MAHO–A passionate call for Caribbean unity coupled with her graceful and elegant performance won raven-haired, long-legged Curaзaolenean beauty Angenie Anamaria Simon the sixteenth annual Caraibes Hibiscus Crown, the second consecutive win for the Netherlands Antilles island nation. The 23-year-old Finance Assistant had the capacity-filled Sonesta Maho Conference Room audience enthralled by her beauty, confidence and [...]

The Curacao Tourism Corp. said Curacao’s national carrier, Insel Air, will launch flights between Miami and Curacao on Friday. Until the end of November, Insel Air will fly the route three times per week on Thursday, Friday and Sunday. In December, the flight frequency will increase to four times per week — Monday, Thursday, Friday and [...]

The ban on plastic shopping bags because of the damage they inflict on the environment has taken effect in Curaзao. Through good cooperation between the association of local supermarkets and the Island Government, among others, an information campaign was held and re-usable bags supplied. The question is when St. Maarten will follow suit. That plastic [...]

Mexico City - Bolivia has given US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officers three months to leave the country ? claiming that agents were stirring up political strife in the deeply divided nation. This fall, Ecuadorians voted yes to a new Constitution that calls for the closure by next year of one of the most important US [...]

AMSTERDAM -(Dow Jones)- Van Lanschot Bankiers (30263.AE) Friday announced it has reached an agreement with ING Group’s (ING) ING Bank N.V. on the acquisition by Van Lanschot Bankiers (Curacao) N.V. of the private banking activities of ING Bank N.V. in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles. Van Lanschot has had a presence in Curacao since 1976, offering private banking, [...]

This has not been a great year so far for the Caribbean tourism industry. Seven named hurricanes have hit the region this fall, with Gustav and Omar wreaking the most damage. An earthquake registering 6.1 rocked parts of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands. And, of course, the global financial meltdown has [...]

WILLEMSTAD, Curacao (NNS) — USS Farragut (DDG 99) departed Willemstad Sept. 3 after five days of conducting theater security cooperation events with the Dutch Navy and the people of Curacao during Partnership of the Americas (POA) 2008. POA 2008 is a U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM)-sponsored program, implemented by 4th Fleet and Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 40, designed [...]

WILLEMSTAD, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Several units at a 320,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery operated by Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA on the island of Curacao were offline on Monday due to a power outage, a refinery spokesman said.

CARACAS (MarketWatch) — While the dollar’s reputation has taken a beating in many of the world’s financial capitals, here in Venezuela the fallen-from-fashion greenback reigns supreme. Middle-class Venezuelans routinely hop the borders to neighboring countries to get their hands on illicit dollars, spawning a thriving and lucrative black market in local currency exchange. Some gamble on [...]

More than five weeks after public health authorities on the Caribbean island of Curaзao (Netherlands Antilles) impounded the Scientology cult’s 440-foot luxury liner “Freewinds,” the ship remains locked down. Experts advise that decontaminating the ship would cost millions of dollars and may not even be possible. Meanwhile, the cult continues to solicit funds for cruises [...]