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Are people in the Caribbean becoming architects of their own destruction?
By Sir Ronald Sanders (The writer is Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States and the Organization of American States. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and Massey College in the University of Toronto. The views expressed are entirely his own) The…
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Hon. Sir Lester Bryant Bird, National Hero, Antigua & Barbuda
By Makeda Mikael And as he moved Antigua on to our Economic Development and our freedom into the world, our National Hero, Hon. Sir Lester Bryant Bird clearly deserves the fond nickname lovingly given to him by his constituents and the island at large, Giant Malt! A giant in his athletic 6’4″ frame he towered…
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Anti-vaxxers’ attempted assassination of Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves — Buried Caribbean democratic innocence with a ‘brick’?
By Arvel Grant — Political and current Affairs Analyst When I read Reuters’ report of this tragic attempt on the life of the Vincentian Prime minister, I was stunned by the negative global effect which this act of brutishness could have on our civilization and our leaders’ attempt to combat the COVID pandemic. Those: Politicians,…
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Indigenous banks fail to Know Your Customer — KYC
Indigenous banks have time only for their expatriate customers whom they don’t know but lend them our grandparents meager savings (accumulated); they loan politically positioned persons, before they would even consider their ordinary customer’s desperate COVID needs. The banks don’t want your land and buildings as collateral, they want cash or guarantees of cash in…
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In praise of a Black Caribbean woman
By Sir Ronald Sanders CARICOM should be proud of the success of a Caribbean woman who was at the center of the effort to manage the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean. Dominican born Dr Carissa Etienne, the Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), deserves the greatest admiration and respect of…
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CARICOM the only organisation commanding wide trust in Haiti’s crisis
By Sir Ronald Sanders Haiti was in a constitutional and political crisis before the assassination of its President Jovenel Moïse in the early hours of the morning of July 7. That crisis has worsened. It is now explosive unless representatives of the main political parties collectively agree on an interim, broad-based government to prepare…
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20 years fighting for a black presence
By Makeda Mikael After 31 year developing General Aviation in Antigua St. Kitts and Nevis, I had decided to retire in August 2021 and have been preparing the handover to a young team of Antiguan professionals. I never thought I would face being unceremoniously challenged in my operations and on my own property by the…
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Bill Cosby Freed
By Makeda Mikael Many years ago when black men in film and in Hollywood were a rarity, two dashingly handsome and confident black men swaggered on to the scene and commanded the attention of all America as strong, good men, desired by all women. In no time flat Bill Cosby and Harry Belafonte became more…
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Joint endeavour or collective surrender: resisting global tax
By Sir Ronald Sanders The proposal by the U.S. government to establish a global minimum corporate tax is not a remote matter from the lives of people in the Caribbean. It is a real issue with deep implications for Caribbean economies, and, indeed, for the capacity of Caribbean countries to continue to participate meaningfully in…
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Banks are only serving the rich in pandemic
By Makeda Mikael When monetary stress enters the economy through any kind of upheaval, be it hurricane, pandemic or otherwise indigenous banks go very silent, lending all their money to the government and the reliable rich, and even though bursting at the seams, their penny customers starve. There are no stimulus packages built for the…
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OPINION: Is one shot for all better none for some?
In my four years in Congress, the phrase I’ve heard most regularly abused is “Follow the science.” Politicians, bureaucrats and reporters in Washington—many of whom, based on their comments, seem to have last attended science class in eighth grade—have a penchant for developing policies and then lecturing the opposition on the “science” that follows their…