News

GEORGETOWN, Guyana - THE revolutionary PetroCaribe initiative that allowed signatory nations to benefit from subisdised Venezuelan fuel and the role its architect, Hugo Chavez, the late President of Venezuela, played as a patron in Latin American and Caribbean integration were among the highlights of an afternoon of reflection on Monday, six days after his death.

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua - There is no doubt that the former president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, left an indelible mark on the world and his very recent death on March 5 gave many people a reason to pause and remember. Chávez was no stranger to controversy. In some cases, he almost seemed to thrive on it. He was brash and outspoken and minced no words; especially as it related to his opinions on the United States of America as one of the new global imperialists. Around the world, there were admirers and critics. Some people loved him and some hated him.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana - Much comment has been made, following the recent death of President Hugo Chávez, emphasizing forebodings about the fate of the PetroCaribe initiative and other forms of assistance, including the creation of the Alba; and the effects of any disappearance of these initiatives on the economic welfare of the Caricom countries, among other countries of the hemisphere.

St. John’s Antigua- Leader of the Opposition Gaston Browne is warning government could be forced to renew its arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as it faces increased difficulty meeting financial obligations. “Antigua & Barbuda will remain in an IMF programme for at least another three years because the government is not in a position to pay them,” Browne said. “Clearly the government is not in a position to pay. So what the IMF is going to do is that they are going to roll us over into a next IMF programme.”

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The Antigua and Barbuda government says it is preparing to deal with a motion filed by the son of the owner of a company based here who is asking the US courts to reconsider a previous ruling that dismissed a US$750,000 breach of contract lawsuit against the government.

WASHINGTON, CMC – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Tuesday said that St. Lucia has weathered the difficult post-crisis environment, becoming the largest economy in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU).
The ECCU comprises Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — Former Jamaican Prime Minister P J Patterson has blasted the decision by the United Nations to invoke "legal immunity" for rejecting compensation claims by some 5,000 Haitian victims of cholera.
"It is simply appalling, a most reprehensible behaviour... for the UN to claim such immunity," Patterson told the Jamaica Observer in a telephone interview.
"The moreso when scientific evidence substantates that the cholera epidemic was originally introduced in Haiti at the time by peace-keeping soldiers (from Nepal) under UN command," Patterson continued.

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says a lack of funds and supplies has crippled cholera treatment programmes in Haiti, leading to unnecessary deaths and increasing the risk of greater outbreaks during the upcoming rainy season.
In recent evaluations of public health facilities in four Haitian departments—Artibonite, Nippes, Southeast, and North—MSF said it found that the quality of cholera treatment declined significantly in the last year due to funding shortfalls.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - AS the saying goes, in party politics “all things are possible”—including, of course, success and defeat at free and fair elections and, by extension, related court rulings. Within the past two days, two opposition parties—one in Dominica, the other in Antigua and Barbuda—had to contend with this reality based on separate court decisions.

ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – The main opposition United Workers Party (UWP) has expressed disappointment at the ruling handed down by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court dismissing an election petition filed by filed by the defeated party candidates challenging the nomination of Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit and his Education Minister Petter Saint Jean to contest the 2009 general election.