Telesur — Petrocaribe Summit Ends with Creation of Caribbean Economic Zone

The 4th extraordinary summit of the Petrocaribe bloc of nations closed in Caracas, Venezuela Friday. 

The summit, attended by 17 delegates from member states, generated several important decisions for the Caribbean bloc’s future, one of which was the decision to create an economic zone, and another was a focus on regional peace:
“We reaffirm that the Caribbean is peaceful region, where member states promote integration processes and friendship, to keep guaranteeing the greatest amount of happiness for our people.” 

The final decisions of the bloc affirmed that “the founding spirit of Petrocaribe is to be a mechanism of solidarity, cooperation and friendship between the peoples of our region."
This was stressed by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who spoke at the summit's closing. He acknowledged the Petrocaribe's importance as one of several regional integration bodies, naming ALBA, UNASUR and CELAC as others.

He thanked them all for their shield-like protection of his country as it comes under renewed attacks from extremists opposed to Maduro's government. The Venezuelan chief acknowledged the importance of these institutions in buoying up Venezuela, and how lucky it is to be surrounded by friends, in a way that "Sandinista Nicaragua, Fidel's Cuba and 90's Panama" were not.

Telesur
Petrocaribe Summit Ends with Creation of Economic Zone

IMF Now Insists on Insanity As Proof of Credibility - Call it the International InsaniTea Party?

   (commentary posted by Roger Erickson)

Our AusteriTea Party is just a regional branch office in the insane network.

Jamaica teeters on an economic precipice after years of stagnation

"Virtually every Jamaican is feeling the impact of a protracted economic stagnation, now exacerbated by the austerity mandated by an International Monetary Fund bailout signed earlier this year." 

“To ensure Jamaica’s compliance the IMF has required that most of the austerity measures and economic reforms be implemented almost immediately. ... 'Given the scale of the problem and the history of programmes that went off-track establishing credibility is paramount, and for this reason the programme is very front-loaded,' said Gian Maria Milesi-Ferretti, a senior IMF official."

Meanwhile, it's pretty much the same story across the whole Caribbean.

Caribbean blown by winds of financial crisis

And the situation in Puerto Rico may be even worse, for reasons including purely voluntary fiscal stupidity. Puerto Rico may be eligible for a Fiscal Darwin Award, granted permanently to those jurisdictions who show exceptional resolve in managing to commit fiscal suicide.

US Hegemony and Puerto Rico’s Economic Crisis

See also: Greece of the Caribbean, and who's the latest island nation competing for that title.

The scale of fiat stupidity is truly mind boggling.

Anyone beginning to think that we may not survive this?

The InsaniTea party is becoming a TsunamiTea Catastrophe far worse than the infamous South Sea Mania. This time, the speculators ARE our governments, of the looters, by the looters and for the looters. Yet the 1% can't starve the 99%, if the 99% simply refuse to go hungry.