Yearbook 2008 USA. Shortly after the New Year, the primary elections for the autumn presidential elections began. Among Republicans, Arizona senator John McCain soon became the leading candidate, and in March, his nomination was formally secured. In the Democratic Party, a bitter battle was going on between the first-favorite Hillary Clinton, New York senator from…
Category: North America
Trinidad and Tobago 2008
Yearbook 2008 Trinidad and Tobago. The country’s president George Maxwell Richards was re-elected in February for a second five-year term. He was installed on March 17 at a ceremony at the stadium on the outskirts of the capital Port of Spain. In addition to specially invited guests, the public also got to attend the festivities…
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2008
Yearbook 2008 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. In July, lawyer Jomo Thomas launched a new social policy movement called the People’s Movement for Change. In his inaugural speech in the capital Kingstown, Thomas said that the movement would not primarily focus on electoral movements, but instead “unite the people” and “raise people’s consciousness” by participating…
Saint Lucia 2008
Yearbook 2008 Saint Lucia. The Cotonou Agreement was replaced in the autumn with a new economic partnership, the EPA (Economic Partnership Agreement), between the EU and Saint Lucia. EPA meant that tariffs and import duties on the EU market were almost completely eliminated for goods from the Caribbean. At the same time, the agreement meant…
Saint Kitts and Nevis 2008
Yearbook 2008 Saint Christopher and Nevis. In August, Prime Minister Denzil Douglas reformed his government to concentrate work on the most important issues: national security, state finances, the labor market, social development, information and technology. Douglas took over responsibility for national security, immigration, foreign policy, sustainable development, tourism, sports and culture. The Cotonou Agreement was…
Panama 2008
Yearbook 2008 Panama. In October, the Prosecutor’s Office decided to launch an investigation into allegations that, during his time as lieutenant in the National Guard, Interior Minister Daniel Delgado murdered another guard officer in 1970. Delgado himself acknowledged the incident but claimed it was a legitimate police action that was being investigated and closed down…
Nicaragua 2008
Yearbook 2008 Nicaragua. The FSLN (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional) party won big in the municipal elections on November 9. The party won in 91 out of 146 municipalities, including the capital Managua where 30 percent of the electorate lives, while the largest opposition party PLC (Partido Liberal Constitucionalista) won in 50 municipalities. However, a…
Mexico 2008
Yearbook 2008 Mexico. An increasingly dominant problem in Mexico is the dramatically increased crime rate, especially the drug trafficking and the murder wave that followed in its wake. On November 18, the government sent marines and federal police to patrol the streets of the crime-stricken city of Tijuana on the border with the United States….
Jamaica 2008
Yearbook 2008 Jamaica. In March, Amnesty International strongly criticized the Jamaican authorities for neglecting the country’s poor inner-city population. According to the human rights organization, the government had deliberately abandoned the slum dwellers of the cities, which made them into criminal gang violence. Amnesty described the situation of the poor as a kind of hostage…
Honduras 2008
Yearbook 2008 Honduras. In early October, Honduras’s congress approved the government’s proposal to allow the country to join Alternative Bolivarian para las Américas (ALBA), the Latin American cooperation organization created and led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. The opposition chose to cast its votes in the congressional vote. The high crime rate in Honduras continues…