Carib Scope

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  • Mónika Infante to lead Manzanillo Gas & Power: a new chapter for Dominican energy infrastructure

    Mónika Infante to lead Manzanillo Gas & Power: a new chapter for Dominican energy infrastructure

    In a move that signals more than just routine leadership change, the appointment of Mónika Infante Henríquez as General Manager of Manzanillo Gas & Power has launched a new strategic chapter for the Dominican Republic’s evolving energy sector. This hire is far from a standard administrative reshuffle: it brings a decorated, high-stakes executive to a critical project at the exact moment it shifts from years of preliminary planning to the high-pressure work of scaling large-scale energy operations.

    Infante’s arrival aligns perfectly with a defining turning point in the Dominican Republic’s efforts to diversify its national energy matrix. The sprawling Manzanillo energy complex, which integrates a new natural gas import terminal and a state-of-the-art combined-cycle power plant, was developed to deliver long-term reliability and stability to the country’s national power grid. For a major infrastructure project of this scope, Infante’s unique combination of legal expertise and decades of experience delivering public-private partnership projects positions her uniquely to navigate the tangled regulatory and technical challenges that are common across the global energy industry.

    A Career Built on Delivering Large-Scale Infrastructure Success
    Before stepping into this new energy leadership role, Infante spent years leading Aeropuertos Dominicanos Siglo XXI, better known as AERODOM, a subsidiary of VINCI Airports. Her tenure at the helm of the Dominican airport operator was marked by a string of transformative achievements: she successfully negotiated extended infrastructure concessions, structured complex, bankable financial frameworks to fund nationwide airport modernization, and delivered upgraded public assets that drove tourism and economic growth across the country. This proven track record of managing critical public infrastructure through a model that combines public accountability with private sector efficiency is exactly what the Manzanillo Gas & Power consortium aims to replicate with the energy project.

    Beyond the immediate impact on the Manzanillo complex, Infante’s appointment highlights a growing, encouraging trend across the Latin American and Caribbean region: the increasing advancement of women into top leadership roles in heavy industrial sectors that have long been male-dominated. By tapping a professional with Infante’s established reputation for results, Manzanillo Gas & Power has gained a leader with a proven ability to build alignment and consensus across a diverse range of stakeholders, from government regulators to private investors and local community groups. Her management approach, which centers on radical transparency and continuous process optimization, is widely expected to establish a new benchmark for corporate governance across the Dominican energy sector.

    The strategic value of this appointment stems from Infante’s proven ability to deliver projects on strict technical timelines without sacrificing fiscal responsibility or operational integrity. Her deep mastery of large-scale logistics and complex contract management gives the Manzanillo consortium an immediate competitive advantage as it moves into operations. The end goal of the project is clear: to turn the Manzanillo complex into a regional benchmark for responsible energy infrastructure development that will drive inclusive economic growth across the entire northwestern region of the Dominican Republic.

    Ultimately, placing a seasoned, results-driven executive at the head of such a critical national energy hub reflects the growing institutional maturity of the Dominican Republic’s energy sector. As Manzanillo Gas & Power enters its full operational phase, market analysts and industry stakeholders broadly view Infante’s leadership as a strong guarantee of long-term project stability. Her career track record makes clear that the Manzanillo complex will benefit from the same analytical precision, uncompromising professional rigor and commitment to delivery that have defined Infante’s decades-long career in infrastructure leadership.

  • Rekenkamer onderzoekt sociale bijstand: tekortkomingen in rechtmatigheid vastgesteld

    Rekenkamer onderzoekt sociale bijstand: tekortkomingen in rechtmatigheid vastgesteld

    On April 6, the Netherlands Court of Audit (NCA) released its 2025 annual report, flagging significant deficiencies in the legal compliance of national social assistance payments, with a specific focus on programs managed by the country’s Ministry of Social Affairs and Housing (SoZaVo). The NCA’s audit found that the approval and delivery of targeted financial support to vulnerable populations did not always meet established regulatory requirements and procedural standards in a substantial share of cases. These shortcomings raise pressing questions about the oversight, transparency, and cost-effectiveness of public funds allocated to support the most disadvantaged groups in Dutch society. In the report, the NCA emphasized that careful, rule-abiding management of social welfare systems is foundational to maintaining public trust in government institutions. Irregularities in benefit allocation do not only lead to wasteful, inefficient use of taxpayer money, the agency notes, but can also create unfair disparities in access to life-sustaining support, leaving some eligible vulnerable groups without assistance while potentially granting benefits to ineligible recipients. This audit of social assistance forms part of a broader series of compliance reviews completed by the NCA in 2025, which also covered land allocation, public pension administration, and government subsidy programs. Across all these policy areas, the audit body found persistent gaps in adherence to national laws and formal procedures, indicating that system-wide improvements are needed across multiple sectors of government. To address the identified issues in social welfare delivery, the NCA is calling for urgent strengthening of internal oversight mechanisms and more consistent enforcement of existing regulatory frameworks. The agency stresses that these reforms are critical to ensuring public social programs actually reach the intended communities that depend on this support, repairing transparency, and upholding public confidence in government welfare provision.

  • Internal probe of “confrontation” between police rank and civilian

    Internal probe of “confrontation” between police rank and civilian

    On Monday, April 6, 2026, Guyana’s top law enforcement leadership launched an immediate internal investigation into a reported altercation involving an off-duty senior police officer, following the circulation of a viral video on social media platforms that captured the incident. Police Commissioner Clifton Hicken has ordered the force’s Office of Professional Responsibility to launch a full review into the details and context surrounding the confrontation, according to an official statement released by the Guyana Police Force (GPF).

    The viral footage, which the GPF confirmed in its public announcement, shows an unidentified man alleged to be the off-duty assistant superintendent threatening another individual with a deadly threat, stating clearly “I would kill you”. Two uniformed on-duty police officers were also recorded on camera intervening to de-escalate the conflict and calm both parties involved. While the GPF has formally acknowledged the incident and the video’s authenticity, the agency has not released the name or any additional personal details of the off-duty officer under investigation at this stage of the probe.

    In its statement, the GPF emphasized that every member of the force, regardless of rank or duty status, is required to adhere to strict standards of professional conduct, emotional restraint, and public accountability. “Any behaviour found to be inconsistent with the standards of the Force will be addressed in accordance with the law and established disciplinary procedures,” the statement read. The agency also committed to updating the public with new details as the investigation progresses, and reassured citizens that it remains dedicated to upholding the highest levels of professional practice and maintaining public trust. All allegations of officer misconduct, the GPF noted, are treated with the full level of seriousness they deserve.

    Alongside the announcement of the new investigation, the GPF also indirectly addressed an ongoing high-profile case involving another senior officer. Senior Superintendent Himnauth Sawh, who was sanctioned by the United States Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) in June 2025 over allegations of involvement in international narcotics trafficking, remains on administrative leave from the force. Sawh was serving as the Commander for Region One (Barima-Waini) in September 2024 when a joint operation conducted by the Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) discovered 4.4 tonnes of cocaine buried underground near an unapproved airstrip on the outskirts of Mabaruma. No additional updates on Sawh’s status or the related investigation were provided alongside the announcement of the new probe.

  • Swiss man, French woman arrested with cocaine at AILA

    Swiss man, French woman arrested with cocaine at AILA

    Authorities at the Dominican Republic’s Las Américas International Airport have foiled an attempted international drug smuggling operation, taking a 61-year-old Swiss man and a 19-year-old French woman into custody, officials from the country’s National Drug Control Directorate confirmed this week. The pair was preparing to board an outbound flight bound for Frankfurt, Germany when security screeners detected the contraband during routine safety checks. The incident marks one of the recent high-profile drug interdictions at the Caribbean nation’s busiest international air hub, which serves as a key transit point for travel between the Americas and Europe.

  • Olmberg: Zonder bundeling mist private sector kansen in olie-economie

    Olmberg: Zonder bundeling mist private sector kansen in olie-economie

    As Suriname stands on the cusp of an unprecedented economic boom driven by new upstream oil and gas projects, the head of the country’s leading energy industry body is issuing a urgent call for domestic private sector players to unite and organize, warning that fragmentation could leave the vast majority of potential economic benefits off the table for local businesses.

    Orlando Olmberg, president of the Suriname Energy Chamber (SEC), laid out his stark warning in a recent address, arguing that coordinated collective action from private domestic enterprises is the only way to ensure the country maximizes gains from the rapidly emerging sector. While international oil companies operating in the country have confirmed that the capabilities and quality of local Surinamese entrepreneurs meet global industry standards, Olmberg says the critical gap lies in the sector’s ability to organize at scale to match the size and pace of coming development.

    Major projects including the Blok 58 development, followed by the future Blok 52 project, are set to unlock billions in new economic activity for the small South American nation. For Olmberg, the core question facing the country is not whether transformative economic opportunity exists, but whether local stakeholders are positioned to capture that opportunity for businesses of all sizes, from small local suppliers to large domestic enterprises.

    A key point of emphasis from Olmberg is reframing the widespread conversation around local content requirements. Too often, local content rules are treated as merely a regulatory compliance obligation for international operators, he argues, when the concept’s real impact depends on local organizational capacity, cross-sector collaboration, and proactive preparation. Without this foundational strength, he says, local content policies will remain nothing more than empty ambitions written into policy documents.

    While the Surinamese government carries an important role in enabling the sector’s growth through establishing clear legislation, structuring development contracts, and managing public revenue from resource extraction, Olmberg stressed that policy alone cannot guarantee inclusive economic growth. Without a robust, well-organized domestic private sector prepared to participate in large-scale project supply chains and operations, the bulk of new value created by the oil and gas boom will flow to foreign firms rather than circulating through the Surinamese economy, he warned.

    Fragmentation among domestic private enterprises stands as the single largest bottleneck to capturing this value, according to Olmberg. When businesses operate independently in siloed individual strategies, they lack the collective market and negotiating power to shape the sector’s development to prioritize local participation. That means the responsibility to drive change rests squarely on the private sector itself, he argued.

    Olmberg closed with a urgent call to action for Surinamese entrepreneurs: the time for waiting on others or pursuing disconnected individual strategies is over. Local businesses must organize now, align around a shared long-term strategic vision, and take collective ownership of the sustainable development of Suriname’s new oil and gas industry – and this action cannot wait, he emphasized.

  • Easter Sunday Shootout in Caye Caulker

    Easter Sunday Shootout in Caye Caulker

    It was meant to be a landmark step toward stronger public safety for the popular island destination of Caye Caulker, Belize. Just days after the Belize Coast Guard launched a new forward operating base on the island, designed to bolster regional security and crack down on criminal activity, a bold pre-dawn shootout on Easter Sunday has thrown those efforts into doubt, leaving law enforcement still searching for the armed suspects who escaped by sea.

    The incident unfolded when members of the Belize Police Department’s Quick Response Team moved to intercept a suspicious three-wheeled vehicle moving through the island. As officers closed in, at least one individual inside the vehicle opened fire on the pursuing officers, triggering an exchange of gunfire that stretched across the island toward its coastal shoreline.

    The chase ended when the suspect vehicle veered into the Caribbean waters off the RCD Wharf. Forced to abandon their disabled transport, the gunmen quickly moved to a pre-positioned waiting vessel offshore and fled the scene before officers could establish a lockdown of the area.

    In the aftermath of the confrontation, investigating officers have combed the area surrounding the RCD Wharf, where they recovered multiple pieces of evidence: a cache of burglary tools linked to the suspects, and numerous spent shell casings from the shootout. Law enforcement teams are currently reviewing all available local surveillance footage from nearby businesses and public areas to identify the suspects and map their movements before and after the incident. As of the latest updates, no arrests have been made, and the investigation remains active and ongoing.

    The brazen nature of the attack — an armed confrontation with police in a public area of the popular tourist island, followed by an organized escape at sea — has cast a shadow over the Belizean government’s recent push to improve security on Caye Caulker. The new Coast Guard forward operating base was positioned to respond more quickly to maritime criminal activity and enhance safety for both local residents and the island’s thriving tourism industry, but the incident has raised new questions about the scale of organized criminal activity operating in the region.

  • QUESTION OF THE DAY: Are drivers doing enough to prevent the growing number of serious road accidents?

    QUESTION OF THE DAY: Are drivers doing enough to prevent the growing number of serious road accidents?

    Across the country, a disturbing trend has emerged on public roads: the frequency and intensity of serious traffic collisions are climbing steadily, fueling mounting public and official anxiety over how motorists behave behind the wheel and whether they are taking adequate responsibility for road safety.

    In recent weeks, a string of high-profile crashes has underscored the deadly risks linked to reckless driving habits. Multiple incidents, which have left people injured and included several cases where vehicles flipped entirely, have traced directly back to two common dangerous behaviors: driving at excessive speeds and distracted operation of a motor vehicle. In one recent collision reported by local law enforcement, a driver speeding through a residential neighborhood ran a stop sign, striking another car and causing it to overturn, sending both drivers to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

    Public safety officials have repeatedly issued urgent calls for motorists to practice greater caution every time they enter a vehicle. But as crash counts continue to rise, a pressing question hangs over ongoing safety efforts: are individual drivers stepping up to meet their responsibility to cut down on preventable risks, or is cultural change around safe driving moving too slow to reverse the current trend?

  • WATCH: Antigua and Barbuda’s Tyra Fenton Dominates 200m At CARIFTA

    WATCH: Antigua and Barbuda’s Tyra Fenton Dominates 200m At CARIFTA

    The CARIFTA Track and Field Championships, one of the Caribbean’s most prestigious annual youth athletic competitions, served up a stunning standout performance this year, as Antigua and Barbuda’s rising sprint star Tyra Fenton put on a masterclass of speed and dominance to claim top honors in the women’s 200-meter event.

    Competing against a deep field of the region’s top young sprinters, Fenton controlled the race from the moment the starting gun fired out of the starting blocks. She exploded off the line, quickly gained an edge over her rivals through the curve, and extended her lead in the straightaway to cross the finish line well clear of the competition. Her commanding win has cemented her status as one of the most exciting young sprint talents coming out of the Caribbean this season.

    For fans across Antigua and Barbuda, the victory sparked widespread celebration, highlighting the depth of young athletic talent emerging from the twin-island nation. CARIFTA has long served as a launching pad for future Olympic and world championship competitors, with many of the sport’s biggest sprint names getting their start at the regional event. Fenton’s dominant performance this year marks her as a name to watch in upcoming international youth competitions, as she continues to build her career and represent her country on the global athletic stage.

  • BREAKING: Tyra Fenton Wins 200m Gold to Secure Third CARIFTA Medal for Antigua and Barbuda

    BREAKING: Tyra Fenton Wins 200m Gold to Secure Third CARIFTA Medal for Antigua and Barbuda

    Young sprint prodigy Tyra Fenton has extended her unprecedented winning streak at the 2024 CARIFTA Games in Grenada, securing her third medal of the regional competition by taking top honors in the Under-17 girls’ 200-meter final. Fenton’s latest victory, officially confirmed by the Antigua and Barbuda Athletic Association (ABAA), cements her status as one of the most outstanding young competitors at this year’s tournament, with the governing body praising the teen’s performance as yet another display of her natural dominance on the track.

    Coming into the 200m race, Fenton had already turned heads with an early medal haul: she claimed gold in the highly competitive Under-17 100-meter sprint and picked up a bronze medal in the 400-meter event just days prior. Her ability to compete at the highest level across three distances from the short 100m to the longer 400m demonstrates a rare combination of raw explosive speed and consistent endurance that sets her apart from her peers.

    Hosted at the state-of-the-art Kirani James Athletic Stadium, the annual CARIFTA Games draws the most elite junior track and field talent from 31 member nations across the Caribbean region, providing a launchpad for young athletes to advance to regional and global competitions. For small island nation Antigua and Barbuda, Fenton’s three-medal performance already ranks among the strongest individual showings the country has put forward in recent CARIFTA Games history, drawing pride and attention to the island’s emerging athletic development program.

  • Private university faces closure if Critchlow Labour College Inc wins possession court battle

    Private university faces closure if Critchlow Labour College Inc wins possession court battle

    A looming legal battle over property rights has pushed a private Guyanese higher education institution to the brink of permanent closure, with its top leader warning that an unfavorable court ruling would immediately end all operations. As of Monday, April 6, 2026, Stanley Paul, President of the University of Excellence, Management and Business Inc. (UEMBI), confirmed the private university is set to wind down operations by December 2026 if the High Court rules against it in the ongoing possession dispute over the Critchlow Labour College (CLC) building in Georgetown.

    The core of the legal conflict centers on the validity of a 15-year commercial lease agreement UEMBI signed with former CLC principal Ivor English in June 2025. The lease, which grants UEMBI access to the Woolford Avenue property originally leased to CLC by the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown in 1968, was struck at a time when Critchlow Labour College Inc. (CLCI), the legal entity behind the college, had been struck off Guyana’s Companies Register. CLCI was removed from the register in November 2013 and only restored in November 2025, months after the lease was signed. CLCI argues that English never held authorization as a director or officer of the institution to sign the lease, making the entire agreement a legal nullity.

    In its court filings, CLCI is seeking multiple court orders: an injunction barring UEMBI from any construction activity on the property, a formal ruling that UEMBI’s continued occupancy constitutes trespassing, and compensatory damages totaling GY$3,106,000 per month dating back to September 2025 for unlawful possession. CLCI also adds that UEMBI’s ongoing construction work violates Georgetown’s municipal building bylaws, as no legally approved construction plan was ever secured. Paul, however, has staunchly defended the lease’s validity, noting he had no prior notice of CLCI’s struck-off status or English’s alleged lack of authority, and that English openly represented himself as an authorized agent for the institution during negotiations. Per the terms of the agreement, Paul says UEMBI paid GY$4 million in advance rent, with monthly rent set at GY$1 million starting September 1, 2025, and the agreement includes an automatic renewal clause after the initial 15-year term.

    Complicating UEMBI’s position ahead of the scheduled April 7, 2026 hearing, the institution has now lost its fourth consecutive legal representative, after attorney Joelle Harmon-Alstrom withdrew her representation effective April 1, 2026. Paul told reporters the split stemmed from disagreements over case strategy: Paul pushed to highlight new, critical points raised in CLCI’s latest court submissions, while Harmon-Alstrom opted not to proceed with that framing. To date, Paul says UEMBI has spent GY$2.5 million on legal representation across four different lawyers, and he remains dissatisfied with all of the work the firm has provided.

    Paul confirmed that following Harmon-Alstrom’s withdrawal, he notified enrolled students of the planned December 2026 closure, but added that the shutdown is contingent on two key outcomes. First, the closure will only move forward if the High Court rules to eject UEMBI from the property. UEMBI’s accreditation is explicitly tied to its current location, meaning the university cannot relocate or continue operations elsewhere if it loses the building. Second, Paul says the university remains open to a transfer arrangement if a qualified, credible buyer steps forward before the end of 2026 to take over operations, a provision included to protect student interests and maintain continuity of education. The National Accreditation Council of Guyana has responded to Paul’s closure notice, calling for him to issue a more clear, definitive plan rather than attaching caveats to the proposed shutdown.

    Ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, Paul says he intends to request additional time from Justice Fidela Corbin-Lincoln to secure new legal representation, as well as permission to file a newly drafted reply affidavit. The final outcome of the ruling will determine the future of the private university and its student body, with one of Guyana’s newer private higher education institutions facing complete dissolution over the disputed property agreement.