Victoria Mendizabal contributed research and drafting assistance to today’s newsletter.
CARICOM leaders have sought support democratic solutions for Haiti as the country’s already acute crisis intensified in recent weeks. CARICOM leaders had pushed Henry to resign at the CARICOM summit (see Feb. 27’s post), but instead accepted his pledge to hold elections by Aug. 2025. (See post for Feb. 29.)
Although CARICOM lacks a unified foreign policy, Caribbean countries “generally promote democratic governance” in their public discourse, Rasheed Griffith, a Barbadian analyst and the executive director of the Caribbean Progress Studies Institute, told Foreign Policy. He added that “it’s a very strong core tenet of CARICOM” and helps explain bloc members’ stance on Henry, who “can’t be seen on the international stage to be a credible representative of Haiti.”
With Port-au-Prince under siege from criminal organizations, CARICOM leaders met over Zoom with opposition leaders in Haiti, reports the Miami Herald. “During the calls, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Motley asked for their position on how to navigate the current crisis.” In another call with the private sector, the issue of Henry’s possible resignation prompted mixed reactions.
“For months, Haitian civil society groups, Caribbean countries, and security experts have argued that Henry’s lack of legitimacy as a leader would hamper the effectiveness of foreign intervention (not to mention that past interventions in Haiti have yielded disastrous consequences). But conditions in the country have gotten so bad that even former skeptics are changing their tune,” writes Catherine Osborn in Foreign Policy.
A group of activists urged CARICOM leaders “ to proceed with great care and attention on the issue of Haiti and the role of CARICOM. CARICOM must not be seen to give effect to the neo-colonial and imperial agenda of the US, France, and Canada. They are not genuinely interested in the well-being of the Haitian people”. (Kaieteur News)
“As Haiti faces another invasion – this time nominally led by Kenya and CARICOM countries – I would like to ask the Caribbean community to think about the vast arsenal at the US empire’s disposal to convince the rest of the world to gladly go along with another strike at Haitian sovereignty. I would also ask the Caribbean community to consider the fact that much of what we hear about Haiti today is a distortion – or an outright fabrication – of Haiti’s social and political reality”, Hatian-born University of British Colombia professor Jemima Pierre told Stabroek News
The Caribbean and The World
Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival in 2024 served as a platform for strong social commentary on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Carnival, rooted in struggle and rebellion, effectively utilized music, masquerade, and other forms of expression to highlight and foster deeper conversations about the ongoing conflict and the broader issue of Palestine's plight, writes Janine Mendes-Franco in Global Voices.
Climate and Environmental Justice
Dominica is at a crossroads due to upcoming developments aimed at increasing tourism. Some of these include a new international airport and a cable car to Boiling Lake, intended to make the island more accessible to tourists and potentially transform its pristine environment. While these changes promise economic benefits and increased accessibility, they also raise concerns among residents and environmentalists about the potential loss of the island's natural beauty and unique ecological balance. (The New York Times)
“There is limited international support for special allocations for SIDS within financing arrangements and available climate finance from international and private sources is limited, expensive, and too onerous to access”, expressed CARICOM in an official Climate Change statement.
“Frankly, speaking, an oil spill is not thought of as a problem until it actually becomes one. Happens elsewhere, to other people, but not here. Nobody in his or her right mind is sitting down and hoping for an oil spill. God forbid that one should happen here. But the longer that an oil spill fails to materialize, the quicker and smoother it is to let down the guard. It is simply a matter of the odds, a normal human tendency”, states GHK Lall for Kaieteur News.
Climate Tracker, in partnership with Open Society Foundations, awarded five grants to journalists, media professionals, communicators, and content creators to produce climate justice resources aimed at aiding the Caribbean media and activism community in understanding and championing climate justice communications and reporting across the region. (Climate Tracker)
Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF) has committed $25 million to Allied Climate Partners (ACP), a new initiative aimed at increasing investment in climate projects in the Global South, including the Caribbean. This effort is designed to use philanthropic capital to address early-stage risks that deter large-scale investments needed from Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), other development institutions, and private sector investors. (Soros Economic Development Fund)
Migration
Despite some claims suggesting that Venezuelan migrants could pose security threats or contribute to rising crime rates in Guyana, data shows that Venezuelans in Guyana are less likely to commit crimes compared to their share of the total population. The narrative that Venezuelan migrants are bringing crime to Guyana has been challenged by evidence indicating that they are often victims rather than perpetrators of crime, particularly in illegal mining activities. (Americas Migration Brief)
Democratic Governance
A classified diplomatic cable obtained by The Grayzone reveals the CIA's involvement in orchestrating the violent overthrow of Haiti's popular President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. The cable implicates a veteran CIA officer, Janice L. Elmore, who was working undercover as a Department of State "Political Officer" at the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince, in meetings with disloyal local police officers and coup plotters in Gonaïves prior to a significant jailbreak that set in motion the regime change campaign. (The Gray Zone)
Premier David Burt of Bermuda, a British Overseas Territory seeking full membership in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), has stated that full membership in the regional integration movement does not imply the automatic adoption of the free movement of nationals across member states. (Loop)
The Gladstone Road Improvement Project in The Bahamas, a government initiative to transform a two-lane road into a four-lane highway, lacks a comprehensive vision for community development and the potential negative impacts on local ecosystems and community dynamics. The project is seen as promoting car dependency at the expense of public transportation and pedestrian infrastructure, raising concerns about its environmental, social, and economic costs. (Island City Lab)
Reparations and Decolonisation
Jamaica is planning to transform sites associated with the slave trade into destinations for "grief tourism," an industry that draws visitors to places of historical suffering. The island aims to preserve and restore its Georgian architectural relics of Britain's slave economy, allowing tourists to engage with the darker aspects of its colonial past. This initiative is supported by the Jamaican government and aims to conserve historical sites and monuments linked to slavery. (Repeating Islands)
Human Rights
LGBTQ+ activists struggle in the Caribbean to decriminalize homosexuality, which is punishable by long prison sentences in six Caribbean countries. Despite a series of court victories, LGBTQ+ activists faced setbacks in Jamaica and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, where courts decided to maintain laws that criminalize same-sex relationships. (Le Monde)
Alysha Cornwall has been chosen as the inaugural female Resident British Commissioner for a Day to mark International Women’s Day. She was selected after submitting a compelling video discussing ways to reduce violence against women in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. (IWN)
Culture
Caribbean American women have played a significant role in shaping Black culture in America, spotlighting figures like Shirley Chisholm, Edwidge Danticat, Marsha Jean-Charles, Opal Tometi, Nicki Minaj, and Grace Jones. Their contributions span politics, literature, activism, music, and fashion, each challenging barriers related to race, gender, and cultural identity. (CNW)
Cynthia McLeod, a distinguished Surinamese author, was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Anton de Kom University of Suriname. This accolade acknowledges her significant contributions to literature, particularly her expertise in interweaving historical facts with fiction in her novels. (Repeating Islands)
Opportunities
Project Drawdown is searching for several part-time Research Fellows to help us assess potential climate solutions across a range of sectors and disciplines. Fellows will conduct high-level technical and scientific reviews of a wide variety of potential climate solutions – reviewing the international peer-reviewed literature and conducting meta-analyses of the effectiveness, cost, and adoption of different solutions. Learn more.
The Commonwealth Foundation has opened applications for a role in its Senior Programme Officer focused on International Advocacy. The elected candidate will coordination skills to design and lead a variety of advocacy projects that help create change and build knowledge and partnerships around our three key thematic areas of focus climate justice, health justice and freedom of expression – working as part of a six-person team under the direction of the Advocacy and Creative Senior Programme Manager (SPM). Learn more.
Events
March 12th, the Just Transition: Empowering Inclusive Climate Action for the Caribbean online webinar will be held organized Climate Analytics. Register.
On 13th March, the UCL Institute of the Americas Caribbean Seminar Series organized by the Labour Caribbean Solidarity presents Industrial Relations in the Caribbean, with guest speaker Ozzi Warwick, a leading trade unionist in Trinidad and Tobago. Register.
March 15th, 2024, the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET), with the support of the Open Society Fund and True Costs Initiative, will host Jamaica’s first Climate Litigation Seminar. The hybrid seminar will introduce the area of practice to legal professionals and other interested persons. For more information and registration contact kdixon.jet@gmail.com or jamaicaenvironmenttrust@gmail.com.