LIONZMAN.

St Peters Sint Maarten -- The US Department of State on Thursday warned US citizens against travel to Venezuela due to social unrest, violent crime, and pervasive food and medicine shortages. This latest travel warning also informed U. citizens that on July 27, the Department ordered the departure of family members and authorized the voluntary departure of US government employees from the US embassy in Caracas.   All US direct-hire personnel and their families assigned to the US embassy in Caracas are subject to an embassy movement policy that limits their travel within Caracas and many parts of the country. Inter-city travel by car during hours of darkness (6:00 pm to 6:00 am) is strongly discouraged and in some cases may be prohibited. US government personnel must also request approval for travel outside of Caracas. These security measures may limit the US embassy’s ability to provide services. The State Department said that the political and security situation in V...

ST PETERS--The Independence for St. Martin Foundation headed by Jose Lake JR,   said they welcomed the statement from members of the Dutch Second Chamber Andre Bosman (VVD) and Ronald van Raak (SP) about the Foundation’s intention to approach the United Nations (UN) to facilitate the exit of Curaçao, Aruba, and St. Maarten from the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Foundation sees this as a welcome development and agrees with the position of both Dutch legislators that the current constitutional arrangement within the Kingdom is not final. The Foundation referred to a report in De Antilliaans Dagblad newspaper of July 12, 2017, in which Bosman was quoted as saying: “The Kingdom Charter is not final but an intermediate solution to be seen as a transfer phase. The Netherlands is obligated by the UN charter to develop a system of self-government which would lead the countries into full independence.” “This has been our position since we were established in...

  The National Security Minister, Senator Hermangild Francis has described as “unfortunate” videos that surfaced on social media over the weekend, showing a young St Lucian man being held hostage and tortured overseas in an apparent drug move gone bad. Senator Francis said he plans to meet with the Commissioner of Police today to discuss the matter. However, he stated that the incident should serve as a warning to other youth that criminals in the drugs trade are vicious and the lure of quick money does not pay. In the video, the handcuffed youth is wearing what appears to be a blood-stained shirt and is pleading for his life. 18-year-old Scott Atkins, in a still shot from a YouTube video of him being tortured by Venezuelans, in Venezuela. “Mommy, tell Shawn pay the people for me – mommy, mommy, the people go kill me! The people go cut my head!” The victim says as automatic weapons are pointed at his head. In another video the victim is seen l...

This is an update on the torture video post from yesterday. Acting Police Commissioner, Milton Desir, has promised to issue a statement Monday on a ‘torture’ video that has gone viral on social media. Milton Desir. Desir is just back after accompanying National Security Minister, Hermangild Francis to a two-day  Franco-Saint Lucian Security meeting in Martinique. The Acting Police Commissioner told the Times that he was aware of the video. News reports have identified the victim in the video as 18-year-old Scott Atkins, originally from Desruisseaux. In the video, the handcuffed youth is wearing what appears to be a blood-stained shirt and is pleading for his life. “Mommy, tell Shawn pay the people for me – mommy, mommy, the people go kill me! The people go cut my head!” The victim says as automatic weapons are pointed at his head. In another video the victim is seen lying on the ground while two men, one with an automatic weapon and another...

In another potent example of the reality that the masses of Caribbean people are faced with, on a daily basis. Saint Lucian, Scott Atkins young drug dealer from that island, went to Venezuela and found himself in serious problems. Atkins was kidnapped by several men, viciously beaten and tortured, in a viral video released on Social Media. In the video the Venezuelans can be seen with one man’s foot on Atkins’ back, pointing high powered automatic rifles at his head. The men demanded a ransom for the return of Atkins, in the video Atkins begs a man he calls Shawn to pay the Venezuelans for his safe return. Scott Atkins reportedly left Saint Lucia in late January or early February 2017 and has been seen in Venezuela. FB photo of 18-year-old Atkins.  Middle Atkins and some Venezuela cohorts. Atkins lying on the ground after having been viciously beaten and tortured by his Venezuelan captives. An American made M16 is being pointed at Atkins' head in the phot...

The United States' Government has confirmed that Trinidad and Tobago had the highest per capita rate of ISIS recruitment in the Western Hemisphere in 2016 but says there are no known indigenous or foreign terrorist groups operating in Trinidad and Tobago. The Information forms part of the 2016 Country Reports on Terrorism, released by the US Department of State today. The report states that more than 70 nationals of Trinidad and Tobago are believed to be fighting with ISIS in Syria . It says the Financial Intelligence Unit uncovered 182 suspicious transactions involving possible terrorist financing in 2016, all of which were under investigation at year’s end. But the US notes that Trinidad and Tobago is a willing U.S. counterterrorism partner and quickly accepted offers of assistance to share border security information, develop a strategy to counter violent extremism, and prosecute terrorists. The following is the portion of the report that relates to...

In a poignant article that was published on Global Research by James F. Tracy. The depoliticization of the life of Tupac Shakur, was examined. Frequent readers of this Blog know that, the depoliticization of the western hemisphere and in particular the Caribbean is an often written about topic here. The Tupac narrative is only the most recent attempt by the corporate western , machine at depoliticization of a popular political artist such as Shakur. I will examine that article in the following .    “ All Eyez on Me (2017) is a lavish dramatization of controversial hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur’s brief, tragic, and largely misjudged life. The motion picture’s emergence more than twenty years after his untimely death is especially significant because it purports to accurately depict the biography of perhaps the most important and provocative black figure since Malcolm X, and does so for an entire generation too young to recall Shakur’s impact and, more importantly, the...

OECS Media Release Thursday, June 22, 2017 — The Agriculture Sector in OECS Member States is on the brink of a new era in collaborative production for regional and international trade. A comprehensive grouping of regional agriculture stakeholders, which include Ministers, Manufacturers, Traders, representatives from the Bureau of Standards and the OECS Commission, are working together to ensure the success of the initiative. The virtual OECS Agri-Export Working group began in June of 2016 and, only one year later, has seen many achievements due to the influence and reach of the agricultural stakeholders involved, paired with the technological nature of the ongoing online meeting, which facilitates speedy action and decision making. Main achievements of the Agri-Export Initiative to date include: three refrigerated boats traversing the OECS and the wider Caribbean with agricultural produce and livestock; improvement of phytosanitary standards; change in production ...

The false narrative that primarily so-called impoverished and marginalized people are, the apex of the foreign fighters in the Islamic State, has been shattered in my mind since the advent of the group and any astute reader of written statements of the group itself know, that I have provided proof on my Blogs, showing the diversity of the members within the organization. There is a great number of Caucasians within ISIS, yet the buffoon Trump is fixated on refugees from the ME, who in his mind and the minds of the fools that make up his base are coming to America, with the intent to kill Americans.  The Islamic State’s leadership are extremely brilliant in that, they are fully cognizant of the caricature terrorist, in the western popular imagination , a ravening wide-eyed Arab or North African. The Islamic State has created since its inception the perfect terrorist, who can strike at the heart of western civilization and wreak the most havoc, the Caucasian fa...

The world is likely to face a food crisis by 2050 unless agricultural production increases. The Food and Agricultural Organization estimates that there will be an additional two billion mouths to feed in the world within the next thirty-five years. The growth of the world’s population along with increased urbanization is expected to increase the demand for agricultural produce by some 70 per cent by 2050. The ability of many countries to meet this demand will be affected by climate change. The global phenomenon of climate change is resulting in increased desertification and the depletion of freshwater supplies. Guyana’s abundance of land and freshwater supplies for agricultural purposes places it in an enviable position to take advantage of the increased demand for food globally. Opportunities for increased agricultural markets exist within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The Region’s agriculture’s sector share of Gross Development Product (GDP) declined from 13 percent ...