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  • A peaceful demonstration has been called in Sosúa to protest alleged police abuses.

    A peaceful demonstration has been called in Sosúa to protest alleged police abuses.

    SOSÚA, Puerto Plata – A local activist and citizen, Jeremy Domínguez, has issued a public call for a peaceful gathering to address growing public outrage over alleged unlawful conduct by police forces. The demonstration is scheduled to take place this Monday, July 27, beginning at 5:00 p.m. local time, outside the Plaza de la Playa Charamicos in the coastal municipality of Sosúa.

    Details of the planned protest have been widely circulated across social media platforms, where organizing representatives have repeatedly stressed that the event will be conducted in a strictly peaceful and orderly fashion. Organizers have made clear that participants will uphold respect for all national patriotic symbols, most prominently the Dominican national flag, as a core principle of the demonstration.

    The movement centers on three key demands put forward by organizers: first, that the fundamental physical and personal integrity of all Dominican citizens be formally respected by law enforcement; second, that ongoing patterns of mistreatment and claimed abuses of authority by police officers be immediately halted; and third, that the National Police fulfill its constitutionally mandated role of protecting the Dominican population, rather than acting against the public interest.

    In their public appeal, organizers have urged broad civilian participation while reinforcing that the gathering’s sole purpose is to give voice to widespread community concerns about recent police actions. They have explicitly rejected any form of violence as a means of expression, framing the protest as a peaceful exercise of democratic rights.

    As of press time, the Dominican National Police has not released any official comment or response to the call for demonstration.

  • Edenorte will suspend electrical service this Saturday in large sectors of Puerto Plata

    Edenorte will suspend electrical service this Saturday in large sectors of Puerto Plata

    PUERTO PLATA — The Northern Electricity Distribution Company, widely known locally as Edenorte, has announced a planned eight-hour power interruption across multiple electrical circuits in this northern Dominican province. The temporary service suspension is set to kick off at 8:00 a.m. this Saturday, July 25, and run through 4:00 p.m. local time, with the work focused on preventative grid maintenance and system upgrades.

    The affected infrastructure spans six key distribution circuits: PPLA105, TUBA501, YASI701, PPLA102, PPLA101 and PPTA103. The outage will reach dozens of different customer segments across the province, ranging from private residential homes and small local businesses to popular tourist destinations and public government institutions. A full list of impacted areas includes El Arenazo, Ensanche Luperón, Bayardo, Padre Granero, Bello Costero, Torre Alta, Long Beach, Marapicá, Urbanización Atlántica, Jardines del Atlántico, Costa Atlántica, Malecón, the Provincial Government complex, the Palace of Justice, the Puerto Plata regional headquarters, Tubagua, Gran Parada, Pueblo de Yásica, La Cruz de Yásica, La Unión, Northern Air Command FARD, Puerto Chiquito, Cangrejo, Villa Progreso, Cristo Rey, Los Sufridos, El Teleférico, Universidad Tecnológica de Santiago (UTESA), Barrio Haití, Las Mercedes, El Clinker, Conani, El Hoyo de Chavón and Aguas Negras, among other smaller adjacent communities.

    In a public statement released ahead of the work, Edenorte has called on all residential and commercial customers located within the affected service zones to take advance precautions to minimize disruption to their daily plans. The utility also noted that the published start and end times for the outage are subject to adjustment, depending on how quickly maintenance crews complete the scheduled work. Unforeseen on-site complications or faster than expected progress could shift the timeline of the service interruption.

    Company representatives emphasized that the planned work is a core component of the utility’s ongoing initiative to modernize and reinforce the regional electrical grid. The long-term goal of the project is to deliver more consistent, higher-quality electrical service to all customers across the province of Puerto Plata, reducing the risk of unplanned outages in the coming months.

  • Presidential Agenda From celebrating Father’s Day to handing out property titles: what Luis Abinader will do today

    Presidential Agenda From celebrating Father’s Day to handing out property titles: what Luis Abinader will do today

    As the Dominican Republic prepares to mark Father’s Day this upcoming weekend, President Luis Abinader has scheduled a jam-packed roster of public engagements that blends holiday celebration with key infrastructure and community deliverables, spanning multiple regions of the Santo Domingo metropolitan area on Saturday. The day’s activities kick off at the Ministry of Defense (MIDE) headquarters at 11:00 a.m., where the president will host a special luncheon honoring fatherhood. The event is expected to draw 1,500 fathers from across the country, offering a space for the head of state to mark the national holiday alongside members of the public it celebrates.

    Immediately following the Father’s Day luncheon, at 12:30 p.m., President Abinader will travel to the 11th kilometer of the Sánchez Highway in the National District to preside over the official inauguration of the new Sports Initiation Center (known locally by its Spanish acronym CIDE) operated by the Santo Domingo Sabio School Home. The new facility is designed to expand access to organized youth sports programming and recreational opportunities for local students.

    Moving forward with the afternoon’s community-focused events, the president will head to the Los Frailes sector of Santo Domingo Este at 1:30 p.m., where he will formally deliver long-awaited property titles to local families. The handover represents a key step in the administration’s efforts to formalize land ownership and expand housing security for vulnerable households across the country.

    The final scheduled event of the day will take place at 3:00 p.m. in Hacienda Estrella, a community located in Santo Domingo Norte, where President Abinader will lead the inauguration ceremony for the newly constructed Hacienda Estrella Hospital. The new public health facility is expected to expand access to primary and secondary care for thousands of local residents who previously faced long travel times to access public medical services.

    The packed Saturday schedule underscores the Abinader administration’s priority of delivering visible, community-focused public infrastructure and social support while marking the national Father’s Day holiday, highlighting the government’s ongoing push to expand access to housing, sports, healthcare and public services across the greater Santo Domingo region.

  • Bilateral trade US tariffs would reduce the competitiveness of Dominican Republic exports

    Bilateral trade US tariffs would reduce the competitiveness of Dominican Republic exports

    A new tiered tariff scheme rolled out by the Donald Trump administration has raised alarms among top Dominican business leaders, who say the policy could erode the competitiveness of Dominican goods shipped to the United States, force price hikes, and require urgent renegotiation of existing sales contracts with American buyers.

    The new tariff schedule applies levies between 10% and 12.5% on imports from 60 nations worldwide, with the Dominican Republic included in the group facing the higher 12.5% rate. The warnings come jointly from Roselyn Amaro Bergés, executive vice president of the Dominican Association of Exporters (Adoexpo), and Celso Juan Marranzini, president of the National Council of Private Companies (Conep), who confirmed the new framework replaces the temporary 10% global import surcharge the U.S. first implemented back in February. That temporary measure expired at the end of last week, making way for the new differentiated rate structure.

    Unlike the flat temporary surcharge, the updated policy assigns different rates to different countries. For Dominican exports that fall under the tariff, the 2.5 percentage point increase from the old 10% rate may seem modest on paper, but business leaders say it will deliver an outsize impact on trade. This is particularly true for goods with already thin profit margins, products locked into long-term fixed-price contracts, and items that compete directly with exports from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador – all of which are assigned the lower 10% tariff under the new scheme.

    Amaro explained that trade teams are still conducting a line-by-line review of tariff annexes and subheadings to map the full scope of the policy’s impact on Dominican exports. So far, analysts have confirmed that U.S. officials carved out exclusions for a small set of goods, including select textiles, food products, and fertilizers. But a large share of Dominican trade remains subject to the higher rate.

    Preliminary assessments identify the most at-risk sectors as non-excluded agricultural and agro-industrial goods, plastic manufactured products, iron and steel items, metal structures and components, and a range of other domestic manufactured goods that currently enter the U.S. duty-free or at preferential rates under the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA).

    Adoexpo stressed that the impact will not be evenly distributed across the country’s export sector. The severity of harm will depend on multiple factors: the specific product in question, the baseline tariff a product already faced, its current share of the U.S. market, and an individual firm’s ability to either absorb the extra cost or pass it on to American buyers without losing sales.

    The organization also acknowledged that there is a tangible risk of American importers shifting purchase orders to suppliers in countries that qualify for lower tariffs or full exemptions from the new scheme. In price-sensitive sectors, even that 2.5 percentage point gap can swing purchasing decisions, Amaro noted. U.S. buyers may respond by demanding that Dominican exporters cut prices, ask to split the cost of the new tariff, or walk away from planned future orders entirely.

    Despite these headwinds, Amaro pointed out that the Dominican Republic retains key competitive advantages that could soften the blow: its close geographic proximity to the U.S. translates to shorter delivery times, Dominican exporters have a long track record of reliability, the country’s supply chains remain stable, and it has a established, rules-based trade framework in place through DR-CAFTA.

    For his part, Conep’s Marranzini warned that medium- and long-term retention of the higher tariff could cause deeper damage, especially as neighboring Mexico maintains more favorable access to the U.S. market. The policy could also slow the Dominican Republic’s growing momentum in attracting nearshoring investment as companies shift supply chains out of Asia to be closer to North American consumers. Marranzini argued that proactive dialogue between Dominican and U.S. trade authorities is critical to securing the lowest possible tariff tier for Dominican exports, and that targeted government support is needed immediately to help vulnerable local companies weather the new costs.

  • Heat and dust from the Sahara: Have you seen smoke in Santo Domingo? Here’s what’s happening

    Heat and dust from the Sahara: Have you seen smoke in Santo Domingo? Here’s what’s happening

    Residents across Santo Domingo have recently reported widespread hazy conditions and the faint smell of smoke hanging over the capital, prompting initial fears of an unreported local blaze. But officials have now confirmed that the poor air quality and reduced visibility stem not from a domestic fire, but from an unusual combination of two far-traveled atmospheric phenomena: wildfire smoke drifting south from hundreds of active blazes across Canada, and a massive plume of Saharan dust that has already settled over much of the Dominican Republic.

    After widespread social media and local reports of unusual smoke across the Greater Santo Domingo area, Dominican outlet HOY reached out to General José Luis Frómeta Herasme, head of the National District Fire Department, to confirm the source of the haze. Frómeta Herasme clarified that his department had not received any emergency calls for active fires within the capital’s boundaries, ruling out local blazes as the cause of the low air quality.

    Meteorological analyst Jean Suriel broke down the unusual atmospheric event, noting that the upcoming Father’s Day weekend would be defined by oppressive, record-adjacent heat driven by the combined air mass carrying both Canadian wildfire particles and Saharan dust across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean.

    The mix of fine wildfire ash and mineral dust from the Sahara carries notable public health risks for vulnerable groups. Suriel urged people living with respiratory conditions and allergic diseases to strengthen their preventive measures, including staying indoors with air filtration when possible and wearing well-fitted masks outdoors, to minimize their exposure to the high concentration of airborne particles.

    Temperatures across the country are already climbing ahead of the weekend. Suriel projected that Sunday, the date of Father’s Day celebrations, will see heat index values ranging between 40°C and 45°C across most of Dominican territory. The northern and western provinces of Dajabón, Montecristi, Santiago Rodríguez, Valverde and Elías Piña will face the most stifling, dangerous heat conditions, according to the forecast.

    Suriel confirmed that the 12th major Saharan dust plume of the annual season has already fully reached the Dominican Republic, creating the widespread milky, hazy skies that have caught residents’ attention across the country.

    Looking ahead to the weekend forecast, Saturday will bring partly cloudy skies paired with persistent haze from the Saharan dust plume. While the dust plume will begin to gradually weaken on Sunday, it will still remain in place enough to sustain poor air quality and elevated temperatures. Forecasters also note that late afternoon showers may become more widespread on Sunday as Tropical Wave 30 approaches the island from the east.

    The arrival of the tropical wave will bring shifts to the country’s air quality and weather starting on Monday, Suriel explained. The system’s onshore winds will push most of the remaining Saharan dust out of the region, bringing improved air quality after days of haze. However, the tropical wave will also bring increased humidity, sustaining hot conditions even as dust clears, with scattered showers and thunderstorms expected across many parts of the country after midday on Monday.

  • Belize Looks to Go Green and Digital Through UNIDO Partnership

    Belize Looks to Go Green and Digital Through UNIDO Partnership

    In July 2026, following its participation in a high-profile regional gathering hosted in Montevideo, Uruguay, Belize has laid out an ambitious roadmap to advance green industrial development and digital inclusion for its small business sector through a new collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

    The UNIDO Regional Conference for Latin America and the Caribbean, held 15 to 16 July, brought together heads of state, private sector stakeholders, and international development partners from across the region to address pressing challenges: how to strengthen industrial resilience, unlock inclusive economic opportunities, and build systems that prioritize long-term sustainability over short-term growth. Belize’s delegation, led by the country’s Ministry of Investment, took a prominent role at the event, showcasing its ongoing policy work and building new connections to support its development goals.

    At the core of Belize’s policy agenda is a National Industrial Strategy centered on expanding the country’s green and blue economies. This initiative, which already receives targeted support from both UNIDO and the Government of Japan, targets high-potential sectors including sustainable agro-processing and low-carbon manufacturing. By focusing on these areas, Belize aims to drive balanced economic growth that creates local jobs while preserving its rich natural ecosystems, a critical asset for the nation’s long-term prosperity.

    Beyond green industrial development, Belize is also prioritizing digital upskilling for its smallest business operators. Delegates held targeted working meetings with representatives from UNIDO’s AIM Global Alliance to explore concrete partnerships that would bring artificial intelligence training and accessible digital tools to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which form the backbone of Belize’s domestic economy. These collaborations aim to close the digital divide, helping small local businesses compete in regional and global markets by leveraging cutting-edge technology.

    Regional development experts note that Belize’s approach aligns with a growing shift across Latin America and the Caribbean, where small and medium-sized economies are increasingly turning to sustainable development and digital innovation to reduce reliance on traditional sectors and build more resilient, future-proof economies.

  • Belize Escapes Trump’s New Tariffs

    Belize Escapes Trump’s New Tariffs

    In a major escalation of the Trump administration’s trade policy agenda, the United States has enacted a sweeping new round of import tariffs targeting 60 of its largest global trading partners, covering nearly all goods flowing into American markets. Effective July 24, 2026, the measures kicked in immediately after a previous temporary tariff regime expired, imposing duties ranging from 10% to 12.5% on imports from major economies including China, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Japan, Australia and Brazil. Notably, the small Central American nation of Belize has been left off the target list, escaping the new trade measures entirely.

    The Trump administration has framed the tariffs as a tool to pressure global trading partners to crack down on forced labor in cross-border supply chains. The tariff structure is tiered to reflect each country’s progress on enforcement: nations that have made formal commitments to ban goods produced with forced labor face the lower 10% duty, while jurisdictions deemed to have insufficient enforcement efforts face the steeper 12.5% rate.

    This latest round of tariffs forms a core pillar of President Donald Trump’s broader economic strategy, which prioritizes cutting the U.S. trade deficit and expanding domestic American manufacturing. This policy focus has remained a central priority for Trump since he returned to the presidency in 2025.

    While Belize has avoided direct impact from the new measures, economists warn the tariffs will send ripple effects across the entire global trade system. Analysts project the duties will push up operational costs for U.S. businesses and raise prices for American consumers, and may also prompt many countries around the world to deepen alternative trade partnerships that reduce their economic reliance on the United States.

  • Asabina eist duidelijkheid over massale vissterfte

    Asabina eist duidelijkheid over massale vissterfte

    A months-long delay in official explanations for a widespread mass fish death event in Suriname’s main river has drawn sharp criticism from a leading opposition lawmaker, who is pressing the national government to break its silence and deliver urgent clarity for affected communities.

    Ronny Asabina, parliamentary faction leader of the Brotherhood and Unity in Politics (BEP) party, raised the alarm during a plenary debate on current affairs in Suriname’s National Assembly Thursday, highlighting that more than four weeks have passed since the mass mortality was first reported, and local households still have no answers about what caused the disaster.

    For riverine communities living along the Suriname River and its surrounding creeks, fishing is far more than a recreational activity: it is the primary source of both daily food and household income. Since the fish die-off was recorded, however, residents have been forced to avoid consuming fish and other aquatic resources from the area, leaving them grappling with severe immediate economic and social hardship that has only worsened as the government’s investigation drags on.

    Asabina emphasized that to date, the Surinamese government has not released any public update on the progress of its promised investigation, nor has it confirmed a definitive root cause for the mass fish deaths. The BEP leader called on authorities to immediately share full, transparent updates with impacted communities, putting an end to the costly delays that have left residents in limbo.

    A petition on the issue was already submitted to the national legislature earlier, Asabina noted, adding that local residents have a fundamental right to protection and certainty about the safety of both their living environment and their primary food supply. He further stressed that if an investigation finds the fish die-off was the result of human activity – including negligence, illegal dumping of toxic waste, or other criminal acts – authorities must pursue action not just administratively, but through criminal law.

    “Any parties found responsible for this disaster must be identified and prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Asabina told lawmakers.

    The BEP leader did not hold back in criticizing the government’s slow response, accusing the administration of stalling and avoiding clear answers for weeks, even as the human and economic costs of the disaster continue to mount for vulnerable riverine communities.

  • REOI: Consultancy Services for Environmental Health and Safety Officer (EHSO)

    REOI: Consultancy Services for Environmental Health and Safety Officer (EHSO)

    The Government of Grenada has secured multilateral financing to advance its ambitious Grenada Geothermal Drilling Project, an initiative designed to expand the Caribbean nation’s renewable energy capacity and boost its climate resilience goals. Implemented by the country’s Ministry of Climate Resilience, the Environment and Renewable Energy and overseen by the dedicated Geothermal Project Management Unit (GPMU), the project will carry out exploration drilling at two pre-selected sites. Both locations are situated on private agricultural land in the northern region of Grenada’s main island: Site C in Tricolar, St Patrick Parish, and Site F at Plaisance Estate in St John Parish.

    As a project supported by multiple lending institutions, the initiative is bound by a rigorous set of international environmental and social safeguard frameworks. These include the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) official review protocols, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) safeguard policies, and the International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) widely recognized Performance Standards. The project scope covers civil engineering works and core exploration drilling, both of which will be procured via international competitive bidding, alongside a suite of contracted consultancy and individual specialist roles. All procurement activities follow the CDB’s established procurement guidelines for funded projects, aligned with Grenada’s domestic national procurement legislation. In cases where the two regulatory frameworks conflict, the terms of the relevant financing agreement take precedence.

    To ensure full adherence to all environmental, health and safety requirements during the project’s active phases, the executing ministry has launched a search for a qualified consultant to fill the role of dedicated Environmental Health and Safety Officer (EHSO). The core objective of this consultancy is to act as the GPMU’s central point of responsibility for all EHSO matters, with a mandate to guarantee the project complies with all approved regulatory documents throughout the civil works and exploration drilling stages. These requirements include the original Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), the updated ESIA, finalized Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMPs), all relevant Grenadian national laws, and the mandatory standards set by the project’s lending partners.

    The contracted EHSO will be employed on a full-time basis for an initial term of two years, with adjustments possible to align with evolving project needs. The ministry is now calling for expressions of interest from eligible individual consultants who meet the required qualification and experience benchmarks to deliver the services outlined.

    When evaluating submitted expressions of interest, the selection panel will prioritize candidates with a proven track record of successful delivery on comparable assignments. The mandatory qualifications for the role are as follows: candidates must hold either a bachelor’s degree paired with 10 years of relevant professional experience, or a postgraduate degree paired with at least 5 years of relevant experience, in a field such as environmental science, environmental engineering, occupational health and safety, or another closely related discipline. Candidates must also demonstrate hands-on experience carrying out EHS monitoring and implementing ESMPs in active project environments, with preference given to applicants with experience in the extractive, energy, or construction sectors. Additional requirements include a demonstrated working knowledge of occupational health and safety management systems and practices tailored to construction and drilling operations. Strong preference will be given to candidates already familiar with IFC Performance Standards or equivalent multilateral development bank safeguard frameworks, and prior experience working on geothermal or extractive industry project operations will be considered a distinct advantage.

    All application materials must be submitted in English. Interested candidates can access full project details, including the complete Terms of Reference for the role, via the In-Tend public procurement portal. General queries will be answered between the hours of 8 am and 4 pm, Monday to Friday, with responses issued within three working days of receipt.

    Completed expressions of interest must be submitted exclusively through the In-Tend portal, and must be received no later than Friday, 7 August 2026. All submissions must include the applicant’s full name and contact address, and be clearly marked with the text: “Expression of Interest – Consultancy Services for Environmental Health and Safety Officer (EHSO)” to avoid misclassification.

    After the evaluation process is completed, the candidate assessed as having the strongest technical capabilities and most relevant experience will be invited to enter into contract negotiations with the ministry. The Government of Grenada retains full legal rights to accept or reject any late submissions, to cancel the current call for expressions of interest either partially or in full, and is not obligated to provide any justification for its decision to select or reject any applicant. The government will also not cover any costs incurred by applicants during the preparation and submission of their expressions of interest.

    Submissions are addressed to the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Climate Resilience and Renewable Energy, located at the Ministerial Complex, Sir Eric Matthew Gairy Botanical Gardens, Tanteen, St George’s. The portal can be accessed at https://in-tendhost.co.uk/gnd, and candidates requiring assistance with portal registration can direct queries to [email protected].

  • 100 Days to Go -Antigua and Barbuda Begins Countdown to CHOGM 2026

    100 Days to Go -Antigua and Barbuda Begins Countdown to CHOGM 2026

    As the clock ticks toward one of the Commonwealth’s most high-profile global gatherings, Antigua and Barbuda has officially hit the 100-day milestone ahead of hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), scheduled to run from November 1 to 4 this year. This landmark marker represents a critical turning point in the twin-island nation’s years-long planning process, bringing Antigua and Barbuda one step closer to welcoming senior leaders, official delegations, stakeholder representatives, institutional partners, and international press from all 56 Commonwealth member states for a historic four-day summit.

    For the small Caribbean nation, hosting CHOGM 2026 is far more than an administrative undertaking: it is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shine a global spotlight on its dynamic leadership, rich cultural heritage, world-renowned hospitality, and unwavering dedication to fostering constructive, solution-oriented dialogue on the pressing challenges facing Commonwealth nations. The summit will convene a diverse cross-section of participants, including heads of government, senior state officials, business leaders, youth advocates, civil society organization representatives, and global partnership stakeholders, all coming together to deepen collaborative ties and advance collective action on shared global priorities.

    Honourable E.P. Chet Greene, Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trade and Immigration, who also serves as Chair of the 2026 CHOGM National Taskforce, emphasized that the 100-day marker is a testament to the nation’s consistent commitment to delivering a successful, inclusive summit. “This 100-day milestone opens a critical new chapter in Antigua and Barbuda’s journey to welcoming the Commonwealth family,” Greene stated. “It reflects the dedication, cross-sector collaboration, and whole-of-nation effort that has shaped our preparations from day one. This summit gives us an extraordinary platform to showcase our nation’s leadership, resilience, vibrant culture, and untapped economic and social potential, as we open our shores to the Commonwealth. I encourage every citizen and resident to embrace this historic moment, and recognize the unique role each of us plays in making CHOGM 2026 a resounding success.”

    Karen-Mae Hill, Antigua and Barbuda’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and a sitting member of the Commonwealth Board of Governors, underscored the summit’s central role in reinforcing collaborative ties across the 56-nation bloc. “As a proud, longstanding member of the Commonwealth family, Antigua and Barbuda is deeply honoured to serve as host for CHOGM 2026, and to provide a neutral, inclusive platform for open dialogue, cross-border collaboration, and partnership building among our member states,” Hill explained. “This gathering will bring leaders from every corner of the Commonwealth together to address our shared priorities and reaffirm the shared values that unite our diverse bloc. Now that we have reached this critical milestone, we are ready to welcome the Commonwealth with the warmth, commitment to excellence, and spirit of partnership that have always defined Antigua and Barbuda.”

    Sharifa George, Co-Lead of the Media and Public Affairs Committee for the CHOGM National Taskforce, highlighted the taskforce’s ongoing focus on inclusive public engagement as the final countdown gets underway. “Hitting the 100-day mark officially kicks off the final stretch of preparations for CHOGM 2026,” George noted. “Our core priority right now is ensuring that every citizen and resident understands why this historic event matters for our nation, and that every member of our community feels invested in Antigua and Barbuda’s journey as we prepare to welcome global leaders.”

    This focus on public engagement will remain front and center throughout the remaining countdown period, with the taskforce working to bring up-to-date information, raise awareness, and build excitement for the summit directly into local communities across both islands. To tie into the nation’s beloved cultural calendar, the taskforce will integrate CHOGM 2026 outreach into Antigua’s 2026 Carnival, marketed as the Caribbean’s “Greatest Summer Festival.” During the carnival’s opening parade, interactive public activations will allow organizers to engage both residents and visiting tourists, share key details about the summit, and celebrate Antigua and Barbuda’s historic role as host nation.

    As preparations enter their final phase, the 2026 CHOGM National Taskforce is calling on all citizens and residents to join the countdown, stay updated on summit developments, and take pride in showcasing the very best of Antigua and Barbuda to the global community. Members of the public can access the latest updates, planning announcements, and engagement opportunities via the official CHOGM 2026 website at https://chogm26.gov.ag, and by following official social media channels using the hashtag #ABCHOGM2026 ahead of the November 1–4 summit.