A public appeal has been launched by the Office of the Chief Health Inspector, asking community members for help tracking down next of kin for four people who have died and whose remains are currently being held at Straffies Funeral Home. The remains of the four individuals have been in the funeral home’s care for varying lengths of time as of the notice’s release. Gintaras Lokocikas was taken into the facility’s care on May 16, 2025, followed by Kelvin Anthony on June 10 of the same year. More recently, Vernon Hippolyte was received on April 6, 2026, and George Phillis was added to the unclaimed roster on April 24, 2026. Any immediate or extended family members connected to these deceased individuals are requested to reach out directly to Straffies Funeral Home, located on St. John’s Street, by telephone at 462-0575. The primary purpose of this contact is to begin making arrangements for a private burial service that aligns with typical family preferences. Officials have issued a clear 14-day deadline from the date this public notice is published. If no eligible relatives step forward to claim the remains within this two-week window, the government will take over the process and arrange for interment at a local public cemetery, with no additional public announcements or notifications issued after that point. The Office of the Chief Health Inspector has also explicitly noted that once the government carries out this public burial, no legal action can be taken to challenge or reverse the arrangement after the fact. This administrative process follows standard protocol for unclaimed remains, designed to ensure dignified treatment of deceased individuals while adhering to public health and local governance guidelines.
作者： admin
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Skerrit calls for broader regional approach to security at Martinique conference
From July 1 to 3, 2026, two landmark regional gatherings – the Antilles Regional Security Conference and the 19th Antilles-Guyane Regional Cooperation Conference (CCRAG) – convened at the Université des Antilles in Martinique, bringing together political leaders, security officials, and regional bloc representatives from across the Caribbean and beyond to address interconnected modern challenges and deepen cross-territory collaboration.
Hosted by the Territorial Collectivity of Martinique (CTM) and overseen by France’s Ambassador-at-Large for Regional Cooperation in the Atlantic Region Arnaud Mentré, the conferences centered on a redefined vision of regional security, one that moves far beyond traditional law enforcement and countercrime frameworks. Opening the discussions, Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, a key voice for Caribbean small island states, emphasized that 21st-century security encompasses a broad spectrum of interconnected priorities that no single nation can tackle alone. “Security today must be viewed differently,” Skerrit told assembled delegates. “It extends well beyond policing and defense. It includes protecting our maritime borders, strengthening cybersecurity, securing energy and food systems, and building resilience to natural disasters. These issues are felt collectively, and our response must be fully integrated. We cannot speak about security in isolation. For countries like ours, security is inseparable from climate resilience and economic stability.” Skerrit’s call for a comprehensive, coordinated cross-regional approach resonated across the three days of talks, aligning with growing recognition among Caribbean nations of overlapping shared vulnerabilities.
Territorial leaders used the gathering to advance both regional integration and domestic autonomy priorities. Martinique President Serge Letchimy framed regional integration as a cornerstone of the territory’s long-term economic growth, noting Martinique’s unique dual position as an outermost region of the European Union and a recent member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Letchimy called for renewed negotiations with France and the EU under the EU-ACP partnership framework to secure Martinique a stronger voice in trade negotiations between the Caribbean bloc and Europe. On the first day of the conference, Letchimy also oversaw the signing of a new agreement with the French central government to launch talks on expanding Martinique’s local legislative powers, a reform designed to increase the territory’s autonomous decision-making capacity while preserving its status within the French Republic. Echoing Letchimy’s call for deeper collaboration, he noted that shifting global supply chain realities leave Caribbean territories with no alternative but to build new partnerships: “We have no choice but to seek different supply chain pathways; we have no choice but to work with all the Caribbean countries in research and development, innovation and biodiversity.”
Louis Mussington, President of the Collectivité of Saint Martin, echoed the call for governance structures tailored to local needs within the EU framework, and highlighted the urgency of cooperation amid rising global economic uncertainty. Saint Martin joined the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) in 2025, a step Mussington said reflected the growing importance of regional alignment. “Regional Caribbean cooperation never made as much sense as of now, given the rise of the economic insecurity sentiment in this global context,” Mussington said. “We need to be creative to imagine a multisectoral cooperation which takes into account our status.” He added that it was past time to resolve long-standing contradictions in regional governance: “It is time to go beyond paradoxes. It is time to modernize our working methods, for [the] convergence of our interests in the region supported by the reinforcement of our capacity of action.”
Beyond security and governance, the conference also prioritized unlocking growth for the Caribbean’s creative economy. Saint Martin formally presented its long-planned proposal for a Caribbean Audiovisual and Cinema Network, to be hosted through the OECS. The initiative was first unveiled at the 49th OECS Commissioners Meeting in April 2026 and submitted to the OECS Authority for review in June 2026. OECS representatives also shared key findings from the 2025 OECS Creative Sector Survey during targeted workshops, data that will inform the development of the bloc’s new Orange Economy Strategy. The strategy aims to boost cross-regional collaboration across creative sectors, supporting joint production, improved access to financing, targeted skills development, and expanded distribution networks for Caribbean creative content. Patrick Sellin, representing the Regional Council of Guadeloupe, emphasized that meaningful regional integration cannot be mandated from above, but must be built through consistent, practical action: “Experience teaches us that regional integration cannot be decreed. It is built with consistency, confidence, and method. It relies on an affirmed political will, solid institutions, and projects useful to our populations.”
The dedicated Antilles Regional Security Conference focused heavily on coordinated action to disrupt transnational drug trafficking and organized crime, bringing together senior officials from France, Caribbean and Latin American partner states, and major multilateral security bodies. Attendees included French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister for Overseas France Naïma Moutchou, and Minister Delegate to the French Minister of the Interior Jean-Didier Berger, alongside representatives from the Regional Security System (RSS), Association of Caribbean States (ACS), Organisation of American States (OAS), and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). French authorities used the conference to announce new plans to ramp up anti-drug trafficking operations across its Caribbean overseas territories and deepen operational cooperation with neighboring Caribbean nations. Officials also disclosed that nearly 52% of all drugs seized by France nationwide in 2025 – 42 tonnes of a total 81 tonnes – were intercepted in the Caribbean region, highlighting the critical role the area plays in global counter-narcotics efforts.
By the conclusion of the conference on July 3, delegates had established new cross-border working groups focused on joint criminal investigations, judicial cooperation, and real-time intelligence sharing. The gathering closed with the formal adoption of the “Martinique Declaration,” a collective regional commitment to accelerating coordinated action against transnational criminal activity and advancing the integrated security agenda outlined by Skerrit and other regional leaders. The OECS was represented at the conferences by General Counsel Dwight Lay and Cooperation Officer Mendy Kilo.
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Landmark transplant bill moves forward
Barbados has advanced a landmark piece of legislation that will bring long-awaited reform to the country’s organ transplant system, moving the island nation one step closer to a formal, regulated framework for posthumous organ donation. The Human Tissue Transplant Bill, which cleared the Senate last week, completed its second reading in the House of Assembly this Tuesday, with Health and Wellness Minister Senator Lisa Cummins framing the proposal as both life-saving and transformative for Barbadian healthcare.
Opening the parliamentary debate, Cummins emphasized the urgency and impact of the new law, paying recognition to decades of advocacy from patient advocacy groups including the Barbados Kidney Association, whose representatives attended the debate from the public gallery. She also honored transplant patients who passed away while waiting for a matching organ, and extended acknowledgment to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital transplant team, who could not attend the session as they were mid-operation conducting a live donor kidney transplant.
The legislation outlines a comprehensive regulatory structure for organ donation and transplantation across the country. Key provisions include the establishment of a dedicated National Transplant Council, a national centralized donor and transplantation registry, formal protocols for post-death donation, clear rules for both adult and minor donations, a ban on commercial trade in human tissue, approval frameworks for participating healthcare institutions, and a nationwide public education campaign to raise awareness around organ donation. The bill also establishes formal, evidence-based protocols for fair allocation of donated organs to patients in need.
To bring the legislation in line with existing national law, the Barbados Law Reform Commission contributed extensive input and recommended several amendments, most notably aligning documentation requirements with the island’s Succession Act. Under the updated rules, adult donation decisions require two witness signatures, matching existing legal standards for end-of-life planning. The legislation also creates separate regulatory frameworks for adult and minor donations, giving full autonomy to adults to specify their own donation wishes that will be honored after death.
Cummins pushed back against any potential misinterpretation of the bill, clarifying that the legislation does not enable coercive or predatory organ procurement — instead, it codifies the right of individual Barbadians to choose whether to donate their organs after death. “It allows us to have and to begin a national conversation about that choice, about people transitioning from going back to my maker just how I came into or to donate my organs to someone who needs them,” she explained.
Rather than building a national registry from scratch, the Ministry of Health plans to expand an existing registry held by the University of the West Indies (UWI) in partnership with the Barbados Living Laboratory. During a recent meeting with UWI’s Faculty of Medical Sciences, both parties agreed that the expanded registry will prioritize using collected data to drive evidence-based policy decisions for the transplant program, avoiding the pitfall of maintaining an underutilized registry.
Like many other countries with regulated organ donation systems, Barbados’ new legislation includes an explicit ban on the commercial trade of human tissue, a standard regulatory protection included in comparable frameworks across most jurisdictions with formal transplant programs.
Beyond establishing the donation framework, the Ministry of Health is also moving forward with plans to expand critical dialysis services across Barbados, which serve thousands of patients with end-stage kidney disease who are waiting for transplants. Currently, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital offers dialysis with 24 treatment stations, and private provider SILS, founded by local entrepreneur Kurt Lambert, operates three additional community dialysis locations. Cummins confirmed that the ministry has already held targeted working sessions with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, SILS, and public health leadership to expand community-based dialysis access, with a goal of completing most expansion work between now and early 2027. The expansion will reduce travel burdens for patients, who currently often have to travel to the main public hospital for treatment.
Ahead of Tuesday’s debate, Cummins spoke with a local kidney transplant recipient to center patient experiences in the legislative debate. The recipient shared the physical and emotional weight of receiving a live kidney from a loved one, describing the pre-surgery anxiety of knowing their donor’s life was in their hands, and the post-operative process of long-term immunosuppressant treatment that allows the body to accept the new organ. Recipients often describe transplantation as far more than a routine surgical procedure: it is a profound emotional exchange between donor and recipient that changes both lives forever, Cummins recounted.
To date, Barbados’ small transplant program has relied almost entirely on donations from living donors, leaving many patients on waiting lists who die before a matching organ becomes available when dialysis can no longer manage their disease. The new framework will change this by opening access to life-saving posthumous donations.
Cummins announced she will set a public example by registering as an organ donor herself, noting that the legislation enables all Barbadians to document their donation wishes, including carrying an organ donor bracelet like those used in many other countries. “I want to give the gift of life. I want to be able to let someone else’s family benefit from my organs if they are in good order,” she said.
Looking beyond national borders, Cummins also revealed that the Barbadian government has pledged support for ongoing discussions to create a regional organ donor bank for the CARICOM bloc. The initiative would allow member states to pool organ resources and match patients to available organs across jurisdictions, expanding access for patients in small island nations like Barbados that have smaller national donor pools.
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Antigua and Barbuda Parliament Passes Resolution Setting Strict Terms for Any US Third-Country Transfer Agreement
On Tuesday, the Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda passed a landmark resolution that grants the national government conditional authority to continue negotiations with the United States regarding potential third-country national transfers, while embedding a 12-point framework that secures the Caribbean nation full and final discretion over whether to accept any individual proposed for transfer.
Tabled by Prime Minister Gaston Browne following a full day of parliamentary debate, the resolution explicitly clarifies that the vote does not greenlight any finalized agreement with the U.S., nor does it approve the transfer of any person to Antigua and Barbuda. Instead, it sets binding strict conditions for ongoing talks that prioritize protecting the small nation’s sovereignty, national security, legal commitments and core financial interests.
Under the principles ratified by lawmakers, the government may proceed with discussions with Washington in a spirit of bilateral friendship and cooperation, but all negotiations must center the sovereignty, domestic laws, security, infrastructure capacity and national priorities of Antigua and Barbuda. The resolution firmly rejects any permanent, automatic or open-ended program that would allow the U.S. to transfer a pre-determined number of third-country nationals to the country. Every potential transfer must undergo individual assessment and receive explicit prior approval from the Antigua and Barbuda government before moving forward.
Additional safeguards limit potential transfers to a number that the government confirms the country can responsibly accommodate, with considerations for public resource limits, national security, compliance with domestic and international law, available funding and the nation’s overall absorptive capacity. Before any individual can be accepted, the U.S. must provide full, verifiable information on the person’s identity and suitability for entry. Binding written agreements must also be finalized covering documentation, funding, accommodation, legal status and long-term responsibility for each individual. The government retains the unconditional right to deny entry to anyone with incomplete or inaccurate documentation, and requires the U.S. to arrange immediate repatriation at no cost to Antigua and Barbuda.
The resolution further mandates that all costs tied to any future arrangement—including accommodation, healthcare, security, administrative overhead and any onward movement or repatriation—must be covered by pre-agreed U.S. funding, ensuring that Antigua and Barbuda taxpayers bear no financial burden. It also preserves the government’s right to suspend or end any arrangement at any time if it deems the move necessary to protect national sovereignty, security, domestic laws or national interests. In a final clarifying provision, the resolution confirms that its passage does not equal parliamentary approval for any draft operating procedures currently under discussion, and does not independently authorize any transfers.
Speaking in support of the resolution, Prime Minister Browne framed the framework as a way to establish “clear principles and safeguards” that allow the country to continue negotiating with the U.S. without compromising its national independence. “It affirms that Antigua and Barbuda retains complete sovereign discretion. It requires full vetting, full funding, complete documentation and clear legal status for any person who may be considered. It preserves our right to suspend or terminate any arrangement should circumstances warrant,” Browne told Parliament.
The prime minister emphasized that the government had deliberately struck a careful balance between protecting the nation’s sovereignty and maintaining its critical bilateral relationship with the United States. “We value our friendships, but we also value our independence and the quality of life of our people,” he said. “Cooperation must be fair. Cooperation has to be balanced and it must be consistent with our national interests.”
During debate, Browne reiterated that Antigua and Barbuda would accept U.S.-imposed visa restrictions rather than agree to accept convicted criminals into the country. “If we were faced with an option of not taking criminals and to have visa restrictions, we’ll go for the visa restrictions because accepting criminals will destroy our country,” he stated. He added that any future consideration would be limited exclusively to individuals whose only violation relates to immigration or visa rules. Browne also disclosed that the nation intends to request up to $75 million USD per individual accepted under any eventual agreement, arguing that Antigua and Barbuda’s higher cost of living justifies greater financial compensation than that offered to other participating countries.
Attorney General Sir Steadroy Benjamin told lawmakers that the resolution should not be misinterpreted as approval of a final deal, as no such agreement has been finalized. “The White Paper is not presented as a complete agreement, nor is this House being asked to approve a conclusive operating agreement. None exists,” Benjamin said. He explained that Parliament’s role here is to set core negotiating principles for the executive branch, while leaving detailed talks to the government.
Benjamin also revealed that between March 2025 and June 2026, Antigua and Barbuda accepted five of its own citizens deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, noting that this legal obligation to repatriate one’s own nationals is fundamentally different from accepting citizens of third countries. “Every nation has a duty to receive its own citizens,” he said, adding that no similar international obligation exists for third-country nationals.
Foreign Affairs Minister E.P. Chet Greene defended the government’s choice to engage in talks with Washington, arguing that willingness to listen to a proposal should not be mistaken for unconditional acceptance. “We engage because responsible governments do,” Greene said. “They do not make important decisions in ignorance. They do not refuse to listen before they know what is being proposed. And they do not confuse engagement with agreement.”
Greene added that Antigua and Barbuda has already rejected key elements of the original U.S. proposal because they failed to adequately protect the nation’s interests. Rather than cutting off talks entirely, the government submitted extensive counterproposals that narrowed the eligible categories of people that could be considered, reduced the proposed maximum number of transfers, strengthened documentation requirements, and required the U.S. to take on full financial responsibility for any arrangement. “That is not capitulation. That is negotiation. That is the essence, the true form, of diplomacy,” Greene said. He also praised the nation’s U.S.-based Ambassador Sir Ronald Sanders for leading negotiations in Washington under Browne’s direction, noting that Sanders had firmly defended Antigua and Barbuda’s legal, financial and security interests throughout the process.
Tourism Minister Charles Fernandez urged Parliament to consider the broader economic implications of the negotiations, noting that the government cannot ignore Antigua and Barbuda’s heavy reliance on the U.S. as its primary source of tourism revenue. Fernandez explained that tourism accounts for roughly 60 to 65 percent of the nation’s total gross domestic product, and warned that any major breakdown in relations with Washington could carry severe economic consequences. “If we lose our tourism, 60, 65 percent of GDP [would go] down the drain,” he said. Framing the issue as a delicate “balancing act”, Fernandez noted that the government is seeking an arrangement that protects the nation’s dignity and sovereignty, while also safeguarding the tourism industry and the thousands of local livelihoods that depend on it.
Not all parliamentary members supported the resolution. Barbuda MP Trevor Walker argued that Antigua and Barbuda is negotiating from a position of weakness due to existing U.S. visa restrictions, and questioned whether the nation has sufficient leverage to secure a favorable deal. “Antigua and Barbuda don’t have no cards,” Walker claimed, while calling for broader public consultation and a unified collective position from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on the issue. He also questioned why Parliament received an unsigned draft memorandum rather than a finalized agreement, and urged the government to provide more public context around the existing U.S. visa restrictions affecting citizens of Antigua and Barbuda.
Government representatives rejected these criticisms, noting that negotiations have already resulted in substantial revisions to the original U.S. proposal. The resolution, they argued, gives the government a clear parliamentary mandate while locking in full sovereign control over any final decision. With the resolution now formally adopted, the Browne administration has authority to proceed with talks, but any eventual agreement must remain aligned with the 12 principles approved by Parliament. These non-negotiable terms include individual case-by-case approval, full government discretion, 100 percent U.S. funding, binding written legal safeguards, and the permanent right of Antigua and Barbuda to reject, suspend or terminate any arrangement whenever it determines the move serves the national interest.
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Here’s How Belize Just Upgraded its Hurricane Eyes for $66K
As a low-lying Caribbean nation highly vulnerable to extreme Atlantic storm systems, Belize has taken a critical step forward in improving its hurricane and ocean condition monitoring with the addition of three new offshore marine monitoring stations. The new infrastructure, which carries a total value of $66,000, was donated through regional climate cooperation and will deliver continuous, real-time data from the country’s offshore waters to forecasters.
Ronald Gordon, Belize’s Chief Meteorologist, explained that the new stations fill a long-standing critical gap in the country’s weather monitoring network. For years, Belize has operated an extensive network of atmospheric weather stations across its mainland and a small number of existing installations on its offshore cayes. However, these older stations are only equipped to track atmospheric conditions such as barometric pressure, air temperature, and wind speed, with no capacity to measure key ocean variables that drive hurricane development and intensity.
Authorities have selected three ecologically and strategically important locations for the new installations: Glover’s Reef, English Caye, and Southern Turneffe Atoll. Each monitoring site is outfitted with a fully integrated package of solar-powered, satellite-connected weather buoys, moorings, anchors, and high-resolution sensors. This equipment is designed to capture a wide range of critical data, including wave height and activity, sea surface temperatures, near-surface wind patterns, and atmospheric pressure over open water.
Courtney Forde, mission lead for the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), which provided the equipment, noted that the new buoy network represents an important incremental advance for regional climate resilience. “This buoy project is just another step… into monitoring the marine space and maybe improving models, improving hurricane prediction and so on,” Forde said. The $66,000 in funding for the infrastructure came from the European Union, disbursed through the Caribbean Development Bank as part of broader regional climate adaptation support.
For a small coastal nation where hurricanes pose annual threats to lives, infrastructure, and coastal ecosystems, the upgrade is expected to deliver meaningful improvements in early warning capacity and storm forecasting accuracy, helping communities prepare more effectively for extreme weather events.
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Politie en leger houden 14 gewapende Chinezen aan in Sarakreek
A coordinated joint security operation carried out by the Suriname Police Corps (KPS) and the Suriname National Army has resulted in the arrest of 14 Chinese nationals in the remote Sarakreek area, alongside the seizure of multiple firearms and an undisclosed quantity of ammunition, Suriname’s Justice and Police Ministry confirmed earlier this month.
The operation was launched after Surinamese authorities received multiple tips and video footage showing armed Chinese individuals patrolling the Sarakreek region while wearing matching uniforms. Following inter-agency consultations with the Public Prosecution Service and the President’s Cabinet, officials approved the immediate deployment of a combined police-military task force to the area, supported by two National Army helicopters. The entire mission was commanded by the KPS’s regional commander for central Suriname.
When the operation concluded, 14 Chinese men were taken into custody, and law enforcement personnel recovered a cache of weapons including semi-automatic firearms, other heavy weaponry, and stockpiled ammunition. Justice and Police Minister Harish Monorath told local outlet Starnieuws that officials are still unable to release an exact count of seized weapons, as the full inventory process was delayed after one of the deployed helicopters suffered an unplanned technical malfunction. All 14 suspects have since been transported to the capital Paramaribo, where ongoing criminal investigations and pre-trial legal proceedings are underway.
Circulating social media footage and a public Facebook video showed Ronald Brunswijk, chairman of Suriname’s General Liberation and Development Party (ABOP), was present at the operation site. Minister Monorath clarified that Brunswijk did not lead the mission, which remains fully under the command of Surinamese security forces. According to Monorath, Brunswijk traveled to the area independently to conduct on-site assessments and shared relevant information with official authorities.
Monorath also noted that not all of the detained Chinese men are in Suriname illegally, with a portion holding valid immigration documentation. Officials have declined to speculate on the exact purpose of the group’s armed presence in Sarakreek. Initial unconfirmed reports suggest the men may have been working on private security operations, but Monorath emphasized that formal investigation will clarify their activities. He stressed that Suriname maintains its own official domestic security agencies, including the national police and military, and the inquiry will fully examine why the group was operating in an armed, uniformed capacity in the region. Officials say they will wait for the outcome of pre-trial hearings and the full criminal probe before releasing an official statement on the case.
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Families of Karl Lashley and Isaac Watson Given 14 Days to Claim Bodies
A public appeal has been issued by the Office of the Chief Health Inspector, calling on community members to assist in tracking down the relatives of two deceased men whose bodies are currently being held at Barnes Funeral Home without any claimants.
Authorities have confirmed the identities of the two men: Karl Lashley, who passed away on June 3, 2026, and Isaac Watson, who died three weeks later on June 24, 2026. The office is urging any immediate or extended family members of the deceased to reach out directly to Jessica Barnes, Managing Director of Barnes Funeral Home Limited. The funeral home is located at Irwing Barnes Close off American Road, and family members can contact the facility via phone at 462-1037 to begin coordinating private burial arrangements.
Per the official announcement, next of kin have a strict 14-day window from the date this notice is published to step forward and complete the required arrangements. If no contact is made or no plans are finalized within this two-week period, government authorities will move forward with interring the remains at a public cemetery, and no additional public notices will be issued before the burial takes place.
The Office of the Chief Health Inspector has also issued a clear warning that any legal claims to the remains will not be entertained after the government has completed the public interment. In closing, the office issued a gentle plea to any family members who may be connected to Lashley or Watson to respond to the notice in a timely manner and cooperate with the outlined process to give the deceased a respectful resting place aligned with family wishes.
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Ricardo Barriteau Drue Foundation Hosts Girls’ Mentorship Workshop on Self-Esteem and Life Challenges
On Monday, the Ricardo Barriteau Drue Foundation brought adolescent girls aged 12 to 17 together for a transformative mentorship workshop at Hodges Bay Resort & Spa, centered on four pressing issues facing young women today: bullying, self-esteem, gang violence, and healthy sexuality. Titled “I Am, I Will,” the event operated under the patronage of the Halo Foundation and drew an impressive roster of expert speakers and community leaders, including members of Team Antigua Island Girls, serving police officers, sitting senators, and Her Excellency Lady Williams, wife of Antigua and Barbuda’s Governor General.
Nicola Barriteau, founder of the organization and mother of the late Ricardo Drue, explained that the workshop was crafted specifically to equip young women with the tools to navigate the turbulent transitions of adolescence. A core goal of the gathering, she noted, was to embed a lasting belief that every girl and young woman carries inherent value and untapped potential, regardless of her background.
“Our aim is to ensure that young women across Antigua and Barbuda, and eventually the wider Caribbean, understand that they are important, they are enough, and they can achieve any dream they set their minds to,” Barriteau shared in an address during the event.
She added that many families across the region lack the financial resources to access specialized personal development training for their children, a gap the foundation was created to fill. “The foundation provides a welcoming space where young people in Antigua and Barbuda, and eventually across the region, can practice their crafts, sharpen their skills, and fully embrace arts and entertainment,” she explained.
This girls’ empowerment workshop is just the latest in a series of community-focused initiatives the organization has rolled out in recent years. In 2024, the foundation hosted a series of legacy workshops connecting young people with established professionals from across the arts and entertainment sectors. It followed that programming with a dedicated workshop for boys focused on crime and gang violence prevention in 2025.
Looking ahead, the organization has set an ambitious new goal: to launch a permanent community centre that will host ongoing arts, entertainment, and youth empowerment programming. Barriteau explained that a fixed venue would eliminate the logistical barriers of hosting scattered events, allowing young people to access support and programming whenever they need it. “Instead of us going to them, they can come to us, and we will welcome them with open arms,” she said.
The Ricardo Barriteau Drue Foundation has reaffirmed its long-term commitment to upholding the vision of its namesake through targeted programming that prioritizes arts development, entertainment innovation, and widespread youth empowerment across the Caribbean region.
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Viral Jaguar Cub Video: “Unnecessary, Reckless,” Says Friend
A viral video capturing two men cornering and touching a young jaguar cub in Belize’s Mountain Pine Ridge reserve has ignited fierce condemnation from wildlife conservation experts across the globe this week, and a third person present during the incident has now stepped forward to share new details of the problematic encounter. Leslie Penner, who describes himself as a long-time friend of the two brothers at the center of the controversy, provided an exclusive account to local outlet News Five, outlining how what began as an ordinary birdwatching trip spiraled into an incident that puts both human and big cat safety at risk.
According to Penner’s version of events, the group was navigating remote backcountry trails in the protected reserve when they spotted an adult female jaguar on the path ahead of their off-road vehicle. Moments later, they noticed her cub walking along the same trail, moving directly toward its mother. That is when, Penner says, one of the brothers—identified only as Ruben—made the sudden decision to exit the vehicle to get a closer look at the young animal.
“I immediately felt a spike of concern, because I knew just how much danger that decision put Ruben in,” Penner recalled in his interview. Penner told reporters he attempted to stop Ruben from approaching the cub, holding the vehicle’s passenger door as close to Ruben as possible to block his path, but his intervention did not succeed. The cub eventually veered off the trail toward Ruben’s position, moving into the same underbrush where the adult jaguar had been spotted just moments earlier. Penner added that he did not even realize Ruben had made physical contact with the cub until after the encounter had concluded, as the interaction unfolded on the opposite side of the vehicle from where he was positioned.
In his statement, Penner echoed the widespread criticism of the incident that has emerged from conservation circles, calling the brothers’ actions completely avoidable and dangerously irresponsible. He emphasized that the encounter created an unnecessary risk of violent conflict between humans and wild jaguars, a conflict that could have easily been avoided entirely if the group had stayed inside their vehicle and observed the animals from a safe distance. Penner also sought to contextualize Ruben’s actions, noting that Ruben failed to recognize the level of danger he created in the moment. “The idea that touching the cub could lead to serious harm for either the jaguar family or himself never even crossed Ruben’s mind,” Penner explained. “He never would have approached if he had stopped to think through the consequences.”
Notably, Penner also pushed back against the idea that the brothers are entirely unconnected to conservation work, pointing to their long-standing efforts to promote wildlife protection among Belize’s conservative Mennonite community. Penner explained that the brothers visit Belize regularly, and have a standing agreement with local poultry farmers: if the farmers do not harm hawks that prey on their chickens, the brothers will reimburse the farmers for any birds lost to the birds of prey. Penner confirmed that the brothers have always honored this agreement, which has reduced retaliatory killing of raptors in the region.
Jaguar populations across Central America face ongoing threats from habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict, and poaching, with Belize hosting one of the region’s last remaining stable wild jaguar populations. Conservationists have warned that unnecessary human interactions with big cat cubs can trigger defensive attacks from protective mother jaguars, and in some cases can lead to adult jaguars abandoning their young if the cub carries unfamiliar human scents. This incident has already sparked renewed calls for stricter enforcement of wildlife viewing rules in Belize’s protected areas, with advocates pushing for mandatory education on responsible wildlife interaction for all visitors to ecotourism sites.
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Guide Speaks Out on Viral Jaguar Cub Encounter, Calls Touching the Cub “Unnecessary” and “Reckless”
A viral video capturing two men cornering and touching a wild jaguar cub in Belize’s Mountain Pine Ridge Reserve has sparked fierce backlash from the global conservation community this week, and the expedition guide accompanying the pair has now broken his silence to condemn the incident as unnecessary and recklessly dangerous.
Leslie Penner, the guide who led the two brothers on a birdwatching excursion that devolved into the controversial encounter, shared new details with local outlet News Five to contextualize the widely shared footage, revealing that the incident unfolded unexpectedly during a routine trail exploration.
According to Penner’s account, the group first spotted an adult female jaguar along the trail ahead of their off-road vehicle, before her young cub emerged walking along the path toward its mother. That was when Ruben, one of the two brothers in the group, made the unplanned decision to exit the vehicle’s back seat and move toward the front to get a closer, unobstructed view of the big cat cub – a choice that immediately triggered alarm for Penner.
Penner said he acted quickly to intervene, voicing his immediate concern about the safety risk and attempting to position the vehicle’s passenger door to block Ruben’s path toward the cub. But his efforts failed: the cub veered off the trail onto the passenger side of the vehicle, moving into the same area where the adult jaguar had been spotted just moments earlier. Penner added that he did not even realize Ruben had made physical contact with the cub until after the encounter had concluded.
In his statement, Penner aligned with widespread criticism of the incident, calling the act of touching the wild jaguar cub an unnecessary, reckless choice that created avoidable risk of dangerous conflict between humans and wildlife. Penner noted that Ruben failed to recognize the gravity of the danger he created in the moment, saying the possibility that touching the cub could lead to harm for either humans or the jaguar family did not cross his mind, and he would not have acted had he understood the risk.
Notably, Penner defended the brothers’ broader history with conservation work in Belize, explaining he has known the pair for many years and praised their ongoing efforts to advance conservation among Belize’s conservative Mennonite community. Penner added that the brothers visit the country regularly and have established a formal agreement with local poultry farmers: they guarantee that any hawks preying on farmed chickens will be safely relocated rather than killed, and they reimburse farmers for any chickens lost to predation under the agreement – a commitment they have consistently honored.