PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Guardian - The effort that was invested in producing elaborate theatre to celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Chaguaramas on Thursday might suggest the seriousness that the region’s leaders have invested in the idea of regional unity. Cynics, however, might hope for more tangible proof of such efforts.
WASHINGTON, CMC - A report commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has found that Latin America and the Caribbean’s renewable energy endowment is large enough to cover its projected 2050 electricity needs many times over.
The report “Rethinking our Energy Future” argues that lower prices and new technologies are making renewables a viable alternative.
It also says that solar, geothermal, wave, wind and biomass sources in the region could produce up to 80 petawatt-hour of electricity.
In its third successful year, the Caribbean Investment Forum (CIF) 2013 delivered on the promise of rich opportunities for investors seeking a foothold in the Caribbean. More than 500 entrepreneurs, government ministers, investors, CEOs, and CFOs heeded the call to discuss the development and investment opportunities of various sectors, including tourism, at CIF 2013 which was hosted at the Trinidad Hilton and Conference Centre on June 10 and 11.
UNITED NATIONS, CMC - The United Nations General Assembly met on Monday to consider progress in the global struggle against the HIV/AIDS epidemic with the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries indicating that other “pressing” health challenges are threatening the region’s socio-economic development. Speaking on behalf of CARICOM, the Bahamas’ UN envoy, Eugene Glenwood Newry, identified these challenges as “persistent and significant declines in international development assistance and unfair restrictions on access to financial assistance”.
MASSACHUSETTS, CMC - A team of oceanographers and astrobiologists in the United States is continuing their “systematic” exploration of one of the deepest points in the Caribbean Sea, searching for life in extreme seafloor environments.
According to Dr. Chris German, of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Massachusetts, the scientists are using the hybrid underwater robotic vehicle Nereus in extending their investigations throughout the depths of the Mid-Cayman Rise, which reaches to more than 6,500 meters deep.
UNITED NATIONS, CMC - The United Nations says that 10 Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries have signed the first ever international treaty to regulate the trade of conventional weapons. The UN identified them as Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Belize, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. Grenada’s Foreign Affairs and International Business Minister Nickolas Steele said the treaty “will save many of the innocent lives, which before today, have been lost as a result of the poorly regulated international arms trade”.
KINGSTON, Jamaica - Caribbean nations have been relatively slow to recognise that long-term structural changes taking place in tourism require a new and strategic vision for a sector that many industry professionals in the region regard as underperforming. Over the last two decades competition for visitors has become global, the nature of the tourism demand and the product has diversified, and the Caribbean has become just one of many warm weather destinations.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Regional governments are being urged to intensify efforts to fully operationalise the Free Movement of skilled individuals which is an element of Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME). Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer made the call yesterday afternoon during his inaugural address as chairman of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
KINGSTON, Jamaica - Ronald Mason is entitled to his personal opinions, but he's not entitled to pick and choose facts to reinforce his ideological views on why Jamaica must leave CARICOM. The capitalist organisation of the global economy is inherently uneven. The European Union (EU) and NAFTA reflect in the most concrete ways the spatial unevenness that capitalism reproduces. Let us start by clearing the air about who was responsible for the collapse of the Federation of the West Indies.
(CARICOM News Network) St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) has ruled out devaluing the EC dollar within the next five years. The Bank’s Managing Director, Jennifer Nero has made it clear that devaluation is not on the cards. She confirmed that there has been “substantial analysis” done on the matter of the value of the EC dollar. “It’s under watch all the time, but as of this point in time there is no real reason for that (devaluation) at all,” the Central Bank official told Winn FM. “The currency has been within the acceptable bands, coming and going.