Carib Scope

分类： politics

  • Trump Bans Three News Outlets, US Networks Hit Back

    Trump Bans Three News Outlets, US Networks Hit Back

    In a move that has triggered a constitutional clash between the executive branch and the American press, U.S. President Donald Trump has barred three prominent news organizations — CNN, MS NOW and Politico — from White House access, prompting a coordinated response from major U.S. broadcast networks that has upended standard presidential coverage protocols.

    The dispute erupted after Trump made public accusations that the three outlets have repeatedly circulated what he labels “fake news.” In response to the president’s order, the three organizations were locked out of White House press briefings and official events, a decision the Trump administration has stood by firmly. The affected news groups counter that their exclusion is not a response to inaccurate reporting, but rather targeted retaliation for critical coverage of the president and his administration.

    Within hours of the ban going into effect, the nation’s largest television networks took collective action to protest the decision. ABC, CBS, Fox News and NBC announced they would suspend their participation in the White House television press pool — the longstanding collaborative arrangement that allows networks to share on-site coverage of presidential events to reduce costs and operational friction. The suspension went into effect September 21, immediately after CNN was removed from the press pool rotation.

    The widespread boycott has resulted in a total lack of independent press coverage for multiple scheduled presidential events, including the ceremonial opening of a renovated White House helipad and the president’s departure for his trip to the United Nations General Assembly. To fill the coverage gap created by the media boycott, the White House moved quickly to launch its own official livestream platform, branded “Trump TV,” which distributes unedited, administration-controlled footage of the president and his public activities directly to the public.

    Not content to rely on protest alone, the three banned outlets have taken legal action to challenge the access ban. A court hearing on their complaint is scheduled for September 23. In their filing, the organizations argue that the arbitrary exclusion of critical press outlets from White House access violates the First Amendment protections for freedom of the press enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

    The conflict has spilled beyond the boundaries of the White House grounds as well. While the three outlets are barred from using White House-issued press credentials, they were able to secure access to cover Trump’s activities at the United Nations using press credentials issued directly by the UN organization, allowing them to continue their reporting on the president’s overseas activities despite the domestic ban.

    Media freedom watchdogs have warned that the ban marks an unprecedented escalation of the Trump administration’s long-running war on the press, raising serious questions about the future of access to the executive branch for independent journalists in the United States.

  • Dominican Republic and Greece sign MOU to expand economic cooperation

    Dominican Republic and Greece sign MOU to expand economic cooperation

    On the margins of the 78th United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Dominican Republic has advanced a slate of key diplomatic engagements, forging new economic partnerships and advancing collaborative education projects with global partners.

    In one of the most significant announcements, the Caribbean nation and Greece formalized a new bilateral agreement, signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aimed at deepening cross-border economic connections, boosting two-way trade and investment flows, and bolstering resilient shared supply chains. The document was officially signed by Dominican Foreign Minister Víctor “Ito” Bisonó and his Greek counterpart Giorgos Gerapetritis, establishing a formal structural foundation for future collaboration between the two governments. As part of the agreement, the two countries will launch a Joint Working Group tasked with identifying new mechanisms to expand economic links, streamline cross-sector information sharing, and exchange policy strategies and stakeholder perspectives across both public and private industries.

    Beyond the agreement with Greece, Minister Bisonó packed his New York diplomatic schedule with additional high-level bilateral talks. He held a productive meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, where the pair covered a broad range of mutual priorities. These included support and policy coordination for the large Dominican diaspora community residing in Italy, alignment on regional and global energy policy agendas, expansion of bilateral tourism cooperation, and exploration of untapped opportunities to grow trade and economic ties between the two nations.

    Another key diplomatic engagement for the Dominican delegation centered on global education cooperation. Minister Bisonó joined Dominican President Luis Abinader for a high-level meeting with UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany. During the discussion, the two sides explored a forward-looking plan to launch a new specialized institute at the Dominican Republic’s Punta Bergantín Innovation Center, with a core mission of expanding access to and quality of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education across the country. If advanced, the proposed initiative will draw on the successful framework of an existing UNESCO model currently under development in Shanghai, China, adapting proven approaches to meet the Caribbean nation’s specific education and development goals.

  • Abinader attends Shield of the Americas meeting alongside regional leaders

    Abinader attends Shield of the Americas meeting alongside regional leaders

    NEW YORK — As Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader continues his diplomatic schedule on the sidelines of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York, he took part in a high-level session Tuesday focused on the Shield of the Americas, a regional security initiative spearheaded by U.S. President Donald Trump that brings together leaders and diplomatic representatives from across the Western Hemisphere.

    Before the formal meeting kicked off, Abinader held informal discussions with a group of regional political leaders, including Chilean President José Antonio Kast, Paraguayan President Santiago Peña, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, Argentine President Javier Milei, Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz, and prominent Peruvian opposition leader Keiko Fujimori. The gathering gave leaders a chance to exchange informal greetings and pose for photographs ahead of the structured working session.

    The Shield of the Americas initiative was created to address a growing shared challenge across the Americas: the rise of drug trafficking, violent cartel activity, and transnational organized crime. It aims to deepen cross-border coordination and cooperative action to disrupt these criminal networks. The Dominican Republic was an early participant in the initiative, joining the first summit held in Miami this past March, where Abinader added his signature to a proclamation formally establishing a regional coalition dedicated to countering the influence and power of drug cartels.

    Accompanying Abinader on his New York trip is Víctor “Ito” Bisonó, the Dominican Republic’s Foreign Minister. The Shield of the Americas meeting is just one stop on a packed international agenda that also includes a series of bilateral meetings focused on expanding cooperation, boosting bilateral trade, attracting new foreign investment, and advancing sustainable development priorities for the Caribbean nation.

    Looking ahead to Wednesday, Abinader is scheduled to deliver his address to the full 81st UN General Assembly, one of the most anticipated moments of his New York visit. Later that same day, per an announcement from the Dominican Presidency, he is set to receive the Gold Insigne of the Americas Society, marking the first time a sitting Dominican head of state has been honored with this prestigious distinction from the inter-American organization.

  • Abinader says Meta RD 2036 is advancing toward goal of doubling economy by 2036

    Abinader says Meta RD 2036 is advancing toward goal of doubling economy by 2036

    NEW YORK — Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader announced Tuesday that the country’s landmark public-private development partnership, Meta RD 2036, is hitting key milestones as the nation works toward its ambitious goal of doubling the national economy by 2036. Speaking to members of the press following the close of the International Forum Meta RD 2036 for Full Development, Abinader outlined how the cross-sector initiative has evolved into a recurring coordination mechanism, bringing public and private stakeholders together each month to assess progress, unmet needs, and policy adjustments required to keep the 15-year development strategy on track.

    In highlighting the initiative’s early successes, Abinader pointed to notable reductions in national poverty levels. Official data shows the country’s poverty rate dropped sharply from 25.9% in 2019 to 17% as of last year, with continued downward projections for 2024. Beyond domestic economic and social progress, the president also shared a major international recognition for the Dominican Republic’s food security gains: the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will formally honor the country for meeting the UN’s Zero Hunger target.

    The official award ceremony and certificate presentation will take place on October 10 in Rome, Italy. FAO has already verified that the Dominican Republic has cut the population share experiencing undernourishment to below the global threshold that the UN body uses to define widespread hunger, marking a critical win for the country’s public health and social development efforts. This dual progress on economic expansion and food security positions the Dominican Republic as a case study in aligned long-term planning and inclusive development.

  • Gardiner opts for March trial with co-defendants

    Gardiner opts for March trial with co-defendants

    A convicted Bahamian drug trafficker, Jonathan Eric Gardiner, has formally committed to standing trial alongside his co-defendants on March 1, 2027, and is asking the court for an additional 60 days to submit required pretrial motions. This decision eliminates the need for the key question that was set to be addressed at a scheduled September 23 status conference, bringing clarity to the procedural timeline of the high-profile case.

    In a court filing submitted on September 21, Gardiner’s defense counsel Susy Ribero-Ayala requested the court adjourn the previously scheduled status conference and extend the deadline for pretrial motions from the current October 2 date to December 1. This marks the second time the legal team has sought an extension for filing these motions; the original deadline was September 11, before the court granted an initial extension pushing the date to October 2.

    Ribero-Ayala confirmed in the filing that the September 23 conference had been called solely to resolve whether Gardiner would request a separate earlier trial or proceed with his co-defendants’ scheduled March 2027 start date. Following consultations between Gardiner and his legal team, the defendant has formally opted to move forward with the joint trial on the pre-set date, resolving the core issue the conference was meant to address. The defense has therefore asked the court to cancel the conference entirely if it accepts Gardiner’s decision via the written filing, but notes that both counsel and the defendant will appear as scheduled if the court prefers to confirm his choice directly in court.

    Beyond clarifying the trial date, the additional time requested by the defense would allow the legal team more room to review the massive volume of discovery materials, trace the full procedural history of the case, conduct independent investigations into the allegations against their client, assess which pretrial motions are legally necessary, and prepare thorough arguments for those motions.

    Prosecutors have signaled their opposition to the 60-day extension, though they have agreed to a smaller 30-day delay. The prosecution argues there is no legitimate legal justification for the longer extension, warning that a December 1 deadline would fall too close to the planned March 2027 trial and create unnecessary delays in the judicial process.

    In response, Ribero-Ayala has countered that granting the requested 60-day extension aligns with the interests of justice. She argues that the opportunity for the defense to fully prepare its case by reviewing evidence, investigating claims, and drafting appropriate motions outweighs the public interest in a speedy trial in this instance.

    This latest court filing comes just over one month after Gardiner was charged in a separate federal indictment out of Georgia. That indictment accuses him of coordinating the supply of massive volumes of cocaine from The Bahamas to transnational drug trafficking networks operating across the United States.

    The Georgia case is entirely separate from an ongoing prosecution in New York, where Gardiner entered a not guilty plea in June to charges of cocaine importation conspiracy and firearms-related offenses. Gardiner’s arrest in the New York case followed a dramatic series of events on May 12, when a private aircraft carrying him and 10 other passengers crashed into the Atlantic Ocean mid-flight between Abaco and Grand Bahama. Remarkably, all 11 people on board survived the crash and were successfully rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard.

    U.S. authorities reported that Gardiner was carrying $30,000 in Bahamian currency at the time of his rescue. His legal team later released a bank slip that they say proves $20,000 of that cash was withdrawn from an account belonging to Top Notch Builders, a company Gardiner has identified as his legitimate business in court filings.

    Records show Top Notch Builders has been contracted for major government-funded construction projects across The Bahamas, including the Eight Mile Rock administrative complex and the Carmichael Village affordable housing development, a large-scale public housing initiative. This is not Gardiner’s first brush with U.S. federal drug charges: nearly 20 years ago, he was convicted of cocaine importation offenses and served a lengthy federal prison sentence in the United States.

  • Haiti strengthens its regional integration with the signing of MASA.

    Haiti strengthens its regional integration with the signing of MASA.

    In a landmark step toward breaking decades of relative geopolitical and economic isolation, Haiti formalized its commitment to deeper Caribbean regional integration on September 22, 2026, with the official signing of the Multilateral Air Services Agreement (MASA) alongside the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). The signing ceremony was co-led by Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé and CARICOM Secretary-General Carla Barnett, bringing to fruition months of collaborative negotiations between Haitian authorities and the regional bloc.

    For the Haitian government, the agreement is far more than a technical aviation accord—it is a core strategic priority designed to reconnect the country to its regional neighbors. Prime Minister Fils-Aimé emphasized that ending Haiti’s long-standing isolation is critical to unlocking dormant economic potential, creating new small and medium business opportunities, and strengthening people-to-people ties between Haitian communities and populations across the Caribbean. Beyond economic gains, the agreement also enshrines Haiti’s commitment to aligning its aviation regulatory frameworks with global safety and security standards, supported by regional expertise sharing and capacity building.

    Through the terms of MASA, Haiti will create a more streamlined regulatory environment to encourage the launch of new direct air routes between the country and other CARICOM member states. This improved connectivity is expected to remove long-standing barriers to the movement of people and commercial goods across the region, delivering tangible boosts to two key sectors of Haiti’s economy: tourism and cross-border trade. Additionally, the agreement is set to increase the competitiveness of Haiti’s aviation sector by creating more operational flexibility and opening opportunities for partnership with regional carriers.

    CARICOM officials note that the signing moves the bloc closer to its long-term goal of building a fully integrated, accessible, and economically dynamic Caribbean Single Market and Economy. For Haiti, which occupies a geographically central position in the Caribbean archipelago, enhanced air connectivity unlocks the chance to leverage that strategic location more effectively, enabling the country to contribute fully to regional development initiatives while advancing its own economic recovery and integration goals.

  • Cuba-Dominica ties celebrated at Roseau Eucharistic celebration

    Cuba-Dominica ties celebrated at Roseau Eucharistic celebration

    On Saturday, September 19, a multi-purpose Eucharistic celebration convened in Roseau, the capital of Dominica, bringing together political leaders, community members and longstanding allies to mark three overlapping milestones: the 30th anniversary of formal diplomatic relations between Cuba and Dominica, the feast of Our Lady of Charity of El Cobre, and the centennial of the birth of iconic Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.

    Organized with support from the Embassy of Cuba in Dominica, the interfaith gathering drew a diverse cross-section of attendees, including incumbent senior government officials, members of the Cuban diaspora based in Dominica, Dominican graduates of Cuban higher education institutions, Cuban medical and education professionals working in the country, and other friends of the Cuban people. High-ranking attendees included Josette Matthew, Acting President of Dominica, Dr. Vince Henderson, Dominica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ian Douglas, Dominica’s Ambassador to Cuba, Miguel Fraga, Cuba’s Ambassador to Dominica, and multiple members of Dominica’s national parliament. Father Frantzo Simbert presided over the religious service.

    In his homily, Father Simbert emphasized Cuba’s decades-long contributions to advancing public health and accessible education across Dominica and the broader Caribbean region, a legacy that has laid the foundation for the close bilateral ties between the two island nations. Following the homily, guests enjoyed a performance of a segment of the iconic Cuban folk song *La Guantanamera*, which stood out as one of the most memorable and unifying moments of the day’s events.

    Addressing the gathering, Ambassador Fraga opened by extending gratitude for the enduring partnership between Cuba and Dominica, and thanked the Catholic Church in Dominica for its willingness to host the celebration. He then turned to the ongoing economic challenges facing the Cuban people, highlighting the recent intensification of the long-standing United States economic, commercial and financial embargo, alongside new restrictive measures that have severely disrupted fuel supplies to the island nation.

    Fraga stressed that these external measures are not abstract policy tools—they inflict tangible harm on everyday Cubans, especially the most vulnerable segments of the population. He described the cumulative impact of the embargo as “a silent genocide,” noting, “Behind these measures there are not just numbers: there are families, there are children, there are the elderly, there are the sick – there are human beings.” Rejecting decades of U.S. rhetoric framing Cuba as a global security threat, Fraga clarified, “Cuba is not a threat; the Embargo is.”

    Even amid mounting economic and social pressures, Fraga affirmed that the Cuban people remain resolute and optimistic, drawing inspiration from the teachings of Pope Francis and their enduring devotion to Our Lady of Charity. Echoing the words of Cuban national hero José Martí, “with all and for the good of all,” Fraga emphasized that Cuba would continue to move forward, sustained by the strength of its people and the solidarity of global allies. He closed his remarks with a rousing declaration: “Cuba is alive! Cuba is fighting!”

    The ceremony concluded with collective prayers and blessings for the people of both Cuba and Dominica, alongside renewed calls for global peace, cross-border solidarity, and the continuation of the warm bilateral friendship that has defined 30 years of official relations between the two nations.

  • Elections : Status of the electoral process

    Elections : Status of the electoral process

    As Haiti moves closer to its long-awaited general elections, the country’s Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) has released a comprehensive progress update confirming that multiple critical pre-election milestones have been successfully reached as of September 21, 2026, putting the electoral process firmly on track.

    Voter registration, the foundational step of any democratic election, kicked off in a phased rollout earlier this year. The process launched July 20–21 across nine of Haiti’s ten administrative departments, expanding to the most populous West Department on July 30. Today, registration operations are active across every region of the country, with 1,285 official Registration and Polling Centers (CIVs) open and serving voters nationwide. Five departments — Grand’Anse, South-East, South, Nippes, and North-East — have already surpassed a 95% operational rate for their CIV networks, with 117, 132, 168, 105, and 104 functioning centers respectively. In the West Department, 148 centers remain open daily to process new voter registrations and update electoral roll records.

    Two months since the launch of voter registration, more than 628,755 eligible Haitians have been officially added to the national electoral roll. This figure accounts for more than 10% of all potential voters, defined as citizens in possession of a valid national identification card. Regional participation varies, with South-East, Grand’Anse, and Nippes posting the highest registration rates to date: 16%, 15%, and 14.5% of their respective voting-age populations have completed the process.

    Beyond voter enrollment, the CEP has wrapped up another pivotal phase of pre-election preparations: the accreditation of political parties and groupings, followed by a public random draw to assign official campaign numbers to all approved entities. To date, 30 authorized political entities — 18 established political parties and 12 ad-hoc political groupings — have successfully submitted their required documentation, including rosters of members, adherents, and supporters, through the CEP’s official candidate registration platform. As of the update cutoff date, the platform has already recorded 7 presidential candidacies, 162 senate candidacies, 419 candidacies for the Chamber of Deputies, 162 for municipal council seats, 180 for CASEC positions, and 89 for ASEC posts. The digital candidate registration and document submission window, which opened August 20, will remain open to applicants until October 9, 2026.

    Human resourcing, a often overlooked but critical component of successful election administration, has also advanced substantially. The CEP has already completed recruitment and training for 2,853 Electoral Registry Agents (ADRE) and 4,643 Electoral Security Agents (ASE), who will manage on-the-ground operations on voting day. Separately, on September 17, the electoral body concluded a series of specialized training workshops focused on electoral dispute resolution. These sessions trained more than 1,000 electoral law commissioners and electoral judges across nine departments, ensuring that the legal framework for addressing voting irregularities and candidate challenges is in place ahead of the poll.

    The CEP reaffirmed in its statement that it will continue full-scale work to finalize all components of the electoral machinery, keeping the process on schedule for the upcoming elections.

  • Gajadien en Pawiroredjo verlagen voorgesteld presidentsalaris van SRD 270.000 naar SRD 130.000

    Gajadien en Pawiroredjo verlagen voorgesteld presidentsalaris van SRD 270.000 naar SRD 130.000

    In a rapid and unexpected policy shift, two Surinamese members of parliament have cut their proposed presidential monthly salary in half just 24 hours after tabling their first legislative proposal. Asiskumar Gajadien and Jerrel Pawiroredjo, the sponsors of the bill, initially proposed setting the president’s monthly pay at 270,000 Surinamese dollars (SRD), which would have put the vice president’s salary at 202,500 SRD under the existing 75% proportionality rule. That first proposal, submitted on September 21, has now been formally withdrawn and replaced with a revised draft lodged on Tuesday that cuts the presidential salary proposal to 130,000 SRD.

    Under the adjusted plan, the vice president’s monthly pay will drop to 97,500 SRD, still maintaining the long-standing requirement that the vice president earns 75% of the president’s base salary. While the proposed salary figure has been drastically revised, the core policy goal of the bill remains unchanged: Gajadien and Pawiroredjo seek to end the automatic linkage between the president’s salary and the pay of a Director-General of the General Service, a rule enshrined in the current Law on Monetary Provisions for the President and Vice President.

    Under existing regulation, the presidential salary is set at four times the earnings of a Director-General, meaning any adjustment to that civil service position’s pay automatically triggers a change to the country’s top executive salaries. The revised proposal enshrines 130,000 SRD as the fixed statutory monthly salary for the president, retaining four times the Director-General salary only as an indicative reference value rather than an automatic adjustment mechanism. Going forward, any future change to presidential pay would require new legislative action, rather than happening automatically alongside civil service salary shifts.

    When evaluating future salary adjustments, lawmakers will be required to weigh multiple key factors including consumer price trends, national purchasing power developments, general salary movement across the public sector, and the state’s overall fiscal and budgetary position. None of these factors will guarantee an automatic adjustment, and the bill mandates that a formal review of presidential pay must take place at least once every three years, with any resulting change still requiring a new vote in parliament to take effect.

    Notably, the newly proposed 130,000 SRD figure is nearly identical to the presidential salary level that was in place under the existing linked system before recent public debate over executive pay adjustments. When the current automatic linkage rule was first implemented, it also resulted in a presidential salary of approximately 130,000 SRD.

    In the explanatory memorandum accompanying the revised bill, the sponsors did not provide a separate explicit justification for cutting the proposed salary by 50% within a single business day. The explanatory text focuses instead on the core policy goal of ending the automatic linkage and the legal framework for fixing the salary directly in statute. The revised proposal is now awaiting processing by the National Assembly of Suriname, and will only enter into force after completing parliamentary approval, formal ratification, and official proclamation.

  • LETTER: Prime Minister, Stop Protecting Failure

    LETTER: Prime Minister, Stop Protecting Failure

    To the Editor:

    It is a reasonable question to ask what threshold of failure must be crossed for senior public officials to lose their jobs in this country. Right now, the evidence suggests that even the total collapse of public trust in national security is not enough to force accountability.

    Reports have emerged of a horrific attack in Bathlodge, where armed gunmen stormed a private residence. The violence has left a young woman dead, a 13-year-old boy clinging to life after being shot in the face, and a third adult with gunshot wounds. As this tragedy demonstrates, violent insecurity is spreading across the nation, with innocent people paying the ultimate price for systemic failure.

    Despite this growing crisis, ordinary citizens are still told to extend their patience to a political and security establishment whose promises of safety have been proven empty, attack after attack. Enough is enough.

    The nation’s Attorney General and Commissioner of Police must step down immediately. If they refuse to accept responsibility for the ongoing failure of public safety, the Prime Minister must formally demand their resignations. A country cannot keep mourning innocent victims of violence while the leaders tasked with protecting citizens face no consequences for their inaction or incompetence.
    Across every other sector of work, ordinary employees face professional consequences when they fail to meet the basic requirements of their roles. Why should the small group of leaders entrusted with public safety be held to a far lower standard, shielded from the accountability that applies to everyone else?

    The Prime Minister cannot avoid being held responsible for this crisis as well. Choosing to keep the same failed leadership in place is an active decision, just as choosing to accept the same hollow excuses for ongoing violence is a choice. The resulting harm from these decisions falls squarely on his leadership.

    The positions these officials hold are public trusts, not personal property to be held regardless of performance. No amount of personal friendship, political loyalty, or years of service should protect a public official from removal when their failure puts the public’s safety at deadly risk.
    Gunmen were able to walk into a civilian home and open fire on the people inside, leaving a child on the brink of death. How much more tragedy must the nation endure before protecting the public becomes a higher priority than protecting the jobs of incompetent officials?

    Prime Minister, do not offer the country another empty promise of reform unless you are prepared to back that promise with tangible action. Your unwavering public confidence in these current security officials brings no comfort to the thousands of citizens who now go to bed afraid that a violent attack could come to their home next. If this level of deadly bloodshed is not enough to break your confidence in the leaders responsible for keeping us safe, the public has every right to withdraw their confidence in you.