French Guiana

United front among rum producers

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 00:10:01 +0000

United front among rum producers

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admin Thu, 02/25/2021 - 00:10

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

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Barbados Today

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United front among rum producers

Caribbean rum producers are joining forces with French group – CIRT-DOM – to get the best deal for their exports into major markets, particularly the European Union.

Rum producers of the Caribbean Forum, members of the West Indies Rum & Spirits Producers Association (WIRSPA), recently signed a MOU with their French counterparts CIRT-DOM – the traditional rum producers of Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Guiana and Reunion, which are all departments of France.

The two groupings, each representing a tradition of rum production that stretches back hundreds of years, have with this sixth accord, renewed their commitment to working together in the interest of building the rum category based on authentic provenance, common rules and promoting a level playing field against increasing competition from products which benefit from production subsidies.

According to chairman of WIRSPA, Komal Samaroo, “We have a long history of collaboration with our French counterparts, almost 25 years since the signing of our first agreement in 1997.

Together we face a sharp rise in non-traditional imports of rum into our traditional markets, especially the European Union and the UK. Many of these competing brands do not always follow the rules, and many benefit from extensive production and marketing subsidies which place us at a competitive disadvantage.

These developments, coupled with the impact of Brexit and the new trade deals being pursued by the UK, underline the need for joint action,” he said.

Alain Chatel, President of the French grouping CIRT-DOM said: “We have worked with WIRSPA over several decades to promote rum rules that respect origin, and to urge compliance with the regulations which do not permit flavouring of rum, and labelling regulations that are truthful.

Both our groupings are traditional producers of authentic rum based on true provenance, and we have together
worked to build the reputation of rum as a quality premium spirit, alongside the best of the best. We share
a common philosophy.”

WIRSPA is one of the oldest private sector trade associations in the Caribbean. It represents rum producers in Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Haiti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Suriname and Trinidad & Tobago. (PR)

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#BlackHistoryMonth – Senghor the statesman

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2021 19:20:01 +0000

#BlackHistoryMonth – Senghor the statesman

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admin Fri, 02/12/2021 - 19:20

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

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Barbados Today

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#BlackHistoryMonth – Senghor the statesman

Late Senegalese statesman Léopold Senghor, born October 9, 1906 in Joal, was the son of a prosperous Serer planter and trader. His mother was a Roman Catholic and sent him to a nearby Catholic mission and seminary in order to fulfill his first ambition, which was to become a teacher-priest.

At age 20 he realized that the priesthood was not his calling, and he transferred to the lycée (secondary school) in the capital city of Dakar.

In 1928 Senghor went to Paris on a partial scholarship and continued his formal studies at the Lycée Louis-le-Grand
and at the Sorbonne.

During these years Senghor discovered the unmistakable imprint of African art on modern painting, sculpture, and music, which confirmed his belief in Africa’s potential contribution to modern culture.

In 1935 Senghor became the first African agrégé, the highest rank of qualified teacher in the French school system, which allowed him to teach at both the lycée and university levels.

He first taught French in Tours, but eventually he became a professor of African languages and civilization at the École Nationale de la France d’Outre-Mer.

Drafted in 1939 at the beginning of World War II, he was captured in 1940 and spent two years in Nazi concentration camps, where he wrote some of his finest poems. On his release he joined the Resistance in France.

After the war Senghor became a member of the French Constituent Assembly. In 1946 he was sent as one of Senegal’s two deputies to the National Assembly in Paris. Elected on the Socialist ticket, Senghor founded the Senegalese Democratic Bloc in 1948 and, as that party’s candidate, was reelected wby a wide margin in the 1951 elections for the French National Assembly.

Five years later he became mayor of Thiès, Senegal’s railroad centre, and was reelected deputy. The French West African colonies increasingly pressed for independence.

When the French parliament passed (1956) the loi cadre, which gave a large measure of self-government to the African territories, Senghor was one of the first to oppose the act, because he felt its emphasis on territorial rather than federal government would result in the proliferation of small, unviable states.

To counter the act, Senghor helped establish an alliance between French Equatorial Africa and French West Africa that led to the creation in 1959 of the short-lived Mali Federation, of which Senegal was a member (along with French Sudan [Mali], Dahomey [Benin], and Upper Volta [Burkina Faso]). In December 1959 Senghor made an eloquent appeal to French President Charles de Gaulle for independence.

The Mali Federation lasted only until the following August, when its last two members, Senegal and French Sudan, separated, Senegal became an independent republic, and Senghor was unanimously elected president.

In late 1962 Prime Minister Mamadou Dia, a longtime protégé of Senghor, attempted a coup d’état. The Senegalese people rallied behind Senghor, however, and Dia was sentenced to life imprisonment (he was released in 1974). Senghor was reelected president in 1963 and retired on December 31, 1980, the first African president to leave office voluntarily. Abdou Diouf, whom Senghor had chosen as his successor, became the next president.

As chief executive, Senghor tried to modernize Senegal’s agriculture, instill a sense of enlightened citizenship, combat corruption and inefficiency, forge closer ties with his African neighbours, and continue cooperation with the French. He advocated a form of socialism that was based on African realities and was often called “African socialism.” Senghor’s socialism was democratic and humanistic, and it shunned such slogans as “dictatorship of the proletariat.”

A vigorous spokesman for the Third World, he protested unfair terms of trade that worked to the disadvantage of African nations. Along with Aimé Césaire of Martinique and Léon G. Damas of French Guiana, Senghor was one of the originators in the 1930s and ’40s of the concept of Negritude, which is often defined as the literary and artistic expression of the black African experience.

Senghor became Negritude’s foremost spokesman. In 1947 he helped establish the journal Présence Africaine, which published the works of African writers, and in 1948 he edited an anthology of French-language poetry by black Africans that became a seminal text of the Negritude movement. He was also a distinguished poet in his own right.

He died on December 20, 2001, aged 95.

(Britannica.com)

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WORLD – Covid Brazilian variant sparks South America travel ban

admin — Thu, 14 Jan 2021 23:00:17 +0000

WORLD – Covid Brazilian variant sparks South America travel ban admin Thu, 01/14/2021 - 23:00

Thursday, January 14, 2021

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Barbados Today

Original Article

WORLD – Covid Brazilian variant sparks South America travel ban

SOURCE: BBC News – UK-bound arrivals from South America and Portugal will be banned from Friday over concerns about the Brazilian coronavirus variant.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the change would come into force from 04:00 GMT.

British and Irish citizens and foreign nationals with residence rights will still be able to travel but must isolate for 10 days, he said.

The decision was announced following a meeting of ministers on Thursday.

The ban applies to people who have travelled from, or through, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay and Venezuela in the last 10 days.

Mr Shapps said Portugal had been included “given its strong travel links with Brazil” – but there would be an exemption for hauliers travelling from the country to allow the transportation of essential goods.

He said suspending travel from that European country would act “as another way to reduce the risk of importing infections”.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was “very concerned” about the Brazilian variant of the virus.

New variants of Covid-19 have previously been identified in the UK and South Africa, with many countries imposing restrictions on arrivals from both nations.

Several Central and South American nations had already restricted travel from the UK, including Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama, while others such as Argentina and Uruguay have closed their borders to non-resident foreign nationals.

The Department for Transport said under the ban any exemptions would not apply, including those for employment, and people who live with someone who has travelled from one of the banned countries will have to self-isolate for 10 days.

BBC News online health editor Michelle Roberts said there was no sign that any of the new variants were more dangerous, with scientists confident that vaccines would work against them.

Felipe Naveca, deputy director of research at the Brazilian state-run Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, said the new variant was “of concern” and its origin was “undoubtedly” from the Amazon region.

He told the BBC’s South America correspondent Katy Watson the new variant had evolved separately from those in the UK and South Africa, but that it showed some of the same mutations.

“Some of these mutations have been linked to increased transmission and that is of concern,” he said, adding: “We have to stop the virus from circulating, because we’re giving it the opportunity to evolve.”

The travel ban comes after it was announced a requirement for arrivals into England to test negative for coronavirus 72 hours before their journey will now come into force at 04:00 GMT on Monday.

Scotland is taking the same approach to international travellers but will implement the policy on Friday, while Wales and Northern Ireland are expected to announce their own plans in the coming days.

Mr Shapps said the new rules had been delayed from Friday “to give international arrivals time to prepare” but Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said people would be “bewildered” by the delay and would “feel that we’re exposed”.

Meanwhile, Covid-19 case rates have fallen in most regions of England, according to the latest data from Public Health England’s weekly surveillance report.

London continues to have the highest rate of any region but its rate of new cases stood at 864.9 per 100,000 people in the seven days to 10 January, down from 1,043.9 in the previous week.

The North East, East Midlands, East, South East and Yorkshire & the Humber also recorded a week-on-week fall.

However, the rate increased in the North West, South West and the West Midlands.

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