Has the ACP a future?

KINGSTON. Jamaica - In 2020 the Cotonou Convention will expire. Then the trade, aid and development mechanism that links 79 nations in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (the ACP) to Europe may well come to an end without any successor agreement being put in pace. How this has come about says as...
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Rethinking taxing tourism

KINGSTON. Jamaica - ARE governments in the Caribbean killing the goose that lays the golden egg? This question relates to the number of taxes that governments are applying to the tourism industry and, particularly, to the cost of aeroplane tickets for flights originating in their countries. In some...
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CARICOM complainants don’t need new bureaucracy

KINGSTON, Jamaica - Christopher Tufton, the shadow foreign affairs and foreign trade minister, doesn't seem to get it. So, he is shopping around for more bureaucracy - a mechanism, he says, for public-private sector consultation on trade disputes with Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica's Caribbean...
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Let’s decide, do we leave or go forward with CARICOM?

KINGSTON. Jamaica - This Tuesday, Jamaica gets what we believe may be a last chance to make up our minds whether we cut the umbilical cord between us and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and strike out alone on an uncertain future outside of the regional bloc. Foreign Minister Arnold J Nicholson, ...
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Sweeping Protests in Brazil Pull In an Array of Grievances

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Just a few weeks ago, Mayara Vivian felt pretty good when a few hundred people showed up for a protest she helped organize to deride the government over a proposed bus fare increase. She had been trying to prod Brazilians into the streets since 2005, when she was onl...
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Protests in Brazil

GEORGETOWN, Guyana - There is not a lot in Brazil that is more important than football but on Wednesday, not even Brazil’s victory over Mexico in the Confederation Cup could divert attention from the wave of protests that have shaken the country this week. Indeed, the news that the authorities...
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Artwork from Barbados, Bahamas added to IDB permanent collection

WASHINGTON, CMC, CMC – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has added three Caribbean paintings to its art collection. The Washington-based financial institution said the Caribbean Country Department (CCB) granted funds to the IDB’s Art Collection for paintings to highlight Caribbea...
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Jamaica to establish national museum

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Jamaica government has announced plans for the establishment of a National Museum of the Jamaican People. Youth and Culture Minister Lisa Hanna said the museum will be created as part of the Institute of Jamaica (IOJ). “It will be a space where our children w...
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Colombia helping to develop skills of artisans and designers

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Colombia will provide assistance to Barbados as the island seeks to develop the technical skills of artisans and designers. A delegation from the South-South Cooperation Department of the Ministry of External Relations of Colombia and the Artesanias de Colombia Corp...
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Cops ask PM for ‘make, type’ of electronic devices

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said yesterday police investigators have contacted her via letter requesting the “make and type” of her electronic devices. This letter, she said, was promptly handed over to her legal adviser, Israel Khan, SC. “For my...
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