Carib Scope

分类： politics

  • Electoral Chair : PM attends the closing ceremony of the International Conference

    Electoral Chair : PM attends the closing ceremony of the International Conference

    On May 30, 2026, Haiti’s capital played host to the closing ceremony of the country’s first-ever International Conference of the Electoral Chair, an event organized in partnership between the State University of Haiti (UEH) and the nation’s Provisional Electoral Council (CEP). Held at Port-au-Prince’s Karibe Hotel over three days from May 28 to 30, the gathering centered on the urgent and pivotal theme: “Ensuring Success in the 2026 Elections in Haiti: Expectations and Opportunities.”

    The conference drew a diverse cross-section of stakeholders invested in Haiti’s democratic future. In attendance were CEP President Jacques Desrosiers, CEP Executive Director Uder Antoine, the body’s panel of electoral advisors, key international technical and financial partners for the electoral process, senior leadership and faculty from UEH, academic researchers, university students, and leading representatives from Haiti’s broad civil society network.

    In his opening remarks to the closing ceremony, Desrosiers opened by praising the unprecedented level of engagement from Haiti’s academic community, independent research bodies, and grassroots civil society groups. He noted that the broad mobilization around discussions of Haiti’s democratic trajectory and upcoming electoral cycle signaled a widespread national desire for a renewed, legitimate political order. Desrosiers also underscored a non-negotiable priority for the process: the urgent need to establish and maintain a secure environment that allows elections to proceed safely, with full protection for all electoral infrastructure, staff, and participating voters.

    Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, who headlined the closing ceremony, echoed Desrosiers’ remarks while framing the 2026 elections as a foundational milestone for the country’s long-stalled national reconstruction effort. The Prime Minister commended civil society for its proactive commitment to the electoral process, highlighting that their active participation in the conference’s deliberations reflected a shared ownership of Haiti’s democratic future.

    Fils-Aimé used the platform to reaffirm the core governing priorities of his administration, which center on three interconnected pillars: restoring widespread security across the country after years of instability, revitalizing Haiti’s struggling economy to deliver tangible improvements to daily life for citizens, and delivering an electoral process that is fully transparent, fair, and internationally credible. In a stirring call for collective national investment in the process, Fils-Aimé told attendees: “To refuse to commit is to let others decide for us.”

    The conclusion of the three-day conference marks a key milestone in Haiti’s preparations for the upcoming 2026 general elections, with stakeholders aligning around core priorities that will shape the months of preparation ahead.

  • Dc’s dienen begrotingen voor 2027 in bij minister Huur

    Dc’s dienen begrotingen voor 2027 in bij minister Huur

    On Friday, district commissioners across Suriname formally submitted their proposed 2027 fiscal year district budgets to Miquella Huur, Minister of Regional Development, in an official ceremony held in the meeting chamber of the District Councils in Paramaribo.

    By legal mandate under the Suriname Regional Bodies Act, district commissioners are required to present their annual budgets for central review each year, and this submission adheres to that longstanding regulatory requirement. These approved budgets will serve as the core financial foundation for all local development projects and policy implementation across Suriname’s administrative districts in the 2027 fiscal cycle.

    During the ceremony, Minister Huur emphasized that visible, community-engaged local governance is critical to advancing equitable development across all Suriname’s regions. She called on district leadership to pursue creative, innovative approaches to address unique local challenges and meet pre-established development targets.

    In a key policy announcement made alongside the budget submission, Minister Huur confirmed that the Suriname Institute for Civil Servants will soon launch new specialized training programs focused on boosting the professional skills and capacity of local administrative staff. This initiative is designed to strengthen the quality of public service delivery at the district level.

    The minister also extended public appreciation for the consistent work of all district commissioners, singling out three leaders for special recognition: Ravi Bhattoe of Wanica-Midden, Marvin Vyent of Albina, and Clyde van der Kamp of Brokopondo, praising their exceptional commitment to serving their respective administrative districts.

    The 2027 budgets are directly aligned with district development plans drafted earlier this year, which themselves grew out of public hearings organized by ressort councils in every district. These public hearings create a formal channel for local residents to raise pressing concerns, share community needs, and flag unaddressed development priorities in their residential areas. District commissioners submitted the underlying development plans for review on March 31, and the now-submitted budgets translate these planned initiatives into detailed, actionable financial frameworks.

    Patrick Kensenhuis, Dean of the District Commissioners, shared that he has full confidence that all projects and activities outlined in the 2027 budgets will be implemented successfully, delivering tangible benefits to communities across the country.

  • Former Turks and Caicos Premier Jailed in Landmark Caribbean Corruption Case

    Former Turks and Caicos Premier Jailed in Landmark Caribbean Corruption Case

    Nearly two decades after systemic political corruption was first exposed in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), one of the Caribbean’s most high-profile and long-running public integrity scandals has reached a defining milestone: former TCI Premier Michael Misick has been handed a custodial prison sentence following his conviction on multi-count corruption charges.

    In a packed Supreme Court hearing held Friday, Justice Rajendra Narine imposed a sentence of four years and 26 days behind bars. The conviction itself was handed down on February 4, 2026, when the judge found Misick guilty on three counts of bribery tied to fraudulent government land and development agreements. Misick was not convicted alone: his co-defendants, former Cabinet minister McAllister Hanchell and attorney Thomas Chalmers Misick, were also found guilty in the same ruling.

    Misick held the highest elected office in TCI from 2006 to 2009, when the scandal first upended the territory’s government. The scheme at the heart of the case relied on complex, opaque multinational corporate structures and hidden cross-border banking transfers totaling more than $21 million U.S. dollars, all connected to large-scale luxury tourist development projects across the island chain.

    In his sentencing remarks, Justice Narine emphasized that corruption among elected public officials amounts to a severe breach of the fundamental trust that citizens place in their leaders. He noted that the public interest unequivocally demands prison time for such offenses, serving both as punishment for the wrongdoing and a deterrent to other officials who might consider similar illegal conduct. The judge categorized Misick’s offending as falling into the highest tier of severity, pointing to three key aggravating factors: the massive personal financial gain obtained through the scheme, the deliberate abuse of a senior public office, and the sophisticated, layered tactics the co-conspirators used to carry out and hide their criminal activities. In his earlier February conviction ruling, Narine went further, stating plainly that public office “is not a licence for personal enrichment” and confirming that Misick’s actions directly violated the basic standards of honesty and integrity that the public is owed by elected representatives.

    The case stretches back almost 20 years to its initial exposure. In the mid-2000s, a public Commission of Inquiry commissioned by the United Kingdom — which holds sovereign responsibility for TCI as an overseas territory — and led by retired judge Sir Robin Auld uncovered conclusive evidence of systemic corruption and widespread abuse of office among TCI’s top senior officials. The scale of the findings was so severe that the UK government took the extraordinary step of suspending key provisions of the territory’s constitution in 2009, imposing temporary direct British rule while law enforcement launched full criminal investigations into the wrongdoing.

    To pursue the complex case, authorities established a dedicated Special Investigation and Prosecution Team. Over the course of more than 15 years, the team navigated tangled international legal processes, countless legal challenges from defendants, and multi-country extradition proceedings before finally securing the historic convictions against Misick and his co-conspirators. Friday’s sentencing closes one of the final major chapters in a scandal that reshaped public accountability expectations for small island governments across the Caribbean region.

  • Police maliciously prosecuted 13-year-old for rape

    Police maliciously prosecuted 13-year-old for rape

    A high-profile legal case in Trinidad and Tobago has sparked fresh calls for systemic reform within the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, after a 26-year-old man was acquitted on rape charges that he faced for 13 years. The man was just 13 years old when he was originally charged with the 2008 alleged rape of a 7-year-old girl, a case that the nation’s High Court has now formally ruled was driven by malicious prosecution.

    Speaking at a press conference held at his Curepe office on Wednesday, attorney Prakash Ramadhar, who represented the acquitted man, pulled back the curtain on the fundamental procedural failures that marred the entire investigation and prosecution. According to Ramadhar, the judge’s ruling made clear that key figures in the case — including the complainant, lead investigator, and senior supervising officers — abandoned proper investigative protocols entirely, choosing to pursue the young teen without any reasonable evidentiary basis to support the charges.

    Multiple critical missteps were highlighted in the court’s findings. Forensic DNA testing that was readily available to investigators at the time of the alleged incident was never conducted. The homeowner who hosted the children’s party where the assault was purported to have happened was never interviewed by police. Even the date law enforcement cited for the crime was confirmed to be incorrect, and the defendant’s mother provided police with a solid alibi: her son was at his grandmother’s home at the time of the alleged offense. Despite this clear exculpatory information, investigators never followed up to interview the alibi witnesses or verify the claim, a failure that left an innocent teen facing decades of legal uncertainty.

    Thirteen years after the original charges were filed, the High Court delivered its ruling, awarding aggravated damages to the defendant to underscore the judiciary’s condemnation of police misconduct in the case. Ramadhar noted that while the ruling offers a measure of redress for his client, it cannot undo the 13 years of harm that wrongful prosecution inflicted. “I shan’t call it full justice, but it delivers some level of remedy,” Ramadhar told reporters. “The High Court confirmed there was no reasonable probable cause to bring charges, found the prosecution was malicious, and awarded aggravated damages to reflect the court’s deep abhorrence of the police’s conduct in this matter.”

    Ramadhar revealed that this case is far from an isolated incident. He and his legal team are currently handling multiple other cases that document severe, improper conduct by police officers. He emphasized that the bad actors responsible for these failures are a small minority within the force, but their actions are steadily eroding public trust in law enforcement. “It is a small few that corrodes the level of confidence that we should have,” Ramadhar said. “In due course, those matters will be brought to public attention, because some of the evidence of police misconduct we have is almost unbelievable.”

    In closing, Ramadhar stressed that his call for reform is not an indictment of the entire police service. He remains a staunch supporter of rank-and-file officers who risk their lives daily to protect Trinidad and Tobago’s citizens, and expressed gratitude for their ongoing service. His core demand is simple: the police service must address internal misconduct, clean up its procedural gaps, and root out the bad actors that are undermining public confidence in the institution.

  • National Freedom Day: Luis Abinader: Trujillo’s dictatorship was “the ultimate expression of state terrorism…”

    National Freedom Day: Luis Abinader: Trujillo’s dictatorship was “the ultimate expression of state terrorism…”

    On May 30, 2026, the Dominican Republic paused to commemorate a pivotal turning point in its modern history: 65 years since the assassination of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, the authoritarian strongman who held the nation in an iron grip for 30 years, crushing dissent and consolidating absolute control over every state institution and segment of the population. The date is officially observed as National Freedom Day, a moment set aside to reflect on decades of repression and honor the movement that ended one of the darkest chapters in the country’s political story.

    In a solemn and impassioned address released this past Friday, President Luis Abinader paid tribute to the generations of Dominican men and women who risked everything to challenge Trujillo’s brutal dictatorship and pave the way for the restoration of democratic governance.

    Abinader opened his remarks with a stark assessment of Trujillo’s rule, labeling it “the ultimate expression of state terrorism perpetrated ruthlessly against his own country.” For more than three decades, the regime enforced its control through widespread violence, political persecution, and systemic suppression of basic civil liberties, leaving countless families devastated by disappearances, property seizures, and disenfranchisement.

    The president reminded audiences of the fateful night that changed the nation’s trajectory: May 30, 1961, when a small band of Dominican patriots ended the 31-year reign of terror. “On that night, after more than 30 years of resistance against the excesses of the most bloodthirsty political regime we have ever known in our history, a group of patriots took up the weapons of justice and fired on the embodiment of terror and tyranny that had subjected an entire people to the heavy yoke of dictatorship,” Abinader said in his speech.

    Beyond honoring the group that carried out the assassination, Abinader extended his tribute to all those who joined the resistance movement across its decades-long fight. This included ordinary people targeted for their dissent: those who were imprisoned, stripped of their assets, stripped of their citizenship, or killed for opposing the regime. Many of these resisters remain uncelebrated outside local communities, and the president emphasized their critical role in laying the groundwork for democracy.

    “That is why I want to remember and pay tribute to all the men and women of the national resistance, anonymous heroes and heroines, whose individual rights were curtailed and whose property was seized,” he stated.

    Closing the address, the president centered his message on the enduring value of preserving collective historical memory. He argued that a clear, honest understanding of the nation’s authoritarian past is the only foundation for building a more just, inclusive future. “Only a people who know where they come from and where they are going can walk safely towards peace, equality, solidarity, social justice and respect for citizens’ rights,” he concluded.

  • The millions of dollars the country has spent to “improve” traffic

    The millions of dollars the country has spent to “improve” traffic

    Over the past seven years, the Dominican Republic has secured more than $2 billion in international loans to fund traffic and mobility improvements across its major urban centers, according to an in-depth review of five nationally approved financing agreements. Each deal, vetted by the Dominican National Congress, signed off by the Ministry of Finance and authorized by the sitting president, is tied to targeted road infrastructure and public transport transformation projects, with varying requirements for policy reform tied to fund disbursement.

    The first of these agreements dates back to December 2019, during the presidential administration of Danilo Medina. The government signed a $250 million financing deal with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), but the loan came with non-negotiable preconditions tied to the country’s 2017 Mobility, Land Transport, Transit, and Road Safety Law (Law 63-17). Before accessing any funds, the Dominican state was required to implement a series of substantial structural reforms rather than superficial changes. These requirements included launching a fully functional national Road Safety Observatory, establishing at least five active traffic accident investigation units within the General Directorate of Traffic Safety and Land Transportation (Digesett), adding new operational departments to the National Institute of Transit and Land Transportation (INTRANT), and rolling out a plan to formalize informal taxi operators into registered commercial businesses.

    Per the contract terms, the funding was earmarked explicitly to support the rollout of Law 63-17, aligning with the pre-disbursement reform goals. Repayment of the IDB loan is structured in semi-annual installments that will continue through 2039.

    A decade later, in October 2020, just ten months after the first loan was signed, the new administration of President Luis Abinader secured a second $250 million loan from the French Development Agency (AFD) to co-finance the same broader national transport reform program backed by the IDB. Negotiators secured a fixed annual interest rate of 2.80% for this agreement — a notably favorable term, as global interest rates surged sharply in subsequent years amid the COVID-19 pandemic and other global economic shocks. Repayment for the AFD loan is scheduled to begin in March 2025 and conclude in September 2039. A unique stipulation of the agreement notes that it falls under French legal jurisdiction, with any disputes required to be resolved via arbitration in Paris, conducted in the French language.

    In October 2022, the Dominican government secured a third loan, an additional $200 million tranche from the IDB to expand the original transport reform program. This new tranche came with more ambitious pre-disbursement requirements: the government was required to show proof of at least ten fully implemented actions from the National Strategic Road Safety Plan, enact a school transportation regulation that integrates gender equity considerations and universal accessibility standards, and demonstrate concrete progress toward expanding electromobility across the country’s transport fleet.

    It is important to note that both IDB and AFD loans are not generic lines of credit. Each agreement includes binding clauses that require the Dominican government to implement sweeping public policy changes in exchange for access to funding. The contracts explicitly allow lenders to suspend future disbursements or demand full early repayment if the government fails to meet its reform commitments.

    The fourth loan analyzed diverges from the policy-focused reform financing, instead targeting a specific large-scale infrastructure construction project. The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) provided $250 million to fund construction of Line 2C of the Santo Domingo Metro, a new section that will connect the western outskirts of the capital to the city’s existing metro network. This loan carries a 20-year repayment term from the first disbursement, with a five-year initial grace period. Unlike the fixed-rate AFD loan, this agreement uses a variable interest rate tied to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) plus 268 basis points, meaning Dominican public debt repayments will rise automatically if global interest rates increase.

    The most recent and largest of the five agreements was signed in July 2024 by the Ministry of Finance, to fund the new Santiago de los Caballeros Monorail. BNP Paribas and Citibank, backed by the French government via its export credit agency Bpifrance, provided 464.9 million euros (equivalent to roughly $510 million) for the project. The monorail will span 13 kilometers of track, include 14 stations, and have capacity to carry 20,000 passengers per hour during peak travel times. French transportation firm Alstom Transport leads the construction consortium, holding a 73% stake in the project. This loan carries a fixed annual interest rate of 3.78%, with a full guarantee from the French government.

  • Leaders urged to reject ‘small-island limits’ at Possibility Summit

    Leaders urged to reject ‘small-island limits’ at Possibility Summit

    Against a backdrop of escalating global uncertainty and overlapping cross-border crises, Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley has delivered a bold call to action for the small island nation: shed outdated psychological limitations tied to geographic size and rebrand itself as a world-leading testing ground for cutting-edge innovation, arguing that incremental economic progress will never be enough to shield the country from mounting global volatility.

    Mottley’s remarks came during a candid, informal fireside-style dialogue with Minister of Innovation Senator Jonathan Reid, which served as the centerpiece of the national Possibility Summit. The event convened a high-profile global cohort of technology executives, United Nations officials and leading international scientists to collaboratively map out a sustainable, technology-powered development path for the Caribbean region.

    Opening the discussion, Reid turned to the foundational governance philosophy that has defined Mottley’s tenure, recalling a defining moment on the eve of her first electoral victory. At that time, Reid shared that he had considered leaving Barbados to pursue world-class professional opportunities abroad. In response, Mottley challenged him: “Why can’t you do world-class work in Barbados? Why don’t you come with me, let’s do some world-class work.” That exchange, Reid noted, has set the tone for the administration’s work over the past eight years. Reid then pressed Mottley on what fuels her relentless, often round-the-clock work ethic that sees her pushing forward with policy work as late as 3 a.m.

    Tracing her motivation back to her upbringing in a newly independent Barbados, where she was surrounded by dedicated early public servants and national icons like cricket legend Sir Garfield Sobers, Mottley explained her drive grows from an unshakable belief in Caribbean potential and a deep rejection of systemic inequity. “God has blessed me with the ability to love this country beyond anything else and to believe that we are special,” she said. “The fact that I am a young person going into public life never crossed my mind that I was young. The fact that I was a woman going into public life, it never crossed my mind… I feel passionate about the Caribbean civilization, and that is the purpose of my life.”

    The conversation soon shifted from personal conviction to tangible national development strategy. Reid noted that while Barbados has notched an extraordinary milestone of 20 straight quarters of economic expansion and cut its debt-to-GDP ratio substantially, there is a clear gap between short-term macroeconomic stability and long-term transformative change, asking Mottley to outline her long-term vision for the nation.

    Mottley stressed firmly that incremental, traditional economic gains are not enough to insulate the island from coming global disruptions. “Comfort does not give us sufficient buffer to withstand the gale force winds that are coming at us individually as a small state but collectively as a planet,” she warned. “The country has had on average 2.5 per cent growth… that’s not enough for us to do the transformation.”

    For Mottley, building genuine long-term economic resilience requires three core shifts: boosting national productivity, strengthening inclusive social capital, and restructuring the economy to deliver widespread citizen ownership of assets. She issued a blunt challenge to the local private sector over its approach to workforce treatment, stating: “If you tell me you can’t make money by treating your workers right, get out of the wrong business, shut shop and go home. Fundamental to any enterprise is in fact the workers… I feel that Barbados can continue to lead the world in showing what dignified labor producing at high levels can look like, creating opportunities for ownership.”

    Reid then turned to the balancing act of modern leadership for small island states, recalling the overlapping crises of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 ash fall from the La Soufrière volcano that strained national capacity. He asked how Barbados can preserve its laid-back, distinctive cultural identity while embracing the urgency needed to capture global economic opportunities.

    Mottley acknowledged that constant uncertainty is now a permanent feature of the global order, pointing to the ongoing “polycrisis” that combines accelerating environmental degradation and intensifying geopolitical tensions. She voiced particular alarm over the rapid unregulated deployment of artificial intelligence without a coordinated global governance framework, as well as the growing fragmentation of global action to address climate change.

    Rather than giving in to pessimism, Mottley argued that pragmatic, science-backed diplomatic action is still achievable, highlighting global methane reduction efforts as a critical, actionable starting point. She emphasized that Caribbean nations cannot afford to remain passive consumers of foreign technology or collateral victims of global policy decisions made by larger powers. Instead, she argued, the region must step into a new role as the testing ground for the innovative solutions that the entire world urgently needs to build a more sustainable and resilient future.

  • Prime Minister Browne Welcomes INS Sudarshini During Antigua Port Call

    Prime Minister Browne Welcomes INS Sudarshini During Antigua Port Call

    A key moment of diplomatic engagement unfolded this week in the Eastern Caribbean, as Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne formally hosted the commanding officer of India’s sail training ship INS Sudarshini during the vessel’s scheduled five-day port call to the twin-island nation.

    Per official confirmation from India’s High Commission based in Guyana, Commander Ravikanth Nandoori, the lead officer overseeing the INS Sudarshini mission, held a formal courtesy meeting with Prime Minister Browne between May 27 and May 31, the full duration of the ship’s stay in Antiguan waters.

    Diplomatic discussions during the gathering centered on the deep, decades-long friendly relations that have existed between the governments and peoples of Antigua and Barbuda and India. Prime Minister Browne opened the meeting by extending warm gratitude for the goodwill visit, emphasizing his appreciation for the consistent development support and collaborative assistance that the Government of India has extended to Antigua and Barbuda over the years. He reiterated that the Caribbean nation openly welcomes Indian naval vessels and deepened bilateral engagement, reinforcing the open and productive partnership between the two states.

    In response, Commander Nandoori extended his own thanks to the Antigua and Barbuda government for the seamless logistical cooperation and warm hospitality extended to the ship and its 100-plus crew members throughout their time on shore.

    This port call is not an isolated journey: it forms a core segment of the INS Sudarshini’s international deployment under the Indian Navy’s flagship Lokayan 2025 initiative, a global maritime diplomacy program designed to expand practical maritime cooperation between India and partner nations across the world, while building people-to-people goodwill across maritime borders.

    As one of the Indian Navy’s premiere purpose-built sail training vessels, the INS Sudarshini has a long track record of participating in long-distance international voyages and public diplomatic outreach missions across every major ocean basin, carrying India’s message of collaborative maritime security and friendship to ports across the globe.

  • Relatives, friends warned against sheltering gang members

    Relatives, friends warned against sheltering gang members

    As part of sweeping new anti-gang legislation under debate in Barbados’ House of Assembly, government ministers have issued a stark warning to family members and associates of gang affiliated individuals: knowingly sheltering criminal gang members will carry severe legal consequences, and harm communities and households across the country. The discussion centered on the Criminal Gangs (Prevention and Control) Bill, a piece of legislation crafted to crack down on gang-related activity and address gaps in existing law that have allowed criminal networks to operate with impunity.

  • LETTER: Demand for Recognition of Jamal Jonas AKA Mello Don

    LETTER: Demand for Recognition of Jamal Jonas AKA Mello Don

    In the wake of the 2026 Antigua and Barbuda General Elections, simmering frustration has boiled over within the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ABLP)’s St. John’s Rural East constituency, as a group of anonymous concerned supporters have openly demanded that party leadership formally recognize the outsized electoral contributions of local activist Jamal Jonas, better known by his moniker Mello Don.

    Many long-time and grassroots ABLP supporters in the constituency say they are deeply disillusioned by the party’s failure to acknowledge Mello Don’s work, arguing that his relentless on-the-ground campaigning was the critical factor that delivered the constituency’s win for the ABLP. Unlike many party figures who only made public appearances for media photo opportunities, Mello Don maintained a constant daily and nightly presence across the constituency throughout the entire campaign cycle.

    His work spanned every core function of a successful electoral push: he mobilized disengaged young voters, organized coordinated canvassing operations, lifted the morale of supporters who had grown discouraged by competing messaging, and personally bore much of the responsibility for keeping campaign momentum high from the launch of the race to election day. What is more, his commitment extended far beyond the borders of St. John’s Rural East: whenever neighboring constituencies needed extra support, Mello Don stepped in to bolster the ABLP’s outreach, strengthening the party’s overall electoral performance across a wider region.

    Supporters particularly emphasize his unique ability to connect with first-time and young voters, a demographic that has become increasingly critical to election outcomes across Antigua and Barbuda. Mello Don’s consistent presence and unwavering passion gave young constituents confidence that their political participation could drive tangible change, a message that drove unprecedented turnout among that group. The anonymous supporters make the unflinching claim that without Mello Don’s work, the ABLP would never have secured victory in St. John’s Rural East.

    Given this, the complete lack of public recognition for his contributions has come as a shock to grassroots backers, who say the snub is unacceptable. The letter argues that the party’s willingness to benefit from the tireless work of dedicated activists like Mello Don, only to cast them aside after votes are counted, sends a damaging message to rank-and-file members: that loyalty and hard work are only valued when the party needs something from them.

    Frustration over the slight is not contained to a small group of insiders, the letter notes; supporters across St. John’s Rural East are openly discussing the unfair treatment of Mello Don, and widespread sentiment holds that formal recognition is long overdue. The anonymous group is calling on ABLP leadership to issue a public, meaningful acknowledgment of Mello Don’s role in the 2026 election victory.

    The supporters warn that remaining silent on the issue will only deepen the disappointment felt by loyal backers and young activists across the constituency, and emphasize that the demand will not fade quietly. Those who witnessed Mello Don’s work firsthand have not forgotten his efforts, the letter concludes, and the constituency will continue to push for the recognition he earned.