Mahogany CoConut Blog

One Caribbean Nation All ah we is One Professor Tennyson Joseph  Nation Newspaper Barbados. Thursday 6th. August 2026  ONE WEEK after the dignified burial of Barbadian National Hero and Caribbean cricketing icon Sir Garfield Sobers, and as the lofty speeches and uplifting songs of farewell and gratitude fade away, the Caribbean must now come face to face with its harsh existential present. The heaping of praise upon a fallen hero always boomerangs. It goes out buoyed by how great we once were but returns with the pain of how far we have fallen.  Significantly, while the world is rapidly changing, the Caribbean is at its most vulnerable state since independence. Despite this, there has not been any fundamental self reflective critical analysis aimed at determining what next for the Caribbean. There is little Caribbean awareness of the scale, depth and implications of its existential crisis.   Our news and public discourses continue to be dominated...

One Caribbean Nation. Guest Editorial Godfrey Martin We owe a debt of gratitude to the government and people of Cuba who have been consistent in their unflinching support for our Caribbean region and all oppressed peoples throughout the globe. Cuba has opened its doors to many, even though it is a developing country savaged by the inhumane economic blockade implemented by the United States of America for 65 years. Added to this is the increased oil embargo recently imposed on Cuba over the past weeks. This has deprived Cuba of receiving much-needed oil necessary for energy and everyday living. These actions have been condemned by international lawyers as a crime against humanity. Cuba’s crime was to throw off the yoke of Yankee imperialism and seek a socialist path for the development of its people and resources. Cuba’s crime was also to reject the path of becoming a vassal and neocolonial state of the USA and Western imperialism. It chose the path of defending its sovereignty. ...

One Caribbean Nation. By William Skinner The Caribbean is facing both regional and Global challenges that threaten all the gains made as the perpetual struggle to totally free itself from an inhumane past , engineered by the debilitating slave trade and colonial domination. Having struggled successfully to forge the unique Caribbean civilization by becoming independent nations and abandoning the British empire , the region now stands almost flat footed because of the erratic machinations of the   United States of America as it seeks to influence the region and place demands as to what friends and allegiances it should have. The message from Washington is blunt and clear : support us or you would face vicious and serious challenges. The quick capitulation of some regional leaders in matters relation to Venezuela and the capture of President Maduro and its desire to use Caribbean islands as surveillance tools for the American military expeditions are causing frustrating fract...

One Caribbean Nation. MONSTROUS MELISSA HURRICANE MELISSA  LEAVES BEHIND DEATH, WIDESPREAD DESTRUCTION Hurricane Melissa left dozens dead and widespread destruction across Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica, where roofless homes, toppled utility poles and water-logged furniture dominated the landscape Wednesday. A landslide blocked the main roads of Santa Cruz in Jamaica’s St Elizabeth parish, where the streets were reduced to mud pits. Residents swept water from homes as they tried to salvage belongings. Winds ripped off part of the roof at a high school, a designated public shelter. Melissa made landfall Tuesday in Jamaica as a catastrophic Category 5 storm with top winds of 185 mph , one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on record, before weakening and moving on to Cuba, but even countries outside the direct path of the massive storm felt its devastating effects. At least 40 people have died across Haiti, Steven Aristil with Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency told The Associated Press. H...

One Caribbean Nation. The Mahogany Coconut Group, thanks all  readers of our blog . We extend sincere best wishes to you and your families for the Holiday/Christmas Season and wish you all the very best for 2023. We are happy to note the following for their contribution to the region during 2022. Prime Minister of Barbados, Ms. Mia Amor Mottley and her administration's efforts in reigniting socio-economic ties with Mother Africa. Ms. Hyacinth Douglas for her contribution to her country Jamaica and the region. Ms. Douglas is a rapidly emerging voice on progressive community based socio-economic models.      The countries of Cuba and Ghana , whose citizens served the region with distinction as we battled COVID ALL Caribbean workers , who displayed great patriotic resilience as they confronted the economic harshness of COVID and in many cases fought against dastardly attempts to annihilate their unions and the gains made in the last sixty years throughout the region. ...

One Caribbean Nation. The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly demonstrated, the need for regional governments, to act as one force, when there are such crises. The scramble for desperately needed vaccines, has exposed the vulnerabilities of our island states. We need each other now “more than ever”. The region's largely based tourism economies, have been savaged and we suggest that full recovery, will in some cases , take a decade. Some leaders are pretending that they were unaware that the fragile nature of their economies, and often strained relations with others, would have exposed how naked we all are, when confronted by unexpected and economically devastating shocks. While we support all regional governments in their gallant battles against the deadly virus; we are nevertheless certain that a progressive, functioning, one Caribbean nation, would have better battled the challenges. We note, with great admiration how the nation of Cuba, is confronting the pandemic with its own...