Curacao Leading Caribbean In Cruise Tourism Growth

WILLEMSTAD – Curacao posted the largest year-over-year increase in cruise passenger visits of any country in the Caribbean last year, according to data from the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

The Dutch Caribbean island welcomed 610,186 cruise passengers in 2013, a 41.4 percent increase over the previous year.

That was significantly higher than the next-fastest-growing destination, Aruba, which posted a 25.4 percent increase compared to 2012.

Not all Caribbean destinations had complete data for 2013, although it’s likely that none of the countries without complete 2013 reporting would have come close to Curacao.

The island’s growth came in a mixed year for cruise tourism in the region, one which saw 10 destinations report negative growth in cruise arrivals.

Overall, the Caribbean saw a 2.7 percent increase in cruise arrivals last year, with around 21.9 million in total, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

The region remained the world’s leading cruise destination, however, according to Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA).

Source: Caribbean Journal

Polynésie: Gaston Flosse mis en examen pour détournement de fonds publics

Le Huffington Post

JUSTICE - Le sénateur et Président de la Polynésie française Gaston Flosse, déjà poursuivi dans plusieurs affaires, a été mis en examen pour détournement de fonds publics, lundi à Papeete, a-t-on appris vendredi 21 février auprès du Parquet. Le président de l'Assemblée de la Polynésie française, Edouard Fritch, avait été mis en examen la veille, également pour détournement de fonds publics, dans la même affaire.

Ils sont soupçonnés d'avoir fait supporter à la commune dont ils ont tous deux été le maire, Pirae, l'approvisionnement en eau de la villa de Gaston Flosse, sur une commune voisine, Arue. Cette villa, construite sur une zone à l'époque dépourvue d'eau potable, a été raccordée à une réserve située à Pirae, six kilomètres plus loin et en contrebas.

Lire l'article complet ici .

Sint Maarten And Curacao Ministers Of Economic Affairs Sign Cooperation Protocol

Minister Palm Impressed With Port And Airport Operations

PHILIPSBURG, WILLEMSTAD – Curacao’s Minister of Economic & Tourism Affairs Hon. Stanley Palm and Minister of Tourism and Economic Affairs, Transportation and Telecommunications (MinTEATT) Hon. Ted Richardson, on Saturday at the Government Administration Building in Philipsburg, signed a Protocol Agreement outliningfour areas of collaboration between the two countries.

The protocol paves the way for further collaboration between both countries and their respective ministries with respect to their ports of entry (airport and seaport) where assistance and exchange of knowledge and expertise can take place.

The second area of collaboration is between both Ministries of Finance to seek ways to finalize the division of assets of the former Netherlands Antilles, including but not limited to the Foundation Economic Development (SEO) and the Development Bank of the Netherlands Antilles (OBNA).

READ FULL ARTICLE AT CURACAO CHRONICLE .

Community of Latin American and Caribbean States reiterates support for full decolonisation in Puerto Rico, rest of the region

HAVANA DECLARATION

II CELAC SUMMIT 

28-29 January, 2014

We, the Heads of State and Government of the Latin America and the Caribbean States gathered in Havana, Cuba, on the occasion of the II Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), on 28 and 29 January 2014:

.....

38. Highlight the Latin American and Caribbean character of Puerto Rico and, in noting the resolutions on Puerto Rico adopted by the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonization, reiterate that it is an issue of interest for CELAC;

39. CELAC member countries commit themselves to continue working, in the framework of international law, particularly in the framework of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 1514/(XV) of December 14th, 1960, to make the region of Latin America and the Caribbean a territory free of colonialism and colonies.

Radioactive Fallout From France’s Atomic Tests Hit Southern Europe

By Anne Sewell

Liberty Voice

See Article and Video

Back in the 1960s, France was involved in atomic bomb tests in the Sahara desert in what was then French-administered Algeria and it turns out radioactive fallout from these tests hit a lot more of Africa, as well as southern Europe.

During 1960 and 1961, prior to Algerian independence, France detonated four atomic bombs in the Sahara.  After Algeria attained independence, France continued with a further 13 tests, but ceased testing in 1966.  Apparently they then moved on to testing in French Polynesia in around 1970.

The first of these atomic bomb tests was that of France’s very first atomic bomb which went by the name “Gerboise Bleue” or in English, Blue Jerboa, named after a rodent living in the desert.

“Gerboise Bleue” was apparently detonated on top of a 105 meter tower near Reganne in Algeria.  Reportedly it was a “pure fission device with a plutonium core and a one-point initiated implosion system.”  

It turns out that at the time, they never really told anyone the reach of the radioactive fallout from the blast and kept it under wraps until this week.  A French newspaper, Le Parisien, has published some declassified documents relating to the atomic testing, including a map showing how, in reality, the fallout spread much further than they said.  In effect, the fallout reached central, eastern and northern Africa and even went so far as to hit southern Spain and also Sicily and Sardinia in southern Italy.  The radioactive fallout from France’s atomic bomb tests hit southern Europe, apparently, within just 13 days of the test.  A link to the map is included at the end of this article.

Le Parisien reported that the French military recognizes that in some areas, the safety standards were widely exceeded.  For instance in Arak, near Tamanrasset, the water was highly contaminated as well as in N’Djamena, the capital of Chad.

The French military are apparently describing the levels as “generally very weak” and they say there is no real threat outside the immediate blast area.

However, Bruno Barillot, a specialist in nuclear testing, told the newspaper that this is what the military will always say.  He stressed that at the time of the testing, standards were far less stringent than they are now, adding that medical advances have since shown that even very low doses of radiation can trigger serious diseases some 10, 20 or even 30 years later.

According to the declassified documents, dangerous levels of iodine-131 and caesium-137 were found in N’Djamena in Chad and Arak in Algeria, although it is apparently impossible to tell the exact levels.

Barillot said that everyone knows these days that these radioactive elements are a direct cause of cancers and cardio-vascular disease.  He stressed that even with the latest document release, the French government has been selectively declassifying documents to hide the real truth in the matter.

www.ennaharonline.com/en/news/7917.html

According to Fatima Benbraham, a lawyer representing around 30 people who have suffered cancer as a result of the radioactive fallout from atomic tests, nobody has received any compensation as yet, as they don’t actually have proof that these people were in the “very limited zone laid down by the law relating to damages,”   In fact, apparently in total there are around 150,000 people waiting for compensation due to the radioactive fallout.

This isn’t the first incidence showing the lack of knowledge involved when testing atomic weapons.  Three years before the French tests, in 1957, five U.S. air force officers along with a cameraman, were involved in an experiment where they stood directly underneath an atomic explosion at a Nevada test site and waited for the bang.  There was absolutely no forethought as to the radioactive fallout involved and one of the officers even wished that everyone could have been there.  As more documents become declassified, it will no doubt become clear that radioactive fallout from atomic bomb tests has probably hit far more areas of the world besides France’s contamination of southern Europe and various parts of Africa.

French Nuclear Tests in Algeria: Exact Radioactive Fallout Extent Revealed

U.N. reaffirms Palestinian right to self-determination and independent statehood

ifamericansknew.org

Resolution adopted by the General Assembly 

18 December 2013

[on the report of the Third Committee (A/68/455)]

68/154.    The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination

           The General Assembly,

           Aware that the development of friendly relations among nations, based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, is among the purposes and principles of the United Nations, as defined in the Charter,

           Recalling, in this regard, its resolution 2625 (XXV) of 24 October 1970, entitled “Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations”,

           Bearing in mind the International Covenants on Human Rights,[1] the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,[2] the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples[3] and the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action adopted at the World Conference on Human Rights on 25 June 1993,[4]

           Recalling the Declaration on the Occasion of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the United Nations,[5]

           Recalling also the United Nations Millennium Declaration,[6]

           Recalling further the advisory opinion rendered on 9 July 2004 by the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,[7] and noting in particular the reply of the Court, including on the right of peoples to self-determination, which is a right 

erga omnes,[8]

           Recalling the conclusion of the Court, in its advisory opinion of 9 July 2004, that the construction of the wall by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, along with measures previously taken, severely impedes the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination,[9]

           Welcoming the resumption of negotiations within the Middle East peace process, based on the relevant resolutions of the United Nations, the Madrid terms of reference, including the principle of land for peace, the Arab Peace Initiative[10] and the Quartet road map to a permanent two-State solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,[11] aiming for the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace settlement between the Palestinian and Israeli sides within the agreed time frame of nine months,

           Stressing the need for respect for and preservation of the territorial unity, contiguity and integrity of all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and recalling in this regard its resolution 58/292 of 6 May 2004,

           Recalling its resolution 67/158 of 20 December 2012,

           Taking note of its resolution 67/19 of 29 November 2012,

           Affirming the right of all States in the region to live in peace within secure and internationally recognized borders,

           1.       Reaffirms the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to their independent State of Palestine;

           2.       Urges all States and the specialized agencies and organizations of the United Nations system to continue to support and assist the Palestinian people in the early realization of their right to self-determination.

70th plenary meeting

18 December 2013

---

[1] Resolution 2200 A (XXI), annex.

[2] Resolution 217 A (III).

[3] Resolution 1514 (XV).

[4] A/CONF.157/24 (Part I), chap. III.

[5] Resolution 50/6.

[6] Resolution 55/2.

[7] See A/ES‑10/273 and Corr.1.

[8] Ibid., advisory opinion, para. 88.

[9] Ibid., para. 122.

[10] A/56/1026‑S/2002/932, annex II, resolution 14/221.

[11] S/2003/529, annex.

Premiere documentary about Frank Martinus Arion during International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR)

Amigoe WILLEMSTAD — During the third edition of the International Film Festival Rotterdam  (IFFR), the documentary ‘Frank Martinus Arion: Yu di Kòrsou’ of Cindy Kerseborn will  be premiered. This was recently made known by the organization of the film festival  during a press conference. The festival will take place from April 2nduntil April 6th. The first film screening will be introduced by Lucille Berry-Haseth and with recital of the poems of the great writer. The festival also makes room for new elements, such as the collaboration with Salt + Pepper (restaurant located in Riffort), which will serve as film café during the festival. In addition, the Youth Orchestra led by Dennis Aalse will be also giving various performances. There will be also an exhibition with ‘photographica’ from the private collection of Michel  van Veldhoven. His exhibition will be in the framework of cameras and projectors in which the development of moving film images of 1903 to around 1970 and the cameras and projectors from the 1920’s until the rise of video that was could be seen in 1980’s.  Next to the exhibition there will be also a space in which four movies by filmmakers  Frank M. Chumaceiro and his partner Tita will be shown. These films were produced  under the name Curafilms between 1951 and 1961. FRANK MARTINUS ARION (Curaçao, 1936) studied Dutch Lan­gu­a­ge and Li­te­ra­tu­re at Leyden Uni­ver­si­ty. He lec­tu­red at Am­ster­dam Uni­ver­si­ty and from 1975 to 1981 taught at a teacher trai­ning college in Surinam. After that he re­tur­ned to Curaçao to be ap­poin­ted head of the In­sti­tu­to Ling­kwis­ti­ko Antiano. He founded a Pa­pi­a­men­to se­conda­ry school based on hu­ma­nis­tic prin­ci­ples: the Kolegio Erasmo. He writes stories, essays, poetry and novels. His suc­ces­sful debut novel Dub­bel­spel (Double Play, 1973) is pre­sent­ly being adapted for the screen. Fol­lo­wing Dub­bel­spel the novels Nobele wilden (Noble savages, 1979) and De laatste vrij­heid (The last freedom 1995) ap­pe­a­red, which won him the Cola Debrot Prize in 2001. In No­vem­ber 2001 the col­lec­ti­on of stories De eeuwige hond(The eternal dog) ap­pe­a­red. His latest novel De de­ser­teurs (The de­ser­ters) was pu­blis­hed in 2006. WIN 2001

Nuclear testing films big winners at Pacific Film Festival

RADIO NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL 

Films about the struggle for independence and survival after decades of exposure to nuclear testing have been the big winners at the Pacific Documentary Film Festival in French Polynesia.

For the first time a New Caledonian film took out the grand prize of the jury with 'Nickel - the treasure of the Kanaks'.

'Nuclear Savage', about the United States nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands won the Jury Special prize.

A 1971 photo of a nuclear bomb detonated by the French government
at the Mururoa atoll, French Polynesia. (AP Photo)

Leilani Momoisea reports:

The organiser of the Pacific Documentary Film Festival, Miriama Bono, says about 25,000 people attended the festival, which had 14 films in competition. She says as usual, the quality of films was very high, and came from all over, including New Zealand, Tahiti and Australia, but it was a New Caledonian film that captured the grand prize of the Jury. 'Nickel - the treasure of the Kanaks', made by Anne Pitoiset and Laurent Cibien, tells of the way Kanaks in the north managed to take control of the area's main resource, nickel. Miriama Bono says the film is timely, as people in New Caledonia prepare to vote on their independence.

MIRIAMA BONO: The story is a big issue for New Caledonian people because they have to vote and to decide after that if they want to stay French or not, and the nickel is one of the most important economic deals for them so because of the subject and because of the situation in New Caledonia, it was important for the jury to have this film as the winner.

The special prize of the Jury went to 'Nuclear Savage', made by Adam Horowitz, a film described as a heart-breaking and shocking exposé of the United States nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands. Adam Horowitz says the film reveals that the testing of nuclear bombs in the Marshall Islands was a deliberate attempt by the United States to investigate the effects of nuclear exposure on humans. He says he hopes the film will push the United States to release all the information it has on the nuclear tests.

ADAM HOROWITZ: The full extent of the testing and the contamination and the exposure of the people is still secret. So I would say the first thing that I would hope would happen, and many people hope will happen, is that the US government will come clean on what they did and the full extent of the contamination, the full extent of the human experiments.

Miriama Bono says the prize of the public was awarded to Tahitian film 'Annanahi tomorrow', about a famous local reggae group in the Marquesas islands.

MIRIAMA BONO: Marquesas people are very, living the culture. They are speaking their own language. Even in Tahiti, we don't speak Tahitian fluently. They are still singing and talking in Marquesas so I think that's what touched the audience, it's the cultural subject.

A member of the film jury, Emmanuel Tjibaou, says it was a good experience to be part of a film festival that supports Pacific voices.

EMMANUEL TJIBAOU: Especially promote through the movie, the expression of our indigenous people and it's good for me to hear our people talking about their vision of how they want to be seen through the movie.

Meetings were also held with film festival organisers from New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii and New Caledonia, so the Pacific documentaries can be exposed to an international audience.

Virgin Islands Sports Pioneer joins the ancestors

The Government House Blog Governor de Jongh Joins Community in Mourning the Death of Victor Ebbesen dopusvi.org Upon learning of the passing of Victor L. Ebbesen, Sr., former Personnel Director and avid tennis player, Governor de Jongh expressed his condolences to the entire Ebbesen family. "Victor Ebbesen was a family friend, a classmate of my father's, and an admired and respected public servant. He had a long and illustrious career with the Government of the Virgin Islands, holding the posts of Director of the Division of Personnel from 1959 to 1967 and then heading Maternal and Child Health. Cecile and I extend our sympathies to Mr. Ebbesen's children, his sisters and brother, and all other members of the extended family circle at this very difficult time," he said.  Mr. Ebbesen was born, raised and educated on St. Thomas. He graduated from Charlotte Amalie High School in 1944. He later received a Forsythe Scholarship to attend Syracuse University in New York. After his freshman year in college, he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1950. He returned to college in 1952, finished his degree in 1955, and then returned to the Virgin Islands and joined government service.  Before being deployed, he married his high school sweetheart, Thelma Leona Oliver, the granddaughter of noted educator E. Benjamin Oliver. Their marriage produced three children, Patrice, Jeannette and Victor, Jr. The couple was happily married for 61 years until Mrs. Ebbesen's death in 2011.  Throughout his life, Mr. Ebbesen was a skilled and passionate tennis player. After his retirement, he spent many hours playing tennis at Cowpet Bay Tennis Courts. He bought the inventory of the pro shop and his wife became the shop's office manager. He represented the Virgin Islands in numerous tournaments. His prominence as a tennis player did not go unnoticed and he was inducted into the African-American Ethnic and Caribbean Sports Hall of Fame in 2002. The St. Thomas Racquet Club named its tournament the "Vic Ebbesen Tennis Tournament" in his honor.  Mr. Ebbesen is survived by his three children and their families; his brother Jean and sisters Angel, Leona and Grace; numerous other relatives; many friends and former colleagues; and admirers throughout the community. He passed away on Thursday after a brief illness.