Russia and the Caribbean
Over the last five years Russian interest in the Caribbean has been growing steadily; so that today Moscow’s diplomatic profile and its economic presence in a number of Caribbean nations is now stronger than at any time since the end of the Cold War. It has also made clear that it again intends having a […]
Caribbean citizenship by investment schemes
A number of Caribbean countries offer citizenship for investment schemes whereby passports are provided for an investment in real estate or a donation with little or no requirement to reside in the country. St Kitts has the oldest scheme dating from 1984; Antigua, Dominica and Grenada also offer them; and other Caribbean islands have been […]
Venezuela: instability and the impact of potential changes to the PetroCaribe scheme on the Caribbean Basin
Across the Caribbean concern has been expressed about the implications of civil unrest in Venezuela and what this might mean for the long term future of the PetroCaribe arrangement, the concessionary agreement which underpins most Caribbean economies through the supply of oil at concessionary prices on deferred terms. This is because almost all Caribbean Basin […]
UK Policy and the Caribbean
Since 2010 many Caribbean nations have fallen further into debt, many are in IMF programmes, and almost all are heavily dependent on costly imports of energy and food. The consequence has been low rates of growth (there are some exceptions), a failure to complete the Caribbean Single Market and Economy, a significant decline in governments’ […]
Responding to changing policy towards Cuba
On November 8 2013, President Obama told a group of Cuban American activists that there is a need for Washington to reconsider US policy towards Cuba. Speaking at a small fundraising event at the home of Jorge Mas Santos, Chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), the US President said that it may be […]
Guyana and Suriname: Opportunities for increasing UK investment and trade
In July 2013, the Caribbean Council undertook a scoping study of UK business opportunities in Guyana and Suriname on behalf of the British High Commission in Guyana. The scoping study was funded by the FCO Commercial Diplomacy Fund and seeks to raise awareness amongst British companies about the opportunities which exist and provide them with […]
The changing potential of the Caribbean
The perceptual map of the Caribbean that most share has changed very little since the days of the cold war. This framework, which neatly divides the region by language and history, and conditions most policy and commercial responses, may now be of limited utility and may require revision. Other than Trinidad, the countries offering the […]