INTL Latin America and the Islands: Politics, Economics, Military- November 2021

[Plain Jane]

Amid riots, France to consider some autonomy for Guadeloupe

France’s government is offering to discuss greater autonomy for the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe.

apnews.com

Amid riots, France to consider some autonomy for Guadeloupe
By ELODIE SOUPAMA and ANGELA CHARLTONNovember 27, 2021



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Debris left by demonstrators block a street of Le Gosier, Guadeloupe island, Sunday, Nov.21, 2021. French authorities sent police special forces to the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, an overseas territory of France, as protests over COVID-19 restrictions erupted into rioting and looting for the third day in a row. On Sunday, many road blockades by protesters made traveling across the island nearly impossible. (AP Photo/Elodie Soupama)

LE GOSIER, Guadeloupe (AP) — France’s government is offering to discuss some autonomy for the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, which has been wracked by virus-related rioting and strikes that reflect long-running frustrations over inequality with the French mainland.

The overnight offer by the government minister for overseas affairs, Sebastien Lecornu, drew sharp criticism Saturday from conservative and far right candidates for France’s April presidential election.

Guadeloupe uses the euro currency and has close political ties with the mainland. But high unemployment in Guadeloupe and nearby Martinique, high costs of living and lingering anger over historical abuses have prompted some local officials to demand change. Both Guadeloupe and Martinique are overseas departments of France.

“Some officials have asked the question of autonomy,” Lecornu said in a televised address Friday night to Guadeloupe residents. “According to them, Guadeloupe could manage itself better” than it is managed from Paris, and they notably want more autonomy to manage health-related issues locally, he said. “The government is ready to talk about it.”

He denounced rioters whose pillaging is hurting local merchants and workers, and whose road barricades are preventing some patients from getting medical treatment and forced schools to close. But he also acknowledged “structural issues” behind the anger, and called for a “collective” response.

The recent tensions in Guadeloupe and Martinique started because of France’s obligatory vaccinations for health care workers, and nationwide health pass to get into restaurants and other venues. To get the pass, people need to be vaccinated or show proof of a negative test or recent recovery from the virus.

Most medical personnel in Guadeloupe — 85% — have had at least one dose. But uptake in the broader population remains limited, at 46% of the adult population compared to 89% on the mainland.

Anger and resentment over the government’s handling of a toxic pesticide called chlordecone — used for years in the French Caribbean after it was banned on the mainland and in the U.S. — have fueled mistrust in the government’s COVID-19 vaccine polices and the central government in general.

Chlordecone, used mainly in banana fields, is blamed for record levels of breast and prostate cancers in the region, and experts say it will remain in polluted soils for the next 700 years.
Misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines shared on WhatsApp or Telegram groups has also fed skepticism in Guadeloupe and Martinique.

For the four months since the mandatory vaccine for health workers and health pass rules were announced, demonstrations have multiplied by several trade unions. They want the government to abandon the measures, or at least adapt them for overseas territories.

Feeling they hadn’t been heard, unions launched a general, indefinite strike Nov. 15 — the deadline for health workers to get vaccinated or risk suspension without pay. Anger erupted into rioting 10 days ago, and in Pointe-a-Pitre, the island’s largest urban area, clashes left three people injured, including a 80-year-old woman hit by a bullet while on her balcony.

The French government on Friday decided to delay mandatory vaccinations for health care workers in the region until Dec. 31.

Meanwhile, the protesters’ demands have spread to include higher salaries and jobless benefits and the hiring of more teachers.

A third of the Guadeloupe population lives below the poverty line, and the unemployment rate is 17%. The cost of living, meanwhile, is higher than the mainland because the island relies heavily on imports, yet salaries are lower.

Water supplies have been a major problem in recent years because of obsolete pipes, that leaves some residents without water for hours at a time — or even up to a week.
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Angela Charlton reported from Paris.
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Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at Coronavirus Pandemic: COVID-19 Pandemic News | AP News

 

[Housecarl]

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[Plain Jane]

Barbados bids farewell to British monarchy, becomes republic

Barbados has stopped pledging allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II as it shed another vestige of its colonial past and became a republic for the first time in history.

apnews.com

Barbados says goodbye to queen, transforms into republic
By DÁNICA COTOan hour ago



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Barbados' new President Sandra Mason, center right, awards Prince Charles with the Order of Freedom of Barbados during the presidential inauguration ceremony in Bridgetown, Barbados on Tuesday Nov. 30, 2021. Barbados stopped pledging allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday as it shed another vestige of its colonial past and became a republic for the first time in history.(AP Photo / David McD Crichlow)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Barbados stopped pledging allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II on Tuesday as it shed another vestige of its colonial past and became a republic for the first time in history.

Several leaders and dignitaries, including Prince Charles, attended the ceremony that began late Monday in a popular square where the statue of a well-known British lord was removed last year amid a worldwide push to erase symbols of oppression.

Fireworks peppered the sky at midnight as Barbados officially became a republic, with screens set up across the island so people could watch the event that featured an orchestra with more than 100 steel pan players and numerous artists. It was also broadcast online, prompting a flurry of excited messages from Bajans living in the U.S., Canada and beyond.
“Happy Independence Day and freedom to all,” wrote one viewer.

The drive to become a republic began more than two decades ago and culminated with the island’s Parliament electing its first ever president last month in a two-thirds majority vote. Barbados Governor General Sandra Mason was scheduled to be sworn in before dawn on Tuesday as the island marked its 55th independence from Britain.


Mason, 72, is an attorney and judge who also has served as ambassador to Venezuela, Colombia, Chile and Brazil. She will help Prime Minister Mia Mottley lead the wealthy Caribbean island of more than 300,000 people that is dependent on tourism, manufacturing and finance.

Barbados did not need permission from the U.K. to become a republic, although the island will remain a member of the Commonwealth Realm. It’s an event that the Caribbean has not experienced since the 1970s, when Guyana, Dominica and Trinidad and Tobago became republics.

Barbados became independent from the United Kingdom in November 1966, more than three centuries after English settlers arrived and turned the island into a wealthy sugar colony based on the work of hundreds of thousands of African slaves.

In recent decades, the island has begun distancing itself from its colonial past. In 2005, Barbados dropped the London-based Privy Council and chose the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice as its final court of appeal. Then in 2008, it proposed a referendum on the issue of becoming a republic, but it was pushed back indefinitely. Last year, Barbados announced plans to stop being a constitutional monarchy and removed a statue of British Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson from National Heroes Square, the location of the event to celebrate becoming a republic.

Barbados’ flag, coat of arms and national anthem will remain the same, but certain references will change, according to Suleiman Bulbulia, a columnist for the Barbados Today newspaper. He wrote that the terms “royal” and “crown” will no longer be used, so the Royal Barbados Police Force will become the Barbados Police Service and “crown lands” will become “state lands.”

“It is the beginning of a new era,” he wrote. “Any Barbadian can aspire now to be our Head of State.”

 

[Plain Jane]

Leftist wins Honduran presidential vote after rival concedes

Honduras' ruling party has conceded defeat in presidential elections, giving victory to leftist opposition candidate Xiomara Castro and easing fears of another contested vote and violent protests.

apnews.com

Leftist wins Honduran presidential vote after rival concedes
By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN and MARLON GONZÁLEZtoday



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Free Party presidential candidate Xiomara Castro supporters celebrate after general elections, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Sunday, Nov. 28, 2021. Castro claimed victory, setting up a showdown with the National Party which said its candidate had won a vote that could end the conservative party's 12 years in power. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — Honduras’ ruling party conceded defeat Tuesday in presidential elections held two days earlier, giving victory to leftist opposition candidate Xiomara Castro and easing fears of another contested vote and violent protests.

Tegucigalpa Mayor Nasry Asfura, presidential candidate of the National Party, said in a statement that he had personally congratulated Castro, despite only about half the voting tallies being counted from Sunday’s election.

The former first lady had 53% of the votes and Asfura 34%, with 52% of the tallies counted, according to the National Electoral Council. It has 30 days from the election to declare a winner.

Asfura said he had met with Castro and her family.

“Now I want to say it publicly,” the conservative candidate said. “That I congratulate her for her victory and as president elect, I hope that God illuminates and guides her so that her administration does the best for the benefit of all of us Hondurans, to achieve development and the desire for democracy.”


U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulated Castro minutes later.

“The United States congratulates the people of Honduras on their election and Xiomara Castro on her historic victory as Honduras’ first female president,” Blinken said in a statement. “We look forward to working with the next government of Honduras.”

Castro said via Twitter that Asfura had recognized her triumph. “People, I am not going to fail you!”

Asfura’s recognition of the outcome was a relief to many Hondurans who had feared a contested election after a debacle in 2017 led to street protests that left 23 people dead. Following that vote, the government imposed a curfew and only three weeks later declared now-outgoing President Juan Orlando Hernández the winner despite the Organization of American States observation mission calling for an election re-do.

Fearing a similar prolonged vote standoff and social unrest, many businesses in Honduras’ capital had boarded up their windows for this election.

Mabel Plata, a 28-year-old nursing student, said she appreciated Asfura’s recognition of the outcome. “It is a sign that he is a professional and polite person and went to see Xiomara for the good of the country.”

Plata couldn’t remember another who did the same. “Most always claim to be winners and it’s hard for them to accept defeat.”

Luis Guillermo Solís, former president of Costa Rica and head of the Organization of American States observation mission, said Tuesday in presenting the regional body’s preliminary report that Hondurans had overcome some technical difficulties to vote in great numbers.

“Honduran society voted with conviction, happiness and responsibility in a context marked by the pandemic and violence, which was denounced opportunely by the mission,” Solís said. He said the mission had not received reports of other irregularities or fraud.

Castro rode a wave of popular discontent with 12 years of National Party governance, which peaked in Hernández’s second term.

She will face major challenges as the Central American country’s president. Unemployment is above 10%, northern Honduras was devastated by two major hurricanes last year and street gangs drag down the economy with their extortion rackets and violence, driving migration to the United States.

On Tuesday, Vielka Yossira López folded jeans at a stand in the sprawling Comayaguela street market.

The 24-year-old single mother of two said she didn’t vote, but hoped for change.

“How am I going to lose a day of work to go vote,” López said. “I don’t work, I don’t eat.”
When López contracted COVID-19, she wasn’t able to work for two months. In that time she sold her bed, her refrigerator, television and cellphone so she could buy food and diapers for her children, ages 3 and 6.

López makes 200 lempiras, about $8.25 per day. She pays $1.60 of that just for transportation to and from work each day. Her 6-year-old has been out of school for more than a year.
López is hopeful that when Castro becomes president she will bring with her a better understanding of what it takes to raise a family.

“Hopefully there will be a change by having a woman,” López said. “She has children and everything.”

Castro’s government could present challenges, but also opportunities for the Biden administration, which has sought to keep Hernández at arm’s length.

Many Castro supporters remember the U.S. government’s initial sluggishness in calling the ouster of Castro’s husband Manuel Zelaya from the presidency in 2009 a coup, and then proceeding to work closely with the National Party presidents who followed. And from the U.S. perspective, Washington remembers how Castro and Zelaya cozied up to then-Venezuela President Hugo Chávez.

Analysts say common ground between Castro and the U.S. government exists in at least three areas: immigration, drug trafficking and corruption. And with tense relations prevailing between Washington and the leaders of El Salvador and Guatemala, the U.S. government could use a productive relationship with Honduras.

Despite opponents’ efforts to paint Castro as a communist, experts expect her to govern as a centrist with a desire to lift up Honduras’ poor while attracting foreign investment.

A speech Castro made to her Liberty and Re-foundation party in June remains one her clearest expressions of how she will navigate the U.S. relationship.

“In the first 100 days, we will execute and propose to the administration of President Joe Biden and Kamala Harris a plan to combat and address the true causes of migration,” Castro said.
Castro describes Hondurans’ emigration in terms of flight to escape inequality, corruption, poverty and violence. That sounds a lot like Harris’ assessment of the root causes the Biden administration wants to focus U.S. aid on.

But Castro also puts some of the blame on the U.S. government.

“I believe the Biden administration has an enormous opportunity to address the issue of migration,” Castro said in the June speech. “First, recognizing that they have part of the responsibility for what happens in our country,” she added, noting the 2009 coup.

Castro has hammered the outgoing Hernández administration for corruption. It was Hernández’s administration that let the Organization of American States’ anti-corruption mission in Honduras expire in 2020 after its work had touched some of the National Party’s lawmakers for alleged misuse of public funds.

She has said she’s interested in having an international anti-corruption mission return to Honduras. That combined with a strong, independent attorney general, could begin to tackle one of the country’s most profound problems.

U.S. federal prosecutors have put corruption under the microscope in drug trafficking cases that have reached up to high-ranking Honduran politicians. The most notable was the conviction of Hernández’s brother, a former federal lawmaker, on drug trafficking charges that earned him a life sentence in the United States.

In a speech late Sunday night, Castro told supporters: “Get out war! Get out hate! Get out death squads! Get out corruption! Get out drug trafficking and organized crime!”