Stories about Caribbean from December, 2011
Jamaica: why they lost the election
Active Voice analyses yesterday's general election in Jamaica, explaining how Prime Minister Andrew Holness and the Jamaica Labour Party — who looked, a month ago, set to be returned to office — lost in a landslide to Portia Simpson-Miller and the People's National Party. “Let’s see if the PNP having...
Trinidad and Tobago: a lesson about strength
When Passion.Fruit sets out to rescue a trapped pigeon, a random encounter with a passing grandmother teaches her a lesson about strength, patience, and wisdom. “She cooed and comforted — nothing weak about her…. An accustomed unbinder of trapped limbs.”
Jamaica: a new prime minister
As Girl with a Purpose reports, the governing Jamaica Labour Party was defeated in yesterday's general election, and People's National Party head Portia Simpson-Miller is Jamaica's new prime minister — “a leader whose educational background is not as brilliant as her competitors,” observes Abeni from St. Vincent and the Grenadines,...
Barbados: too many cars
Barbados Underground asks: how can the island solve its perennial traffic problem? “Barbados is 166 square miles and at some point commonsense will have to take root. The number of vehicles on our roads cannot be allowed to go unregulated for much longer.”
Guyana: crime and insecurity
“Travel around coastland Guyana and you will see it too,” writes Imran Khan: “burglar bars, grillwork, heavily armed company security forces, reinforced doors, guard huts, watchmen, security lights, CCTV cameras.” He muses on the relationship between crime, underdevelopment, and political leadership.
Bermuda: rethinking ties with Britain?
The British government is reviewing its relationship with its overseas territories, writes Catch a Fire, and inviting Bermudans to share their perspectives. “I think we need a new Constitutional Convention to modernise and reform our relationship with the UK … and I would like each Overseas Territory to have a...
Jamaica: missing children
Where are the more than 500 children reported missing in Jamaica this year, asks Petchary — and why are more people not paying attention to “a serious issue which, at the best of times, is brushed aside as if it is nothing of great importance”? “How many are alone, hopeless,...
Jamaica: politician too loud?
Yvette J. Rowe contemplates a Jamaican election campaign advertisement that portrays opposition leader Portia Simpson-Miller as “too loud”: “These ads about attitude and posture are scoring dubious points rather than talking about the policies or the future of the country.”
Barbados: leptospirosis outbreak
A government press conference addressing a leptospirosis outbreak prompts Barbados Free Press to ask some questions: “Why must every new leptospirosis outbreak be a surprise? Why are Barbados governments incapable of implementing and carrying through with long-term plans about issues that are foundational to the health and safety of citizens?”
Barbados: old-time Christmas
Barbados Underground indulges in some seasonal nostalgia and describes a traditional Christmas “the Bajan way”: “Our young ones are missing that special warmth that we made as children.”
Bermuda: a blog break?
Is Bermuda’s blogosphere “taking a general break from blogging”? “Many of the newer blogs that set up in the last year or two seem to have generally been abandoned,” writes Catch a Fire, but he suggests that with a general election on the horizon Bermudan bloggers are likely to pick...
Jamaica: support for LGBT rights?
In a televised election debate, Jamaica's opposition leader Portia Simpson-Miller expressed cautious support for LGBT rights and for repealing the country's buggery laws. Ross Sheil gives a summary of the public reaction, “which shows the country softening or becoming more pragmatic on the issue.”
Jamaica: out of context
In the run-up to a general election in Jamaica, is a political advertisement misrepresenting opposition leader Portia Simpson-Miller by taking her comments out of context? Active Voice asks: “is it accurate and ethical to splice disparate bits of video and audio together like this?”
Video Highlights: Protests, Elections, Culture and GV
A selection of Global Voices' recent and interesting stories including video from Middle East and North Africa, Sub Saharan Africa, Eastern and Central Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America, selected by Juliana Rincón Parra.
Bermuda: military mess?
The United States maintained a military base in Bermuda for 50 years, finally departing in 1995. Who should clean up the pollution that got left behind, asks Catch a Fire? “The Americans … shouldn’t need to be told what to do…. They have no right to come and pollute our...
Guyana: politics and egg-pelting
Guyana-Gyal gives a wry account of a recent political protest in Guyana, involving an egg-pelting incident. “No-bady, noooobady can do politics like Turd Whirl people. We should call it Frolitics.”
Jamaica: election language
With a general election swiftly approaching in Jamaica, OwenSoft shares an online tool for comparing the frequency of words and phrases in the official election manifestos of the country's main political parties.
Jamaica: debating Caribbean art publishing
The ARC magazine blog reports on a recent panel on art publishing in the Caribbean, hosted by the National Gallery of Jamaica, with video clips of the discussion.
Jamaica: when poets join academia
UK-based Jamaican writer Kei Miller muses on the consequences of poets joining the academic world. “Poetry is certainly not known for its plain-spoken-ness and in fact is accused, just as much as the academy, for its obscurity and its pretensions. And this is as it should be!”
Barbados: tribute to Desmond Bourne
The Bajan Reporter posts a tribute to his late father, the journalist and adman Desmond Bourne. “It was not that my father never stood on convention, he acknowledged where he felt it was expected – such as Diplomats and & Ceremony – but for the most part he ignored it….”
Barbados: prime minister's quandary
Barbados Underground offers an analysis of the “headache” created for Prime Minister Freundel Stuart by a now notorious leaked letter allegedly demonstrating his party's doubts about the PM's leadership. “Whatever he does must positively feed public perception that he is in charge of his men. The question is: will it...
About our Caribbean coverage
Janine Mendes Franco is the Caribbean editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.
