Caribbean

CARIBBEAN Barbados Barbados continues to enjoyan excellent level of press freedom. During the period under review, there were no reports of legal or other issues arising. Trinidad & Tobago Trinidad & Tobago continues to enjoya free press as guaranteed by the Constitution. Recently, however, there have been two attacks on the press by leading members of the majority opposition, one calling for the revocation of press licenses (not that they exist) and the other for national boycotts of the two leading newspapers and the businesses that advertise in them. In July, Ramesh Maharaj, Chief Whip of the Opposition Party (the United National Congress - UNC), charged that the Court would be asked to revoke the license of any newspaper that discriminated against a political party by suppressing or distorting its statements and policies. Guyana There is freedom of the press in Guyana. The present government has maintained press freedom since it took office in October 1992 and the media operate without government interference. No journalists have been assaulted or imprisoned, and government ministers are available to the media and hold press conferences fairly frequently. Jamaica There have been no incursions on freedom of the press. There is no duty payable on imported newspapers, although locally printed papers are subject to duty on raw materials such as ink, films and plastic plates. The government turned down a request from The Gleaner Company that newspapers printed locally should be free of duty, as are imported newspapers.