Stories from the Caribbean track progress across the region’s diverse island nations and coastal communities. Coverage includes advances in climate resilience, marine conservation, public health, and economic development — reported with context and care.
BYD (Build Your Dreams) delivered the first electric bus fleet for public transport in the Caribbean. The Barbados Transport Board recently received 33 BYD battery-electric buses and two more of the 30-foot buses will be delivered by December.
Coal-burning power plants will get the axe in 2020, and all other coal-burning in Puerto Rico will be eliminated by 2028.
The governor of Puerto Rico signed an executive order on Wednesday banning so-called conversion therapy for gay or transgender minors on the island.
The law will bring lower cost electricity to the island and promote a network of distributed microgrids that will help avoid the prolonged power outages that followed in the wake of Hurricane Maria.
A new Caribbean coalition, led by some of the world’s clean energy heavyweights and bankrolled, in part, by international lending institutions will channel $6 billion to transition the region to renewable energy.
Jamaica set to run on 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030, up from the previous 30 per cent target.
The island nation has announced its aim to completely ban common plastics and single-use Styrofoam cups and food containers — effective January 2019.
A judge ruled that the country’s buggery laws were “not reasonably justified” in regards to adult consensual acts.
Cuba’s WHO validation showed the world something remarkable: with the right system behind it, transmitting HIV from mother to child can be reduced to near zero. This was achieved by weaving HIV testing, antiretroviral treatment, and prenatal care into a single national program reaching virtually every pregnant woman — dropping transmission risk dramatically. The honest caveat is that Cuba’s centralized health system made consistent implementation possible in ways that under-resourced or decentralized systems genuinely struggle to match. Still, the core proof is there — and other countries are already working toward the same goal.
Cuba’s exit permit system ended in January 2013, lifting a decades-old rule that required citizens to seek government approval before traveling abroad. Most Cubans now needed only a passport and a destination visa, though doctors, scientists, and known dissidents still faced hurdles. It was a partial but real opening toward a basic freedom of movement.
