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Archive for the ‘Latin America & Caribbean’ Category

Socialist policies curbed Jamaica’s economic growth

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 [...]

Guyanese human trafficker busted in Canada

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 [...]

In Venezuela, political opposition has a price

April 30th, 2009 | 2 Comments

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. [...]

Jamaican airport security says: It wasn’t our fault

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 [...]

Canadians should consider Barbados

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 [...]

Sean Penn should “shut up about Chavez the killer”

March 8th, 2009 | 1 Comment

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 [...]

Brazilian bishop receives death threats for denouncing human trafficking

March 8th, 2009 | 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 [...]