Alvera Maduro-Caines is a British Virgin Islands politician. She is a member of the

House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands The House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands, until 2007 known as the Legislative Council, has 15 members: 13 directly elected for four-year terms (nine in single-seat constituencies and four "at large"), and two ''ex officio'' members ...

for the Sixth District, a position that she has held since the 2011 general election. She was originally elected as a representative of the National Democratic Party but in 2020, she

crossed the floor Crossed may refer to: * ''Crossed'' (comics), a 2008 comic book series by Garth Ennis * ''Crossed'' (novel), a 2010 young adult novel by Ally Condie * "Crossed" (''The Walking Dead''), an episode of the television series ''The Walking Dead'' S ...

to join the

Virgin Islands Party The Virgin Islands Party (VIP) is a political party in the British Virgin Islands. It is presently led by Acting Premier Natalio Wheatley. It is the oldest active political party in the British Virgin Islands, and it has won more general elect ...

. She is the current Junior Minister for Culture and Tourism.

Early life

She attended BVI High School in Tortola from 1971 to 1976, and the Gary Training Center in Texas from 1977 to 1979. She began her career in 1979 as a registry clerk for the

Government of the British Virgin Islands His Majesty's Government of the Virgin Islands (usually simply referred to as the Government of the Virgin Islands) is the democracy, democratically elected government of the British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory of the British V ...

before joining Devcon International as an accounts clerk in 1980. She was an officer manager and human resources officer for the British Virgin Islands Philatelic Bureau for a year, before joining Citco B.V.I. Limited as a system operator, legal secretary, office manager and supervisor of operations. From 2004 to 2011, she was assistant post mistress for the Government of the British Virgin Islands.

Political career

Maduro-Caines was first elected to the

in the 2011 general election. She ran on a promise to establish a trade school for young people in the district and improving the physical infrastructure. Her opponent,

Omar Hodge Omar Wallace Hodge (2 February 1942 – 20 December 2017) was a politician in the British Virgin Islands. Hodge was the third longest serving member of the House of Assembly (including its former incarnation as the Legislative Council) after Lav ...

, referred to her as "the lady with the bag". She was a representative for the Sixth District and served primarily as a backbencher for the National Democratic Party (NDP), although she briefly held the position of Junior Minister of Trade, Investment Promotion and Consumer Affairs. The NDP lost in the 2019 general election, allowing the

(VIP) to take the majority, although Maduro-Caines retained her seat. On 20 January 2020, Maduro-Caines "crossed the floor" to join Premier

Andrew Fahie Andrew Alturo Fahie (, born 7 August 1970) is a British Virgin Islands politician who served as Premier of the British Virgin Islands from 2019 to 2022. He was also the chairman of the Virgin Islands Party in the British Virgin Islands from 201 ...

as a member of the VIP. This increased the party's majority to nine and its number of female members to three. During the debate on constitutional review on 27 June 2020, she advocated for the constitution to define marriage to prevent the legalisation of

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

. She served as the acting Minister for Education, Culture, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Agriculture from 27 February 2022 to 4 March 2022 while

Natalio Wheatley Natalio Dixon Wheatley (born 2 June 1980) is a British Virgin Islands politician currently serving as Premier of the Virgin Islands, Premier of the British Virgin Islands. He is the grandson of former Chief Minister, Willard Wheatley. He has at t ...

was attending a CARICOM summit. On 5 May 2022, as part of the swearing in of the new Unity Government, Maduro-Caines was appointed as the Junior Minister for Tourism. Her portfolio was expanded on 27 October 2022 to include culture and Maduro-Caines became the Junior Minister of Culture and Tourism.

Personal life

She is married to Emmett Caines until his death in 2022 and they have two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maduro-Caines, Alvera Living people Year of birth missing (living people) People from Tortola British Virgin Islands women in politics National Democratic Party (British Virgin Islands) politicians Virgin Islands Party politicians Members of the House of Assembly of the British Virgin Islands