2020 in the Caribbean (Redirected from 2020 in Dominica)

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The following lists events that happened during 2020 in The Caribbean.

Sovereign states

Cuba

Cuba Cuba declared its independence from the United States on May 20, 1902.

Dominica

Dominica Dominica declared its independence from the United Kingdom on November 3, 1978.

Dominican Republic

Dominican Republic Dominican Republic declared its independence from Haiti on February 27, 1844.

Guyana

Guyana Co-operative Republic of Guyana gained its independence in 1966. It is a member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Commonwealth of Nations (Commonwealth), and the Union of South American Nations (USAN). The capital and chief port of Guyana is Georgetown.

Haiti

Haiti Haiti declared its Independence from France on January 1, 1804. Its capital is Port-au-Prince.

Suriname

Suriname Previously known as Dutch Guiana, which gained its independence on 25 November 1975. The Republic of Suriname is a member of CARICOM. The capital is Paramaribo.

Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago became independent on August 31, 1962. and a republic on August 1, 1976.

Commonwealth Realms

United Kingdom Monarch: Queen Elizabeth II (since February 6, 1952)

Antigua and Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda Antigua and Barbuda became an independent state within the Commonwealth in 1981.

The Bahamas

The Bahamas The Bahamas are in the Atlantic Ocean and are part of the West Indies not part of the Caribbean, although the United Nations groups them with the Caribbean. They became independent from the United Kingdom in 1973.

Barbados

Barbados Barbados became independent from the United Kingdom in 1966.

Belize

Belize Britain granted British Honduras self-government in 1964; on June 1, 1973, it was renamed Belize. Independence was achieved on September 21, 1981. The capital is Belmopan.

Grenada

Grenada Grenada became independent from the United Kingdom in 1974.

Jamaica

Jamaica Jamaica became independent in 1962.

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis achieved independence in 1983.

Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia gained independence in 1979.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Independence was granted to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 1979.

Dependencies

British overseas territories

United Kingdom Head of the Commonwealth: Queen Elizabeth II

Anguilla

Anguilla Anguilla was a British dependency along with Saint Kitts and Nevis until 1971. Anguilla become a separate British dependency in 1980.

Bermuda

Bermuda Bermuda is located in the Atlantic Ocean and is included in the UN geoscheme for North America. Bermuda is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom.

British Virgin Islands

British Virgin Islands The British Virgin Islands is a British overseas territory granted autonomy in 1967.

Cayman Islands

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands became a territory within the West Indies Federation in 1959; it remained a British dependency after the federation's breakup in 1962.

Montserrat

Montserrat Montserrat is a self-governing overseas territory of the United Kingdom.

Turks and Caicos Islands

Turks and Caicos Islands Turks and Caicos Islands are located in the Atlantic Ocean, although the United Nations groups them with the Caribbean. Turks and Caicos Islands are a British overseas territory.

  • Governor Nigel Dakin (since July 15, 2019)
  • Premier: Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson (since December 20, 2016); she is the first female Premier of Turks and Caicos

Colombia

Colombia Colombia declared its independence from Spain on July 20, 1810.

Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina The Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina is a Department of Colombia and is part of South America.

  • Governor: Everth Hawkins Sjogreen (since 2019)

France

France

French Guiana

French Guiana French Guiana is overseas territorial collectivity of France. The capital is Cayenne.

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas department and region of France.

  • Governor: Philippe Gustin (since May 28, 2018)

Martinique

Martinique Martinique is an overseas department of France.

  • President of the Assembly of Martinique:Claude Lise (since December 18, 2015)

Saint Barthélemy

Saint Barthélemy Since 2007 Saint Barthélemy has been an overseas collectivity of France since 2007 and since 2012 it has been an overseas territory of the European Union.

  • President of Territorial Council: Bruno Magras (since July 16, 2007)

Saint Martin

Collectivity of Saint Martin In 2003, the people of Saint Martin voted to secede from Guadeloupe; in 2007, the northern part of the island became a French overseas collectivity. In 2010, the southern half of the island became the independent country of Sint Maarten within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

  • Prefect Anne Laubies (since June 8, 2015)
  • President of Territorial Council Daniel Gibbs (since 2 April 2, 2017)
    • First Vice President Valerie Damaseua (since April 2, 2017)

Kingdom of the Netherlands

Netherlands Monarch: King Willem-Alexander (since April 30, 2013)

Aruba

Aruba Aruba became a semi-autonomous country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1986.

Curaçao

Curaçao Curaçao has been a constituent Kingdom of the Netherlands since October 2010.

Sint Maarten

Sint Maarten Sint Maarten became a self-governing constituent Kingdom of the Netherlands in October 2010.

Caribbean Netherlands

Bonaire Bonaire, Sint Eustatius Sint Eustatius, and Saba (island) Saba became special municipalities in the Caribbean Netherlands in October 2010. The Sint Eustatius island council (governing body) was dissolved and replaced by a government commissioner in February 2018.

United States

The United States United States became independent on July 4, 1776.

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico is an unincorporated organized Territory of the United States.

United States Virgin Islands

Venezuela

Venezuela Venezuela declared its independence from Spain on July 7, 1811.

Monthly events

January

  • January 1 – New Year's Day
  • January 6 – Epiphany (Christian holiday)
  • January 7 – A 6.4Mw2020 Guayanilla earthquake rocks southwest Puerto Rico. One man died and 8 were injured. Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced declares a state of emergency and activates the national guard.
  • January 9 – 2020 Sint Maarten general election
  • January 12 – Remembrance Day, Haiti
  • January 13 – Eugenio María de Hostos Day, Puerto Rico
  • January 18 – Residents of Ponce broke into a warehouse and found bottled water, cots, baby food, and other unused emergency supplies stored since Hurricane Maria in September 2017. Governor Wanda Vázquez fired Carlos Acevedo, the director of the island's emergency management agency.
  • January 19
    • World Religion Day, Baháʼí Faith holiday in Suriname
    • Glorimar Andújar and Fernando Gil-Enseñat, Secretaries of Family Services Housing respectively, are fired in the warehouse scandal in Puerto Rico. Nino Correa is appointed chief of operations for the Emergency Management Office.
  • January 28 – An earthquake measuring 7.7Mw  is registered in the Caribbean Sea, 87 miles (140 kilometers) south of Granma Province, Cuba and 83 (134 kilometers) miles north of Montego Bay, Jamaica. No injuries are reported.
  • January 31 – Photographer Caroline Power discovers a "blanket" of plastic five miles long and two miles wide (five by three kilometers) near Roatán Island, Honduras. It is believed to have been washed from the Motagua River during heavy rains in Guatemala.

February

  • February 2 – Jennifer Lopez wows the crowd by wearing a costume featuring the flag of Puerto Rico during her half-time appearance at the Super Bowl LIV.
  • February 7 – Independence Day, Granada
  • February 13 – Fifteen children die in a fire in an orphanage in Kenscoff, Ouest Department Haiti.
  • February 14
    • A Royal Caribbean cruise ship from Port Liberty, New Jersey, did not make a scheduled stop in Port Canaveral, Florida, because of fears of the 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus disease outbreak. The ship was scheduled to sail to The Bahamas, but instead it went to Bermuda.
    • The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) announces that it plans regional 4% growth for all its borrowing member countries.
  • February 16 – 2020 Dominican Republic municipal elections: Software problems force the suspension of the elections.
  • February 17
    • 932 kilos of pure gold worth $50 million (€46 million) is discovered on an airplane after it made an emergency landing at Reina Beatrix airport in Aruba.
    • The United Nations Human Rights Commission demands that Cuba immediately liberate three political prisoners arrested on "vague" charges.
  • February 18
    • Luis Muñoz Marín Day, Puerto Rico
    • Summit of the Comunidad del Caribe (Caricom) (English: Caribbean Community) in Barbados. Leaders discuss health and economic issues.
  • February 22 – Independence Day, Saint Lucia
  • February 23
  • February 24 – Cuba's annual cigar trade fair begins.
  • February 26 – Mexican authorities grant permission for a cruise ship registered in Malta to dock in Cozumel, Quintana Roo, because she carries a passenger presumed to be infected with the coronavirus. The ship was previously denied access to ports in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Two cases of flu were found.
  • February 27 – Independence Day, Dominican Republic
  • February 28 – The Dominican Republic refuses to allow a British cruise ship to dock due to fears of Coronavirus disease 2019. The ship heads to St. Maarten.

March

  • March 1 – The Caribbean Public Health Agency says the area faces a "moderate to high" danger of exposure to COVID-19. No cases have been confirmed in the region to date.
  • March 2– 2020 Guyanese general election
  • March 7 – Hamilton Lavity Stoutt Day, British Virgin Islands
  • March 9 and 10 – Phagwah, Hindu festival of colours; Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago
  • March 19 – Saint Joseph's Day, Colombia, Venezuela
  • March 12 – Jamaica reports eight cases of COVID-19, Dominican Republic 5, Cuba 4. Martinique 3, St. Martin 2, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Vincent & Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Barthelemy, and Caymen Islands one each.
    • Cuban authorities say they have developed a new medicine that has proven effective in treating COVID-19, and that is being offered for sale on the international market.
  • March 15
  • March 18
    • National Anthem and Flag Day (Kingdom of the Netherlands)
    • The government of Puerto Rico implements a curfew and closes schools, some businesses, and government agencies.
    • Ghislaine Maxwell, a former associate of the late Jeffrey Epstein, sues his estate in Superior Court in the U.S. Virgin Islands because she has received threats requiring her to hire personal security services.
  • March 19 – First two cases of COVID-19 in Haiti. Airports, schools, factories, and seaports are closed.
  • March 22 – Emancipation Day, Puerto Rico
  • March 24 – Barbados is declared the winner of the West Indies cricket championship after the tournament is suspended due to the pandemic.
  • March 29 – The United States Coast Guard issues a safety bulletin for Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and Puerto Rico stating that foreign-flagged vessels carrying more than 50 people should prepare to treat any sick passengers and crew on board and try to medically evacuate the very sick to their countries home countries.
  • March 30 – Spiritual Baptist/Shouter Liberation Day, Trinidad and Tobago

April

  • April 1
  • April 2 – The United Kingdom sends the armed hospital ship RFA Argus to the Caribbean to stop the narcotics trade from Venezuela. France sent the Dixmunde a few days earlier. This is the largest armada ever assembled in the Western Hemisphere.
  • April 3 – The Venezuelan patrol boat Naiguata rammed the Portuguese-flagged RCGS Resolute, which was accused of piracy. The Naiguata sank.
  • April 16 – Forty-two people die after drinking adulterated alcohol from three clandestine distilleries in the Dominican Republic.
  • April 16–19 – Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba
  • April 20 – Haiti reports that three migrants deported from the United States are infected with COVID-19.
  • April 21 – The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean estimates that the COVID-19 pandemic may result in a 5.3% in GDP in the region, resulting in a 4.4% increase in poverty and a 2.5% increase in extreme poverty—29 million people.
  • April 24 – California-based Chevron Corporation must end its oil operations in Venezuela by December 1. Chevron's net daily production in 2019 averaged 35,300 barrels of crude oil, equal to roughly 6% of Venezuela's total production.
  • April 23
    • An Iranian Airbus A340-642 lands in Paraguaná Peninsula. There is speculation that the flight may be related to drug trafficking, as Falcón State is close to the ABC Islands and the family of Falcón governor Stella Lugo Betancourt is believed to have ties to narcotics dealers.
    • U.S.-based Church of Bible Understanding faces charges of negligence in relation to the February 13 fire that killed 13 children and two adults in a Haitian orphanage.
  • April 26
  • April 27 – King's Day (birthday of King Willem-Alexander), Curaçao
  • April 29
    • 500 Venezuela migrants living in Colombia block a highway in protest of the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Colombia. They say the makes it impossible for them to work. There are 1.8 million Venezuelan migrants living in Colombia.
    • Two dozen Colombians deported from the United States have been found to have coronavirus. Other infections among deportees have been found in Haiti, Mexico, Guatemala, and Jamaica.
  • April 30 – A gunman attacks the Embassy of Cuba in Washington, D.C.

May

  • May 1 – Labour Day in Cuba, Dominican Republic, and Venezuela. "Agriculture and Labour Day" in Haiti
  • May 2
    • A series of earthquakes strike Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. One centered in Tallaboa, Encarnación, Peñuelas, Puerto Rico has a Mw5.4. Pwer outages and damages are reported in Puerto Rico where families cannot be relocated in shelters because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
    • Guyana reports oil revenues of $60 million.
    • El Observatorio Cubano de Derechos Humanos (The Cuban Observatory of Human Rights, OCDH0) reports that activist Enix Berrio Sardá is missing.
  • May 3 – Venezuela says that they defeated a boat invasion of "mercenary terrorists" from Colombia in the port city of La Guaira.
  • May 5 – Indian Arrival Day, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica
  • May 6 – U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denies U.S. government in the Sunday boat attack on Venezuela and says they will use 'every tool' to release the two Americans arrested.
  • May 8 – COVID-19 pandemic: Haiti faces hunger and a breakdown of its health services. There are 34,000 people in resettlement camps and the country has reported eleven deaths and 100 coronavirus infections.
  • May 10 – Mother's Day, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands
  • May 18 – Discovery Day, Cayman Islands
  • May 19 – AT&T closes its operations in Venezuela.
  • May 24 – Bermuda Day
  • May 25 – 2020 Surinamese general election: Won by Chan Santokhi, Progressive Reform Party with 39.45% of the votes.
  • May 26
    • Independence Day, Guyana
    • Emmanuel Constant, the accused leader of a Haitian death squad, was not among thirty Haitians deported from the U.S. All 30 have tested negative for COVID-19. Some of the 200 deported earlier this year have tested positive for the virus.
    • Vote counting in the 2020 Surinamese general election is suspended because the ruling party is losing and the workers are exhausted after numerous complaints of electoral fraud.
  • May 27 – A federal court suspends budget cuts for the Puerto Rican government.
  • May 28 – Legislative leaders from Colombia and Cuba will meet with their counterparts from eight other Latin American countries to discuss a response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • May 30

June

July

  • July 1
    • Keti Koti, Emancipation Day, Suriname
    • Territory Day, British Virgin Islands
  • July 3
    • Emancipation Day, U.S. Virgin Islands
    • 16th century and 21st century policing methods are compared on social media in Trinidad and Tobago.
  • July 4 – Independence Day (United States) (U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico)
  • July 5
  • July 6
  • July 10 – Independence Day, The Bahamas
  • July 12
    • Schoelcher Day (Slavery Abolition Day) in Saint Martin
    • In an interview in The New York Times, former secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke reports that President Trump's first reaction to Hurricane Maria in 2017 was to sell Puerto Rico.
  • July 13 – COVID-19 pandemic: A report by The New York Times and the Marshall Project indicates that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) worsened the spread of the pandemic by deporting sick people to their countries of origin, including Haiti.
  • July 17 – Venezuela protests against the incursion of the American destroyer USS ''Pinckney'' only 16.1 nautical miles (30 km) from its coast. The United States recognizes jurisdiction of only 12 nautical miles and insists the ship was in international waters.
  • July 20 – The Bahamas announces that commercial flights and sea cruises from most countries, including the United States, will be banned starting on July 22.
  • July 23 – Authorities in Colombia seize a luxury mansion allegedly belonging to businessman Alex Saab, who was detained in Cape Verde on U.S. corruption charges related to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
  • July 24 – Simón Bolívar birthday, Venezuela
  • July 25
    • Puerto Rico Constitution Day
    • COVID-19 pandemic: Mexico and Japan send medical supplies to ten Latin American countries, including the Dominican Republic.
  • July 25 to 27 – Assault on the Moncada Barracks, Cuba
  • July 31 – Hurricane Isaias strikes Turcos and Caicos and threatens the Bahamas. The Category 1 hurricane batters the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Puerto Rico.

August

  • August 1 – Emancipation Day; Guyana, Jamaica, Trinidad & Tobago
  • August 3 – Panama proposes sending 2,000 Haitian, Cuban, and African migrants home after disturbances in camps.
  • August 4 – Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe (2002-2010) is placed under house arrest in relation to a case investigating alleged witness tampering. One day later he tests positive for COVID-19.
  • August 5 – Emancipation Day, the Bahamas
  • August 6
    • Independence Day, Jamaica (from the United Kingdom, 1962)
    • COVID-19 pandemic: One day after reporting no new cases, Cuba reports 49 new infections.
  • August 7 – The El Salvador Supreme Court rejects efforts to reopen the economy.
  • August 8
  • August 9
    • Indigenous Peoples' Day, Suriname
    • Rescheduled Puerto Rico primary elections Some elections are rescheduled because there are not enough ballots.
  • August 10 – 2020 Trinidad and Tobago general election Prime Minister Keith Rowley and the opposition United National Congress concedes defeat.
  • August 12 – An oil spill near Venezuela's Morrocoy National Park threatens Caribbean beaches and local wildlife.
  • August 14 – Tropical Storm Josephine dumps 1 to 3 cm of rain in the Leeward Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
  • August 15 – Assumption of Mary, Haiti, Venezuela
  • August 16
    • Restoration Day, Dominican Republic: Luis Abinader is sworn in as the new president. U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence and Haiti President Jovenel Moïse attend the ceremony, which is low-key due to the pandemic.
    • Second round of primary elections in Puerto Rico after ballot mishap.
  • August 18 – U.S. customs agents in Florida intercept a Venezuela-bound plane that is loaded with guns and ammunition. The flight plan listed St. Vincent and the Grenadines as its destination.
  • August 21 – Colombian President Ivan Duque says Venezuela is planning to give its Russian- and Belarus-made missiles to armed groups in Colombia and uy new ones from Iran. Madero says it would be a good idea.
  • August 22 – The National Hurricane Center reports that Tropical Storm Laura is over the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, and it predicts that Hurricane Marco will make landfall in the Yucatán Peninsula in the western Caribbean on August 24.
  • August 23 – A ten-year-old girl is killed in Haiti by Hurricane Laura. 100,000 people are evacuated and two are killed in the Dominican Republic.
  • August 24 – St. Barthelemy Day
  • August 28 – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (ACNUR) reports that three out of four of the 81,000 Nicaraguan refugees in Costa Rica suffers from hunger.
  • August 31 – Independence Day, Trinidad and Tobago (from the United Kingdom, 1962)

September

  • September 1 – COVID-19 pandemic: Cuba imposes a curfew and other strict measures to control virus spread.
  • September 3
  • September 9
  • September 12 – Mauricio Claver-Carone becomes the first citizen of the U.S. to lead the Inter-American Development Bank.
  • September 14 – Our Lady of Coromoto, patroness of Venezuela
  • September 16
  • September 17
    • Hurricane Maria: Trump releases $13 billion in relief aid to help victims of the 2017 hurricane.
    • U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo begins a visit to Suriname, Guyana, Colombia, and Brazil.
  • September 18 – The United States and Guyana announce joint sea patrols near the disputed Guyana-Venezuela border.
  • September 19
    • Independence Day, Saint Kitts and Nevis (from the United Kingdom, 1983)
    • Dissident police officers belonging to the group Fantom 509 threaten to "burn the country" if their demands for better pay are not met in Haiti.
    • The United States announces $348 million in humanitarian aid for Venezuelans inside and outside the country.
  • September 24
    • Republic Day, Trinidad and Tobago
    • Colombian singer J Balvin is among the seven Latinamericans included in list of one hundred most influential people in the world by Time.

October

November

December

  • December 6 – 2020 Venezuelan parliamentary election: Turnout is 31% as Maduro's government is reelected with 67.6%, the traditional opposition won 17.95%, and dissidents on the left won 3% of the vote. Eighteen countries in America (including the United States and Canada but excluding Argentina, Bolivia, and Mexico) call the election fraudulent and illegal.
  • December 7 – The Armed Forces of the Dominican Republic announce they have found eight bodies and seventeen people are missing from a boat capsizing near Lavacama, La Altagracia Province.
  • December 18 – The United States Coast Guard and Navy and the Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard apprehend seven vessels near Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic with 3,700 pounds of cocaine; 19 arrested in the $60 million seizure.
  • December 22 – COVID-19 pandemic in the Cayman Islands: Skylar Mack, 18, a student from Loganville, Georgia, and Vanjae Ramgeet, 24, a professional jet ski racer from the Cayman Islands, will have to serve only two months each in a Caymanian prison after being convicted of violating quarantine rules in November.
  • December 30 – Authorities issue volcanic alerts in Martinique and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Mount Pelée became active in early December and La Soufrière on December 29.

Predicted and scheduled events

Deaths

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

  • December 2 – Adriano Miguel Tejada [nl], 72, Dominican lawyer, journalist and historian; pancreatitis.
  • December 19 – Vinicio Franco [es], 87, Dominican merengue singer-songwriter; COVID-19.

See also


This page was last updated at 2024-01-09 19:10 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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