A peaceful and sovereign solution to Libya's problems

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent, Wednesday May 25, 2011 - Not so long ago a civil—as opposed to a criminal—court jury in America found the City of Philadelphia guilty of using excess force, and violating human and constitutional rights, when it bombed and killed members of a black liberation group. Dropping bombs on occupied homes was declared unconscionable, but no public official ever faced criminal prosecution.

No one suggests that international crimes are associated with America’s horrible destruction, under false pretense, of Iraqi lives. Muammar Gadaffi, though, should be dragged before an International Criminal Court that has no authority over Americans.

St Vincent resists removing death penalty, buggery laws

GENEVA, Switzerland, Monday May 16, 2011 – The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has given St Vincent and the Grenadines kudos for its progress in the fields of human rights and national development, but has made recommendations for other improvements, some of which the multi-island state has resisted.

The country’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Camillo Gonsalves, said in a statement yesterday that of 92 recommendations which the UNHRC made for national action and consideration, 17 which dealt mainly with the death penalty and laws relating to buggery were not accepted by the Government.

Caribbean on Wendy’s radar, Trinidad and Guyana up first

ATLANTA (AP) - Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc. plans to develop 24 Wendy's restaurants in the next 10 years throughout the Eastern Caribbean, including Trinidad and Tobago and eight other markets.

 The first of these restaurants will open in Trinidad in 2011, the company said in a news release Wednesday.

Government accused of dragging feet on BAICO/CLICO issue

Leader of the New Democratic Party, Arnhim Eustace (above left) and St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minster Dr. Ralph Gonsalves.

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent, Tuesday April 12, 2011 – The opposition party in St Vincent and the Grenadines is becoming increasingly frustrated over government’s handling of the British American Insurance/CLICO issue.

Leader of the New Democratic Party, Arnhim Eustace issued a statement late on Monday calling on Prime Minster Dr. Ralph Gonsalves to do something “practical” for Vincentians who found themselves disadvantaged because of what he termed as the “fiasco” surrounding the dealings of the Trinidadian insurance group.

Ralph Gonsalves retains power in St Vincent

As Gonsalves predicted, the ULP won a third consecutive term in office as voters seemingly agreed with his campaign argument that he was best suited to lead the country. (File photo)

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, – Dr Ralph Gonsalves, has led the Unity Labour Party (ULP) to victory for the third time in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

However, it cannot be said that the ULP has been given a clear mandate to rule as preliminary results indicate that the party failed to retain its 12-seat majority for the first time in three election cycles. Instead, early indicators are that the Gonsalves-led party won a slim majority with eight seats in the House of Assembly, while the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) more than doubled its share to seven seats from three. The Green Party also contested 13 of the 15 seats up for grabs but failed to secure any.

NDP leader Arnhim Eustace comfortably retained his East Kingstown seat but it is now left for the party to decide whether the 65-year-old development economist and former Caribbean Development Bank director will be the one to lead his party into the next battle now constitutionally due in five years.

NDP hopefuls had banked on the islands' economic hardships and suspicions over Gonsalves (also known as “The Comrade” by ULP faithful) ties to Leftist leaning Governments in Venezuela, China, Iran and Libya, as being enough of a deterrent. The party's candidates decried Gonsalves as having an autocratic style of leadership and pledged to weaken the country's ties with Venezuela and Cuba. Speculation was also rife that yesterday’s high voter turnout was a signal that a change in administration could occur.

However, as Gonsalves predicted, the ULP won a third consecutive term in office as voters seemingly agreed with his campaign argument that he was best suited to lead the country of 110,000 people as it tries to rebound from the global economic slump. The attorney-at-law trumpeted on the campaign trail a record of poverty reduction and improved access to education while arguing that his forging deeper ties with international partners such as Venezuela and Cuba was part of his strategy for fiscal survival on a tighter budget.

Under his leadership, St. Vincent was accepted as a member of the Venezuelan-led Bolivarian Alternative for the Nations of Our America bloc that paved the way for St Vincent to receive Venezuelan oil on concessionary terms at the height of escalating world fuel prices. Iran also sent US$7 million in aid for several local development projects in 2008.

The Organization of American States and the Caribbean Community both sent observer missions to monitor the elections.

Vincentians go to polls to elect new government

Despite the public optimism of victory by the two leaders, both parties have accused operatives on either side of marring this election campaign with sporadic violence that has not been a prominent feature of past St Vincent and the Grenadines elections.

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent - After almost a month of anticipation, the voters of St Vincent and the Grenadines will today decide whether the United Labour Party (ULP) will return to power for a third consecutive term.

Since Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of the ULP called elections on November 14 and dissolved Parliament the following day, both his party and the Arnhim Eustace-led New Democratic Party have led strong campaigns in a bid to woo the electorate.

At stake are the 15 constituency seats in the House of Assembly, of which the ULP has held on to a 12-seat majority since both the 2001 and 2005 general elections. Noted Barbadian pollster Peter Wickham predicted on the weekend that the ULP would retain its grip on power, albeit with a slimmer majority, as polls indicated the ULP had seven secure seats, while another five marginal seats could go either way. Wickham predicted that the NDP could only guarantee the three seats it won in the previous election and would also have to fight to gain traction within the five constituencies that were up for grabs. The much smaller Green Party has also nominated 13 candidates to contest the 15 seats but no major upsets are predicted as a result of this and pundits are still calling the election a two-horse race.

Supervisor of Elections Sylvia Findlay-Scrubb announced that a record 101,053 voters out of a population of around 110,000 people have been deemed eligible to cast their ballots in this year’s general election, which was constitutionally due by March 2011. A high voter turnout is expected and political analysts have speculated whether this will signal a similar 1984 turnaround when the incumbent St Vincent Labour Party was routed by an 89% voter turnout that saw the NDP swept to power, and then remain there for an unprecedented four terms.

The 64-year-old Gonsalves has led a campaign based on the accomplishments of the ULP over the past two terms – primarily reduced unemployment, improved economic growth and a network of developing diplomatic relations that have brought investment inflows and other benefits to the archipelago.

However, the 65-year-old Eustace is banking on the momentum gained from the defeat of the Gonsalves-backed 2009 constitutional referendum to propel his party into power. The trained economist has been attacking the government’s stewardship of the country’s economic fortunes and has assured the electorate that the NDP also has the connections to bring investment and job security to the country. He has also decried Gonsalves’ “Leftist” relations Venezuela, China and Iran as holding the country up to international scrutiny and suspicion.

Despite the public optimism of victory by the two leaders, both parties have accused operatives on either side of marring this election campaign with sporadic violence that has not been a prominent feature of past St Vincent and the Grenadines elections. Both leaders have sought to distance themselves from the violence that has shocked Vincentians at home and abroad and have promised to crackdown on those found responsible.

The Organization of American States and the Caribbean Community have both announced observer missions to St Vincent and the Grenadines to monitor the elections.

CARICOM to launch multi-state travel document

The CARIPASS will allow CARICOM citizens and legal residents of Participating States over the age of 16 years to access a safe and secure automated self-processing gate within selected airports.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, – The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will soon launch one of the world’s first automated multi-state travel documents (CARIPASS) for use within 10 member states that will not only make regional travel easier, but help crack down on identity theft and illegal migration.

Participating countries will include Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Installation of the CARIPASS System began last month and specific launch dates in each participating country is now dependent on the passing of relevant legislation.

The CARIPASS will allow CARICOM citizens and legal residents of Participating States over the age of 16 years to access a safe and secure automated self-processing gate within selected airports. Cardholders will benefit from the ease of expedited processing through immigration checkpoints when using the CARIPASS, which is the size of a credit card.

“The CARIPASS will also assist the region in the global fight against identity theft and illegal migration, given that the document is matched to the cardholder using both biometric and biographic data captured upon enrolment,” a statement from the CARICOM Secretariat said.

Under the coordination of the Implementation Agency for Crime and Security, the CARIPASS is another step in the movement towards standardized border control facilities within CARICOM, including training, entry and exit procedures and travel documents.