Author: Fred White

Authorities in Barbados have issued orders to extend current COVID-19 restrictions on international travel and domestic activities without change through at least Dec. 29. While the nightly curfew will remain in place, it will be suspended for the night of Dec. 24-25 for the Christmas holiday observance.

Caribbean News Updates Daily From The Caribbean Islands

The history of the Caribbean reveals the significant role the region played in the colonial struggles of the European powers since the 15th century. In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean and claimed the region for Spain. The following year, the first Spanish settlements were established in the Caribbean. Although the Spanish conquests of the Aztec empire and the Inca empire in the early sixteenth century made Mexico and Peru more desirable places for Spanish exploration and settlement, the Caribbean remained strategically important.

From the 1620s and 1630s onwards, non-Hispanic pirates, traders, and settlers established permanent colonies and trading posts on the Caribbean islands neglected by Spain. Such colonies spread throughout the Caribbean, from the Bahamas in the North West to Tobago in the South East. Furthermore, during this period, French and English buccaneers settled on the island of Tortuga, the northern and western coasts of Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic), and later in Jamaica.

Genocide, slavery, immigration, and rivalry between world powers have given Caribbean history an impact disproportionate to its size. After the Spanish-American War in the late 19th century, the islands of Cuba and Puerto Rico were no longer part of the Spanish Empire in the New World. In the 20th century, the Caribbean was important during World War II, the decolonization wave after the war, and the tension between Communist Cuba and the United States.