Caribbean Report 04-04-1994 - Rowe, Yvette (anchor); Fairley, Ian (correspondent); Gunn, Richard (interviewee); Crawley, Sean (correspondent); Torrez, Rigoberto (interviewee); Juan, Antonia (interviewee); Geoff, Leslie (correspondent); Burden, Elizabeth (interviewee); Wilkes, Lloyd (interviewee); Beriman, Pamela (interviewee); Rios, Miguel (interviewee) (The British Broadcasting Corporation, 1994)
1. Headlines (00:00-00:25)
2. Pressure is mounting for the Dominican Republic to clamp down on illicit border trading with Haiti. The New York Times and other US newspapers have reported that the Haitian military regime is being sustained by petrol smuggled across the Dominican Republic. The authorities have responded by strengthening the military command along the border. Ian Fairley reports (00:26-01:51)
3. The battle for Europe’s banana market is one of the areas outgoing Eastern Caribbean (EC) High Commissioner to London Richard Gunn, says he will remember most. Gunn is at the end of his 6 ½ year term EC High Commissioner. Being involved in Lome IV negotiations and working to try to maintain the market for Caribbean bananas in Europe have been key issues of his tenure (01:52-03:20)
4. The Cuban government has released figures for HIV infection on the island. One hundred and forty-six (146) patients have died from AIDS-related illnesses and just over 1,000 HIV carriers have been detected since the start of hospitalizations in 1986. This relatively low rate of infection is due in part to Cuba’s controversial policy of mandatory blood testing coupled with the isolation of HIV positive people in secure sanatoria. Sean Crawley reports there are signs of a new flexibility in the treatment of AIDs sufferers on the island. Dr. Rigoberto Torrez, Deputy Director of the country’s AIDS programme discusses Cuba’s policy (03:21-08:05)
Keywords: Smuggling -- Haiti; Tourism – Standards -- Saint Lucia; Banana trade -- Caribbean area; HIV-positive persons—Care--Government policy -- Cuba; Brain drain -- Jamaica; Return migration -- Jamaica