Caribbean Report 17-04-2002
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2002-04-17
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The British Broadcasting Corporation
Abstract
Description
Table of Contents
1. Headlines (00:00-00:28)
2. Bertram Niles interviews President of the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC), Gary Voss, who says regional governments and the Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) are under-prepared to negotiate for new international trade arrangements and suggests the private sector, led by the CAIC, needs to provide them with the private sector strategic plan which regional government both individually and collectively could use to plan and negotiate (00:29-03:48)
3. The United States grants a visa to a Cuban Official - Orlando Randall Delgado, coordinator of International Affairs in Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism - to attend a Caribbean Tourism Conference in New York for the first time since 1992 and Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Secretary-General, Jean Holder says it is an historic breakthrough and hopes it is a sign of easier relations between Cuba and the United States. Natalie Williams reports (03:49-05:36)
4. Members of Congress in Venezuela meet for the first time since the failed coup against the President Hugo Chavez and some members call for a referendum on whether Mr. Chavez should stay in power but correspondents say that without a credible challenger to Mr. Chavez such a vote would probably prolong Venezuela’s turmoil (05:37-06:02)
5. The United States is, once again, forced to play down allegations that it played a role in the attempted coup in Venezuela. White House spokesman for Western Hemisphere Affairs Charles Barkley tells BBC Caribbean Report that the US Ambassador in Caracas, Ambassador Reich, did not contact Pedro Carmona who was interim leader during the crisis period (06:03-07:00)
6. Seven people accused of smuggling Chinese immigrants through the Caribbean - Bahamas or Cayman Islands - into the United States appear before a US Federal Judge in Miami charged with conspiracy to smuggle aliens into the United States and each faces up to ten years in prison if convicted (07:01-07:32)
7. Health Ministers of the Caribbean and specialists from regional and international organisations discuss a range of issues on health and human development in Guyana including tobacco control, HIV/AIDS and crime. At the meeting, CARICOM’s Secretary-General Edwin Carrington urges delegates to give some attention to the importance of income inequality and poverty as determinants of health status. Colin Smith reports (07:33-09:07)
8. Bertram Niles interviews Antigua and Barbuda Opposition Leader, Baldwin Spencer, who says the government is running scared because of embarrassing evidence being put before a commission of enquiry into the controversial Medical Benefits Scheme and brushes aside suggestions from Prime Minister Lester Bird, that officers and not ministers may be responsible for alleged abuses of the scheme as all the financial statements clearly indicate otherwise (09:08-12:46)
9. The European Union (EU) rejects claims by the international charity OXFAM that it is the most protectionist group of countries in international trade and OXFAM International Director Stewart Wallis says it will keep up its fight for a change of EU trading rules which are rigged against poor countries. Additionally, OXFAM wants to change the system in which the International Monetary Fund and World Bank force countries of the south to open their markets. Tony Fraser reports (12:47-14:48)
10. Queen Elizabeth returns to official duties for the first time since the death of her mother and makes history bring together fifteen Governors General of countries of which she is Head of State, nine of them from the Caribbean (14:49-15:08)
2. Bertram Niles interviews President of the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC), Gary Voss, who says regional governments and the Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM) are under-prepared to negotiate for new international trade arrangements and suggests the private sector, led by the CAIC, needs to provide them with the private sector strategic plan which regional government both individually and collectively could use to plan and negotiate (00:29-03:48)
3. The United States grants a visa to a Cuban Official - Orlando Randall Delgado, coordinator of International Affairs in Cuba’s Ministry of Tourism - to attend a Caribbean Tourism Conference in New York for the first time since 1992 and Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) Secretary-General, Jean Holder says it is an historic breakthrough and hopes it is a sign of easier relations between Cuba and the United States. Natalie Williams reports (03:49-05:36)
4. Members of Congress in Venezuela meet for the first time since the failed coup against the President Hugo Chavez and some members call for a referendum on whether Mr. Chavez should stay in power but correspondents say that without a credible challenger to Mr. Chavez such a vote would probably prolong Venezuela’s turmoil (05:37-06:02)
5. The United States is, once again, forced to play down allegations that it played a role in the attempted coup in Venezuela. White House spokesman for Western Hemisphere Affairs Charles Barkley tells BBC Caribbean Report that the US Ambassador in Caracas, Ambassador Reich, did not contact Pedro Carmona who was interim leader during the crisis period (06:03-07:00)
6. Seven people accused of smuggling Chinese immigrants through the Caribbean - Bahamas or Cayman Islands - into the United States appear before a US Federal Judge in Miami charged with conspiracy to smuggle aliens into the United States and each faces up to ten years in prison if convicted (07:01-07:32)
7. Health Ministers of the Caribbean and specialists from regional and international organisations discuss a range of issues on health and human development in Guyana including tobacco control, HIV/AIDS and crime. At the meeting, CARICOM’s Secretary-General Edwin Carrington urges delegates to give some attention to the importance of income inequality and poverty as determinants of health status. Colin Smith reports (07:33-09:07)
8. Bertram Niles interviews Antigua and Barbuda Opposition Leader, Baldwin Spencer, who says the government is running scared because of embarrassing evidence being put before a commission of enquiry into the controversial Medical Benefits Scheme and brushes aside suggestions from Prime Minister Lester Bird, that officers and not ministers may be responsible for alleged abuses of the scheme as all the financial statements clearly indicate otherwise (09:08-12:46)
9. The European Union (EU) rejects claims by the international charity OXFAM that it is the most protectionist group of countries in international trade and OXFAM International Director Stewart Wallis says it will keep up its fight for a change of EU trading rules which are rigged against poor countries. Additionally, OXFAM wants to change the system in which the International Monetary Fund and World Bank force countries of the south to open their markets. Tony Fraser reports (12:47-14:48)
10. Queen Elizabeth returns to official duties for the first time since the death of her mother and makes history bring together fifteen Governors General of countries of which she is Head of State, nine of them from the Caribbean (14:49-15:08)