分类： politics

HAVANA, CUBA – Fresh economic sanctions imposed on Cuba by former United States President Donald Trump have sparked fierce condemnation from Cuban officials, who label the new measures an act of collective punishment against the island’s civilian population. The sanctions took effect Friday, coinciding with Cuba’s annual May 1 celebrations that drew tens of thousands of demonstrators marching to the US Embassy in Havana under the rallying cry of “Defend the Homeland.”

Geopolitical tensions between Washington and Havana have stretched across more than six decades. Ever since Fidel Castro led a communist revolution that seized power in 1959, the US has maintained a near-continuous trade embargo against the island nation, which sits just 90 miles off the coast of Florida. Prior to rolling out the new sanctions, Trump had publicly mused about the possibility of taking full control of Cuba.

Under the executive order signed Friday, the Trump administration expanded sanctions coverage to target any individual linked to major sectors of Cuba’s state-controlled economy. The new measures apply to actors operating in energy, national defense and materiel production, metal and mining, financial services, and public security, as well as any other economic segment deemed relevant by the US. The order also targets Cuban government officials accused of involvement in serious human rights violations and systemic corruption.

Cuba’s top diplomat Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez immediately pushed back against the new measures. In a public post on X, written in English, Rodriguez stated: “We firmly reject the recent unilateral coercive measures adopted by the #UnitedStates government. These actions demonstrate an intention to impose, once again, collective punishment on the Cuban people.” In a follow-up Spanish-language statement, he further characterized the sanctions as both illegal and abusive.

For Cuba, the new sanctions come as the country already grapples with a deep and prolonged economic crisis that has been compounded by recent US pressure. A US fuel blockade implemented in January has drastically cut the country’s access to energy imports, with only a single Russian oil tanker successfully reaching Cuban ports since the blockade went into effect. Chronic supply shortages and routine rolling blackouts have become daily realities for most Cuban citizens, and tourism — long the country’s highest-revenue industry — has collapsed to historic lows.

Notably, the new sanctions were announced just weeks after a significant diplomatic shift: senior US officials traveled to Havana for bilateral dialogue in April, raising tentative hopes of reduced tensions between the two nations.

Friday’s mass rally outside the US Embassy was led by Cuba’s sitting President Miguel Diaz-Canel and former revolutionary leader Raul Castro, drawing massive crowds of Cuban citizens who turned out to demonstrate against US policy. The day before the rally, Diaz-Canel had already called on all Cubans to mobilize against what he described as “the genocidal blockade and the crude imperial threats to our country.”

Throughout the rally, Cuban officials announced that more than six million signatures had been collected across the country over the past six weeks as part of a “for the homeland and for peace” campaign opposing US policy. Cuban opposition figures have, however, raised public questions about the transparency and methodology of the signature collection process.

State-run Cuban television broadcast parallel mass gatherings in cities across the island, showing thousands of additional protesters turning out to voice opposition to the new sanctions.

In a high-stakes political gamble that paid off spectacularly, Gaston Browne and his ruling Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP) secured a historic landslide victory in an early general election held Thursday, granting Browne an unprecedented fourth consecutive term as prime minister. The snap poll, called almost two full years before the country’s constitutional deadline for elections, delivered a resounding mandate to the ABLP that dramatically expanded its narrow hold on parliament from the 2023 vote.

Preliminary official results from the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission (ABEC) confirm the ABLP won 15 of the 17 contested parliamentary seats, a stark reversal of the razor-thin 9-7 majority the party scraped together just 18 months prior in January 2023. The overwhelming win marks a defining moment in the nation’s political history, as Browne becomes the first head of government in Antigua and Barbuda to win four straight general election contests.
Browne, who easily retained the St John’s City West constituency he has represented since 1999, struck a unifying tone in post-victory remarks to supporters and the public. In a statement posted to the ABLP’s official Facebook page, he acknowledged the magnitude of the public’s trust, writing, “We are humbled and honoured by your support and confidence. Now is the time to move forward together, build on our gains and continue our work on this long journey toward the betterment of our society and the upliftment of our people.”

Addressing gathered supporters, Browne emphasized that his administration would prioritize inclusive growth and equal access to opportunity for all residents, regardless of political affiliation. “We are here to serve all the people of Antigua and Barbuda. Education, jobs, business opportunities will be open to all who are prepared to seize them,” he said. “No one will be left behind who is willing to move forward. And notwithstanding your political persuasion, this is not a time for laggards. This is a time for all of us to perform, to increase our productivity and to make sure that Antigua and Barbuda becomes one of the most productive small island states globally.”

Browne noted that infrastructure and community development projects were already underway across the twin-island nation, and his incoming administration would build on that existing progress to advance new initiatives that improve quality of life and national pride. “We must remain a dignified people. We must not cower to anyone. We must not be timid. We must stand tall in every forum, every regional, and every international forum as Antiguans and Barbudans,” he added, rejecting calls for triumphalism after the landslide win. “So just in case anyone expected me to gloat, at the end of the day, the contest is over. From all indications, the people who have supported us to get between 15 of the 17 seats, that in itself is a resounding mandate for which we are eternally grateful.”

Only two seats escaped ABLP control in the contest. Jamale Pringle, leader of the main opposition United Progressive Party (UPP), managed to defend his constituency, defeating ABLP candidate Anthony Smith to retain the party’s only seat in the new parliament. On the smaller sister island of Barbuda, incumbent Trevor Walker of the Barbuda People’s Movement (BPM) held onto his seat, earning 609 votes to defeat Kendra Beazer, a former BPM member running on the ABLP ticket, who earned 398 votes.

Pringle congratulated the ABLP on their victory in a brief post-election statement, acknowledging the outcome while pledging the UPP would remain an active opposition force moving forward. “I want to thank all Antiguans and Barbudans who have supported the United Progressive Party. We’re indeed grateful and you will hear from us in a short time,” he said. Noting that “there’s no second place in politics,” Pringle added, “Just as we did in 2018, we’ll still be standing. We can’t get enough of the United Progressive Party. We’ll still be there.”

Several high-profile candidates fell to defeat in the ABLP wave, including former finance minister Harold Lovell, who had come out of a brief retirement from active politics following his 2023 election loss only to lose again to Anthony Smith in the All Saints West constituency. Browne’s wife, incumbent Public Works Minister Maria Browne, also won her contest, handily defeating UPP candidate Ashworth Azille to take the St John’s Rural East seat. All three independent candidates running in the election failed to gain traction, losing their electoral deposits after falling well below the required vote threshold.

Browne had framed the snap election as a necessary step to secure a new mandate to continue the socio-economic progress the ABLP has overseen since the party first took power in 2014, calling the campaign a “renaissance” for the nation. That strategic bet has now delivered one of the most lopsided election results in the country’s modern history, clearing the way for the ABLP to implement its full policy agenda over the coming term.

KINGSTON, Jamaica — Two major Jamaican church coalitions have ramped up pressure on the Andrew Holness administration to outline a definitive national stance and binding implementation timeline for equipping police officers with body-worn cameras, amid growing public friction over inconsistent official statements and a persistent high rate of fatal police shootings.

In a joint public statement released Friday, the Jamaica Umbrella Groups of Churches (JUGC) and the Watchman Church Leaders Alliance (WCLA) are not only pushing for policy clarity but also calling for a broad, inclusive national roundtable. The proposed dialogue would bring together key stakeholders spanning civil society organizations, the Independent Commission of Investigation (INDECOM) — Jamaica’s independent police oversight body — religious leadership, the Ministry of National Security, and senior command of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) to tackle the urgent issue of deadly police use of force.

The coalition pointed out that the current conflicting public positions from top government officials have created crippling policy ambiguity that erodes public confidence in national security. Specifically, the groups highlighted the open divergence between Prime Minister Andrew Holness and National Security Minister Horace Chang on the value and deployment of body-worn cameras. Holness has repeatedly stated publicly that his government is committed to rolling out the surveillance devices to frontline officers. But Chang has consistently pushed back against the policy, voicing repeated skepticism over more than two years.

Chang first questioned the utility of body-worn cameras during a post-Cabinet media briefing in November 2024, arguing that the devices offer minimal value in the context of fatal police shootings. He claimed at the time that officers engaged in gunfire would prioritize taking cover, making it unlikely the cameras would capture clear, usable footage. In an April 2026 post-Cabinet update, Chang doubled down on his criticism, questioning the practicality of deploying cameras during confrontations with heavily armed criminal gangs and repeating concerns that the devices could put officers at greater risk. He also argued that persistent public demands for body-worn cameras reinforce widespread public mistrust of the JCF.

In his most recent public comments on the issue, reported this week, Chang added a new objection: claiming that the design of standard police uniforms creates an inherent physical barrier to mounting and using body cameras effectively. He also noted that other systemic reforms are needed to improve policing beyond the introduction of body-worn devices.

The church coalitions said they do not disagree that additional reforms are necessary to strengthen Jamaican policing. It is precisely because multiple improvements are needed, they argue, that body-worn cameras should be implemented as a core measure to boost both accountability and officer protection.

The groups emphasized that they recognize the extraordinary occupational pressure and safety risks that Jamaica’s police officers face amid high rates of violent crime and gang activity. Even so, they maintain that greater transparency through mandatory body camera use does not undermine effective law enforcement — instead, it strengthens it. They pointed to the country’s persistently high number of fatal police shootings as evidence that more, not less, independent oversight is needed to rebuild public confidence.

“Where operations lack clarity, suspicion replaces trust, and the divide widens,” the groups wrote in their joint statement, warning that continued policy inaction will only deepen the rift between law enforcement and the communities they serve.

MONTEGO BAY, St James — After years of anticipation and public criticism over slow progress, a critical milestone for Jamaica’s plan to end chronic water shortages across western Jamaican communities was reached Wednesday, as large-diameter potable water pipes and construction fittings arrived at the Freeport port in St James.

The imported materials mark the formal kickoff of Phase 1 of the Western Water Resilience Improvement Project (WWRIP-1), a $170 million first stage of a broader $450 million national initiative designed to address decades of water insecurity in the region. The project was first launched in response to a dual crisis that shook western Jamaica two years ago: a century-old water infrastructure network that had completely reached the end of its functional life, paired with the most severe drought recorded in the region in over 100 years. Jamaica’s government officially declared the water shortage a national emergency in April 2024, but supply chain and bureaucratic hurdles delayed delivery of the critical pipes for two full years.

A visibly optimistic Minister of Water Matthew Samuda welcomed the shipment Wednesday, pushing back against public and political criticism of the extended timeline. Samuda defended the progress, noting that the two-year timeline for a project of this scale actually constitutes “breakneck speed by Government standards globally”, when accounting for the complex legal requirements and multi-step procurement processes that govern large public infrastructure works.

For Samuda, the arrival of the pipes — which range from 500 to 800 millimeters in diameter — is more than an infrastructure milestone: it is a fulfillment of a core political promise to Jamaican voters. “I hope that citizens are seeing now — and will see with the size of the pipes and the heavy construction — that the country is in a space where political commitments don’t need to be viewed in the way that they were once viewed, with the deep level of scepticism,” he told reporters at the port.

Samuda also used the milestone to argue for sweeping bureaucratic reform, pointing to the two-year wait for pipe delivery as clear evidence that Jamaica’s existing multi-layered government accountability framework creates unnecessary bottlenecks that slow progress on critical emergency projects. “Doing things the same way and expecting different results is the definition of madness,” he stated.

His comments came on the same day that Jamaica’s House of Representatives gave final approval to establish the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA), a new centralized agency designed to cut through red tape and speed up delivery of major infrastructure projects in the wake of climate disasters. Last October, Hurricane Melissa devastated large swathes of the island, leaving billions in damage and exposing deep flaws in the country’s existing emergency reconstruction process. Samuda emphasized that NaRRA is specifically designed to eliminate the kind of long delays that have plagued WWRIP-1, giving the agency the executive authority to complete critical infrastructure projects in just 20 months, rather than the years-long timelines common under the old system.

“[NaRRA] is indeed the best structure available to us…to build some of the infrastructure we now need to build in 20 months,” Samuda said, warning that without the streamlined authority granted to NaRRA under new legislation, “We will fail our citizens and not put them back on a path to growth, [not help them achieve] their dreams, and [we will not] put the nation back firmly on its path to prosperity.”

When complete, WWRIP-1 will deliver 65 kilometers of new ductile-iron potable water pipelines that will replace the most vulnerable segments of western Jamaica’s aging water transmission network. The project is designed to resolve long-standing issues including chronic leaks that push non-revenue water losses to unsustainable levels, system-wide breakdowns caused by outdated infrastructure, and service disruptions triggered by increasingly severe climate volatility.

Samuda framed the entire WWRIP initiative — which will reach a total investment of $450 million when fully completed — as a transformative generational investment, not just a basic infrastructure upgrade. “This is a nation-building project and a generational investment that unlocks economic activity and creates social stability for longer than a generation,” he said.

The project is engineered to strengthen regional water security by improving interconnected hydraulic systems and expanding storage capacity, creating a resilient network that can support the rapid economic and tourism growth that western Jamaica has experienced in recent years. To minimize environmental disruption and reduce the cost and complexity of land acquisition, all new pipeline routes are planned to run alongside existing road corridors. WWRIP-1 will also deliver upgrades to two existing regional water treatment plants — the Martha Brae and Great River facilities — alongside construction of a completely new treatment plant in Roaring River, Westmoreland, creating a more robust and interconnected water network across the region.