The View From Europe

In a more normal world, a communication produced by the European Commission (EC) setting out the main elements of Europe’s future policy towards Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) might only be of passing interest.

Just before Easter the Trump Administration announced multiple new sanctions on Cuba.

A few days ago, the British government published the text of the CARIFORUM-UK Economic Partnership Agreement (UK EPA) that will govern trade in goods and services with the Caribbean, assuming Britain leaves the European Union sometime later this year.

In almost every country in the Caribbean, tourism has been transformative.

New winds are blowing through the Caribbean. Some may welcome what they bring, others may not.

It is probably without precedent for a major Caribbean industry to declare that unless CARICOM’s Common External Tariff (CET) is properly enforced, the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of rural and other workers will be put at risk.

A few days ago, the British Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, a Conservative, began an important address in an unusual way.

From Iraq through Libya to Syria, the approach to regime change by the US and its allies has been to support the removal of a disliked government with little serious thought as to the broader consequences.

Health tourism is an enormous and highly competitive global business. Reliable estimates indicate that by 2021 the worldwide health tourism market will reach somewhere between US$46.6 billion and US$125 billion per annum and is experiencing a compound annual growth rate of somewhere between 13% and 19%.

As this is being written, an uneasy calm prevails in Haiti following nearly two weeks of widespread demonstrations against the Government of President Jovenal Moïse.

Caribbean private sector organisations are important. They, like the media, academia and non-governmental organisations, are central to the retention of plurality in the region.

In the years following the Arab Spring, Europe learnt that without prior planning and consideration, large numbers of people fleeing instability can rapidly create political, social and economic tensions in ways that polarise national discourse, change politics, affect foreign relations, and redefine social thinking.

According to the Central Bank of Barbados, the island’s tourism output slowed in 2018 to an estimated 0.6% despite there being a 2.8% increase in visitor arrivals last year.

Last Wednesday. Juan Guaidó, the President of Venezuela’s National Assembly, took an informal oath of office and declared himself the country’s interim President.

Despite the British electorate having voted to leave the European Union (EU) two and half years ago, there is still no consensus on how to proceed.

Speaking on January 10 after being sworn in for a second six-year term as Venezuela’s President, Nicolás Maduro declared that his country was “a democracy under construction,” that it would “construct twenty first century socialism,” and he pledged to “promote the changes that are needed in Venezuela.”

On New Year’s Day, Jair Bolsonaro,  Brazil’s new neo-conservative President took office. 

What should one make of the recent announcement by the US President’s National Security Adviser, John Bolton, outlining a new ‘America First’ policy towards Africa?

At the conclusion of the recent special summit in Trinidad, CARICOM Heads of Government issued the ‘St Ann’s Declaration.’

Since the mid-2000s, the ability of the Caribbean tourism sector to  generate rapid economic growth has been widely accepted by international financial institutionsm such as the IMF, World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank.