分类： politics

Diplomatic discussions between the United States and Cuba have resumed this week, centered on a controversial $100 million US aid offer aimed at easing the severe economic crisis gripping the Caribbean island nation, a senior US State Department official confirmed Tuesday on condition of anonymity.

The latest round of negotiations saw US Ambassador to Havana Mike Hammer meet face-to-face with senior Cuban foreign ministry officials on Monday, marking continued progress in advancing Washington’s proposal. The anonymous official emphasized that US diplomatic teams have maintained close, consistent coordination with their Cuban counterparts throughout the process, stating that “we had a meeting yesterday [Monday] and continue to pursue that proposal aggressively.”

Under the terms of the current US plan, the $100 million in assistance will not be transferred directly to the Cuban communist government. Instead, all aid will be channeled through independent Christian charitable organizations, a structure designed to ensure resources reach ordinary Cuban citizens directly. “We care a tremendous amount about the Cuban people, and want to be able to provide that assistance directly to them,” the official added.

The proposal itself was first put forward publicly by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a longstanding outspoken opponent of Havana’s communist administration. Rubio has attached key conditions to the aid, requiring the Cuban government to implement concrete political and economic opening measures before any assistance is disbursed.

Cuba’s position on the offer has shifted in recent weeks. Initially, Cuban officials accused Rubio of fabricating the aid proposal, but last week Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez announced that Havana is now willing to review the US offer in good faith.

The current economic turmoil in Cuba stems largely from a dramatic shift in regional energy dynamics. For years, Venezuela provided the island with heavily subsidized, near-free oil in exchange for Cuban medical personnel and other professional services. However, after US-led actions resulted in the ousting of Venezuela’s leftist leader Nicolas Maduro, this critical oil supply was abruptly cut off, leaving Cuba mired in persistent energy shortages and widespread daily blackouts that have deepened its ongoing economic collapse.

A growing political dispute has erupted in Jamaica over the handling of Hurricane Melissa relief funds, with the country’s main opposition party rejecting the government’s claims that an auditor’s damning report on stalled spending justifies the creation of a new national reconstruction authority.

Last week, the Auditor General tabled a real-time audit report in Parliament on the Hurricane Melissa Relief Initiative, revealing deeply concerning spending delays. As of February 23, 2026, only $26.2 million — just 1.8% of the total $1.44 billion in donated relief funds — had been disbursed, leaving nearly the entire contribution idle months after the Category 5 storm devastated western Jamaica.

Speaking at a press briefing at the Opposition Leader’s Office on Monday, Opposition Senator Cleveland Tomlinson pushed back against the government’s core argument that bureaucratic red tape was the primary cause of the slowdown, a framing ruling-party lawmakers have used to argue for the newly passed National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA). Tomlinson emphasized that the audit findings do not support this narrative, instead exposing a fundamental lack of advance planning and a coherent expenditure strategy for disaster recovery resources.

He pointed out a critical distinction: bureaucratic delays only impact spending that has already been committed to specific projects. The Auditor General’s report confirms that 88% of the total donated funds were not just unspent, but completely uncommitted to any relief initiative at all. “If you did not commit the money for any particular expenditure, then how do you anticipate in that regard that bureaucracy would slow the spending?” Tomlinson questioned.

The NaRRA Bill, which was recently approved by both houses of Jamaica’s parliament, will establish a new centralized body to oversee large-scale post-disaster reconstruction and long-term climate resilience projects. The Opposition has repeatedly raised red flags about the legislation since its introduction, citing gaps in independent oversight, weak procurement safeguards, and the absence of formal internal audit structures within the proposed authority. Tomlinson argued that the Auditor General’s findings reinforce, rather than undermine, these longstanding concerns.

“What it demonstrates is the need for real-time audit in NaRRA, that’s what it demonstrates,” he said. “Recall, when NaRRA was being passed, one of the challenges, one of the lack of clear risk management functions that the Opposition highlighted, was that there was no audit committee.”

Tomlinson also condemned the government for leaving massive sums of relief money unused as thousands of displaced storm survivors continued to rely on emergency aid seven months after the hurricane hit. “When I think of the thousands of Jamaicans who were hungry, who were sleeping in buildings without roofs or damaged roofs, and to think that the Government sat on this amount of money that could have been directed in relief efforts is very unfortunate,” he said.

Drawing on a history of prior Auditor General reports highlighting systemic public fund mismanagement and misappropriation, Tomlinson raised pointed questions about the idle resources: “if the monies were not directed towards relief efforts, what were they being left unspent for? But more importantly, I think we should ask, who were the monies being left unspent for?”

He asserted that a People’s National Party (PNP) administration would have prioritized a clear, needs-aligned expenditure framework from the first day after the storm. “The Opposition, from the outset, would have developed a clear plan that would have taken into account what the needs are in the respective areas, and would have ensured that when the monies come in, that they would be deployed in areas needed… that is why we ground our recommendation in this reality, that there must be a clear plan of action, and if we were at the wicket, certainly this would not have been an occurrence. The money would have been deployed, and it would have been used for relief efforts,” he said.

Dr. Angela Brown Burke, the Opposition’s spokesperson on social protection and social transformation, echoed Tomlinson’s criticism, arguing the audit lays bare deep-rooted structural failures in the government’s disaster response framework, particularly around inter-agency coordination and public accountability. She emphasized the ongoing human cost of the delayed spending, noting that many vulnerable hurricane survivors remain in desperate living conditions nearly seven months after the storm.

“These funds were intended to deliver shelter and to help hurricane victims. Instead, what do we have? Nothing but utter chaos. So the Auditor General’s review has uncovered catastrophic deficiencies in governance, oversight, and accountability, the damning results of millions in funds and materials that cannot be independently verified, and our most vulnerable citizens remain completely unprotected,” she said.

PARIS, France – Amid widening geopolitical rifts that have strained cross-border multilateral cooperation, the head of the global anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing watchdog FATF has issued an urgent call for unified international action to block funding channels for terrorist groups, speaking exclusively to AFP on Tuesday.

Elisa de Anda Madrazo, president of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), made her remarks ahead of a high-level counter-terrorism financing gathering convened on the sidelines of the G7 finance ministers’ meeting being held in the French capital. She stressed that transnational terrorist networks operate without regard for national boundaries or ethical limits, leaving countries no alternative but to coordinate their enforcement efforts.

Headquartered in Paris, FATF is a leading international body tasked with evaluating anti-financial crime frameworks across more than 200 countries and jurisdictions globally. The organization maintains a widely cited “grey list” of jurisdictions flagged for enhanced global monitoring of their financial systems to curb illicit activity.

De Anda Madrazo’s appeal comes at a moment when global multilateral collaboration has faced significant headwinds, driven by increasingly hardline geopolitical postures among major world powers including the United States, Russia and China. Despite these divisions, she argued that information sharing remains non-negotiable for effective counter-terrorism, pointing to the 2024 Paris Olympic Games as a concrete example of how coordinated financial intelligence delivers results.

“Multiple planned terrorist attacks were disrupted and neutralized because of shared financial intelligence,” she noted. “This approach works, it deters attacks, and there is no room to walk back from cooperation. We must deepen our collaboration and work more closely than ever before.”

The fifth iteration of the “No money for terror” conference, which is hosting dozens of national delegations in Paris, aims to advance collective progress: participants will focus on updating strategies to keep pace with rapid changes in the global financial system, adapting regulatory and enforcement tools, and sharing proven best practices, according to the French conference presidency.

Intelligence communities across the globe have documented a sharp shift in the structure of terrorist threats in recent years. While core jihadist groups like Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State have weakened structurally, their regional offshoots have gained greater autonomy, and domestic threats from lone-actor extremists have grown in frequency and severity. This fragmentation has been matched by evolution in how terrorist groups raise, move, and store funds, alongside widespread adoption of new financial technologies.

De Anda Madrazo emphasized that the current threat landscape bears little resemblance to the context when the “No money for terror” conference series launched in 2018. “Back then, terrorist financing networks were far more centralized,” she explained. “Today, we have unregulated virtual assets, widespread digitalization of finance, and a global economy with an entirely different architecture. The combination of long-standing illicit funding mechanisms and emerging digital technologies creates a complex new risk that global regulators must tackle together.”

BANGKOK, Thailand – In a targeted policy shift designed to crack down on transnational crime committed by foreign nationals, Thailand’s cabinet has approved sweeping cuts to the maximum visa-free stay duration for travelers from over 90 countries, senior government officials confirmed Tuesday.

As one of Southeast Asia’s most popular tourist destinations, Thailand has long relied on international travel to power its national economy, with the sector contributing more than 10% of the country’s total gross domestic product. Yet even years after the end of global COVID-19 border restrictions, international arrivals have failed to rebound to the pre-pandemic levels that once drove record economic gains. A 3.4% drop in first-quarter visitor numbers compared to the same period in 2025, including a nearly 33% decline in travelers from the Middle East, underscores the unevenness of the sector’s ongoing recovery.

The policy change comes in the wake of a string of high-profile arrests of foreign nationals connected to serious criminal activity, including drug trafficking, sex trafficking, and unlicensed operation of commercial enterprises ranging from hotels to international schools. These cases exposed vulnerabilities in the country’s previous visa-free framework, which allowed eligible travelers to stay in Thailand for up to 60 days without entry clearance.

Eligible nations under the existing scheme include all 29 member states of the European Schengen Area, the United States, Israel, and multiple South American countries. Speaking to reporters in Bangkok, Tourism Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul outlined that the revised maximum stay lengths will be set on a country-by-country basis: most nationalities will see their maximum visa-free stay cut from 60 days to 30 days, while a smaller group of countries will face an even stricter 15-day cap.

Unlike the previous automatic 60-day approval system, travelers who wish to extend their stay beyond the new visa-free limit will be allowed to apply for a single visa renewal at a local immigration office. Government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek explained that extension requests will be reviewed individually by immigration officers, who will require applicants to provide a clear justification for their extended stay. Prior to the 2024 extension, the maximum visa-free stay was already capped at 30 days – the policy was expanded to 60 days in July 2024 as an emergency stimulus measure to jumpstart tourism after the pandemic.

Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow emphasized last week that the new restrictions are not aimed at any specific country or the vast majority of law-abiding international tourists, who bring critical economic benefits to Thai communities. Instead, the policy targets a small subset of bad actors who have abused the generous visa-free framework to engage in criminal activity within Thailand’s borders.

Rachada echoed this framing Tuesday, noting that while international tourism delivers widespread economic gains for the country, the previous 60-day visa-free scheme had opened opportunities for exploitation by criminal networks. Despite the new restrictions, the Thai government maintains its full-year projection of 33.5 million international visitors for 2026, a modest increase from the nearly 33 million travelers recorded in 2025.