Bert Wilkinson

Caribbean Community (Caricom) nations, many of them the beneficiaries of material assistance from Venezuela in recent decades, are mobilizing to

Caribbean governments say they will soon sit down with members of the Rastafarian community to discuss decades of marginalization and discrimination meted out to this section of regional society following persistent complaints and lobbying from this group.

Thinking it has some political leverage to work with, Antigua's government says it is prepared to accept some non-national deportees from the US — especially if Washington will restore tourist visa privileges yanked from locals in January.

While Caribbean Community leaders are meeting in St. Lucia to discuss a number of issues, the row over a February decision to reappoint Carla Barnett as chief executive for the regional secretariat continues to simmer, with Trinidad threatening court action to reverse a second term.

A vessel with nearly 90 containers of food, medical supplies, and other goods from Caribbean Community nations sailed out of Port Georgetown late Monday, headed to earthquake-ravaged Venezuela where nearly 4,000 people have died in the wake of the natural disaster late last month.

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Nearly a year ago, Caribbean governments had promised to send an aid package to finance-starved Cuba, but complained about international sanctions and other hurdles that had prevented the region from making good on its pledge.

All ten people aboard a twin-engine aircraft flying between local islands in The Bahamas were killed when the plane crashed into the Atlantic on July 10, placing a damper on 53 rd independence anniversary celebrations, officials said.

Caribbean governments planning to allow the United States to send hundreds of non-national deportees to the region say the process must not disrupt normal life and that they expect deportees to use their new bases as a stepping stone toward eventually returning home.

The European Union (EU) and a Caribbean Community sub-grouping are fixing for a protracted fight over EU demands.