MEXICO CITY, CMC – The Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) says Latin America and Caribbean countries will have to adopt new water management models as agricultural production, industry and energy generation vie for the commodity in coming years.
Delegates from more than 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have been meeting here for the IICA Executive Committee meeting.
SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Protesters showed up by the thousands in Brazil’s largest cities on Monday night in a remarkable display of strength for an agitation that had begun with small protests against bus-fare increases, then evolved into a broader movement by groups and individuals irate over a range of issues including the country’s high cost of living and lavish new stadium projects.
NEW YORK, CMC - A major international credit rating agency has revised Curacao’s economic outlook from negative to stable.
The Wall Street-based Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Ratings Service cited the government’s efforts in enhancing its financial situation as the reason for the revision.
“The government raised health care and general pension premiums, as well as raised the retirement age to 65 from 60. As a result, we expect the deficit in the general pension system to gradually return to surpluses over the next decade,” it said in a statement.
The Caribbean High Commissioners in the United Kingdom (UK) are gearing up to lobby the British Government for an ease in the Airline Passenger Duty (APD) and have secured £40,000 to assist them in this effort.
Minister of Tourism and International Transport, Richard Sealy, gave an update on his recent visit to the UK to meet with players in the tourism industry, during an interview with the Barbados Government Information Service.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Thirty years after establishing diplomatic relations, Antigua & Barbuda and Venezuela on Saturday took their already cordial affairs in a new direction.
The two independent nations launched the Antigua-Venezuela Friendship Association – a level of co-operation that officials said would help cement the unbreakable bonds between the peoples of the two countries.
Venezuelan ambassador to Antigua & Barbuda Carlos Perez Silva hailed the launch as “a movement of solidarity with Venezuela and its Bolivarian revolution.”
GEORGETOWN, Guyana - What began on May 28 as a protest against the planned redevelopment of a park in Istanbul, to accommodate the construction of a replica Ottoman-era barracks and a mosque, has snowballed into a national political crisis for Turkey’s Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his Islamist-leaning Justice and Development Party (known by its Turkish acronym, AKP). But, with at least five deaths and thousands injured and imprisoned, Mr Erdogan does not seem to be dealing with the crisis very well.
ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC - Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says the construction of the Venezuela-funded EC$10 million (One EC dollar = US$0.37 cents) abattoir will significantly reduce the importation of meat here. “Often times people say government isn’t doing enough for agriculture, but here it is there is an important project geared towards reducing the importation of meat into Dominica.
WASHINGTON, CMC – The World Bank has warned that growth in the Caribbean “will be held back” by large fiscal adjustments necessary to bring fiscal deficits to sustainable levels and help reduce public debt burdens.
WARWICK, England — THE British do not torture. At least, that is what we in Britain have always liked to think. But not anymore. In a historic decision last week, the British government agreed to compensate 5,228 Kenyans who were tortured and abused while detained during the Mau Mau rebellion of the 1950s. Each claimant will receive around £2,670 (about $4,000). The money is paltry. But the principle it establishes, and the history it rewrites, are both profound. This is the first historical claim for compensation that the British government has accepted.
WASHINGTON, CMC - The Organization of American States (OAS) has launched an exhibition of previously unseen works by Caribbean artists, titled “Groundation – Sources of Caribbean Artistry”. Hosted by the OAS Assistant Secretary General Albert Ramdin and curated by Jamaican author, sociologist and cultural heritage specialist, Margaret Bernal, the exhibition includes a range of oils, water colours, mixed media and a tapestry five years in the making, detailing Caribbean culture from Ottawa-based Trinidad artist Lorna Ramlochansingh.