Stories from and

Caribbean Court of Justice Mired in Controversy

  8 August 2014

Barbados Free Press says that few people realise “that the vaunted Caribbean Court of Justice carries no actual power or authority”, partly because compliance with the court's decisions is apparently voluntary. Comparing the institution to a toothless bulldog, the post went on to provide links to reports on several incidents...

What Owen Arthur's Resignation Says About Barbados’ Politics

  27 July 2014

Owen Arthur has resigned from the political party he led for 14 years – a move which Barbados Underground thinks should give Barbadians pause: The incapacity of a former Prime Minister…to carve out an effective role to serve his political party in the twilight of his career leaves a sour...

Budget Cuts Leave Barbados’ Health System Gasping for Air

  10 July 2014

Who in their right mind believed that a 35 million dollar cut to the health budget 2013 would not have adversely affected healthcare delivery in Barbados? Barbados Underground fears that the primary medical facility in the country, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, is on its death bed.

Barbados: No Love in the Cemetery

  19 June 2014

As a mourner discovers exposed skeletal remains and discarded bits of coffins in a local cemetery, Barbados Free Press laments “the latest indignities to buried friends and relatives”.

Caribbean: Corruption & the World Cup?

  3 June 2014

The sooner the international investigation is able to bring closure to the matter…the sooner the Caribbean maybe able to purge this sore from the…landscape. As the 2014 World Cup draws closer, Barbados Underground tackles the issue of alleged corruption within the world governing football body and its ties to the...

Guyana's Walter Rodney Inquiry

  1 June 2014

David, at Barbados Underground, admits—in the interest of full disclosure—that he represents the Guyana Trades Union Congress in the Commission of Inquiry into Walter Rodney's death, and has some concerns about the matter.

Misogyny Masquerading as Gender Equality in Barbados?

  23 March 2014

After questionable statements on gender violence from a public official in Barbados, CODE RED says: The Bureau of Gender Affairs has a mandate for ensuring gender equality. It is precisely because of that mandate that Bureau staff should publicly distance themselves from statements that are sexist, deliberately inflammatory and unsubstantiated.

Race as a Political Weapon in the Caribbean

  17 February 2014

Of all the offensive – and unintelligent – statements made in the politics of the post-independence Caribbean, an assertion, that Dr Keith Rowley, the leader of the Opposition in Trinidad and Tobago, is ‘too black’ to be Prime Minister, has to rate as the worst. Bajan Reporter explains why such...

Barbados: Homophobia & Child Abuse

  9 July 2013

Code Red uses the example of a child abuse case in Barbados to make the point that “the buggery laws perform a double injustice. They criminalise sexual relations between adults and support a culture of homophobia and…support an inadequate response to child sexual abuse.”

Barbados: Bush Bath

  10 June 2013

In Barbados, where religion is high on people's list of priorities, Notes From A Small Rock is considering taking a bush bath.

Barbados: The Economy & Crime

  22 April 2013

This is not the Bimshire I moved to six years ago…there was no gun culture. The problem is still one we could control if we had leadership who put resources into fixing the problem rather than denying its existence. Notes From A Small Rock sees trouble in paradise.

Jamaica, Barbados: Vying for Tourists

  20 March 2013

Active Voice compares advertisements from the Barbados Tourism Authority and the Jamaica Tourist Board and wonders “why is the Barbadian ad…so perfect that it could be a global model on how to sell yourselves? And contrastingly how and why does the JTB ad sell the country short?”

Jamaica, Barbados: Class & Justice

  8 March 2013

When I said let’s focus on substance rather than style or appearance it hadn’t yet occurred to me that in this case style IS the substance or a substantial part of what’s at stake. Active Voice blogs about a landmark case involving a Jamaican who was subjected to a cavity...