Barbados steps ahead of much of the rest of the Caribbean Basin, including the English-speaking Caribbean islands, in terms of its quality of life. The United Nations’ annual Human Development Report (HDR) showcases the Human Development Index (HDI) principles. Over the past two decades, it has been ranking its 187 member states and regions, while providing data on the measurement of three basic societal dimensions: health, education, and income. Barbados, a tourist destination with...
It’s a Small World After All As globalization has carried with it a greater degree of potential for economic integration among different nations, the tiny English-speaking Caribbean states are fighting for their place in an ever-shrinking world. Aside from the potential boon associated with globalization, the spread of free trade and increased competition between transnational corporations could pose another considerable threat to vulnerable Caribbean nations that are often ill-equipped to retaliate against more economically...
Washington’s initiative to have access to at least seven Colombian military facilities has been criticized as an extension of the controversial Plan Colombia and as a breach of fealty to its sister republics. Suspicion also has surfaced that the base deal was fundamentally a move against Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez, and would prove a recurring obstacle to fulfillment of U.S. policy goals in the region. Two of the facilities soon to be available to the...
The unraveling of political ties between the Caribbean nations of Guyana and Barbados has created heated dialogue after the compulsory deportation of Guyanese nationals from Barbados following the implementation of the “Barbadian First” amnesty law announced by the island’s Prime Minister David Thompson May 5. This amnesty measure resulted in the deportation of Guyanese to resolve the professed rising crime rates and poverty epidemic in Barbados. The 30th Conference of Heads of Government of...
In spite of his relative obscurity outside the region, Errol Walton Barrow deserves to be recognized not only as a hero in Barbados, but also as one of the giants of Caribbean nationhood. Barrow’s local stature derives from his ongoing commitment to the struggle for Barbadian independence from British rule, which culminated in 1966, and his steadfast advocacy of the Caribbean’s ability to proceed with becoming a prosperous area based on its own resources,...
