Ligue de Martinique d'Athlétisme Ligue de Martinique d'Athlétisme The Ligue de Martinique d'Athlétisme (LMA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in Martinique. The current president is Max Morinière. He was elected for the first time in November 2010, and re-elected in October 2012. As LMA is part of the Fédération française d'athlétisme, athletes from Martinique normally participate internationally for France, for example, in the European Athletics Championships as organized by the EAA. On the other hand, Martinique as a French overseas department is part of the Caribbean. As an observer member of CACAC, Martinique is invited to participate at the championships,
Piracy in the Caribbean in Europe increasingly drove their plantation-based economies. The English had also expanded their dominion in the Caribbean and settled several new islands, including Bermuda in 1612, Antigua and Montserrat in 1632, and Eleuthera in the Bahamas in 1648, though these settlements began like all the others as relatively tiny communities that were not economically self-sufficient. The French also founded major new colonies on the sugar-growing islands of Guadeloupe in 1634 and Martinique in 1635 in the Lesser Antilles. However, the heart of French activity in the Caribbean in the 17th century remained Tortuga, the fortified island haven off the coast