Politics, Business & Culture in the Americas
 

Jamaica’s Pride Week Is A Positive Step for the Caribbean

Correction appended below On Saturday, LGBT rights organizations kicked off PRiDE JA 2015, Jamaica’s first ever gay pride week. For a country that TIME magazine once called “the most homophobic place on earth,”  the event is testament  to a slowly improving climate for an often persecuted LGBT community. “Despite the realities, Jamaica is changing slowly … Read more

Innovators - Latoya Nugent

Latoya Nugent, Jamaica

Correction appended below A few years after publicly coming out as a lesbian, Latoya Nugent, 33, was defending the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities in Jamaica. In July 2013, she became the education and training manager at J-FLAG—the island’s leading LGBT rights organization. Those who knew her weren’t surprised. Though her … Read more

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Latin America at the Winter Olympics

Latin American and Caribbean countries may not be as well-known for their winter sports as Canada, Russia or the United States, but the region does have a storied tradition at the Winter Olympic Games. Argentina, the first Latin American country to participate, sent a five-man bobsled team to the second-ever Winter Games in 1928. Chile … Read more

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Behind the Numbers: Women’s Rights

The gender-based data on social inclusion clearly indicate the opportunities and obstacles facing women in Latin America—as well as numerous contradictions and complexities. An examination of new trends, laws and policies brings to mind the Spanish expression, “Del dicho al hecho, hay mucho trecho.” In other words, even in many areas where there appears to … Read more

 

Caribbean Energy Security is Good Business

With the exception of gas-rich Trinidad and Tobago, the 14 other countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are energy importers. In fact, 93 percent of the region’s energy needs are met by oil imports, which average 13 percent of GDP. Venezuela is the main supplier of oil to the Caribbean through the PetroCaribe agreement, formed … Read more

 

An Historic Moment for LGBTI Rights in the Americas

In a groundbreaking announcement this week, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) declared that it will create a Rapporteurship on the Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex (LGBTI) Persons. The news garnered little media attention, but its significance to millions of LGBTI people across the Americas and to the broader struggle for … Read more

 

Tyranny of Words

The media across the world has a knack for framing narratives in a way that perpetuates the status quo. This is true whether the subject is the rich, the poor, gays, lesbians, Africans, Americans, or Muslims. I was yet again reminded of the power of the media to influence public opinion as I flipped through … Read more

 

Shaming Victims of Sexual Violence

Every so often, the media incites some outrage over sexual violence within the relatively apathetic Jamaican population. Regrettably, our outrage is too often confined to the comfort of conversations with friends and family and many of us shame and blame rape victims rather than cultivating a constructive conversation on how to end sexual violence. Women … Read more

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