Bahamas

Bahamas is a country on 700 islands, only 30 of which are inhabited, lying south east of Florida, U.S. with a population of 319,000 and capital city of Nassau. Christopher Columbus first set foot in the Americas in 1492 in the Bahamas. Tourism is the main industry, with international banking being important also. The country has more than 400 banking institutions from 36 countries.

Media
The BBC says of the country's media:


 * The government operates a radio network and the islands' only TV station. There is a handful of private radio stations. The islands' privately-owned press carry a variety of views, including criticism of the government.

U.S. military bases in Bahamas
The U.S. has the Mayaguana Army Airfield in Mayaguana, Bahamas and the Andreos Island Naval Air Station, Bahamas.

John Lindsay-Poland of Foreign Policy In Focus sums up the U.S. military presence in Latin America and the Caribbean by writing:


 * "Military bases in Latin America and the Caribbean are an interlocking web that supports U.S. objectives for securing access to markets, controlling narcotics flow, and obtaining natural resources, especially oil."
 * "Although the United States has closed bases in Panama and Puerto Rico, it has opened an array of smaller bases throughout the region, including several that support U.S. operations in Colombia."
 * "Base operations and maintenance are increasingly being contracted to private companies."
 * "Much of this web is being woven through Plan Colombia, a massive, primarily military program to eradicate coca plants and to combat armed groups (mostly leftist guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia). In the last five years, new U.S. bases and military access agreements have proliferated in Latin America, constituting a decentralization of the U.S. military presence in the region. This decentralization is Washington’s way of maintaining a broad military foothold while accommodating regional leaders’ reluctance to host large U.S. military bases or complexes."

Leaders

 * Hubert Ingraham, Prime minister

Related SourceWatch articles

 * U.S. military bases overseas

External resources

 * Timeline: Bahamas, BBC, accessed March 2008.