2020 in the Caribbean


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

Sovereign states

Cuba

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

Dominica

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

Dominican Republic

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

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

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

Commonwealth Realms

Monarch: Queen Elizabeth II

Antigua and Barbuda

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

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 became independent from the United Kingdom in 1966.

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 became independent from the United Kingdom in 1974.

Jamaica

Jamaica became independent in 1962.

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Kitts and Nevis achieved independence in 1983.

Saint Lucia

Saint Lucia gained independence in 1979.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

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

Dependencies

British overseas territories

Head of the Commonwealth: Queen Elizabeth II

Anguilla

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

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

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

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

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
  • Premier: Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson ; she is the first female Premier of Turks and Caicos

Colombia

Colombia declared its independence from Spain on July 20, 1810.
The Archipelago of San Andrés, Providencia and Santa Catalina is a Department of Colombia and is part of South America.
  • Governor: Everth Hawkins Sjogreen

France

French Guiana

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

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an Overseas department and region of France.

Martinique

Martinique is an overseas department of France.

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

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
  • President of Territorial Council Daniel Gibbs
  • * First Vice President Valerie Damaseua

Kingdom of the Netherlands

Monarch: King Willem-Alexander

Aruba

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

Curaçao

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

Sint Maarten

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

Caribbean Netherlands

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

United States

The United States became independent on July 4, 1776.

Puerto Rico

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

United States Virgin Islands

Venezuela

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

Monthly events

January

February

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
  • * The 2020 Dominican Republic general election that had originally been scheduled for February 16 was carried out despite concerns about COVID-19.
  • * In a historic first, all Peace Corps volunteers worldwide are withdrawn from their host countries.
  • March 18
  • * National Anthem and Flag Day
  • * 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
  • * U.S. President Donald Trump announces that he is stepping up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro after indicating Maduro on drug and terrorism charges. Trump sends anti-drug Navy ships and AWACS planes to the region near Venezuela in the largest military build-up in the region since the 1989 invasion of Panama to remove General Manuel Noriega from power.
  • * Three Cuban dissidents, including José Daniel Ferrer, arrested on October 1, 2019, have been released to house arrest.
  • April 2 – The United Kingdom sends the armed hospital ship 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
  • * Cuba sends 1,200 doctors to 22 countries to help with the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • * April 26 – Rescheduled date for the 2020 Puerto Rico Democratic primary
  • April 27 – King's Day, 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. Power 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 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
  • * Anguilla Day
  • * Indian Arrival Day, Trinidad and Tobago

June

July

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 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
  • * 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
  • * Javanese Arrival Day, Suriname
  • * Two former Green Berets are sentenced to 20 years in prison for a May 3 attack on Venezuela.
  • 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 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

September

  • September 1 – COVID-19 pandemic: Cuba imposes a curfew and other strict measures to control virus spread.
  • September 3
  • * U.S. Customs and Border Protection decommission $27 million in undeclared cash before it enters the U.S Virgin Islands.
  • * U.S. Virgin Islands government sues the estate of Jeffrey Epstein and billionaire Glenn Dubin for documents about their financial ties.
  • September 9
  • * ICE confiscates US$500,000 in undeclared money destined for Dominica at the Miami International Airport.
  • * The Pittsburgh Pirates take #21 out of retirement for a game against the Chicago White Sox at PNC Park. September 9 is celebrated by Major League Baseball as "Roberto Clemente Day". Clemente, a Puerto Rico native, died in a plane crash in December 1972 while en route to Nicaragua to deliver disaster relief to victims of an earthquake.
  • 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
  • * Barbados Governor General says the country should leave the Commonwealth and become a Republic by November 2021.
  • * Mexican researchers have identified remains of the ship La Unión as one that was used to carry Maya slaves from Yucatán to Cuba during the Caste War of Yucatán.
  • * Indigenous Misak in Popayán, Cauca Department, Colombia tear down a statue of Spanish conquistador Sebastián de Belalcázar.
  • 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
  • * 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

Predicted and scheduled events

Deaths

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

  • July 1 – Everton Weekes, 95, Barbadian cricketer.
  • July 3 – Earl Cameron, 102, Bermudian-born British actor.
  • July 4 – James Lee Wah, 89, Trinidadian theater promoter and educator.
  • July 14
  • * Hernán Alemán, 65, Venezuelan opposition politician; COVID-19.
  • * Noël Martin, 60, Jamaican-born British assisted suicide activist and neo-Nazi victim.
  • July 16
  • * Tony Taylor, 84, Cuban baseball player ; complications from a stroke.
  • * Víctor Víctor, 71, Dominican singer-songwriter and guitarist; COVID-19.
  • July 18 – Martha Flores, 91, Cuban radio host, journalist and singer ; pancreatic cancer.
  • July 21 – Dobby Dobson, 78, Jamaican reggae singer and record producer; COVID-19.
  • July 25 – Paulette Wilson, 64, Jamaican-British human rights activist.
  • July 31 – Eusebio Leal, 77, Cuban historian.

August

September

October

November

December

  • December 2 –, 72, Dominican lawyer, journalist and historian; pancreatitis.
  • December 19 –, 87, Dominican merengue singer-songwriter; COVID-19.