Regional – Page 2 – Guyana Times International

London and I do speak, says Kamla

June 16, 2011 TIMES INT'L

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday dismissed reports of growing tension between herself and Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Orville London saying that they do speak to each other. London came in for special mention in the opening remarks of Persard-Bissessar’s feature address at the formal opening of the Trade and Investment Convention 2011 at the Hyatt Regency Trinidad, Port of Spain. The Prime Minister acknowledged the Chief Secretary and said she was pleased that he was able to attend the convention. “Very happy to see you…

Carrington appointed T&T envoy to Caricom

June 9, 2011 TIMES INT'L

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has appointed Sir Edwin Carrington as Trinidad and Tobago’s Ambassador Extraordinaire and Plenipotentiary to Caricom. Carrington received his instruments of appointment from Persad-Bissessar at the Office of the Prime Minister on Thursday, June 02. A release from the Prime Minister’s Office stated that Carrington, a Trinidadian, is the immediate former secretary-general of the Caribbean Community. He held that position from August 1992 to December 2010, making him the longest serving secretary- general of the Caribbean community. Carrington also served as deputy secretary- general, and immediately thereafter,…

Bill passed to crack down on illegal C’bean immigrants

June 9, 2011 TIMES INT'L

The southern U. S. state of Alabama has passed a sweeping bill to crack down on illegal Caribbean and other immigrants, and both supporters and opponents call the bill the toughest of its kind in the country. Observers say it goes well beyond a law Arizona passed last year that caused a furore there. The measure was passed by large margins in the Republican- controlled Alabama Senate and the House of Representatives. Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, a Republican, is expected to sign the bill into law. The Alabama bill includes…

Regional ICT strategy comes into focus

June 2, 2011 TIMES INT'L

Caribbean Community (Caricom) officials with responsibility for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) met in Grenada on Monday to discuss and improve on a draft Regional Digital Development Strategy (RDDS) and the strategic objectives of the implementation plan. The ministers’ discussion took place on the platform of the 36th Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) under which ICT falls. The Caricom Secretariat led the formulation of the strategy to guide the ICT activities and initiatives in the region, and to use ICT as a critical development…

Brazil bans gay sex education films

June 2, 2011 TIMES INT'L

President Dilma Rousseff has suspended the distribution and production of sex education films for schools in Brazil. President Rousseff believes the footage is not suitable for youngsters. The education packs contain gay and lesbian video scenes and are supposed to combat homophobia. However, evangelical church groups and their allies in Congress threatened to block any upcoming legislation unless President Rousseff halted the films. A government spokesman said President Rousseff had viewed the material personally and decided to suspend its distribution. “She didn’t like what she saw,” Gilberto Carvalho said. He…

TT’s People’s Partnership confident of the future

May 27, 2011 TIMES INT'L

One year after it convincingly won the general election, the People’s Partnership government began its second year in office on Tuesday amid allegations of corruption, a less-than-peaceful industrial climate, and fears of a lack of dynamism in the Trinidad and Tobago economy. But Prime Minister Kamla Persad- Bissessar, who has seen her ratings fall by 14 per cent since coming to office last year, has defended the first 12 months of the five-party coalition, insisting “we have been able to change the tone of the national political and civic discourse…

U.S. government revokes more visas for Haitians

May 27, 2011 TIMES INT'L

The U.S. State Department has revoked visas for a number of Haitian citizens, an American diplomat in the Caribbean country announced on May 19. Jon Piechowski, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Port-au- Prince, declined to disclose the identities of the Haitians, or to say if some or all were public officials, citing privacy rules for individual visa decisions. He also gave no specific number. He would say only that the travel documents were lifted earlier this week because the holders “were no longer qualified to have those visas.”…

Poverty affects 81 million children in Latin America, Caribbean

May 27, 2011 TIMES INT'L

In Latin America and the Caribbean, 45 per cent of children are affected by moderate to severe deprivation. This means that almost 81 million children below the age of 18 years suffer from child poverty, according to a study by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The study, “Child poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean”, developed rights-based measurement and diagnosis of child poverty in the region, and sought to put forward public policy recommendations to overcome the problem.…

Brazil Congress again delays vote on key forest law

May 19, 2011 TIMES INT'L

Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies has again postponed a vote on controversial changes that would ease a key law on forest protection. After a marathon 12-hour debate that saw renewed splits over the proposals, the vote was put off until next week. The Forest Code currently requires that 80 per cent of a landholding in the Amazon remain forest, 20 per cent in other areas. Proponents of change say the law impedes economic development, and Brazil must open more land for agriculture. Brazil’s Forest Code, enacted in 1934 and subsequently amended…

St Kitts-Nevis recovering – PM

May 19, 2011 TIMES INT'L

St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr Denzil Douglas says there are signs of economic recovery in the twin-island federation. Addressing over 500 delegates, officials, representatives of the diplomatic corps and invited guests at the 79th annual conference of his governing St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party on Sunday, the National Labour Party leader and prime minister said the past few years have been very challenging. He noted, however, that his government is already seeing signs that decisive policy actions will bring substantial long-term benefits for the federation. “We have had to…