Reality in Writing : Caribbean Political Economy

Originally posted on NACLA.org Published January 26th, 2012 When crime and the Caribbean is uttered in the same sentence, a reference to the drug trade is unfortunately not far behind. While the drug trade is a tragic epidemic in its own right, the fracturing of families and communities by economic restructuring has led to a dramatic increase in domestic violence throughout the region. What makes matters worse is that domestic violence is often trivialized and left out of context, therefore severely hindering efforts to implement meaningful and lasting reforms.709 Credit: Jennifer Yang/Toronto Star A case in point can be made with the comments by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education of St. Vincent and the Grenadines Girlyn Miguel on January 12. Miguel chastised the island’s women by asking them “to dress themselves properly” so that they “do not give temptation to our men.” Miguel continued issuing more of an observation than a condemnation of domestic violence stating, “we

Originally posted on NACLA.org Published January 19th, 2012 Two thousand and twelve holds both a great deal of uncertainty and cautious optimism for the Caribbean. The election of new governments over the past year in Jamaica and St. Lucia, the controversial re-election of an incumbent in Guyana, and the selection of Michel Martelly out of a flawed election in Haiti has sent mixed signals about the overall direction the region is taking. With the global economy still in an extremely volatile state, the predominately service-oriented economies of the Caribbean remain extremely vulnerable to the action or inaction of Europe and the United States. In Guyana, December’s election saw Donald Ramotar of the incumbent People’s Progressive Party emerge with the win—albeit with a minority government. The delayed release of election results triggered a wave of controversy and political tension within the country that has yet to cease. The Opposition leader, David Granger, just announced the possi