acceptance and embrace."
The BBC's "Big Jubilee Read" celebrates great books from across the Commonwealth, to coincide with the Platinum Jubilee. It features 70 titles - ten from each decade of the Queen's reign, with a great selection from Caribbean writers.

Events

18 June -- CEDAW Speaker Series: Article 4 -- Gaynel Curry, Bahamian human rights expert -- Equality Bahamas. More info

Opportunities

Opening -- Director of Programmes -- International Planned Parenthood Federation
Climate Change Time Capsule competition -- The Climate Change Initiative

We welcome comments and critiques on the Just Caribbean Updates. You can see the Updates on our website, as well as receive it directly through the mailing list. Thank you for reading.

About the News Updates

The Just Caribbean Updates is a weekly dispatch of news from the Caribbean focused on rights, climate justice, decolonization -- as well as culture and history, among others. It features a mix of stories from the international and local press, as well as analysis from think tanks, academics and other commentators. It receives support from the Open Society Foundations (OSF), but the selection of news, and the views expressed in the posts, are those of the moderator, and do not necessarily reflect OSF’s institutional positions.

The briefing is put together by Jordana Timerman. Jordana is a freelance reporter and public policy researcher based in Buenos Aires. She holds a Masters in Philosophy and Public Policy from the London School of Economics and a BA in International Relations and History from Tufts University. She is the editor of the Latin America Daily Briefing. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Atlantic's City Lab, Zocalo Public Square, Time Magazine, the Huffington Post, Foreign Policy, The Nation and Americas Quarterly, among others.

Just Caribbean Updates

Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Climate Justice and Human Rights in the Caribbean

Thursday, July 14, 2022

Cuba, a year after protests (July 14, 2022)

Thursday, July 7, 2022

Trinidad and Tobago protests against police violence (July 7, 2022)

Tuesday, June 28, 2022

IACHR rules in landmark Isseneru case (June 28, 2022)

Friday, June 17, 2022

Privy Council rules against Barbuda communal land rights (June 17, 2022)

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

Alex kicks off Atlantic Hurricane season (June 7, 2022)

Mottley delivered blistering attack at COP27 (Nov. 9, 2022)

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