Stories about Caribbean from November, 2013
GV Face: 200,000 Dominicans of Haitian Descent Stripped of Citizenship
Can a country strip more than 200,000 people of their citizenship rights? This week we speak to activists in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.
Where Does Puerto Rico Stand on LGBT Issues?
Or perhaps a better question: where does the LGBT community stand in the struggle to gain visibility and recognition of its rights?
Cuba Suspends Consular Services in the United States
The suspension of consular services will affect Cuban and U.S. citizens alike, due to the impossibility of completing procedures such as issuing passports, visas, legalization documents, and other services.
Jamaica: Not Quite All Right
Active Voice isn't so sure that the new Jamaica tourist board slogan is actually “all right”.
Thousands March for the Liberation of Puerto Rican Political Prisoner Oscar López Rivera
Thousands of people are marching today in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in favor of the liberation of Oscar López Rivera, imprisoned in the United States 32 years ago on charges of “seditious conspiracy.” López Rivera, 70, is a fighter for the independence of Puerto Rico, a colony of the United...
Jamaica: Language & Development
Jamaica needs to be declared the bilingual state it is asap. Annie Paul thinks that “half of Jamaica’s problems stem from its linguistic identity crisis, insisting its mother tongue is English when a huge proportion of the population can only speak Patois.”
Cuban Intellectuals Debate the Prohibition of 3D Private Cinemas on the Island
Cuba's 3D cinemas, run by the private sector, have been banned.
Jamaica: Abuse of Police Power
If the police involved…are allowed to go unpunished aren’t you sending a message to other cops with no respect for human rights, especially the rights of the poor, that they have a license to behave like this? Active Voice issues a plea to Jamaica's police commissioner after two teens were...
The Caribbean Review of Books Reinvents Itself Online
Regional litbloggers will be glad to know that The Caribbean Review of Books is back in publication – online – with some help from Bocas Lit Fest.
Haiti: Reforestation Nation
Haiti Grassroots Watch blogs about some of the challenges of reforestation on the island.
Jamaica's Drug Testing Programme Under the Microscope
Jamaica's drug testing program is under fire thanks to a recent investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Conversation about the controversy has been rife on Twitter.
NACLA-Global Voices Partnership Tackles Gender & Sexuality in Latin America & the Caribbean
A team of five Global Voices authors from Latin America and the Caribbean will contribute weekly articles for a series about women, gender, and LGBT issues.
Have Racist Behaviors Been Unleashed in France ?
Epitomized by racial taunts [fr] towards the French Guiana-born Minister of Justice Christine Taubira on the cover of the weekly newspaper Minute, many observers bemoan the rise of racist behaviors [fr] in France. One of those observers is Harry Roselmack, a prominent reporter born in Martinique, who wrote an editorial in which...
Jamaica: Get with the (Interactive TV) Program!
You can buy the exclusive rights to such shows but you can’t do that and treat them as if they’re the kind of traditional uni-directional, analog content that’s on its way out without raising the ire of your viewers. The Voice is stirring up some discussion in Jamaica – and...
Jamaica: Police Painting Out Murals
Many will say the murals are merely ‘a glorification of criminals’ and should be defaced for fear of their ‘grave effects’ on ‘poor Jamaicans’ [but]…How does a profoundly corrupt state determine criminality? A really interesting post by Active Voice about the police embracing iconoclasm as a crime strategy.
200,000 Dominicans of Haitian Descent are Stripped of Citizenship
A myriad of NGOs and social activists have demonstrated against a sentence which has denationalized almost 250 000 Dominicans of Haitian descent.
Puerto Ricans Demand Oscar López Rivera's Release From Prison
The Movimiento Independentista Nacional Hostosiano (MINH), a Puerto Rican pro-independence movement, is organizing a peaceful protest on November 23 to demand the liberation of Oscar López Rivera. López Rivera is the longest-held political prisoner in the western hemisphere, charged with “seditious conspiracy” for his struggle for Puerto Rico's independence from...
Unveiling the Many Mysteries of the Monthly Energy Bill in Puerto Rico
The non-profit think tank Center for the New Economy (CNE), based in Puerto Rico, has launched the innovative and creative online campaign “The Mysteries of Your Energy Bill” [es] in which they explain the unexplainable: Where do all those increases in the energy bill come from? What do those formulas and...
Pilots’ Strike Leaves Caribbean Travelers Grounded
Caribbean travelers are being adversely affected by the LIAT pilots' strike - and they are sharing their frustrations on social media.
Cuban Government Agency Investigates Incident of Homophobic Violence First Reported Online
A Cuban author reported an incident of physical violence against a group of homosexual men in the city of Cardenas, Matanzas, in his blog. Now it is under investigation.
Dominican Republic and Haiti: Two very different versions
The blog Repeating Islands republished two letters to the editor of the New York Times that paint two very different pictures on the situation regarding the recent decision of the Constitutional Tribunal of the Dominican Republic to strip citizenship from all descendants of immigrants who entered the country extralegally, retroactive...
About our Caribbean coverage
Janine Mendes Franco is the Caribbean editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.
