Carib Scope

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  • ABLP Marks Third-Term Anniversary, Pledges Continued Service to Nation

    ABLP Marks Third-Term Anniversary, Pledges Continued Service to Nation

    The Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) commemorated its third anniversary in government with a formal statement from Party Chairman Hon. E.P. Chet Greene expressing profound appreciation to the nation’s citizens. The message highlighted that public support, prayers, and collective effort have been fundamental drivers behind the country’s developmental trajectory over this period.

    Chairman Greene specifically acknowledged the continued public trust placed in both the party organization and Prime Minister Gaston Browne’s administration. The statement emphasized that significant accomplishments across multiple sectors—including education modernization, healthcare improvements, infrastructure development, and economic empowerment initiatives—represent collective national achievements rather than purely governmental successes.

    Government officials including the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, and broader ABLP membership joined in conveying sincere gratitude for the public’s partnership. The anniversary statement framed these three years as evidence of effective national unity and shared purpose.

    Looking forward, the party leadership reaffirmed its governance commitment through dedicated service, ethical conduct, and persistent focus on enhancing living standards for all families. The vision articulated promotes building a nation where prosperity becomes both broadly accessible and sustainably elevated.

    Concluding with a forward-looking perspective, the statement combined elements of faith and purpose to assure citizens that continued diligence and committed service would yield even greater national advancements in the future.

  • Bicyclist killed in St Philip road crash

    Bicyclist killed in St Philip road crash

    A tragic traffic incident in St. Philip has resulted in the death of a cyclist following a collision with a motor vehicle on Crane Road. The fatal accident occurred at approximately 3:45 p.m. on Thursday, with both the bicycle and motorvan traveling in the direction of Rices when the impact happened.

    Emergency services responded to the scene where the cyclist, whose identity has not yet been released, was pronounced deceased at the location despite medical efforts. The circumstances leading to the collision remain under active investigation by local authorities.

    Law enforcement officials from District C Police Station have initiated a comprehensive investigation into the incident. Investigators are particularly interested in speaking with potential witnesses who may have observed the events leading to or surrounding the collision.

    The police department has issued a public appeal for information, urging anyone with relevant details to come forward and assist with their inquiries. Community members who may have witnessed the incident or have any information are encouraged to contact District C Police Station directly at 416-8200.

    This incident marks another sobering reminder of road safety concerns involving vulnerable road users and motor vehicles. The investigation continues as authorities work to determine the exact sequence of events that led to this fatal outcome.

  • Barbados goes to the polls for another snap election on February 11

    Barbados goes to the polls for another snap election on February 11

    Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has officially declared February 11, 2026, as the date for the nation’s next general election, marking her second consecutive early electoral call. The announcement came during a significant political gathering at Westbury Primary School, where the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) finalized its candidate nomination process for the City of Bridgetown constituency.

    The event witnessed attorney Michael Lashley securing his nomination as the BLP’s candidate, completing the party’s full slate of 30 contenders. Lashley, who transitioned from the Democratic Labour Party to join the BLP just last year, faced no opposition during the nomination process.

    Prime Minister Mottley disclosed that she had formally consulted with President The Most Honourable Jeffrey Bostic at State House earlier in the day, initiating the constitutional process for dissolution. She subsequently directed Attorney General Dale Marshall, present at the gathering, to commence immediate preparations for the election writs.

    According to the established timeline, Barbados’ Parliament will undergo formal dissolution on January 19, with Nomination Day scheduled for January 27, creating a three-week campaign period leading to the February 11 election. Mottley, who secured overwhelming victories for the BLP in both the 2018 and 2022 elections, now seeks an unprecedented third consecutive term as the nation’s leader, testing her party’s continued dominance against the opposition Democratic Labour Party.

  • Belize Cuts Import Taxes Under Taiwan Trade Deal

    Belize Cuts Import Taxes Under Taiwan Trade Deal

    The Belizean government has enacted the conclusive round of import tariff reductions, marking full implementation of its bilateral trade agreement with Taiwan. Approved by Cabinet on Wednesday, these measures amend the nation’s Customs and Excise Duties legislation to execute the fourth and final phase of scheduled duty eliminations under the Belize-Taiwan Economic Cooperation Agreement (ECA).

    This legislative action fulfills Belize’s contractual obligations under the phased tariff elimination schedule established in the ECA. The revised regulations will immediately reduce import levies on designated categories of Taiwanese merchandise, effectively decreasing their retail prices for Belizean consumers.

    Government officials characterize this development as achieving dual objectives: honoring international trade commitments while simultaneously strengthening economic partnerships with Taiwan. The tariff reductions form part of a strategic, multi-year economic plan designed to enhance bilateral trade flows and increase accessibility of imported goods for the Belizean market.

    Analysts project that continued implementation of such trade facilitation measures will stimulate competitive pricing in domestic markets while fostering deeper economic integration between the two nations. The completed tariff elimination schedule establishes a framework for potential future expansion of trade cooperation initiatives.

  • EU waarschuwt voor economische schade door Trumps heffingenplan

    EU waarschuwt voor economische schade door Trumps heffingenplan

    The European Union has delivered a forceful response to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s announced plan to reinstitute sweeping import tariffs, warning that such protectionist measures could severely damage both European and American economies while undermining transatlantic relations.

    In an official statement released Monday, European officials emphasized that protectionist trade policies typically result in increased business costs, disruption of global supply chains, and elevated consumer prices. The EU specifically highlighted that export-dependent sectors including manufacturing, agriculture, and logistics would likely bear the brunt of the economic impact.

    Brussels pointed to previous trade conflicts as evidence that reciprocal tariffs tend to suppress economic growth and generate financial market volatility. The European Commission stressed that stable trade relationships remain crucial for investment security, job preservation, and economic recovery, particularly during a period when the global economy already faces pressure from geopolitical tensions and persistent inflation.

    The warning extended beyond transatlantic concerns, noting that trade disruptions between the United States and Europe could create ripple effects across developing nations that depend on predictable market access and stable trade flows.

    The EU reaffirmed its commitment to diplomatic dialogue and multilateral cooperation through World Trade Organization frameworks. Simultaneously, European authorities made clear their readiness to implement protective measures to safeguard the bloc’s economic interests should the tariff proposal materialize.

  • Halo Foundation Ends Year on a Positive Note with Nationwide Anti-Bullying Resource Distribution

    Halo Foundation Ends Year on a Positive Note with Nationwide Anti-Bullying Resource Distribution

    The Halo Foundation culminated its 2025 operations with a significant nationwide initiative, delivering comprehensive anti-bullying and conflict-resolution materials to 34 educational institutions throughout Antigua and Barbuda. This extensive distribution effort, spearheaded by Bolinda Baptiste and Cuthbert Forbes, represents the Foundation’s sustained dedication to youth development and violence prevention strategies.

    This school outreach program constitutes an integral component of the Foundation’s national anti-bullying campaign, originally established in 2018 to systematically combat youth violence while fostering safer, more inclusive academic environments across the twin-island nation. Her Excellency Lady Williams, President of the Foundation, emphasized the organization’s philosophical approach: “Since initiating our anti-bullying campaign, we have maintained unwavering commitment to cultivating wholesome, compassionate environments for our youth. This year-end initiative underscores our conviction that prevention fundamentally originates through education, and that properly equipped educational institutions empower students to resolve conflicts through empathy and mutual respect.”

    School administrators—including principals, counselors, and librarians—extended enthusiastic receptions during the resource distributions, expressing genuine appreciation for the donated materials. Numerous educators highlighted how these resources would prove instrumental in facilitating dispute resolution, enhancing emotional intelligence, and promoting constructive peer interactions among students.

    Bolinda Baptiste noted the validating feedback: “The responses from educational institutions reaffirmed the essential nature of this work. By providing both educators and students with practical tools, we’re cultivating empathy, effective communication, and peaceful problem-solving capabilities from formative years.”

    The foundation’s outreach encompassed 22 primary schools and 12 secondary schools, supplemented by resources provided to the Public Library. This ensured broad accessibility to age-appropriate materials designed to encourage meaningful dialogue, mutual understanding, and respectful engagement among young community members.

    Since its inception, the Halo Foundation’s anti-bullying campaign has maintained its strategic focus on preventive measures, educational interventions, and community partnerships, reinforcing the core belief that enduring social change emerges through early intervention and consistent institutional support.

  • From desert to tundra: Jaryd Niles Morris’ Arctic pilgrimage

    From desert to tundra: Jaryd Niles Morris’ Arctic pilgrimage

    Tracy Moore

    Barbadian visual artist Jaryd Niles Morris is preparing for an extraordinary artistic expedition to the Arctic Circle in June 2027, having been selected for an internationally acclaimed artist residency program that challenges participants to create work addressing Arctic themes with global significance.

    This polar journey represents the latest chapter in Morris’s transformative artistic evolution, following profound residencies in Senegal and Morocco during 2024 that fundamentally reshaped his creative perspective. His Sahara Desert experience at Café Tissardmine—an artist residency embedded within an Amazigh (Berber) community—proved particularly impactful. “It reset me as a person,” Morris reflects. “Immersing myself within a community that has persevered through millennia of colonial pressure heightened my awareness of my Caribbean identity.”

    This awakened consciousness continued during his Senegalese residency, where Morris observed how cultural symbols and belief systems are actively preserved. “African communities maintain powerful connections to their cultural foundations through physical artifacts that constantly reaffirm their values,” he notes. This starkly contrasted with his Barbadian context, where he perceives traditional folk elements sometimes drifting toward entertainment rather than meaningful cultural remembrance.

    These comparative cultural observations have directly inspired Morris’s Arctic project: the creation of a groundbreaking cultural character rooted in Caribbean values, environmental stewardship, and collective responsibility. This modern figure—conceived as a cultural vehicle rather than policy document—aims to embed conservation awareness directly into Caribbean cultural consciousness.

    “We cherish our beaches and environment,” Morris explains. “This character will encapsulate ideals of activism and ocean conservation, bringing these priorities to the cultural forefront. The goal is integrating conservation into daily life through cultural means.”

    Originally discovering the Arctic residency opportunity online, Morris initially felt unprepared until his North African experiences provided the conceptual foundation. “Ironically, Morocco triggered the ideas now carrying me from desert to tundra,” he observes.

    Envisioned as a regional collaboration, the project will involve artists across the Caribbean, reflecting Morris’s commitment to pan-Caribbean cultural development. “We share history but not necessarily shared reality,” he notes, emphasizing his desire to create “a Caribbean project, not just Barbadian.”

    Morris describes his upcoming Arctic journey as essentially spiritual: “This is a pilgrimage. A Caribbean envoy traveling to the Arctic to witness and comprehend.” During his two-to-three-week residency, his sole expectation remains that the resulting work generates positive global impact.

  • OPINION l Gadgets: Creating More Problems in Education

    OPINION l Gadgets: Creating More Problems in Education

    Jamaican educational leaders are raising urgent concerns about the pervasive integration of digital devices in classrooms, warning that technological overreliance may be undermining fundamental learning skills. Linvern Wright, President of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools (JAPSS), contends that gadgets frequently create more educational challenges than solutions while depriving students of traditionally acquired critical abilities.

    Wright emphasizes that technological devices often serve as distractions rather than learning aids, particularly when not properly integrated into pedagogical frameworks. He specifically highlights the decline in manual calculation skills due to premature calculator introduction and notes concerning reductions in handwriting practice, which research indicates enhances memory retention and long-term information storage compared to typing.

    These concerns find support in Mark Malabver, President of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), who urges the Ministry of Education to reassess the nation’s substantial dependence on classroom technology. Malabver references emerging research indicating digital devices may be eroding students’ critical thinking and problem-solving capabilities, contradicting earlier beliefs that technology would serve as an educational “silver bullet.

    The commentary references UNESCO’s 2023 report cautioning that excessive technology use or its substitution for qualified teachers could diminish learning outcomes. While not advocating for complete technology elimination, educators stress the necessity of balancing technological benefits with preserving traditional learning methodologies that foster concentration, independent reasoning, and foundational problem-solving skills.

    Educational stakeholders now call for urgent dialogue with the Ministry of Education to establish equilibrium between technological integration and maintaining essential cognitive skill development in Jamaican classrooms.

  • COMMENTARY: Between A Rock And A Hard Place

    COMMENTARY: Between A Rock And A Hard Place

    The recent imposition of visa sanctions against Antigua and Barbuda by the United States administration represents a calculated geopolitical maneuver rather than a mere response to alleged governance failures. While surface-level justifications cite concerns over drug trafficking and weaknesses in the Citizenship by Investment Program (CIP), a deeper examination reveals these accusations serve as pretexts for broader strategic objectives outlined in the US National Security Strategy of December 2025.

    The 29-page security document explicitly articulates Washington’s intent to reassert the Monroe Doctrine and eliminate non-hemispheric competitors’ influence throughout the Americas. This strategic framework provides context for the punitive measures against the dual-island nation, which possesses neither military capabilities nor substantive threat capacity against the United States. With a population of merely 100,000 citizens and no history of aggression, Antigua and Barbuda’s designation as a national security threat appears strategically disproportionate.

    The administration’s actions align with documented objectives to discourage regional partnerships with US adversaries, particularly China. Antigua and Barbuda’s significant Chinese assets, including an substantial embassy presence, have positioned the nation at the center of hemispheric power dynamics. The visa restrictions function as soft power instrumentation designed to create domestic pressure compelling policy changes.

    Three primary objectives underlie the sanctions: securing a deportee memorandum of understanding, severing Chinese relations, and demonstrating US regional dominance. The characterization of Antiguan and Barbudan citizens as ‘destabilizing populations’ within security documents further reveals the administration’s perceptual framework. This situation places Antigua and Barbuda’s government in a profoundly challenging position, balancing domestic welfare against international geopolitical pressures.

  • Wesley College Cuts Single-Use Plastics by 85%

    Wesley College Cuts Single-Use Plastics by 85%

    In a significant environmental breakthrough, Wesley College in Belize City has successfully slashed its single-use plastic waste by an impressive 85% within just one year. This remarkable achievement follows the implementation of a comprehensive refillable water station system across the campus, effectively eliminating the previously ubiquitous plastic water pouches that dominated student consumption habits.

    The transformative initiative has been spearheaded by Sea of Life, an environmental organization operating through its Plastic Solution Academy program. With strategic backing from the Belize Fund, the academy focuses on developing and implementing practical waste reduction strategies within educational institutions and local communities throughout Belize.

    Beyond the water refill infrastructure, Sea of Life’s program encompasses rigorous testing of alternative sustainable materials. Notably, researchers are investigating the potential of sargassum—a abundant seaweed type in the region—as a viable replacement for conventional plastic products. This innovative approach addresses both waste reduction and creative resource utilization.

    Buoyed by the demonstrable success at Wesley College, Sea of Life has announced plans to expand this plastic reduction model to additional schools nationwide. The program serves as a replicable blueprint for educational institutions seeking to minimize their environmental footprint while fostering sustainable practices among younger generations.