Caribbean & Central America - July 2016 (ISSN 1741-4458)

*** DESI INVOKES NATIONAL SECURITY TO STOP TRIAL. On 29 June, Suriname’s President Desi Bouterse instructed the country’s attorney general to bring to an end his trial for the abduction and execution of political opponents in 1982 during the time of his military dictatorship. The instruction to the attorney general relied upon Article 148 of the constitution and the invocation of a national security imperative.

Bouterse, who was democratically elected president in 2010, had benefitted from an amnesty law pushed through parliament by his supporters in 2012, but this law was overturned by the courts in June this year and the trial of the president and 24 co-defendants was resumed. Now it has been stopped again.

At the 4-6 July Caribbean Community (Caricom) summit, Bouterse referred to the economic difficulties faced by Suriname as a result of the fall in commodity prices, and he talked about the threat of “foreign domination”. He said: “We are aware of the fact that the present economic challenges and its social effects have created a situation whereby agendas geared towards foreign domination of our countries are becoming manifest. These agendas use a variety of political and judicial mechanisms to achieve their goals. There are various examples in the South American region, making it necessary to stay alert in this respect.”

Presumably in defence of his move to stop his trial, Bouterse argued that overcoming the present economic difficulties “can only take place in an atmosphere of political stability”. The response of Caricom leaders to this was to “note the information provided by the President of Suriname” and to express their view that the matter was an internal one.

*** GRENADA RESHUFFLE. On 28 June, Grenada’s Prime Minister Keith Mitchell announced a cabinet reshuffle designed in particular to strengthen the ministry of agriculture, lands, forestry, fisheries, and the environment. The new minister will be Yolande Bain, the former tourism minister.

According to Mitchell, the economy is on track for at least 3% growth in 2016 after recording 5% growth in 2015. He noted that tourism in particular performed well in the first quarter of 2016, with a 12.3% year-on-year increase for stayover arrivals. Arrivals from the US were up by 32%, significantly higher than the 5.1% increase in arrivals from the UK.

*** PROGRESS REPORTED ON BAHAMAS MEGARESORT TALKS. The developer of the Baha Mar holiday megaresort in the Bahamas sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US a year ago, but in September 2015 Baha Mar was put into provisional liquidation at the behest of the Bahamian government. On 28 June, Prime Minister Perry Christie said that the government had been in talks with both the receivers and Chinese stakeholders and that an announcement was due soon on the resort’s future. Two bidders are said to have been shortlisted for the US$3.5bn project.

However, difficulties with completing the project were highlighted recently by Bahamian MP Andre Rollins who claimed that the estimated cost of fixing “construction deficiencies” in the project was now US$1.8bn rather than the original US$600m. Also, according to Rollins, the resort is currently uninsurable in its present state. He says it “has been assessed to be a $3.5bn liability”. Sources close to the project have denied these allegations, but the level of uncertainty remains high despite the talk of an imminent announcement on a buyer.