MADAGASCAR

Climate C0P27 Priorities FILE - Residents wade through floodwater around their homes after heavy rain in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Jan. 19, 2022, killed at least 10 people. African officials outlined their priorities for the upcoming U.N. climate summit, including a push to make heavily polluting rich nations compensate poor countries for the environmental damage done to them. Africa has seen debilitating droughts in the east and Horn of Africa and deadly cyclones in the south. How much funding Africa gets is the biggest factor for how prepared it will be for a hotter future, said Harsen Nyambe, the director of sustainable environment at the African Union Commission. He added the continent only received about 7.5% of its promised $70 billion in climate funding between 2014 and 2018.

African officials outlined their priorities for the upcoming U.N. climate summit, including a push to make heavily polluting rich nations compensate poor countries for the environmental damage done to them.

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Africa Climate Cyclones FILE - A man caries belongings from his house destroyed by tropical storm Ana in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Jan. 26, 2022. Extreme rainfall in Africa's southeast has become heavier and more likely to occur during cyclones because of climate change, according to a new analysis released Monday, April 11, 2022 by an international team of weather scientists. (AP Photo/Alexander Joe, file) (Alexander Joe)MOMBASA, Kenya — (AP) — Extreme rainfall in southeast Africa has become heavier and more likely to occur during cyclones because of climate change, according to a new analysis released Monday by an international team of weather scientists. In just six weeks between January and March the region saw a record three tropical cyclones and two tropical storms make landfall. Sarah Kew, from the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute and participated in the study, said they investigated the influence of climate change using 34 prediction models but data gaps made it difficult to determine the full impact of increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Extreme rainfall in southeast Africa has become heavier and more likely to occur during cyclones because of climate change, according to a new analysis released Monday by an international team of weather scientists

Extreme rainfall in southeast Africa has become heavier and more likely to occur during cyclones because of climate change, according to a new analysis released Monday by an international team of weather scientists.

Madagascar Cyclones FILE — People outside ruined homes in Mananjary, Madagascar, Feb. 10, 2022. Cyclone Emnati is expected to make landfall on the eastern coast of Madagascar late Tuesday Feb. 22, 2022, amid fears it will be a stronger storm than the three that have left nearly 200 people dead this cyclone season. The U.N. weather agency previously warned of more “high-impact tropical cyclones” that are linked to climate change hitting the region. For us, this cyclone did more damage than the one before.”“Even in the hotel there is a lot of damage. Forecasters have also predicted eight to 12 more cyclones in the Madagascar region before the cyclone season normally ends in May.

Madagascar Cyclones FILE — People outside ruined homes in Mananjary, Madagascar, Feb. 10, 2022. Cyclone Emnati is expected to make landfall on the eastern coast of Madagascar late Tuesday Feb. 22, 2022, amid fears it will be a stronger storm than the three that have left nearly 200 people dead this cyclone season. (AP Photo/Viviane Rakotoarivony, File) (Viviane Rakotoarivony)ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — (AP) — Cyclone Emnati crashed into the southeastern coast of Madagascar in the early hours of Wednesday, ripping roofs off houses and raising fears of flooding and food shortages in a region still recovering from the destruction inflicted by another tropical storm just weeks ago. For us, this cyclone did more damage than the one before.”“Even in the hotel there is a lot of damage. Forecasters have also predicted eight to 12 more cyclones in the Madagascar region before the cyclone season normally ends in May.

Cyclone Emnati has crashed into the southeastern coast of Madagascar and ripped roofs off houses and raised fears of flooding and food shortages.

Madagascar Cyclone A house lays in ruins in Mananjary, Madagascar, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022. Tropical storm Ana hit Madagascar in late January. “We are preparing for a big one,” said Vincent Dalonneau, Madagascar director of the aid agency Humanity & Inclusion. “This is the most intense cyclone season I have seen since I have been here. The agency had previously warned of more intense "high-impact tropical cyclones, coastal flooding and intense rainfall linked to climate change."

The island of Madagascar off the east coast of Africa is bracing for yet another cyclone having already been hit by three major tropical storms in the last month.

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — (AP) — Two people are missing and 885 have been displaced in northeastern Madagascar by tropical storm Dumako, the National Office for Disaster Management reported Wednesday. The storm hit Madagascar's Soanierana Ivongo area Tuesday at 3 p.m. with winds of 65 kilometers (40 miles) per hour, gusting to 90 kilometers (56 miles) per hour. “The winds from storm Dumako are not as strong as those from Cyclone Batsirai. But you have to be careful about floods and landslides which could cause deaths,” the director-general of Madagascar's disaster management officer Gen. Elack Andriakaja said. Earlier this month, Cyclone Batsirai hit eastern Madagascar, causing 121 deaths and displacing 143,000 people, according to Madagascar's disaster management office.

Tropical Storm Dumako is projected to slam into the northeastern coast of Madagascar Tuesday evening, according to the U.N.'s regional meteorology center in Reunion. Southern Africa was warned to prepare for “more high-impact tropical cyclones, coastal flooding and intense rainfall linked to climate change” by the meteorological organization after Cyclone Idai caused massive destruction and hundreds of deaths in Mozambique and neighboring countries in 2019. Just weeks before, in January, Tropical Storm Ana claimed 58 lives and displaced 130,000 people on Madagascar and caused further destruction in Mozambique and Malawi. “Climate change is having severe impacts on Africa,” he said. Madagascar was projected to face frequent arid spells and droughts while at the same time be hammered by strong tropical cyclones.

Even as southern African nations assess the devastation caused earlier this month by Cyclone Batsirai, a new tropical storm is approaching as the Indian Ocean region is confronted by an intense cyclone season

Even as southern African nations assess the devastation caused earlier this month by Cyclone Batsirai, a new tropical storm is approaching as the Indian Ocean region is confronted by an intense cyclone season.

Madagascar Cyclone This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows overview of Mananjary, Madagascar after Cyclone Batsirai, on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2022. (Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies via AP) (Uncredited)ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — (AP) — The toll of Cyclone Batsirai in Madagascar has risen to 92 deaths and more than 112,000 people displaced by the tropical storm which rampaged across the island earlier this week, the national disaster management office announced Wednesday. Among the deaths, 71 people died in Ikongo district about 530 kilometers (330 miles) south of Antananarivo, the capital, said officials. After gaining strength as it moved across the Indian Ocean, Cyclone Batsirai landed on Madagascar's east coast late Saturday near the town of Mananjary with winds of 165 kilometers (102 miles) per hour and peaks of 235 kilometers (146 miles) per hour, according to the national weather department. At least 7,500 homes were destroyed and another 7,000 flooded by the cyclone which weakened as it moved southeast across the island and then dispersed.

Officials on Madagascar say the toll of Cyclone Batsirai has risen to 92 deaths and more than 112,000 people displaced by the tropical storm which rampaged across the island earlier this week.

Southern Africa Cyclone People make their way home during bad weather in Tamatave, Madagascar, Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022. Weather officials forecast that the full force of Cyclone Batsirai is to hit Madagascar Saturday evening. (AP Photo) (Uncredited)ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — (AP) — Cyclone Batsirai is blamed for the deaths of 20 people in Madagascar and for making more than 55,000 people homeless victims after slamming into the island's eastern coast, officials said Monday. Batsirai, southern Africa's second big cyclone this year, is forecast to dissipate further as it exits Madagascar and should not pose a serious risk to Mozambique, said the weather department. Officials in Madagascar are working to attend to the damage caused by Batsirai.

Officials in Madagascar say that Cyclone Batsirai has caused the deaths of 20 people and made more than 55,000 others homeless after slamming into the island’s eastern coast.

Madagascar's disaster management agency said that Cyclone Batsirai had left 20 people dead and forced 55,000 from their homes

After gaining strength in the Indian Ocean with gale-force winds reaching peaks of 145 miles per hour, the cyclone made landfall near Mananjary.

After gaining strength in the Indian Ocean with gale-force winds reaching peaks of 145 miles per hour, the cyclone made landfall near Mananjary.

The cyclone has caused widespread damage by blowing the roofs off homes, knocking down trees and utility poles, making roads impassable and flooding many areas.

Southern Africa Cyclone People make their way home during bad weather in Tamatave, Madagascar, Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022. Weather officials forecast that the full force of Cyclone Batsirai is to hit Madagascar Saturday evening. (AP Photo) (Uncredited)ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — (AP) — Cyclone Batsirai's torrential winds and rain are hammering Madagascar, after landing on the island's east coast late Saturday. An estimated 45,000 people have been displaced by the tropical storm, the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management said on Sunday. Much of Madagascar is already waterlogged from tropical storm Ana and heavy rains in January and the new cyclone is adding to the damage.

Cyclone Batsirai’s torrential winds and rain are hammering Madagascar, after landing on the island’s east coast.

Southern Africa Cyclone A man weighs down the roof of his home with bricks to stop it from flying away during bad weather in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022. Weather officials forecast that the full force of Cyclone Batsirai is to hit Madagascar Saturday evening. (AP Photo/Alexander Joe) (Alexander Joe)ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — (AP) — The full force of Cyclone Batsirai pounded Madagascar's eastern coast with torrential winds and rain Saturday night. The cyclone gained strength as blew across the Indian Ocean, with gale-force winds reaching peaks of 235 kilometers (145 miles) per hour, according to the island's meteorology department. Anticipating widespread destruction, most land and sea transport has been suspended on Madagascar, the world's fourth-largest island.

Southern Africa Cyclone A man weighs down the roof of his home with bricks to stop it from flying away during bad weather in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022. Weather officials forecast that the full force of Cyclone Batsirai is to hit Madagascar Saturday evening. (AP Photo/Alexander Joe) (Alexander Joe)ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — (AP) — The full force of Cyclone Batsirai is forecast to hit Madagascar Saturday evening, according to weather officials. The cyclone is gaining strength as it blows across the Indian Ocean, with gale-force winds reaching peaks of 235 kilometers (145 miles) per hour, according to the island's meteorology department. Anticipating widespread destruction, most land and sea transport has been suspended on Madagascar, the world's fourth-largest island.

The full force of Cyclone Batsirai pounded Madagascar’s eastern coast with torrential winds and rain Saturday night.

Madagascans reinforced rooftops with sandbags and prepared for heavy rain and strong winds ahead of Cyclone Batsirai's expected landfall on Feb. 5.

Southern Africa Cyclone A woman fights Gale force winds in the Indian Ocean Island of Mauritius Wednesday Feb. 2, 2022. (Beekash Roopun/L'express Maurice via AP) (Beekash Roopun)ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — (AP) — Madagascar has put six of its regions on high alert as tropical Cyclone Batsirai is forecast to hit the Indian Ocean island's east coast Saturday with intense winds of 195 kilometers (121 miles) per hour, according to the Department of Meteorology. It has picked up speed and is expected to move from east to west across the center of Madagascar. The new cyclone comes just weeks after Madagascar was badly affected by Cyclone Ana and other heavy rains which caused 55 deaths and made 131,000 people homeless. The east coast of Madagascar, the world’s fourth-largest island, is already experiencing cloudy, windy weather as the cyclone approaches.

Madagascar has put six of its regions on high alert as tropical Cyclone Batsirai is forecast to hit the Indian Ocean island’s east coast Saturday with intense winds of 195 kilometers (121 miles) per hour.

Southern Africa Cyclone In this image supplied by EUMETSAT from satellite Meteosat 8 taken at 09.15 UTC on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, Cyclone Batsirai is seen to the east of Madagascar. (EUMETSAT via AP) (Uncredited)ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — (AP) — Madagascar is bracing for a new cyclone even as the Indian Ocean island recovers from a tropical storm that wreaked devastation last month. Cyclone Batsirai is forecast to hit the island's east coast on Saturday with heavy winds and rains, according to Madagascar's Department of Meteorology. In January, Cyclone Ana and other heavy rains in Madagascar caused 55 deaths and made 131,000 people homeless. As it is on the island's east coast, 340 kilometers (211 miles) east of Antananarivo, Tamatave is expected to be the first center hit by Batsirai.

Madagascar is bracing for a new cyclone even as the Indian Ocean island recovers from a tropical storm that wreaked devastation last month.

Rescue workers in southern Africa are trying to reach thousands stranded as more are found dead.

Malawi Tropical Storm In this image made from video, people stand on an overturned vehicle swept by flooding waters in Chikwawa, Malawi, Tuesday Jan. 25, 2022. Mozambique, Madagascar and Malawi are counting the deaths and damage by tropical storm Ana and more than a week of heavy rains across southern Africa. (AP Photo) (Uncredited)MAPUTO, Mozambique — (AP) — Mozambique, Madagascar and Malawi are counting the deaths and damage by tropical storm Ana and more than a week of heavy rains across southern Africa. Minutes after his vehicle was taken, the middle section of the bridge was swept away, according to reports in local media. Malawi's Shire River, which flows from Lake Malawi through Mozambique into the Zambezi River, has also reached the alert level and is causing flooding in low-lying areas.

Mozambique, Madagascar and Malawi are counting the deaths and damage by tropical storm Ana and more than a week of heavy rains across southern Africa.

Madagascar Tropical Storm A man wades through flood water on his way to a shop in Antananarivo, Madagascar, Monday, Jan. 24, 2022. Tropical storm Ana has caused widespread flooding in Madagascar, including in the capital city, causing the deaths of 34 people and displacing more than 55,000, officials said Monday. (AP Photo/Alexander Joe) (Alexander Joe)BLANTYRE, Malawi — (AP) — Tropical storm Ana has caused widespread flooding, power outages and killed at least one person in Malawi, officials said Tuesday. In southern Malawi, flooding caused many houses to collapse, killing at least one person. Classes have been suspended for all schools in southern Malawi, Education Minister Chikondano Mussa has announced.

Officials in Malawi say that tropical storm Ana has caused widespread flooding, power outages and killed at least one person in Malawi.

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — (AP) — Tropical storm Ana has caused widespread flooding in Madagascar, including in the capital city, raising the death toll from recent heavy rains to 34 people and displacing more than 55,000, officials said Monday. With torrential rains continuing, Antananarivo's rivers are rising and officials are urging residents to leave low-lying areas of the capital and surrounding areas. The tropical depression has moved across the Indian Ocean to the African continent, causing strong winds and rain in northern Mozambique. The storm hit Madagascar over the weekend after the island had already experienced several days of rains, the National Office for Risk and Disaster Management said. Several rivers that have flooded the capital are still rising, officials warned.

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — (AP) — Heavy rains in Madagascar have flooded parts of the capital city, Antananarivo, killing 10 people and making more than 12,000 homeless, officials said Wednesday. With the rains continuing and a possible cyclone approaching the Indian Ocean island, officials warned of potential landslides in the capital city, which is built on steep hills. At least 2,400 residences in the capital are flooded and low-lying areas of the city are in deep water, officials said. Six houses in higher parts of the city have collapsed because of the rains. The rains have reached the extreme south of Madagascar, which had been parched by a severe drought, say residents of Ambovombe, 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of the capital.

The mother and baby are doing well, after airport staff found the boy during a routine check.

Madagascar’s police minister and an air force mechanic succeeded in swimming for 12 hours to safety after their helicopter crashed in the Indian Ocean.

A cargo ship carrying 130 illegal passengers sank off Madagascar’s northeastern coast, killing at least 17 people and leaving 68 missing.

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — (AP) — A cargo ship carrying 130 illegal passengers sank off Madagascar's northeastern coast, killing at least 17 people and leaving 68 missing, officials said Monday. At least 45 people have been rescued from the waters of the Indian Ocean, according to a report from the Maritime and River Port Agency. The water started to rise and it swallowed up all the engines,” he said. We don’t know exactly what time the water started to rise, but our interventions began around 9 a.m.,” he said. Three boats from the national navy and the maritime agency are continuing the search for those still missing, he said.

Madagascar French Sentenced FILE — Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina speaks during the UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021. A court in Madagascar has convicted two French citizens of having plotted a failed coup against Rajoelina and sentenced them to 10 years and 20 years of forced labor. (Adrian Dennis/Pool Photo via AP File) (Adrian Dennis)ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — (AP) — A court in Madagascar has convicted two French citizens of having plotted a failed coup against President Andry Rajoelina and sentenced them to 10 years and 20 years of forced labor. At the end of a 10-day trial in Antananarivo, the capital, Paul Rafanoharana was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Friday. The two belonged to “a criminal organization” that was seeking to “carry out an attack against President Rajoelina” as shown by “emails, arms and money, seized" by authorities, said state prosecutor Arsène Rabe.

A court in Madagascar has convicted two French citizens of having plotted a failed coup against President Andry Rajoelina and sentenced them to 10 years and 20 years of forced labor.

"When you just blame everything on climate change then you take all the agency away from local decision-makers to actually deal with the disasters,” one of the researchers said.

Don’t blame climate change for the devastating Madagascar drought and famine, scientists said in a new quick analysis. (AP Photo/Laetitia Bezain) (Laetitia Bezain)Don’t blame climate change for the devastating Madagascar drought and famine, scientists said in a new analysis Wednesday. The group found no statistically significant fingerprint of human-caused climate change. “It’s a rare event but it’s within natural variability,” said study co-author Friederike Otto, a climate scientist at the Imperial College of London. “For this type of low rainfall, climate change is not a main driver.”In Madagascar, swings of rainfall from high to low are common, Otto said.

A new study finds that climate change isn't causing the devastating drought and famine in Madagascar.

World Weather Attribution, which does real time studies of extreme weather throughout the world, examined the drought, which has left Madagascar with 60% of its normal rainfall from July 2019 to June 2021. The group found no statistically significant fingerprint of human-caused climate change.

International agencies warn that more than 1.1 million people in southern Madagascar urgently need food aid. The World Food Program says that about 700,000 people are already receiving food aid and increased emergency assistance is needed. (Tsiory Ny Aina Andriantso/WFP via AP) (Tsiory Ny Aina Andriantso)ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — (AP) — Parched by four years of drought, more than 1.1 million people in southern Madagascar urgently need food aid in a rapidly worsening crisis, experts warn. About 700,000 people are already receiving food aid and increased emergency assistance is needed, according to WFP which is working with the Malagasy government and other humanitarian agencies. “It's impossible to cultivate here at the moment,” said Nathier Ramanavotse, 68, mayor of Maroalomainty, in the far south of Madagascar.

International agencies warn that more than 1.1 million people in southern Madagascar urgently need food aid.

“It’s just desperate.”″Some 38 million people worldwide were displaced last year because of climate change, leaving them vulnerable to hunger, according to Beasley. A worst--case scenario could an see that number sore to 216 million people displaced due to climate change by 2050. But since then, climate change has eclipsed conflicts as the driver in displacing people and leaving them not knowing where their next meal will come from. Last year, about 38 million, he said, were displaced “strictly because of climate shocks, climate change,” Beasley said. “We're not able to get (food aid) trucks in or get fuel in.

The head of the U.N. food aid agency says the drought-stricken island nation of Madagascar is a "wake up call" to what the world can expect in coming years due to climate change.

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Two U.N. agencies are warning that hunger is expected to rise in 23 global hotspots in the next three months with the highest alerts for “catastrophic” situations in Ethiopia’s embattled Tigray region, southern Madagascar, Yemen, South Sudan and northern Nigeria

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Around 1.14 million people face food security in the African island nation. The chief culprit is a climate outside of their control.

United Nations Madagascar FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2020, file photo, children sit by a dug out water hole in a dry river bed in the remote village of Fenoaivo, Madagascar. (AP Photo/Laetitia Bezain, File) (Laetitia Bezain)UNITED NATIONS — (AP) — The U.N. World Food Program says southern Madagascar is in the throes of back-to-back droughts that are pushing 400,000 people toward starvation, and have already caused deaths from severe hunger. Hundreds of adults and children were “wasted,” and hundreds of kids were skin and bones and receiving nutritional support, she said. Thousands of people have left their homes in rural areas and moved to more urban environments in search of food, she added. “This is not because of war or conflict, this is because of climate change,” Beasley stressed.

The U.N. World Food Program says southern Madagascar is in the throes of back-to-back droughts that are pushing 400,000 people toward starvation.

The U.N. World Food Program says southern Madagascar is in the throes of back-to-back droughts that are pushing 400,000 people toward starvation, and have already caused deaths from severe hunger. Lola Castro, WFP’s regional director in southern Africa, told a news conference Friday that she witnessed “a very dramatic and desperate situation” during her recent visit with WFP chief David Beasley to the Indian Ocean island nation of 26 million people. In 28 years working for WFP on four continents, Castro said she had “never seen anything this bad” except in 1998 in Bahr el-Gazal in what is now South Sudan.

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Scientists have found that more than 90% of land-based endemic species and 95% of marine ones are facing the devastating consequences of greenhouse has emissions.

Picture taken in 2012 in Munich, Germany shows a newly discovered species of chameleon which is a contender for the title of world's smallest reptile. Scientists from Madagascar and Germany called it Brookesia nana, said the male appeared is just 13.5 millimeters big. Scientists from Madagascar and Germany say a newly discovered species of chameleon is a contender for the title of world's smallest reptile. They found that the genitals of the Brookesia nana specimen were almost one=fifth of its body size, possibly to allow it to mate with the larger female. "If we had a pair mating it would obviously be better proof.”Confirming Brookesia nana as the smallest reptile species will require finding more of them, which might take several years, he said.

Children shelter from the sun in Ankilimarovahatsy, Madagascar, a village in the far south of the island where most children are acutely malnourished, Monday, Nov. 9, 2020. “We, the parents, have nothing to feed our children aside from tamarind and the cactus that we find around us,” she said. Mothers are now trying to feed their children with unripe mangoes, and with tamarind mixed with clay. One mother, Toharano, said four of her 14 children died in June and July. “The children wake in the night, hungry.”The names of the dead are kept in a notebook held by the village leader, Refanampy.

Scientists say they have found an elusive chameleon species that was last spotted in Madagascar 100 years ago. Researchers from Madagascar and Germany said that they discovered several living specimens of Voeltzkow's chameleon during an expedition to the northwest of the African island nation. Scientists say they have found an elusive chameleon species that was last spotted in Madagascar 100 years ago. Researchers from Madagascar and Germany said Friday that they discovered several living specimens of Voeltzkow’s chameleon during an expedition to the northwest of the African island nation. The scientists say that the Voeltzkow’s chameleon's habitat is under threat from deforestation.

French military commander Joseph Gallieni statue is covered with a black cloth during an action held by anticolonial activists, in Paris, Thursday, June 18, 2020. Gallieni began a colonial career at the end of the 19th century and later played an important role during First World War as a military governor of Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)PARIS French anti-racism activists draped a black cloth over the statue of a colonial commander in central Paris on Thursday, prompting three arrests and brief tension with police. The monument includes a statue of Gallieni standing on a pedestal held up by carvings of a half-nude African woman, an Asian figure and a woman from Madagascar. Signs to a Paris metro station in his name were briefly covered up Wednesday with a replacement name by anti-colonial activists.

Most natural vanilla comes from Madagascar, or a few other foreign locations, and demand far outstrips supply. But University of Florida scientists believe South Florida has promise as a place to grow the plants that produce one of the worlds most popular flavors. South Florida has hurricanes, of course, and higher labor costs in America would make large-scale vanilla production even more expensive than silver. Vanilla extract, produced by soaking cured vanilla beans in alcohol, is widely used in baking and food flavoring, but it has other applications. The exotic spice first arrived in South Florida in the early 1900s, as Miami was a stop on the trade route linking Mexico and Europe.