Stories about Aruba from April, 2006
Aruba: Donkeys
ArubaGirl explains the presence of bands of wandering donkey's in Aruba.
Caribbean: Bureaucracy kills & biofuel
Taran Rampersad is starting a “death and injury counter” in response to the region's lack of action in the area of disaster preparedness. “My theory is that all the bureaucracy kills people in a way that could be seen as criminally negligent,” he says. And why isn't the Caribbean thinking...
Caribbean: Billionaires Investing in Local Telecoms
Last week Irish billionaire Dennis O'Brien announced his company Digicel was purchasing the Caribbean arm of Bouygues Telecom . This week Mexican billionnaire Carlos Slim announces he is purchasing three Caribbean and Latin-American subsidiaries of Verizon, an American telecom, writes (FR) InternetRapide.com. The Verizon subsidiaries to be purchased by Slim's...
A Seamless Caribbean Network?
InternetRapide.com, a blog dedicated to telecommunications in the Caribbean says (FR) Digicel, a cell phone company owned by Irishman Denis O'Brien that covers 60% of the Jamaican market, celebrates its fifth anniversary this week. The company has expanded to 14 other Caribbean countries since its inception in 2001 and plans...
Don't go near the sea on Good Friday, and other Caribbean Easter traditions
The Easter Weekend in the Caribbean arrives at the height of the dry season, with gorgeous weather and Christian traditions conspiring to make it a time both solemn and fun-filled. A popular Easter weekend activity is kite-flying, and a number of bloggers did just that on Good Friday. Barbados Free...
Caribbean, Venezuela, USA: CARICOM talks with US
Seeing it as evidence that the Caribbean has begun to resist the overtures of Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, A. M. Mora y Leon links gleefully to a Miami Herald article which states that CARICOM is exploring the possibility of holding free trade talks with the US.
Aruba: Linguistic prowess
“When our tourists find out that those who grew up here can speak at least four languages, there are usually exclamations of wonder and marvel at our linguistic prowess,” says ArubaGirl, in her explanation as to why most Arubans speak Dutch, English, Spanish and Papiamento.
Caribbean: Cruise ship cuts
One cruise line is planning to remove half its vessels from the Caribbean on account of high costs associated with hurricanes, says Mad Bull: “We are going to have to try to diversify into other areas, though I don’t know yet what they are. Our islands have a big challenge...
Caribbean: Hurricane forecast
Linda Thompkins reports on a recent meeting held to discuss the 2006 hurricane season and its implications for the Caribbean. The hurricane season begins officially on June 1.