Press Release

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 3^rd, 2013

CONTACT:  Mrs. Leonne Theodore-John – (758) 285 3823

UNITED WORKERS PARTY HOSTS HISTORIC JOINT NATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR YOUTH AND WOMEN IN MICOUD

Over two thousand youth and women will converge on the eastern village of Micoud on Sunday, July 7^th, 2013 in a historic Joint National Conference of the youth and women arms of the United Workers Party.  The event will bring together youth and women from all seventeen (17) constituencies with the main goal of electing national Executives for the Party’s Youth and Women Arms respectively.

PetroCaribe and the Caribbean: Is the party over?

Statements by the government of Haiti that Venezuela and PetroCaribe are responsible for 94% of that country’s public investment sheds some light on the value of PetroCaribe for this particular domicile, but begs the broader question as to whether PetroCaribe is sustainable and, if not, what next for the Caribbean countries who are members. Below are some thoughts from a recent presentation made by the author, on CARICOM and PetroCaribe at the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS).

As it relates to energy, Venezuela and PetroCaribe offered the Caribbean a lifeline of sorts when the majority of the Caribbean countries were struggling to pay their energy bills. The rise in oil prices at a time that countries were facing financial strain allowed for their agreement to a proffered deal that -- in broad strokes -- allows them to either pay a percentage their oil bill within 90 days or enjoy a 1-3 year grace period and pay the remainder over the next 25 years at a fixed interest rate of 1%.

The Allen Chastanet Documentary-Soufriere 2011 (Time To Believe)

GROS ISLET DOCUMENTARY-LENARD SPIDER MONTOUTE 2011

St Lucia government called on to restructure ministries

Once upon a better days

CASTRIES, St Lucia -- After an intensive review of the current structure and operations of Saint Lucia’s ministry of tourism and the ministry of external affairs, the Lucian People's Movement (LPM) said that the island might be better served if they were not headed by elected officials.

Speaking on behalf of the LPM, the party's political leader, Therold Prudent, insisted that greater economic and social benefits would be derived if the current administration of Dr Kenny Anthony and all future administrations agreed to a joint national policy of depoliticizing these ministries.

The LPM believes that while it may seem prudent to allow the government of the day to place its political stamp on the highest echelons of these two ministries, given what it described as Saint Lucia’s history of political immaturity and the inability to respect the dichotomy between government and politics, in which successive administrations have failed the nation.

Guyana experience is a lesson for Caribbean countries, says CDB president

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (GINA) -- There are some interesting lessons for the rest of the Caribbean region to learn from the road Guyana has travelled, having moved from a deep abyss to a position of enjoying seven years of uninterrupted growth up to 2012 at a rate of 4.5 percent per annum.

This is the view of Dr William Warren Smith, president of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), who noted that Guyana’s growth did not start seven years ago, but that those who have been around for a while would be familiar with the challenges that the country had been experiencing over too long a period of time.

PetroCaribe summit adopts new economic and social projects

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (ACN) -- The eighth summit of heads of state and governments of the PetroCaribe regional energy integration bloc concluded on Saturday in Nicaragua after adopting new projects to boost regional economic development and social investment in the fields of education, food and health.

During the summit’s closing session, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that the objectives of the forum were largely met in favour of integration and the fight on poverty.