Skip to main content
Tag

Hurricane Irma

Prince Charles and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall with Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, 19 March 2019.

What if the Caribbean refused royal visits until reparations were paid?

By Commentaries/Opinions, Reparations

Charles and Camilla are the latest to arrive and help whitewash the injustices of slavery and empire. By Nalini Mohabir, The Guardian — Once upon a time monarchs ruled by divine right, then later with charismatic authority. The future king Prince Charles (#NotMyPrince) has neither. Yet Caribbean governments are paying for Prince Charles and Camilla’s royal tour of the Caribbean which began on Sunday and continues for 12 days, to…

Read More
Hurricanes Katia (left), Irma (center) and Jose (right) in September 2017 – the first time on record that three major hurricanes made landfall at the same time in the Caribbean. Photograph: GOES-13 and MODIS/NASA/NOAA

Caribbean states beg Trump to grasp climate change threat: ‘War has come to us’

By Editors' Choice

As warming temperatures caused by climate change is strengthening hurricanes, leaders in the region plead with Trump to rejoin the Paris climate deal. By Oliver Milman, The Guardian — Caribbean states and territories have rounded on the Trump administration for dismantling the US’s response to climate change, warning that greenhouse gas emissions must be sharply cut to avoid hurricanes and sea level rise threatening the future of their island idylls. The…

Read More
caribbean-residents-see-climate-change-severe-threat-us-dont-heres

Caribbean residents see climate change as a severe threat but most in US don’t — here’s why

By News & Current Affairs

People in the U.S. and the Caribbean share vulnerability to climate change-related disasters, but only in the Caribbean is the public truly worried. Why? By Elizabeth J. Zechmeister and Claire Q. Evans, The Conversation — During the 2017 Atlantic basin hurricane season, six major storms – all of which were Category 3 or higher – produced devastating human, material and financial devastation across the southern United States and the Caribbean.

Read More
The University of the West Indies (The UWI)

Our Neighbour’s Keeper — The UWI response to the Caribbean disaster

By Editors' Choice

Regional Headquarters, Jamaica. W.I.  29 September 2017. During the past month the Caribbean has been pummelled by two catastrophic category 5 hurricanes: Irma and Maria. The aftermath of these hurricanes has been the loss of lives and significant damage to infrastructure across several Caribbean islands. The University of the West Indies (The UWI), has been working closely with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), as well as Heads of Government to mobilise its resources and expertise to provide support and relief.

Read More
The University of the West Indies (The UWI)

Statement from Sir Hilary Beckles — Irma-Maria: A Reparations Requiem for Caribbean Poverty.

By News & Current Affairs, Reparations

Regional Headquarters, Jamaica. September 23, 2017.  Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (The UWI), Professor Sir Hilary Beckles issues the following statement on the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria: “Hurricane Irma’s fury preceded Maria’s by a deadly Caribbean second. Together they constitute the familiar sound of death and destruction reminiscent of a colonial past that clings to the present and is determined to possess and own the Caribbean future.

Read More
Man stands in a ruined building after Hurricane Matthew hit Haiti. (photo: CNN)

In the Caribbean, Colonialism and Inequality Mean Hurricanes Hit Harder

By News & Current Affairs

By The Conversation — Hurricane Maria, the 15th tropical depression this season, is now battering the Caribbean, just two weeks after Hurricane Irma wreaked havoc in the region. The devastation in Dominica is “mind-boggling,” wrote the country’s prime minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, on Facebook just after midnight on September 19. The next day, in Puerto Rico, NPR reported via member station WRTU in San Juan that “Most of the island is without power…or water.” Among the Caribbean…

Read More
Damaged by Hurricanes and "Vulture" Capitalism, Caribbean Islands Plead for Debt Relief

Damaged by Hurricanes and “Vulture” Capitalism, Caribbean Islands Plead for Debt Relief

By Editors' Choice

By Mike Ludwig, Truthout — Last week, just days after Hurricane Irma thrashed through the Caribbean with record-high winds, the Catholic bishop of the island nation of Dominica sent a letter to the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Bishop Gabriel Malzaire pleaded with the IMF to temporarily delay debt payments from Antigua and Barbuda and other islands left in ruins by the storm. “The few dozen small…

Read More
Cuba After Irma: a Call to Our Combative People

Cuba After Irma: a Call to Our Combative People

By Commentaries/Opinions

By Raul Castro — Hurricane Irma, with its destructive power, battered our island for 72 hours, beginning the morning of September 8 until this Sunday afternoon. With winds that surpassed 250 kilometers per hour on occasion, it crossed the north of the country from Baracoa – hit hard by another phenomenon of this type almost a year ago – to the outskirts of Cárdenas. However, given its immense size, practically no province was spared its effects.

Read More