Caribbean & Central America - March 2019

*** CARICOM AND OAS STILL AT ODDS. The leaders of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) have been at odds with the Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States (OAS) over the latter’s hard-line stance on Venezuela. In January, Trinidad & Tobago’s Foreign Affairs Minister Dennis Moses went as far as to accuse OAS Secretary-General Luis Almagro of adopting an “intemperate stance”. At the beginning of February, Almagro again infuriated many Caricom members with remarks about Dominica’s next general election, scheduled for December 2019.

In a tweet on 7 February, Almagro wrote: “Today I met with Former [Dominican] Ambassador to UN, Crispin Gregoire, who expressed his concern that the upcoming elections in Dominica are not free and fair. He also requested OAS official assistance to help ensure a level playing field.”

In his defence, Almagro said that he was only repeating Gregoire’s view and not endorsing it, but this didn’t stop the criticism. The chairman of Caricom, St Kitts & Nevis Prime Minister Timothy Harris, issued a statement on 21 February saying that the organisation was “deeply concerned” about Almagro’s statements which, he said, “are outside the bounds of his remit as the Head of an international organisation”.

The statement went on to say that Almagro’s tweet of 7 February “associating himself with a suggestion that Dominica will not conduct free and fair…elections is the latest manifestation of his inappropriate behaviour”. Almagro was unrepentant, saying in a 23 February statement that “Dominica is the country with the lowest rate of implementation (below 10%) of the recommendations of OAS Electoral Observer Missions.”

*** BAHAMAS BAHA MAR COMPLEX SHOWING 90% OCCUPANCY. In late February, the head of the massive Baha Mar tourism development in The Bahamas said that occupancy at the resort was running at over 90% and that this was expected to continue into March. He said that the occupancy figures were “beyond the company’s expectations.

This year will be the first year in which all the troubled resort’s facilities will be open, and more facilities are planned such as a new water park.

*** ST VINCENT & THE GRENADINES (SVG) ‘RECOVERING’. In its latest review of the SVG economy, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported the growth outlook to be “positive”, with growth of around 2.3% forecast for 2019 from 0.7% in 2017 and 2% in 2018.

In its statement following the latest Article IV Consultation, the IMF noted: “Following the opening of a new airport…tourist arrivals have recovered, boosting tourism-related services (such as hotels, restaurants, and retail)”. Another boost to the economy has come from the increased demand from Dominica for reconstruction materials since the September 2017 Hurricane Maria. Inflation is around 2%-3%.

Upside potential was seen to come from potentially stronger tourism receipts, investor interest, and “the successful completion of the geothermal power plant”.

On the downside, the IMF said: “External risks include weaker-than-expected global growth, tighter global financial conditions, and higher oil prices…Domestic risks include more severe and frequent natural disasters, the loss of correspondent banking relationships, and materialisation of financial sector risks.”