Carib Scope

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  • Belize Left Off Spain’s Visa-Free List? Foreign Affairs Ministry “Clarifies”

    Belize Left Off Spain’s Visa-Free List? Foreign Affairs Ministry “Clarifies”

    On July 20, 2026, Belize’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade (MFAFT) issued an official statement to clear up widespread public confusion sparked by Spain’s recent publication of an updated visa-free travel list for the Schengen Area, which failed to include Belize.

    The MFAFT emphasized that the July 14 list released by Spanish authorities does not represent a new policy change targeting Belize. Instead, it is merely a consolidated restatement of long-standing visa exemption rules already codified in European Union Regulation 2018/1806, which has kept Belize excluded from the Schengen visa-free regime since the regulation took effect. All decisions on visa exemption status for non-EU countries are made collectively by all EU member states, not unilaterally by any single national government, the ministry noted.

    For Belize to gain full visa-free access to the entire Schengen Area, a formal amendment to existing EU-level legislation is required. This legislative process is entirely separate from domestic announcements individual member states like Spain issue to update their own public travel guidance, the statement explained.

    According to the MFAFT, Belize has pursued full Schengen visa waiver status for Belizean nationals through years of sustained diplomatic lobbying, targeted at both Spanish authorities and EU governing institutions. That long-term effort already delivered a major breakthrough in November 2025, when EU officials approved a new arrangement that allows Belizean citizens holding valid biometric passports to obtain multiple-entry Schengen visas valid for up to five years.

    The ministry framed that 2025 reform as a meaningful step forward that has significantly streamlined travel for Belizeans visiting Spain and other Schengen Area countries for a wide range of purposes, including business trips, leisure tourism, educational exchanges, and family visits. The new regime represents a substantial improvement over the stricter, more restrictive visa rules that were in place before the 2025 agreement, the statement added.

    The nine CARICOM member states that are included on Spain’s updated visa-free list, all of which already hold full Schengen visa exemption under existing EU rules, are Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.

    The 27-country Schengen Area, which allows for free movement across internal borders between participating European states, counts Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland among its current members.

    In closing, the MFAFT reaffirmed that it will continue advancing Belize’s request for full visa-free access through all appropriate diplomatic channels, with the goal of securing the legislative change needed to fully remove the visa requirement for all Belizean travelers.

  • STATEMENT: Electoral office responds to ‘false claims’ about voter confirmation procedures

    STATEMENT: Electoral office responds to ‘false claims’ about voter confirmation procedures

    False claims circulating across social media platforms over the weekend have prompted an official response from the country’s Electoral Office, which is moving swiftly to refute allegations that third parties can complete voter confirmation for absent electors by presenting their documents alone.

    In a public statement released to counter the growing spread of unsubstantiated misinformation, Chief Election Officer Anthea Joseph’s office categorically denied that such a practice is allowed or even possible under the jurisdiction’s current voter confirmation framework. The office emphasized that the entire system has been built with layered security safeguards explicitly designed to require the in-person physical presence of every elector seeking confirmation.

    To illustrate the rigid checks built into the process, Electoral Office officials outlined the mandatory workflow that all electors must complete. When an elector arrives at a confirmation center, their personal identifying information is first entered into the official digital system. Next, a live photograph of the elector is captured on-site, and the individual is required to provide a personal electronic signature via a dedicated signature capture pad. Critical procedural blocks are coded directly into the system: the confirmation application cannot be marked as complete until both the on-site photograph and the unique electronic signature have been successfully recorded.

    Because of these non-negotiable procedural requirements, the office confirmed that it is structurally impossible for a third party to finalize voter confirmation for another person without that elector being physically present at the center. The Electoral Office has formally rejected the false information that has spread through social media channels, and moved to reassure the general public that all official confirmation centers are adhering strictly to the prescribed regulatory procedures at all times.

    Beyond this immediate denial, the office offered a second guarantee to voters: comprehensive on-site supervision and oversight are being implemented at every confirmation location to protect the integrity of the entire voter confirmation process. Officials noted that the Electoral Office remains fully committed to upholding the requirements laid out in the Registration of Electors Act and all established administrative protocols for voter confirmation.

    In closing, the office issued a public appeal urging all community members to cross-check any claims related to electoral procedures through the Electoral Office’s official communication channels, rather than relying on unvetted social media posts. The statement also encouraged voters to avoid sharing unconfirmed allegations, which can mislead electors and erode public trust in the integrity of the region’s electoral system.

  • Dozens of Baby Sea Turtles Found Dead on Belize Beach

    Dozens of Baby Sea Turtles Found Dead on Belize Beach

    On a quiet private stretch of shoreline on Belize’s Ambergris Caye, a devastating discovery earlier this month has thrown a harsh spotlight on the escalating sargassum seaweed crisis threatening Caribbean coastal ecosystems. At least 52 dead loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings, all from what appears to be a single complete nest that never reached the ocean, were found trapped in thick mats of rotting seaweed, triggering urgent calls for government intervention to address the growing environmental disaster.

    The grim find was made early one morning by Joshua Seguro, a part-time property worker who has been spending summers on this stretch of coast for more than 15 years. As he made his routine walk along the shore, he immediately recognized the small creatures as loggerheads – a globally threatened species of sea turtle – and realized none were still alive. Following protocol, he first notified the property’s owners before reaching out to the Belize Fisheries Department, which coordinated next steps with the Belize Sea Turtle Network.

    Fisheries officer Alicia Eck guided the local team remotely, instructing them not to disturb the protected wildlife and to conduct a full count to establish the scale of the die-off. By the time the count was completed, the group had documented 52 dead hatchlings, confirming the entire nest had perished before reaching open water. For local observers, the cause of death is unambiguous: the overwhelming blanket of decomposing sargassum that has choked Belize’s shorelines in recent years.

    Property co-owner Maria Sussman recalled that her family initially thought the hatchlings were alive when Seguro first brought the news. Excited to share the experience with their 5-year-old daughter, the whole group rushed to the beach, only to find more and more small bodies tangled in the thick seaweed as they walked along the pier. The team searched for the original nest in the hope of rescuing any remaining unhatched turtles, but could not locate it – it is believed to be buried deep beneath the pier, trapped under layers of accumulated sargassum.

    Seguro, who remembers watching healthy turtle hatchlings make their way to the ocean as a child, says this mass die-off is the starkest marker yet of how dramatically the coastal ecosystem has declined. He notes that successful turtle hatchings have become extremely rare in the area, with his last live sighting of a hatchling roughly a decade ago – that individual was also trapped in sargassum, but was rescued and released successfully. “We’ve never seen anything like this. Especially dead. This is my first time seeing dead sea turtles. It’s really heartbreaking,” he said.

    Crucially, this mass mortality event is not an isolated incident. Seguro says a similar discovery of dead hatchlings was made just 300 feet along the same coastline, raising alarming questions about the true scale of turtle deaths across Belize’s entire 200-plus miles of coast. “Now imagine the entire coastline of Belize. How many turtles are dying every single day?” he asked.

    Property co-owner Scott Sussman has called the deaths an unacknowledged tragedy, warning that uncounted thousands of turtles could be dying every month during hatching season without any formal documentation. He is pushing the Belizean government to take immediate, large-scale action to manage the sargassum crisis, pointing to successful mitigation efforts in neighboring Mexico as a model. Sussman noted that the government recently received $25 million in earmarked funds to address the sargassum problem, arguing that targeted investment in clearing and management would not only protect vulnerable marine species but also preserve Belize’s critical tourism industry.

    Today, Sussman says the sargassum accumulation on his beach is so thick that the shore cannot be traversed without hiring labor to clear a path, and the problem grows worse with every passing month. Beyond turtles, the sargassum bloom is damaging the entire coastal ecosystem: during a recent boat trip just five miles north of the property, Sussman encountered water thick with discoloration and reeking of decomposition, with hundreds of seabirds feeding on dead fish. Long-time residents report that once-common species including porpoises and abundant lobster populations have vanished from the area, replaced by 150 feet of murky brown water choked with rotting seaweed.

    Roberta Schulte, Sussman’s mother-in-law, added that the mass die-off of loggerhead hatchlings raises broader concerns about species preservation and economic risk. “You’re talking about the preservation of a species, and you don’t know what other species are being impacted,” she said. “People come to Belize for the sea, and to see what is being allowed to happen is really disappointing and possibly a deterrent for tourism.” Without urgent government intervention, locals warn, the damage to Belize’s marine ecosystems could become irreversible.

  • Temporary road closure: Scott Street/Young Street, St George’s

    Temporary road closure: Scott Street/Young Street, St George’s

    Motorists and residents of St. George’s, Grenada are adjusting their travel plans in advance after an official advisory from the Traffic Department of the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) announced an upcoming temporary closure of the Scott Street and Young Street corridor. The complete ban on vehicular access is scheduled to allow construction teams to safely carry out the demolition of an existing structure located on Young Street.

    The traffic restriction will go into effect on Sunday, July 26, 2026, and remain in place from 8:00 a.m. local time through 6:00 p.m. the same day. To minimize travel disruptions for commuters and local businesses during the closure period, law enforcement officials have published a clearly marked alternative route for all through traffic.

    Under the revised traffic plan, any vehicle traveling along Halifax Street will be required to divert off the main corridor: drivers must turn left onto Church Street, then take a right turn onto Lucas Street to connect to H A Blaize Street, the primary downtown thoroughfare that the Scott/Young Street corridor normally serves.

    In the official notice issued from the Office of the Commissioner of Police, the RGPF extended a public apology for the inevitable disruptions to daily travel that the closure will cause. Law enforcement representatives also noted that they are counting on full cooperation and compliance from all road users throughout the duration of the demolition work to ensure the operation proceeds safely and on schedule.

    This advisory was released by the RGPF through official public communication channels. NOW Grenada, the outlet that published the notice, has clarified that it holds no responsibility for the content of statements or third-party contributor materials, and provides a reporting channel for users to flag any abusive content associated with the publication.

  • Notice: Sunken vessel in St George’s outer harbour

    Notice: Sunken vessel in St George’s outer harbour

    Mariners and commercial and recreational fishers operating in Grenada’s St George’s Outer Harbour have been issued an urgent safety advisory, warning of a major new navigation hazard following the sinking of fishing vessel *Little Desrine F2* on 16 July 2026.

    According to the Fisheries Division under Grenada’s Ministry of Blue Economy and Marine Affairs, the vessel sank after an onboard fire broke out, leaving a submerged wreck at the marked coordinates of 12°03.403’N, 106°45.521’W. Official measurements confirm that the minimum vertical clearance between the wreck and the water surface is just 2.74 metres, or 9 feet, creating a hidden threat for watercraft passing through the area.

    The advisory outlines a range of serious risks that the sunken wreck poses to maritime traffic. Passing vessels can sustain severe hull damage from striking the submerged structure, while fishers risk losing or damaging expensive fishing gear through entanglement with the wreck. Additional hazards apply to specific operating conditions and vessel types: the threat is amplified for deep-draft vessels, for those traveling to fishing grounds, trolling, setting or retrieving fishing gear, and for any navigation carried out at night or in conditions with reduced visibility.

    A temporary white fender has been deployed to mark the wreck’s position, but authorities stress that mariners should not depend on this marker alone to avoid the hazard. All watercraft operators are instructed to cross-reference the official published coordinates, maintain a safe clearance distance from the site, and exercise extreme caution any time they transit through the Outer Harbour.

    In a closing note, the Ministry urged mariners and fishing community leaders to share this advisory widely across local and regional fishing networks to ensure all operators are aware of the new hazard. Members of the public with questions or additional information about the incident can contact the Fisheries Division at 438-5050 or 440-3814.

    This advisory was published by NOW Grenada, which notes that it accepts no liability for opinions and statements shared in contributor-submitted public content. Users can report any abusive content related to this advisory through the platform’s designated reporting channel.

  • Dominica’s Bee Natural highlights export challenges at regional IICA-CDB forum

    Dominica’s Bee Natural highlights export challenges at regional IICA-CDB forum

    A regional virtual forum hosted by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has centered on the unique struggles that micro and small agricultural enterprises (Agri-MSMEs) across the Caribbean face when attempting to break into regional and international export markets, spotlighting two standout local businesses from Dominica and Antigua & Barbuda.

    The event, branded under the theme “Moving Products to Markets, Literally!”, forms a core component of a long-running collaborative initiative between IICA and CDB designed to remove the most persistent barriers to market entry for small agri-enterprises. The program supports participating businesses through export pilot trials, targeted support to boost production capacity, and expanded access to critical financing that many small operations struggle to secure.

    Dominica’s homegrown wellness brand Bee Natural was one of the featured businesses at the forum, with founder Terri Henry-Lovell sharing the company’s journey to build a customer base across multiple Caribbean nations. Henry-Lovell detailed that Bee Natural, which produces award-winning wellness goods crafted from locally harvested honey, beeswax and propolis, has made notable inroads into regional markets, but persistent logistical challenges continue to stunt its growth.

    She echoed a widespread frustration shared by small island-based Agri-MSMEs: affordable, reliable freight and logistics infrastructure remains severely limited across the region. For many operations, the only feasible way to move products to neighboring markets is to rely on traveling passengers to carry goods in their personal luggage, an ad-hoc solution that cannot support scalable long-term growth. Beyond unreliable transportation, forum participants identified a suite of additional barriers: inconsistent shipping timetables, exorbitant freight costs, burdensome and unclear cross-border customs procedures, steep packaging costs, limited cold storage capacity for perishable goods, and difficulty building partnerships with established regional distributors.

    Antigua & Barbuda’s Shade Hydroponics, known by its brand name SHAADE, also joined the forum to showcase its line of local products, which includes artisanal herbal teas, raw honey, fresh peppers and a range of other wellness goods. Like Bee Natural, SHAADE outlined the practical support that would allow the business to scale its distribution across the Caribbean.

    Diana Francis, IICA’s representative in Trinidad and Tobago and the project’s coordinator, emphasized that the initiative is built around delivering tangible, measurable commercial outcomes rather than generic capacity building. “This forum starts with the endgame – literally placing products on shelves, in homes across regional markets, and potentially beyond. This project wants to go beyond conventional capacity building and just telling Agri-MSMEs where the markets are. We want to help them put their products on the shelves and keep them there,” Francis explained.

    In its closing, the forum reaffirmed that Caribbean Agri-MSMEs already have the core components needed for export success: the region is home to passionate, skilled entrepreneurs crafting high-quality, innovative products that have strong demand in regional and global markets. To unlock that potential, participants agreed that cross-sector collaboration is non-negotiable. Stronger coordinated partnerships between national governments, logistics service providers, financial institutions and regional development agencies will be critical to breaking down systemic barriers and helping small agri-enterprises expand their footprint, strengthen regional trade, and drive inclusive economic growth across the Caribbean.

  • Suriname heeft wel een wettelijke regeling voor ‘fiscale ringfencing’ bij O&G-contractors

    Suriname heeft wel een wettelijke regeling voor ‘fiscale ringfencing’ bij O&G-contractors

    On July 17, 2026, legal expert Siegfried G. Kenswil LLM published an opinion piece titled ‘The Contract That Underpins Suriname’s Oil Era’, where he introduced his book *The Surinamese Production Sharing Contract*. While Kenswil’s piece is overall a valuable read for stakeholders in Suriname’s growing oil and gas sector, one key claim he made requires critical nuance to prevent unnecessary confusion and conflict between the Surinamese government, specifically the tax authority, and oil and gas contractors and their advisors.

    The contentious claim centers on Kenswil’s assertion that the so-called ring fence outlined in Suriname’s Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) is purely a contractual cost-recovery mechanism, and that no statutory fiscal ring fence – which limits tax deduction eligibility to individual fields or contracts – currently exists in Surinamese tax law. Kenswil further argues that introducing such a framework would require legislative action, and applying it retroactively to existing contracts would violate state guarantees of legal certainty and policy stability.

    However, Kenswil’s opinion does not clearly outline the legal basis for his claim that Suriname lacks a statutory fiscal ringfencing regime. This gap risks leading readers to the incorrect conclusion that Suriname has no existing legal rules governing ringfencing for income tax collection from oil and gas contractors. In fact, the opposite is true: Suriname has held a clear legal basis for fiscal ringfencing since the 1990 Petroleum Act, specifically in Article 19.

    Article 19 of the 1990 Petroleum Act mandates that any contractor carrying out operations under a petroleum PSC in Suriname must establish a dedicated local office for each individual agreement, and register this office in compliance with national regulations. Article 11 of the same Act confirms that this requirement applies to every petroleum agreement a contractor enters into. This means contractors are legally obligated to set up separate registered entities for every PSC they sign in Suriname.

    This mandatory separation of entities carries direct implications for income taxation. A local office of a foreign contractor typically takes one of two legal forms: a local branch or a wholly-owned local subsidiary. Both structures are required to register with the Suriname Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KKF) and register as distinct taxpayers with the Surinamese Tax Administration. A branch of a foreign enterprise is formally classified as a permanent establishment for Surinamese income tax purposes, falling under local tax jurisdiction.

    Depending on the legal structure chosen, the separate office is classified as either a non-resident taxpayer (for branch structures) or a resident taxpayer (for subsidiary structures) for income tax purposes. Since each PSC corresponds to a single legally defined exploration or production block, this separation requires that income tax assessments are conducted separately for each block. As a result, costs accrued from one block cannot automatically be deducted against revenues generated from a separate block. Through this provision in the 1990 Petroleum Act, Suriname’s legislature already embedded fiscal ringfencing into the regulatory framework for oil and gas contractors.

    This statutory requirement is also explicitly reflected in Suriname’s standard model PSC, confirming that both contractors and the state have long recognized the application of fiscal ringfencing. Article 19.2.1 of the model PSC outlines which revenues and costs are counted when calculating a contractor’s taxable income. For eligible costs, the rule specifies that only expenses linked to or arising from the PSC for the specific block in question can be counted, whether they qualify for cost recovery or not. By signing a PSC containing this clause, contractors voluntarily agree to abide by this ringfencing framework.

    In conclusion, this clarification makes clear that fiscal ringfencing for oil and gas contractors in Suriname already holds full legal grounding under existing law. When the Surinamese Tax Administration applies ringfencing to assess income tax from oil and gas contractors, no additional legislative action is required. This application does not breach existing contracts, nor does it violate legal certainty or the state stability guarantees outlined in State Decree S.B. 2018 No. 52.

    By Roy Shyamnarain, Fiscal and Legal Advisor based in Paramaribo

  • ECAB Launches the ECAB Game Changers Scholarship

    ECAB Launches the ECAB Game Changers Scholarship

    On July 20, 2026, the Eastern Caribbean Amalgamated Bank (ECAB) officially introduced its transformative new initiative, the ECAB Game Changers Scholarship, at the bank’s Redcliffe Street headquarters. The launch event drew key stakeholders from both local government and the regional sporting community, gathering to mark a new milestone in combined investment for youth athletic and academic growth.

    Designed to remove financial barriers for talented young competitors, the scholarship will award a one-time disbursement of 25,000 Eastern Caribbean dollars to one eligible recipient each year. To qualify, candidates must be between 14 and 21 years of age, have already secured a partial scholarship to study overseas, and compete at a high level in one of three core sports: swimming, track and field, or association football. The program’s core mission is to empower promising young athletes to pursue dual excellence in their academic studies and their athletic careers while studying abroad.

    Speaking at the launch, ECAB Chief Executive Officer Michael Spencer emphasized that the initiative represents far more than just financial support for recipients. He framed the scholarship as a tangible demonstration of the bank’s long-standing dedication to holistic youth development across the Eastern Caribbean. “This program is about recognizing and rewarding relentless perseverance, fostering the next generation of community leaders, and backing young people who will go on to carry pride for their hometowns and their nation onto regional and global sporting stages,” Spencer explained.

    Dwayne George, the Honorable Minister of Sports and Creative Industries, joined in praising the initiative, highlighting ECAB’s sustained track record of meaningful corporate investment in local communities. “ECAB has consistently shown it stands apart from other institutions when it comes to investing in the region. Their contributions to education, community advancement, and cultural development have not gone unrecognized by the public or the government. We once again applaud their ongoing work as a responsible, engaged corporate citizen,” George said.

    Young athletes who meet the eligibility criteria and are interested in applying have until August 21, 2026, to submit their completed applications. Full details on eligibility requirements and submission instructions are available directly through ECAB.

  • Petro agreed to become president of Pacto Historico party

    Petro agreed to become president of Pacto Historico party

    As Colombia prepares to swear in its newly elected legislative body this week, outgoing President Gustavo Petro has delivered a high-stakes message to members of his ruling Pacto Historico coalition, demanding unified parliamentary discipline and tighter oversight of caucus members’ actions ahead of a key leadership vote in the Senate.

    In his public address, Petro outlined that Pacto Historico will prioritize brokering a broad national consensus to head off violent political polarization between Colombian factions, framing the effort as a commitment to protecting democratic stability across the region historically liberated by South American independence icon Simón Bolívar.

    Petro issued a clear directive to his allies: no member of Pacto Historico — and he extended that appeal to all factions of the broader Alliance for Life coalition — should cast a vote for candidates backed by the incoming conservative coalition, which he accuses of seeking to criminalize political opposition and erode fundamental democratic freedoms. The comment is widely understood to be a direct rebuke of Alfredo Deluque, the conservative-aligned legislator tapped by the incoming government to take the presidency of the Colombian Senate.

    The Colombian leader pushed back against the weaponization of judicial processes in political disputes, noting that democracy is rooted in inclusive political freedom, not the judicialization of ideological differences. “The Right should not be criminalized simply for being right-wing — I granted them full democratic guarantees during my administration — nor should progressivism be criminalized,” he explained.

    Reiterating the stakes of the upcoming vote, Petro declared that “Tomorrow, no one from the Pact (…) must succumb to the temptation of supporting fascism.”

    Petro also voiced public regret over the actions of Rodrigo Lara, the incoming administration’s designated Interior Minister, whom he accuses of having already taken “the first step toward fascism” by improperly meddling in internal party decision-making that falls outside the scope of the incoming executive’s authority.

    The swearing-in ceremony for members of Colombia’s new legislative term is scheduled to take place tomorrow, bringing to a close months of post-election negotiations and political maneuvering over control of the country’s congressional agenda.

  • Cuba’s largest fishing industry enterprise to energy transformation

    Cuba’s largest fishing industry enterprise to energy transformation

    For months, the U.S. government’s ongoing blockade of fuel shipments to Cuba has created widespread instability across the country’s National Electric System (SEN), threatening critical industrial operations and putting thousands of jobs at risk. In response to this energy crisis, Cuban energy and fishing authorities have turned to renewable solar infrastructure to shore up power supplies at one of the nation’s most valuable export hubs, the La Coloma fishing complex in the western province of Pinar del Río.

    The flagship solar project currently under development at La Coloma will add 400 kilowatts of installed solar capacity to the facility, translating to an average of 2.3 megawatt-hours of clean electricity generated every day, according to official reports. Cuba’s state-owned newspaper Granma confirmed that construction on the project is already 80% complete, with final testing and grid connection work expected to wrap up in the coming weeks. Once fully operational, the new solar array will accomplish two core goals: it will guarantee continuous power for a large portion of La Coloma’s processing operations, eliminating the risk of costly production shutdowns amid rolling blackouts, and any excess power generated will be fed directly into the national grid to help ease broader energy shortages across the region.

    Yordan Nogueira Tapia, general director of Cuban state fishing company Epicol, which manages the La Coloma complex, outlined that complementary energy upgrades are already in motion to maximize the benefits of the new solar infrastructure. A dedicated energy storage system is currently being installed alongside the solar array, a modification that will allow the facility to store excess power generated during peak sunlight hours for use during cloudy periods or after sunset, drastically improving the facility’s overall operational efficiency.

    Beyond the main processing complex, solar energy is already being deployed to improve working conditions for fishing crews across Epicol’s operations. Six-kilowatt solar systems have been fully installed at all offshore lobster collection centers, the hub for Epicol’s top export product. These systems now provide consistent power for workers stationed at the remote centers, dramatically improving daily quality of life for crews that spend extended periods in isolated fishing zones.

    Similarly, most commercial fishing vessels operating out of La Coloma have now been fitted with portable solar power kits. The kits address a critical daily challenge for crews: amid fuel and liquefied gas shortages caused by the U.S. blockade, the solar kits provide reliable power for cooking food during long trips out at sea, eliminating a major hardship that previously disrupted fishing operations.

    For Cuba’s provincial and national economies, the stability of La Coloma is a high priority. The complex generates roughly $30 million in annual export revenue, making it one of the largest and most economically important industrial entities in all of Pinar del Río. By investing in domestic renewable energy to offset the impacts of the U.S. fuel blockade, Cuban officials are working to protect critical export revenue and preserve jobs while addressing immediate energy access challenges for workers.