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  • Geopolitics Congress in Santo Domingo examines impact of global conflicts on the region

    Geopolitics Congress in Santo Domingo examines impact of global conflicts on the region

    SANTO DOMINGO – Speaking at the closing ceremony of the inaugural 1st International Geopolitics Congress Dominican Republic 2026, former Dominican Republic president Leonel Fernández has delivered a stark analysis of how ongoing global conflicts are rippling through Latin American economies. Fernández highlighted that the twin conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East have upended long-stable global supply chains for critical commodities including oil, natural gas, aluminum, and grains, creating a deeply divided economic landscape across the Latin American and Caribbean region.

    According to Fernández, the economic fallout of these disruptions has been anything but uniform across the region. Fuel-exporting economies, including major players such as Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, have seen unexpected gains from elevated commodity prices, while net energy importing nations – the Dominican Republic, Chile, and Peru among them – have been forced to grapple with skyrocketing energy costs, persistent broad-based inflation, and a marked slowdown in economic growth.

    In his address, Fernández also addressed the policy responses from regional monetary authorities, noting that central banks across Latin America have moved aggressively to curb rising prices by hiking interest rates. He stressed that protecting the institutional autonomy of these central banks is non-negotiable for maintaining long-term economic stability, calling on regional leaders to safeguard this independence from political interference.

    Closing his remarks, Fernández laid out a vision for a reimagined 21st-century global order rooted in four core pillars: lasting peace, broad inclusion, global equity, and long-term environmental sustainability. He argued that such a framework is the only way to insulate developing economies from the volatile spillover effects of distant geopolitical conflicts.

    The landmark congress, organized by the Dominican Center for Strategic Thought (CEPED), gathered a diverse cross-section of global stakeholders, including sitting political leaders, leading academic researchers, senior diplomats, and top business representatives. The overarching goal of the gathering was to unpack the shifting dynamics of the global order and unpack what these changes mean for Latin America’s future.

    Other prominent speakers at the event included noted Spanish geopolitical analyst Pedro Baños, who drew a clear connection between a nation’s economic resilience and its standing in global power dynamics. Additional expert contributions came from leading scholars Ana Esther Ceceña, Alfredo Jalife, and Iván Gatón. José Ignacio Paliza, the Dominican Minister of the Presidency, used his address to emphasize that energy security has emerged as a make-or-break factor for national economic competitiveness in the new geopolitical landscape.

  • Blackouts and protests as Cuba says fuel has ‘run out’

    Blackouts and protests as Cuba says fuel has ‘run out’

    HAVANA, CUBA – The Caribbean island of Cuba entered a new phase of acute crisis on Thursday, as worsening nationwide power outages, fueled by depleted Russian oil reserves, sparked rare scattered demonstrations across the capital Havana. The unfolding energy emergency has deepened long-standing economic strain on the country, with blame and competing diplomatic proposals emerging from both the Cuban government and the United States.

    The most recent round of blackouts first engulfed eastern regions of the island on Thursday, extending rolling electricity cuts that have already disrupted daily life across every part of Cuba. In residential neighborhoods surrounding western Havana, local residents gathered to voice their anger over persistent blackouts in small, decentralized protests. Energy Minister Vicente de la O Levy confirmed in an interview with state television that all fuel shipments supplied by Moscow have been exhausted, labeling the current operational environment as “very tense.”

    Levy added that rising seasonal temperatures, combined with the decades-long U.S. trade embargo, have amplified the crisis, as the country continues to face critical gaps in consistent fuel deliveries. Amid the unfolding emergency, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reissued a pre-existing offer of $100 million in humanitarian aid, but attached a strict condition: the assistance must be distributed exclusively through the Catholic Church, entirely bypassing Cuba’s communist government.

    Cuba’s top diplomatic official, Bruno Rodriguez, responded publicly via social media, stating that the Cuban government is open to reviewing the full details of the proposal and its planned implementation mechanisms. Local reporting from AFP gathered accounts of grassroots demonstrations across the capital: in the outer Havana neighborhood of San Miguel del Padron, residents banged pots and pans in a widespread collective protest of extended outages Wednesday evening. Small, similar actions popped up in multiple other residential districts, with demonstrators in the western Playa neighborhood chanting “Turn on the lights!” to demand government action.

    On Wednesday, Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel placed full responsibility for the energy crisis on the United States, describing the U.S. embargo on fuel supplies as a “genocidal energy blockade.” Aggregated data from AFP confirms that the island has seen record levels of generation shortfalls and prolonged blackouts in recent days. On Tuesday alone, 65 percent of Cuban territory was affected by simultaneous power outages.

    Diaz-Canel emphasized that the rapid deterioration of the energy situation has one clear root cause: U.S. sanctions that threaten punitive tariffs on any third country that agrees to ship fuel to Cuba. The current crisis escalated in January, when the U.S. formally expanded its blockade to target all oil shipments to the island, which is home to 9.6 million people. Since that policy change, only a single Russian oil tanker has successfully delivered fuel to Cuba, a country already grappling with decades of economic stagnation and widespread supply shortages.

    In the capital Havana, many residents now face more than 19 hours of power cuts every single day, while multiple provincial regions experience full-day blackouts with no consistent restoration. Cuba’s entire electricity generation system relies on a network of eight thermoelectric plants, most of which are over 40 years old. The aging infrastructure suffers from constant mechanical breakdowns and requires frequent, prolonged shutdowns for routine maintenance, further straining the country’s ability to meet even basic energy demand.

    Since the start of 2024, Cuba has experienced seven full nationwide blackouts, while domestic fuel prices have skyrocketed to record levels. U.S. President Donald Trump, who has overseen the removal of Venezuela’s leftist government so far this year but has faced limited progress in his administration’s conflict with Iran, has publicly suggested that Cuba could be the next target for U.S. intervention, even floating the possibility of the U.S. taking control of the island.

  • AAIA will not investigate circumstances of plane crash just outside Bahamian jurisdiction

    AAIA will not investigate circumstances of plane crash just outside Bahamian jurisdiction

    A small passenger aircraft carrying 11 people crashed off the Florida coast earlier this week following an in-flight emergency declaration, and Bahamian aviation investigators have confirmed they will not lead a probe into the incident due to jurisdictional boundaries.

    The Air Accident Investigation Authority (AAIA) of The Bahamas released an official statement outlining its decision, confirming the plane departed from Abaco in The Bahamas, bound for Grand Bahama, when the pilot declared an emergency. The crash occurred approximately 50 miles northwest of Vero Beach, Florida, placing the incident outside of Bahamian territorial waters.

    Of the 11 people on board, a number of whom hold Bahamian nationality, all were pulled from the water alive by rescue teams. Three individuals sustained minor injuries during the crash, though the AAIA noted that current information on the latest condition of those injured has not been confirmed.

    Per international aviation investigation protocols, the AAIA has formally notified all relevant governing bodies of its decision to cede investigative authority. That includes Panama, the country where the aircraft is registered, and the United States, which is both the state of design and manufacture for the plane.

    While the Bahamian body will not lead the probe, it has offered full cooperation to the agencies taking over the investigation, stating it is prepared to provide logistical coordination and targeted assistance if requested. The AAIA also emphasized it will not release unconfirmed speculation about potential causes of the crash, details of the aircraft’s condition before the incident, or the full scope of injuries and damage sustained, pending formal investigation by the lead authority.

  • Five Italians die in scuba accident in Maldives

    Five Italians die in scuba accident in Maldives

    On Thursday, Italy’s foreign ministry confirmed a tragic deep-sea diving accident in the Maldives that claimed the lives of five Italian nationals, marking the deadliest single diving incident the Indian Ocean archipelago has recorded in modern memory. As of Thursday’s initial search operation, local security forces had recovered one body from the deep cave system where the group was exploring.

    World-renowned for its powdery white sandbanks, crystal-clear turquoise waters and pristine coral reef systems, the Maldives has long held top rank as a luxury bucket-list destination for scuba diving enthusiasts. Travelers from across the globe flock to the island nation to explore remote dive sites, often basing their trips on isolated island resorts or purpose-built liveaboard dive vessels that access less crowded, more challenging dive spots.

    In an official brief confirmation of the incident, Italy’s foreign ministry stated that the fatal accident unfolded on a diving expedition in Vaavu Atoll, a remote diving region located south of the Maldivian capital, Male. Initial investigations indicate the group was attempting to navigate submerged cave systems at a depth of approximately 50 meters when the incident occurred. After the team failed to return to the surface from their expedition, local authorities were alerted to the emergency.

    Local Maldivian officials emphasized that this accident is the worst single diving fatality event in the history of the nation, which is made up of 1,192 small coral islands spread across 800 kilometers of the Indian Ocean along the equator. Immediately after the five divers were reported missing Thursday afternoon, the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) launched a large-scale multi-asset search operation, deploying both fixed-wing aircraft and high-speed search speedboats to the area.

    In an update on the search, the MNDF confirmed that the first recovered body was found inside the target cave system. Authorities currently believe the remaining four missing divers are also trapped within the same cave system, which extends to a maximum depth of roughly 60 meters. In a further detail that may shed light on the accident, local police confirmed that Vaavu Atoll was under a yellow weather warning Thursday, with rough sea conditions reported across the region that posed risks to small passenger vessels and fishing craft.

    As of Thursday night, a MNDF coastguard vessel remained on site coordinating search efforts around the clock, with additional specialist coastguard dive teams dispatched to the area to assist with the challenging deep-cave recovery operation.

    While diving and water activity-related fatalities are statistically rare in the South Asian island nation, public records show a steady stream of fatal incidents over recent years. In December of last year, a British female tourist died during a recreational dive, and her 71-year-old husband suffered a fatal illness just days later, grief-stricken after the incident. In June the previous year, a 26-year-old Japanese tourist disappeared after a diving trip near the capital Male. Local Maldivian media analysis of public safety data shows that over the past six years, at least 112 tourists have died in marine-related incidents across the archipelago, with 42 of those fatalities linked directly to diving or snorkeling activities.

  • Haiti gang violence displaces more than 5,000 — IOM

    Haiti gang violence displaces more than 5,000 — IOM

    A devastating new wave of gang violence has torn through residential neighborhoods north of Haiti’s capital Port-au-Prince, forcing more than 5,000 residents to flee their homes since Sunday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has confirmed. The outbreak of bloodshed is the latest escalation of a years-long crisis that has kept the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation trapped in chronic instability, as heavily armed criminal organizations control large swathes of territory and carry out widespread human rights abuses including extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, looting, and mass kidnappings. The country’s security collapse accelerated dramatically in early 2024, when coordinated gang attacks destabilized the government enough to force the resignation of Haiti’s unelected prime minister.

    Local human rights advocate Fritznel Pierre told Magik 9, a Port-au-Prince-based radio station, on Wednesday that the latest surge of violence, which erupted on May 10, has left widespread destruction in its wake: private residences have been ransacked and burned to the ground, while local commercial shops and public schools have been extensively vandalized. For medical providers operating in the conflict zone, the scale of casualties has overwhelmed existing care capacity. “We’ve never seen so many gunshot victims in such a short period of time,” explained Sarah Chateau, operations director for the medical humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, MSF) in Haiti.

    As gang clashes spread across northern neighborhoods, multiple medical facilities have been forced to halt services and evacuate all clinical and non-clinical staff. Chateau told AFP that MSF’s facilities have absorbed a flood of patients transferred from other clinics that were forced to close, including Fontaine Hospital, which sits close to the center of the ongoing clashes. “Every time we open the gates to admit new patients, there are members of the public rushing to come inside,” she said. Even facilities that remain operational are not safe from crossfire, Chateau added, describing the chaotic evacuation of patients from other facilities as an extremely high-stress operation, with stray bullets falling across the area even within medical facility perimeters. “We weren’t any safer inside. One of our security guards was hit by a stray bullet,” she confirmed.

    On Wednesday, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the United Nations Secretary-General, reported that medical teams have treated more than 40 people for gunshot wounds in less than 12 hours. He added that the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is currently mobilizing a coordinated cross-agency humanitarian response to meet the urgent needs of displaced residents and injured civilians, though operations remain challenging amid the rapidly shifting and highly volatile security situation.

    The international community has attempted to address Haiti’s security crisis for more than a year: the UN approved a multinational security support mission in 2023 to assist under-resourced Haitian police in pushing back against gang expansion, but the deployment has been hampered by chronic underfunding and inadequate equipment, leading to inconsistent results. Later that year, the UN Security Council voted to restructure the mission into a more heavily resourced anti-gang intervention force. To date, a 400-strong military contingent from Chad has already arrived in Port-au-Prince to support the operation.

    This latest outbreak of violence is the second major displacement event in Haiti’s capital so far this year. Clashes across the same northern districts in March and April displaced nearly 8,000 people, according to UN data, underscoring the persistent deterioration of security even after the deployment of international support.

  • US Asking Antigua and Barbuda to Accept More Refugees and Deportees

    US Asking Antigua and Barbuda to Accept More Refugees and Deportees

    As diplomatic talks between Washington and the small Caribbean twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda continue, the country’s top envoy to the United States has issued a clear, firm statement: Antigua and Barbuda cannot yield to growing pressure from the U.S. to accept a higher number of third-country migrants than its initial, limited offer.

    Sir Ronald Sanders, Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the U.S., explained that the nation’s original commitment to take in a capped number of migrants was always intended as a goodwill gesture to support its ally. The country has every intention of honoring that promise to help ease the migration burden currently facing the United States, but it will not go beyond the agreed-upon limit, he stressed.

    The core barrier to expanding the acceptance quota lies in the nation’s inherent social and economic constraints. Sir Ronald outlined that most of the third-country nationals in question have no pre-existing established ties to Antigua and Barbuda, creating a host of unresolvable challenges for the small island state. Key concerns include widespread language barriers: many of the prospective migrants do not speak English, the primary working language of Antigua and Barbuda, which would complicate integration. Additionally, most do not hold professional qualifications or skills that are recognized by local industries and labor markets, leaving few pathways for them to contribute to the national economy or achieve self-sufficiency.

    Beyond employment and integration hurdles, Sir Ronald raised urgent questions about basic social infrastructure. A small island nation with limited public services and housing stock, Antigua and Barbuda simply does not have the capacity to house, care for, and support a sudden influx of large numbers of new arrivals. Taking more migrants than the country can handle would also put unsustainable strain on already limited public resources, from healthcare and education to public transportation and water access, eroding the quality of services that Antigua and Barbuda’s own citizens rely on.

    The envoy also warned that a large, sudden influx of migrants would reshape the nation’s demographic makeup in a way that would likely face broad opposition from the country’s local population. “The Prime Minister’s offered a certain number that he would be prepared to absorb,” Sanders said, emphasizing that the Antiguan and Barbudan government cannot make policy choices that threaten the welfare of its own people. “We can not make decisions that would put strain on our resources to the point where our own people would say, ‘No, no, no, we’re not doing that.’” While negotiations between the two countries remain ongoing, the nation’s position on staying within its capacity remains unchanged.

  • UN pushes regional crime action plan

    UN pushes regional crime action plan

    Across multiple Caribbean island states, surging violent crime has emerged as a pressing cross-border systemic threat, and a joint United Nations and regional bloc initiative is now moving forward to address the crisis, a senior United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) official has confirmed.

    Speaking at this week’s official launch of the UN Eastern Caribbean 2025 Annual Results Report in Bridgetown, Barbados, Stephanie Ziebell, Deputy Resident Representative for UNDP Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, outlined that regional heads of government will gather later this month in St. Kitts, hosted by Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew, for a high-level UN-CARICOM dialogue to finalize next steps and set core priorities for the new anti-crime framework.

    This collaborative effort builds on high-level strategic talks held earlier in 2025, and marks the first evidence-based, region-wide assessment of transnational crime and violence in the Caribbean, framing the issue as a shared systemic challenge rather than an isolated national problem. Currently, two core products are in development: a joint diagnostic report that maps the scope of the crisis, and a formal CARICOM-UN Action Plan to guide coordinated response.

    Ziebell explained that the diagnostic phase is focused on unpacking the deep-rooted drivers of crime, identifying structural weaknesses in regional and national security and justice systems, and pinpointing the most urgent reforms needed to reverse upward violence trends. The subsequent action plan will translate these findings into a unified regional framework, outlining clear practical priorities, shared accountability standards, and defined roles for CARICOM institutions, individual member states, and UN implementing partners.

    The broader UN strategy for advancing peace, public safety and access to justice across the Eastern Caribbean centers on two foundational pillars: strengthening institutional capacity and building more resilient, safer communities. Ziebell emphasized that all work is rooted in data-driven analysis, cross-stakeholder partnership, and a deliberate commitment to conflict-sensitive and gender-responsive policy design. “Justice and safety must be accessible for everyone, especially women and girls, persons with disabilities, and people at the margins, so that no one is left behind,” she said.

    Beyond addressing violent crime broadly, the UN has already been active in supporting regional efforts to counter gender-based violence, shore up human rights protections, and improve cross-border law enforcement coordination. Ziebell outlined that the UN has helped national governments strengthen prevention and response frameworks for gender-based violence, reinforce national human rights institutions, advance regional agreements targeting domestic abuse and transnational organized crime, upgrade border management protocols, build forensic science capacity, and deepen cooperative work between national law enforcement agencies.

    She also highlighted the Canada-funded PACE Justice Programme, a multi-country initiative currently being rolled out across eight Caribbean nations including Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts and Nevis. The program is focused on modernizing outdated criminal justice systems and cutting crippling case backlogs that erode public confidence. To date, support provided through PACE Justice has included new court equipment, technical assistance for digital case management systems, specialized training for crime scene investigators, capacity-building workshops for justice sector personnel, tools to expand restorative justice practices, coordination support for national attorneys general, work to harmonize standard operating procedures across jurisdictions, planning for AI integration in justice systems, and facilitated dialogues focused on reducing case backlogs.

    These targeted reforms are designed to improve the quality of criminal investigations, uphold consistent due process standards, and rebuild public trust in national justice systems. Ziebell added that robust, functional institutions are a critical buffer for Caribbean societies, which face overlapping threats from climate disasters, economic volatility, and growing insecurity. “These systems help societies withstand shocks, whether those shocks come from disasters, economic stress, or rising forms of violence and insecurity,” she noted.

    Closing her remarks at the report launch, Ziebell reaffirmed the UNDP and United Nations’ long-term commitment to partnering with Caribbean national governments, civil society organizations, and global development partners to expand evidence-based crime prevention and expand equitable access to justice for all people across the region.

  • Loss-and-damage fund may come to fishing industry’s aid

    Loss-and-damage fund may come to fishing industry’s aid

    As the Caribbean fishing sector slowly rebuilds from the catastrophic damage wrought by Hurricane Beryl two years ago, a landmark United Nations climate fund is preparing to deliver targeted new grant funding to support recovery efforts across the region.

    The Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), created under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, was designed specifically to support climate-vulnerable nations grappling with the irreversible impacts of climate-driven extreme weather. Now, the fund’s executive director Ibrahima Cheikh Diong is on the ground in Barbados, the small island nation that led global advocacy to establish the financing mechanism, to collect government funding requests ahead of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, which kicks off next month.

    Barbados has emerged as a global leader in pushing for equitable climate finance, with Prime Minister Mia Mottley becoming one of the most prominent voices in international climate negotiations and a key architect of the fund’s operational framework, the Barbados Implementation Modalities (BIM). On Tuesday, Diong held talks with Deputy Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw to outline the fund’s planned support, a day before he revisited the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex – the facility that bore the worst of Hurricane Beryl’s damage, losing dozens of fishing vessels and sustaining major structural harm.

    Earlier this year, the FRLD rolled out a $250 million early intervention grant package under the BIM framework, a milestone for developing nations that bear the brunt of climate change despite contributing the least to global emissions. For Diong, the return trip to Barbados carries deep personal and symbolic meaning: he was on the island in the thick of Hurricane Beryl in 2024, and witnessed firsthand the storm’s destruction and the Barbadian people’s resilience during the initial rebuilding phase.

    “I was in Barbados in the middle of Hurricane Beryl. I had a chance to go on the ground and see the damage caused by the hurricane, the resilience of the people of Barbados and the work the government has been doing in rebuilding. So, coming back here, I would like to go back and visit on the ground and see what has happened since the last time I was here,” Diong said.

    He added that the visit is also an opportunity to update the Barbadian government on the fund’s progress, acknowledging that Mottley has been the mechanism’s most vocal global champion. “It was here in Barbados a year ago that we launched the Barbados Implementation Modalities (BIM). It is very symbolic to come back and brief the government on progress we have made so far. The whole purpose of the meeting is really to update [Deputy Prime Minister Bradshaw] on the progress we made; and looking ahead, where do we stand on the fund, and hopefully get some support from the government in continuing to advocate for this fund.”

    To date, the FRLD has secured $820 million in converted pledges from donor nations around the world, with $440 million already transferred and ready for disbursement. A year ago, the fund’s board approved the $250 million early intervention program, which provides 100% grant funding rather than loans to avoid adding to indebted developing nations’ debt burdens – a response to repeated calls from vulnerable countries that cannot afford to take on new borrowing to recover from climate disasters.

    Per the BIM agreement reached in Barbados, at least 50% of all early intervention funding is earmarked for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) – a group that includes Barbados. Initial allocations to eligible countries will range from $5 million to $20 million, with individual nations setting their own funding priorities based on their specific recovery and resilience needs.

    Diong is currently facilitating a two-day workshop for CARICOM member states to help governments prepare their funding requests, and reminded regional representatives that June 15 is the firm deadline for submission, with no extensions planned unless the FRLD board votes to approve one. After requests are submitted, the FRLD board will meet in late July to finalize allocations before forwarding recommendations to the fund’s trustee, the World Bank, for disbursement.

    “It’s up to the countries, based on their needs, how much they would like to come to FRLD for funding, or other funds as well; ultimately, knowing that when you put that US$5m to US$20m it will be enough to meet their demands. So, we are looking at the gaps we are filling in, and making sure that what we provide can be put to use very quickly, so we can respond,” Diong explained.

    Hurricane Beryl made history as the earliest-forming Category 5 hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic, hitting Barbados as a Category 3 storm in 2024 when it passed roughly 150 kilometers south of the island. While the storm only caused moderate damage to general public infrastructure and did not spark a full-scale humanitarian crisis, it completely destroyed most of Barbados’ fishing fleet, which is only now slowly recovering. Total economic losses from the storm reached $193 million, equal to 0.15% of Barbados’ total GDP. 58% of that total came from physical damage, 36% from ongoing economic losses, and 5% from unplanned recovery costs. Four key sectors – tourism, fisheries, agriculture, and environmental infrastructure – accounted for 84% of all storm-related impacts. Beryl’s unprecedented early formation and disproportionate impact on Barbados underscores the growing volatility of global climate patterns, which continues to amplify the climate vulnerability of Caribbean SIDS that face existential risk from rising seas and intensifying extreme weather.

  • Venezuela’s acting president defends country’s territory and rejects Trump’s 51st state remarks

    Venezuela’s acting president defends country’s territory and rejects Trump’s 51st state remarks

    On Monday, as Venezuela wrapped up its arguments before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague in a long-running territorial dispute with neighboring Guyana, acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez pushed back firmly on an unexpected remark from former U.S. President Donald Trump, who said he was “seriously considering” the idea of Venezuela becoming the 51st U.S. state.

    Speaking to reporters on the final day of public hearings over the resource-rich Essequibo region, Rodríguez made clear that Venezuela has no intention of giving up its sovereignty to become part of the United States. The acting president, who assumed office in January after a U.S. military operation removed former President Nicolás Maduro from power, emphasized that Venezuela will stand firm in protecting its national sovereignty, territorial integrity, independent history, and self-determination. “We are not a colony, we are a free and sovereign nation,” she stated.

    To date, the full context and motivation behind Trump’s remark remain unconfirmed. The White House did not issue an immediate response to requests for clarification on the comment, which is not an isolated statement: Trump has previously made similar offhand remarks about annexing Canada. Later, White House spokesperson Anna Kelly declined to elaborate on any potential Trump administration plans for Venezuela during an interview with Fox News, noting only that the U.S. president is well-known for challenging established norms and praised Rodríguez for what she described as extremely productive cooperation with the United States. Rodríguez for her part added that Venezuelan and U.S. officials have maintained open lines of communication, focused on building mutual cooperation and understanding.

    The core focus of Rodríguez’s visit to The Hague was defending Venezuela’s decades-old claim to the Essequibo region, a 62,000-square-mile territory that makes up nearly two-thirds of Guyana’s current national land area. Long a source of tension between the two South American nations, the dispute has gained new urgency in recent years amid major offshore oil discoveries that have turned Guyana from one of South America’s smallest and poorest economies into a fast-growing major energy producer. The region itself is already rich in gold, diamonds, and valuable timber, while nearby offshore blocks currently produce roughly 900,000 barrels of oil per day – a volume nearly matching Venezuela’s current daily production of around 1 million barrels.

    Venezuela has laid claim to Essequibo since the Spanish colonial era, when the jungle territory fell within the boundaries of Spanish colonial holdings that would later become independent Venezuela. However, an 1899 arbitration ruling mediated by representatives from Britain, Russia, and the United States set the international border along the Essequibo River, awarding nearly the entire disputed territory to Guyana (then a British colony). Venezuela has long rejected that 1899 decision, arguing that a 1966 Geneva agreement signed to resolve the dispute effectively invalidated the 19th-century arbitration ruling and called for negotiated settlement between the two parties.

    The dispute escalated after 2015, when energy giant ExxonMobil announced a major commercial oil discovery off the Essequibo coast. In 2018, Guyana formally brought the case to the ICJ, the United Nations’ highest court for inter-state disputes, asking judges to uphold the 1899 border ruling. Tensions flared further in 2023, when then-President Maduro organized a national referendum on converting Essequibo into a Venezuelan state and threatened to annex the region by force. Maduro was removed from power and captured by U.S. forces during a January operation in Caracas, and is currently being held in New York to face trial on drug trafficking charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

    Rodríguez did not reference the 2023 referendum in her ICJ remarks, but told judges that only bilateral political negotiations, not a binding judicial ruling, can resolve the century-old border dispute. She accused Guyana of acting opportunistically by bringing the case to the court while the negotiation mechanisms outlined in the 1966 Geneva agreement were still fully operational. “At a time when the mechanisms established in the Geneva agreement were still fully in force, Guyana unilaterally chose to shift the dispute from the negotiating arena to a judicial resolution,” she told the court. “This change was not accidental; it coincided with the discovery in 2015 of the oil field that would become world-renowned.”

    When the hearings opened last week, Guyana’s Foreign Minister Hugh Hilton Todd framed the dispute as a long-standing threat to Guyana’s sovereign existence, telling the panel of international judges that the conflict “has been a blight on our existence as a sovereign state from the very beginning,” noting that 70% of Guyana’s current territory is at stake in the ruling.

    Court observers expect the ICJ will take several months to issue a final, legally binding ruling on the case. Venezuela has repeatedly stressed that its decision to participate in the public hearings does not constitute consent to the court’s jurisdiction over the dispute, nor recognition of the court’s authority to issue a binding ruling on the border question.

  • CARICOM weighs migration overhaul

    CARICOM weighs migration overhaul

    Against a backdrop of contracting populations and widening gaps in available labor, Caribbean nations are positioning an overhaul of migration frameworks as a core strategy to safeguard long-term economic stability, a top United Nations migration official for the region confirmed this Tuesday. Patrice Quesada, regional coordinator for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the Caribbean, explained that member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are actively developing a unified regional migration policy focused on three interconnected challenges: improving labor mobility across borders, reversing the damage of demographic decline, and supporting communities displaced by climate change impacts.

    The policy review comes as the UN prepared to launch its 2025 report on socio-economic and demographic trends across the Eastern Caribbean. Quesada emphasized that shrinking and aging populations are a shared crisis across every Caribbean nation, with resulting labor shortages placing unmanageable strain on sectors critical to regional GDP. “Most countries across the region are seeing deep stress in key economic sectors, from construction and public health to the tourism industry that forms the backbone of many local economies,” he noted in an interview.

    Beyond addressing immediate labor gaps, Quesada explained that the updated policy will be tailored to align with the unique development priorities of individual member states. What began as a narrow policy discussion has evolved into a foundational development strategy, with migration framed as a tool to strengthen key sectors and advance shared goals. For example, targeted migration schemes can bring skilled workers into the agricultural sector to boost production and shore up regional food security, he added.

    The UN’s role in this process is to provide technical support and coordination to member states as they advance the policy framework, Quesada said, noting that both migration shifts and demographic decline are now widely recognized as defining mega-trends shaping the future of the Caribbean. “Migration is now fully integrated into regional cooperation frameworks, acknowledged alongside demographic decline as one of the most impactful trends reshaping the region,” he stated.

    As a model for other nations to follow, Quesada highlighted Saint Lucia’s upcoming launch of a national migration policy. The Saint Lucia process was developed through a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach that centers the country’s specific needs, serving as a pilot that other Caribbean nations can adapt to their own contexts. This flexible model is particularly important because while the region shares broad demographic and climate challenges, each nation faces unique local circumstances that require customized solutions.

    Even as the regional framework takes shape, Quesada noted that member states are still engaged in active consultation to resolve key open questions about implementation. Policymakers are grappling with core issues: how to integrate incoming migrant workers into local communities successfully, how to design systems that deliver mutual benefits for both migrants and host nations, and how to replace irregular migration channels with formal, regulated pathways that bring tax contributions to public coffers while protecting migrants from exploitation.

    Climate change is also woven into the design of the new regional policy, as the second most impactful mega-trend driving migration across the Caribbean. While slow-onset sea level rise remains a long-term threat, Quesada explained that the most immediate climate-related displacement stems from frequent extreme weather events, including powerful hurricanes and prolonged droughts that are growing more common with rising global temperatures.

    “More acutely than slow sea level rise, the Caribbean faces repeated displacement tied to extreme weather: we have seen it with hurricanes for decades, and now we are watching drought conditions become more severe and widespread across the region, with impacts that will only grow in coming storm seasons,” Quesada said. He pointed to two high-profile examples of climate-driven outward migration: the large-scale outflow of residents from Dominica after Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017, and the ongoing struggle of Barbuda to repopulate and fully recover after a string of catastrophic hurricanes destroyed much of its infrastructure.

    Addressing climate migration requires more than just short-term humanitarian disaster response, Quesada stressed. The UN already works closely with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) to maintain cross-border protocols for temporary evacuation during major hurricanes, allowing people to move safely between islands during crises. But long-term strategy is equally critical: policymakers need to invest in recovery and resilience that gives local residents the choice to stay in their home communities rather than being forced to migrate permanently.

    Quesada concluded by calling for expanded long-term regional dialogue focused on climate resilience, sustainable urban development, and upgrading vulnerable infrastructure. The impact of climate change on coastal zones and urban centers, where most critical public and private infrastructure is located, creates hidden mobility pressures that have not yet been fully addressed. This climate-driven shift in population mobility requires targeted, proactive planning that integrates climate action into migration policy from the start, he said.