Reality in Writing : Caribbean Political Economy

Sept. 27, 2012 NACLA.org Earlier this month, the government of St. Lucia announced that it will be maintaining ties with Taiwan. This came as a surprise to many, as it was Dr. Kenny Anthony’s Labour Party (SLP) administration that broke off relations with Taiwan in 1997, shifting diplomatic relations to the People’s Republic of China. While in opposition, Anthony promised that he would review the island’s foreign relations policy, and it was widely assumed that the election of Anthony in December 2011 would result in the SLP favoring ties with China once again. The many well publicized incidents of corruption and political meddling associated with the relationship between former Taiwanese ambassador Tom Chou and the former United Workers Party (UWP) government widely fueled the assumption that these ties would be broken. Yet this was not the case, and instead Anthony argued that it was best for St. Lucia to stay the course with Taiwan and not behave “like a Jack-in-

September 21, 2012 NACLA.org On September 21, Belize won a 60-day reprieve after a partial debt payment of $11.7 million, which avoided their descent into a full blown default. With a population of 330,000 people, the Central American nation known for its ecotourism has a government debt of $1.1 billion . Prime Minister Dean Barrow has laid out three proposals for rescheduling its bond payments, resulting in creditors being asked to write off 45 percent of their investment, or spread payments out over 50 years, with a 15-year grace period and interest of two percent, down from the current 8.5 percent. While this would hardly shake global financial markets, such a move would be unlikely for Belize, which has been hit hard by increasing poverty due to sluggish economic growth. Ecotourism has come to dominate the majority of Belize's economy, providing the bulk of the country’s revenue. Despite tourism arrivals being at their highest ever levels , the tourism consul

Sept. 13, 2012 NACLA.org According to a report released on August 31 by Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon regarding the United Nations Mission for Stabilization in Haiti (MINUSTAH by its French acronym), it appears that the renewal of the highly controversial mission will occur once again without any meaningful debate. Moon’s report effectively acts as a rubber stamp of approval for the occupation, stating that he was “Reaffirming my commitment to continue to focus the activities of the Mission, I recommend that the Security Council extend its mandate of one year, until 15 October 2013.” MINUSTAH’s reputation and credibility as a stabilizing force has been shattered since the introduction of cholera into the island by the negligence of both the troops and shoddy base infrastructure in October 2010. Up until the deployment of Nepalese troops in the Artibonite Valley that October, Haiti had never experienced a cholera outbreak. According to the latest figures , the cholera

August 23, 2012 Originally Published in Haiti Liberte The international think-tank International Crisis Group has issued a lengthy report on the MINUSTAH military occupation regime in Haiti. Dated August 2, 2012, it runs 28 pages and its central recommendation is that the police/military regime should remain in Haiti for at least another five years. The report is titled, Towards a Post-MINUSTAH Haiti: Making An Effective Transition . This is the sixth report the ICG has produced on Haiti since the earthquake of January 2010. The group has displayed a capacity for frank and unbiased opinion. Its study on shelter and housing issued in June 2011, for example, blasted the government of Haiti and its international sponsors, saying they were utterly failing to meet the desperate housing needs of Haitians. In this latest report, however, the group accepts without question the presence of MINUSTAH and its claim to have the best interests of Haitians at heart. The report amounts to