CARIBBEAN NEWS-VOL. 2, NO. 3
March, 2004BANGUI, CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC(AP-3/2/04)- Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide said U.S. soldiers kidnapped him and forced him into exile, telling him they would "start shooting and killing" if he refused. He repeated the claim in an interview with CNN, saying that he was forced out without being allowed to speak to the people and put on a plane with his family for 20 hours without knowing where he was going.
Aristide, his wife and a few companions landed in the Central African Republic, a nation as impoverished and nearly as coup-prone as the one he left, aboard a U.S. government plane.
The Bush Administration denied the claim. "He was not kidnapped. We did not force him on to the airplane. He went...willingly, and that’s the truth,"said Secretary of State Colin Powell.
However, questions were raised by African-American activist Randall Robinson and U.S. Representative Charles Rangel after telephone conversations with Aristide.
In Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, officials said the ousted president was not a prisoner, although initial reports suggested that his movements were restricted.
Authorities said the U.S., France and Gabon negotiated Aristide’s asylum, saying it would last only a few days, with South Africa possibly a permanent stop.
When asked by the AP if he left Haiti on his own, Aristide quickly answered, “No, I was forced to leave.”
In related stories:
BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS(EXPRESS-3/12/04)- The Jamaica Government disclosed that it has agreed to “host” ousted Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide and his family for a period of 8 to 10 weeks. Jamaica’s Prime Minister PJ Patterson, current chairman of CARICOM, stressed that Aristide was not seeking political asylum in Jamaica.
Currently in exile in the Central African Republic, Aristide, who maintains that he was the victim of a coup, insists that he is “still the lawful president of the Republic of Haiti.”
As lawyers for Aristide in France and the U.S. were moving to mount legal challenges to the circumstances surrounding his removal from office, PM Patterson stated, “At his request, arrangements are being made for his travel and accommodation in Jamaica….His stay in Jamaica is not expected to be in excess of 8 to 10 weeks. He is engaged in finalising arrangements for permanent residence outside of the region.”
Aristide, however, stated from Bangui that should he eventually move to South Africa, it would be “a stop on my way back to Haiti, where I rightly belong.”
BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS(EXPRESS-3/2/04)- Prime Minister Patrick Manning said that CARICOM is demanding to know the truth with respect to the departure of Haitian President Aristide from office. The query comes in the wake of a claim by the former president of TransAfrica, a group that monitors U.S. policy towards Africa and the Caribbean, that Aristide had been forced out by American forces now in Haiti.
American officials have denied the claim, and in a broadcast on African radio, Aristide made no mention of an abduction.
Manning said a CARICOM response would only be determined after the facts are known.
BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS(DAILY NATION-3/1/04)- Pan-Africanists David Comissiong, David Denny, and Ikael Tafari, have called for a multi-national force to be deployed in Haiti, rather than a U.S invasion. Comissiong said it was disappointing that the black world did not have institutions of power to deal with the current crisis.
“It’s a reminder of how impotent the black world has become…We have no structures in place to deal with our problems”, he said. “We in the Caribbean have not done all that we can do. We must not simply accept defeat. We must seek solution within the black world.”
Tafari said the last thing Haiti needed was a U.S. led invasion. “It is psychologically demoralising when people have to hand over their affairs to someone else, especially when that agency is one that has exploited and dominated them,” he said.
Other News:
BRIDGETOWN, BARBADOS(DAILY NATION- 3/11/04)- A U.S. registered plane at the center of controversy after being detained with 64 suspected mercenaries aboard by the Zimbabwean government, did stop at Grantley Adams International Airport here. The Boeing 727 landed in Barbados for refueling.
Sources also indicated that the aircraft, which also carried military equipment, had arrived in Barbados from Hope Air Force Base in North Carolina. It is also claimed that the plane, originally a Pan Am commercial jet, was being operated by the U.S. Air Force, but other reports stated it had been sold to a South African company.
ST. JAMES, JAMAICA(OBSERVER- 3/11/04)- Banana farmers here are already tallying the expected losses from the destruction of 20 acres of fields that have been infected with Moko disease.
Robert Chambers, proprietor of Maroon Pride Banana Chips, said, “If the disease becomes widespread, over 3,000 farmers will be affected.”
Both large and small Maroon Town farmers, as well as those that produce banana chips, are bracing for the severe blow they expect Moko disease will have on their sole source of income. Apart from the loss of income, mobilising funds to reinvest in new fields and new plants are other considerations.
CUNUPIA, TRINIDAD(EXPRESS-3/2/04)- Previously scheduled to die as part of the extermination of all birds on a virus-infected farm, Yugi the pet parrot has been quarantined at the Agriculture Ministry while veterinarians await test results on whether it is also infected.
Khalda Noonoo, owner of Noo Food Farm as well as Yugi, said, “This is really a sad time for the family. We woke up today to the sound of silence. All the birds gone.” His farm was quarantined after tests confirmed that his laying hens were dying from infectious Laryngotracheitis.
The virus has never before been found in Trinidad and how it got here remains a mystery.
Noonoo’s egg farm produced more than 11,000 eggs a day and supplied major supermarkets. He said, “We are hoping for a fresh start and maybe we will bloom again. We just hope our parrot is okay.”
ST. THOMAS, VIRGIN ISLANDS(VI DAILY NEWS- 3/10/04)- The territory’s unemployment rate fell slightly to 8.7%, but the number of people holding jobs continued to plummet. The islands lost 280 jobs between December and January.
St Thomas/St. John’s unemployment rate remains at 7.1%, while St. Croix’s dropped slightly to 11%
Unemployment rates do not take into account workers that have been unemployed so long they have exhausted their benefits. They also do not take into account workers that have left the territory in search of work elsewhere.
Dave Barber, chief of the Statistics Bureau of the Labor Dept. said, “They are not collecting unemployment anymore, and we’re not showing any more jobs being created. There has to be some kind of improvement, especially on St. Croix. To see improvement, they must diversify from tourism.”
TORTOLA, BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS(ISLAND SUN- 2/21/04)- Police have confirmed that 2 skeletal remains were found in the Lambert Beach area, side by side. Workers were digging a trench when they unearthed the remains. Sources stated the remains appear to have been buried for a number of years and police are keeping an open mind as to the circumstances under which the bodies were buried. An anthropologist is on island to analyze and date the remains.
ST. THOMAS, VIRGIN ISLANDS(VI DAILY NEWS- 3/10/04)- The Virgin Islands are eligible for $1.5 million in disaster relief funding from FEMA- far less than the local government’s $25 million estimate for damage done to local roads, schools and public buildings from November’s heavy rain and flooding. Most of the money will go to repairing roads, which suffered the most extensive damage.
On Dec. 9, President Bush declared the Virgin Islands a disaster area. Severe storms hammered the territory from Nov. 10-16, triggering flooding, landslides and mudslides.
The Office of Management and Budget said much of the damage included in the estimate was not directly related to the flooding, leading to FEMA rejections.
KINGSTON, JAMAICA(STAR- 3/13/04)- Jamaica is huge in the British press again. It has nothing to do with crime, Sean Paul or even the famed beaches. On this occasion it is their alleged ‘cereal’ obsession that is causing the glare in the media.
Reports claiming that Jamaicans were using a British cereal like Viagra hit the news media like Hurricane Gilbert. The story stated that Dorsett Cereal’s Super High Fiber Muesli was flying off the shelves in Jamaica. The reason: Jamaican men believed the cereal mixed with milk and Guinness aided their sexual stamina.
In all the stories, Gifford Williams, head of sales for the local purveyor, Amalgamated Distributors, was quoted as saying, “A lot of men here have sex on the brain so they think a high fiber level will boost their sex drive.”
However, supermarkets in Jamaica said that while the cereal was selling, it certainly was not out-performing any other brand.
But do Jamaican men really believe that the cereal is a cheaper form of Viagra? One man opined that the article was a fabrication by the British press. “Dem tink we a idiot. Jamaican man eat oyster and drink linseed. Wi nuh eat cereal!”
SPORTS:
KINGSTON, JAMAICA(ADVOCATE- 3/12/04)- Devon Smith scored his first Test century and Ryan Hinds hit 84, but England edged it on the opening day of the first Test against West Indies. Smith hit 108 as England reduced West Indies to 311-9 as bad light ended play early at Sabina Park here.
Simon Jones picked up 2 wickets, dismissing Brian Lara and Ridley Jacobs. Swing bowler Matthew Hoggard, spinner Ashley Giles and Steve Harrison also took 2 wickets each.
England was off to a flying start, when Smith capitalised from England’s undisciplined play, producing an array of shots. The 22-year-old’s ton came up with a hooked four off a Hoggard bouncer.
ENTERTAINMENT:
BURNING SPEAR has recorded some of the most potent music in the annals of Reggae music. The legendary Rootsman is moving to protect that legacy with a new promotion deal. He has signed a deal with RYKO Distribution to market the 20-set catalogue of his Burning Music company. The first 4 to be re-issued are : “Rasta Business”, “People Of The World”, “Resistance” and “Living Dub, Vol. 2”.
Spear’s latest release, “Freeman”, will also be re-issued this year. Although it consistently got good reviews, Spear was dissatisfied with the distributor- Red Dog Records- and their promotion of the record. He chose to move to RYKO, owned by Island Records founder, Chris Blackwell, the company that put Burning Spear on the map in the 1970’s with classic albums like “Marcus Garvey” and “Man In The Hills”.
Four years ago, the Rasta performer won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album for “Calling Rastafari”, which was his final record for indie distributor, Heartbeat Records.
Born Winston Rodney in St. Ann’s in 1945, he started his career at Studio One, where he cut his self-titled debut album and the influential “Rocking Time”. But it was not until he met producer Jack Ruby that his career reached international heights. In early 1975, Ruby gathered the cream of Reggae’s musicians in Kingston and recorded “Marcus Garvey”, long regarded as one of the great albums of the 1970’s.
Burning Spear will mark his 35th year in the music business with a world-wide tour, starting in April in Australia. (This edited article courtesy of the Jamaica Observer)
CULTURE AND THE ENVIRONMENT:
ST. THOMAS, VIRGIN ISLANDS(VI DAILY NEWS- 3/10/04)- All people affect the environment, but with a little effort and ingenuity, they can reduce the negative impact they have on the natural world. That is the message from Sabine Schwarer and his wife, Dario, founders of the Top To Top Club, which raises awareness of global climate change.
Before they return to their native Switzerland in 2007, the Schwarer’s will have circled the globe by sailboat and climbed the highest mountain in each of the 7 continents. “We want to demonstrate that great achievements can be accomplished with only natural power”, Sabine said at an address at Fort Christian here.
From the rapt audience and their plentiful questions- ranging from queries about global warming to curiosities about mountain climbing- it was clear that the 100 children that attended the address recognized the powerful example of human conviction represented by the club’s mission.
The TOPtoTOP expedition began with the climbing of Mont Blanc in June 2003. They then cycled to Croatia, where they set sail for the Canary Islands. From there, a trans-Atlantic journey brought them to the Caribbean. From St. Thomas, the expedition will sail for the Panama Canal, then to Aconcagua on the Argentinian-Chilean border. They then will sail to Antarctica and ski for a month to climb Mt. Vinson. From there more sailing and cycling will bring them to Kosciusko in Australia; Mt Everest in Nepal and Kilimanjaro in Africa.
ST. MICHAEL, BARBADOS(NATION- 3/2/04)- They have endured decades of marl and 3 weeks of smoke and noise and angry residents here say they can’t take any more discomfort from a nearby construction company. Dozens of residents who live within earshot of Rayside Construction Quarry said they were living in torment every night from the thick smoke and choking fumes of the asphalt mixing machine. Residents claimed there had been a rise in sinus-related problems, eye infections and coughing.
They want the plant closed down. However, after meeting with their districts member of Parliament, Mia Mottley, nothing has been done about it.
Ms Mottley stated: “I have had preliminary discussions with Rayside because the issue is not as simple as closing them down. There are over 400 employees…and therefore 400 families would be affected elsewhere”.
WEATHER:
Virgin Islands residents and tourists alike endured high winds and seas during the first week of March, due to a high-pressure system kicking things up in the Atlantic Ocean. The system produced sustained winds of 15-25 mph, with gusts up to 40 mph accompanied by large northern swells. A small craft advisory, wind advisory, high surf advisory and a coastal flood watch were put into affect. However, no heavy rains were expected.
JUST A REMINDER:
Check last month’s news page for this year’s St. Thomas Carnival schedule. It begins Sunday April 4th!
