Negotiations Continue on American Indigenous Rights Declaration

WASHINGTON D.C. (UCTP Taino News) — Indigenous leaders from throughout the Americas gathered in in Washington DC this week to participate in the negotiations on an American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The proposed legal framework focuses on the protection of the economic, cultural, and political rights of Indigenous Peoples.

The meetings took place from Nov. 30 - December 2, 2009 at the headquarters of the Organization of American States (OAS). The OAS is a regional inter-governmental organization that seeks to build peace, solidarity and collaboration in the Americas.


“This work needs to be completed,” said Armstrong Wiggins, director of the Indian Law Resource Center’s Washington office. “The declaration is not yet adopted, and I fear it could become an orphan if states do not act more seriously on it.”

Damon Corrie, an Arawak activist from Barbados agrees. Corrie and other Caribbean indigenous delegates from Dominica, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Saint Vincent, and Suriname continue to be concerned about the lack of participation from CARICOM governments within these important negotiations.

“The only CARICOM member State showing any interest in this process is the Republic of Guyana” noted Corrie. “This process will have a tremendous impact on whether future relations between Indigenous Peoples and political states will be equitable and harmonious or unjust and adversarial.”

According to a recent press release from the Indian Law Resource Center (ILRC), this dialogue comes as global initiatives are threatening indigenous rights. The World Bank and United Nations for example have funded several projects that are designed to provide climate change solutions but instead could harm indigenous communities if developed on their lands and territories. These projects could lead to violations of indigenous peoples’ land and natural resources rights.

The ILRC and other participating organizations assert that the declaration would address these threats and establish a legal framework to protect indigenous rights from potential violations.

UCTPTN 12.02.2009

Saint Lucia and Puerto Rico Tops Caribbean in World Business Ranking

CASTRIES - A World Bank report ranks St Lucia and Puerto Rico among the top 30 places in the world in which to do business. According to a BBC report on Thursday, the only Caribbean country or territory within the top 20 is Puerto Rico ranked at number 19. St Lucia is ranked 27th out of 175 countries.

The study looks at how effective they were at stripping away the bureaucratic obstacles to opening businesses, getting licences and conducting imports and exports. The private sector arm of the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, published the report after doing a survey of how easy it is to do business in 175 countries.

The IFC measured the time, cost, and hassle for businesses to comply with the countries' legal and administrative requirements---- in other words how easy it is to cut through the red tape. So they found that the easiest country in the world in which to do business is Singapore, followed by New Zealand and the United States. ReformsIn terms of introducing reforms that make it easier for businesses, Africa is reforming faster that Latin American and the Caribbean, Asia and the Middle East.

The reforms the IFC approves of are simplifying business regulations, strengthening property rights, easing tax burdens, increasing access to credit, and reducing the cost of exporting and importing.World Bank President, Paul Wolfowitz, says that in many countries the costs of doing business are so prohibitive that businessmen are forced to operate outside the formal economy -- that is, the country is more open to bribes and corruption.

He says the report is a critical tool for developing countries to determine where more reforms are needed."Statement of Confidence"Meanwhile, Prime Minister Dr Kenny D. Anthony has welcomed the report. "This is great news. I am exceedingly pleased," he said on receiving the news Thursday.Dr Anthony said the report "is also great news for us as a Government because sometimes we can be hard on ourselves and feel that even all that's done is not enough."

The PM, who is also responsible for Finance, Economic Development, International Financial services and Information, said the World Bank/IFC report "will help us in our quest to continue to attract business and to do business in ways that would be even more business friendly."He said the reports was "also an international statement of confidence in Saint Lucia, which will certainly help the world better understand that Saint Lucia is not just good for tourism, but also good for business."