Almost a year after the formal creation of an energy & mining ministry, on 24 April President Danilo Medina appointed the first ever minister to lead the portfolio. In doing so, President Medina has established a new government institution that is set to play an increasingly relevant role in the Dominican Republic (DR)’s economic development for years to come. Those who believe that the continued exploitation of the country’s mining riches will help to boost the domestic economy have welcomed the new ministry. But those concerned by the negative environmental and other effects that mining activity often brings with it…
***GUYANA-SURINAME DISPUTE STILL AN IMPEDIMENT. The disputed area known in Guyana (which controls it) as the New River Triangle and in Suriname (where it forms the southwest border with Guyana) as Tigri is still capable of causing tensions between the two countries. Last month Guyana turned down an invitation to attend the International Mining, Energy & Petroleum Conference and Exhibition (SURIMEP 2014) in Paramaribo in June because the Suriname map that was being circulated included the area as Suriname territory. The disputed area has been controlled by Guyana since 1969. On 12 May, Suriname’s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Lackin told…
Negotiators from the European Union (EU) concluded an initial round of talks with Cuban foreign ministry officials in Havana on 30 April in preparation for a new bilateral political dialogue and co-operation agreement, expected to be inked in 2015. The Cuban team was led by the deputy foreign minister, Abelardo Moreno. Christian Leffler, head of the Americas at the European External Action Service (EEAS), said that the two sides had established “the general structure” for future talks and “the principal elements to be included”. Leffler noted that political and economic issues would be the first priority on the agenda, hinting…
Recent visits to Cuba by the foreign ministers of both France and Russia reflect the intensified efforts by the government led by President Raúl Castro to attract international business interest. Last month Cuba welcomed both Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister (on 12 April), and Serguei Lavrov, his Russian counterpart (on 28 April). At a time of increased tensions between Russia and the European Union (EU), the two visits illustrate Cuba’s continued drive to overcome political and economic obstacles to expand trade and diversify economic partners. The visit by Fabius was the first by a French foreign minister for over…
In mid-April, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published its latest overview of the Western Hemisphere economies and warned that “growth remains tepid” in most Caribbean countries and that reducing high public debt levels remains the “key challenge in much of the Caribbean”. In the tourism-dependent economies, growth in 2013 averaged 0.75%, a slight improvement on the zero growth experienced in 2012, and their external positions remain “very weak” with current account deficits averaging 17% of GDP. Another source of concern for the IMF is the future of Venezuela’s Petrocaribe initiative, which represents between 4% and 7% of GDP in countries…
Antigua & Barbuda’s Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer is taking the maximum possible time available to him under the constitution before calling a general election, which does not suggest much confidence in the electoral prospects of his United Progressive Party (UPP). It was generally expected that an election would have been called by the fifth anniversary of the 2009 general election on 12 March, but Spencer invoked election-related legal processes, started by the opposition Antigua Labour Party (ALP), as a reason for the delay. In the end parliament was dissolved automatically on 26 April, the fifth anniversary of its first sitting…