Archive for the ‘Latin America & Caribbean’ Category
May 22nd, 2009 | Comments Off
Many economists believe that legal and institutional arrangements are the decisive factor influencing economic development. In this view, nations with secure property rights and contract laws enforced by a judiciary free of government interference will benefit from substantial private investment and experience long-term economic growth and prosperity. A new paper by Peter Blair Henry and [...]
Tags: Barbados, Economic policy, Government finance, Jamaica, Political philosophy
Posted in Economics, Latin America & Caribbean, Social sciences | Comments Off
May 19th, 2009 | Comments Off
RCMP last week arrested Savita Singh, a 43-year-old Guyanese woman, together with three Ontario residents, on charges of conspiracy to violate immigration laws by smuggling two Guyanese into the United States. Four years ago, she was convicted in a US court on similar charges. The Canadian charges are similar to trouble Singh faced in Maine [...]
Tags: Guyana, Human trafficking
Posted in Canada, Latin America & Caribbean, Law Crime and Legal Issues, Life Issues | Comments Off
In 2002-2004, almost 5 million Venezuelans signed one or more in a series of three petitions calling for an election to remove President Hugo Chavez from office. After Chavez survived the recall vote of August 2004, the names of those who had signed the final petition were compiled into a database using software called Maisanta. [...]
Tags: Injustice, Venezuela
Posted in Economics, Latin America & Caribbean, Social sciences | 2 Comments »
April 23rd, 2009 | 1 Comment
MBJ Airports Ltd. Is the company responsible for airport security at Sangster International Airport, where earlier this week an armed man got on board a CanJet airplane and held passengers and crew hostage for several hours before being arrested. I use the word “responsible” loosely, for the company has issued a statement saying they didn’t [...]
Tags: Cowardice, Jamaica, Transportation
Posted in Canada, Latin America & Caribbean | 1 Comment »
April 21st, 2009 | Comments Off
Even as a gunman held passengers and crew hostage aboard a CanJet airliner at Sangster International Airport, Jamaica, a blogger in Barbados had some helpful advice for Canadians. If any of our Canadian readers are thinking of a vacation in Jamaica, may we suggest you reconsider that Barbados is a much friendlier and safer vacation [...]
Tags: Barbados, Jamaica, Transportation
Posted in Canada, Latin America & Caribbean, Law Crime and Legal Issues | Comments Off
Hollywood actress Maria Conchita Alonso spoke for many when asked to comment on Sean Penn’s Oscar win. “He’s an amazing actor. I can’t take that away from him,” she said of Penn, who worked with her on the 1988 cop film Colors. “It’s just that he has no clue at all what’s going on in [...]
Tags: Film and TV, Folly, Hugo Chavez, Maria Conchita Alonso, Sean Penn, Venezuela
Posted in International, Latin America & Caribbean, Popular Culture | 1 Comment »
A Roman Catholic bishop in Marajo, Brazil, has been threatened with death for denouncing human trafficking rings. Bishop Jose Luis Azcona stated that “politicians, businessmen, and police officers” in the Brazilian state of Para are involved in abducting girls and selling them into slavery. “They snatch girls from school and take them away to sexually [...]
Tags: Brazil, Human trafficking, Persecution, Roman Catholicism
Posted in Latin America & Caribbean | 1 Comment »