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  • Timroy Titus Wins Caribbean Baking Award for Best All-Buttercream Cake Designer

    Timroy Titus Wins Caribbean Baking Award for Best All-Buttercream Cake Designer

    In a celebratory milestone for Caribbean culinary artistry, Antigua and Barbuda’s own Timroy Titus has cemented his place among the region’s top baking talents, taking home the prestigious title of Best All-Buttercream Cake Designer at the 2024 Caribbean Baking Awards. The St. John’s-based creative, who has built his brand Teez Delights over more than a decade of dedicated practice, shared his gratitude and reflection on the years-long journey that led to this regional recognition.

    Titus opened up about the challenges and small wins that defined his 14-year career in cake design, framing every experience—both positive and difficult—as a building block for his current success. “For over 14 years I’ve followed my passion for the culinary arts. It has been a journey of many disappointments, lessons and growth,” he shared in a post-competition statement. “I am grateful for everyone who has along the way offered encouragement, guidance, support and even negativity. It has all helped to shape the success that I see today.”

    Unlike many judged baking competitions, this award relied in part on public voting to determine the winner, and Titus made sure to center the role of his local and regional fanbase in his victory. He emphasized that the outpouring of voter support was not just a win for him, but a validation of the independent baking brand he has nurtured from the ground up. “For all the dedicated voters, I could not have seized this recognition without you; your votes were testament of your belief in me and the Teez Delights brand. Nuff love and respect for you all,” Titus added.

    Far from viewing this regional award as the capstone of his career, the Antiguan artist says this honor is just the first step in an expanding creative journey. Teasing upcoming projects and new designs that will push his craft further, Titus left supporters with a message of anticipation: “I promise, this is barely the beginning! Look out! There’s much more to come.” The win marks a rare moment of national pride for Antigua and Barbuda’s small but growing community of independent culinary artists, shining a regional spotlight on the island nation’s creative talent.

  • SGES: UNESCO-waarschuwing moet keerpunt zijn voor historische binnenstad

    SGES: UNESCO-waarschuwing moet keerpunt zijn voor historische binnenstad

    One of South America’s most unique colonial urban heritage sites is facing an uncertain future, after UNESCO placed Paramaribo’s historic inner city on its roster of World Heritage in Danger. Suriname’s primary heritage conservation body, the Stichting Gebouwd Erfgoed Suriname (SGES), says the designation, while disappointing, could be the critical catalyst needed to reverse decades of inadequate protection for the iconic site.

    First inscribed on the regular UNESCO World Heritage List in 2002, Paramaribo’s inner city earned its protected status for two defining traits: it retains an almost completely intact 17th-19th century colonial urban planning grid, and it showcases one-of-a-kind traditional wooden architecture that blends European and Caribbean design influences. “When you compare the current street layout to 18th century maps, you’ll find barely any change to the city’s core structure,” SGES acting director Rachel Deekman explained in an interview with Suriname’s Communication Service (CDS) on Friday. “This unbroken continuity is what makes Paramaribo truly one-of-a-kind globally.”

    That irreplaceable outstanding universal value, however, has come under growing threat in recent years. The endangered listing was not an unexpected decision, Deekman emphasized. It followed a years-long process during which UNESCO repeatedly issued formal recommendations to address risks to the heritage site, few of which were implemented by local authorities and stakeholders. If damage to the site’s historic character continues unchecked, Deekman warned, Paramaribo faces the ultimate consequence of losing its UNESCO World Heritage status entirely.

    Two key threats top the list of concerns flagged by UNESCO and SGES. First is unregulated development that overruns restrictions on building height within the protected historic zone. UNESCO does not oppose progress or modernization, Deekman noted, but it requires all new construction to align with the low-rise character that defines Paramaribo’s historic cityscape. For generations, Paramaribo developed as a low-density city with no tall buildings – a signature trait that new projects have repeatedly violated in recent years. “UNESCO repeatedly called for changes to proposed designs and height limits for these developments, but those recommendations were never followed,” Deekman said.

    The second major threat is fire risk. Paramaribo’s historic wooden architecture has always been vulnerable to blaze, a lesson reinforced by two catastrophic city-wide fires in 1821 and 1832, and a major fire just last year that destroyed multiple historic structures. Every lost monument further erodes the site’s unique global value, Deekman added.

    Despite the disappointing turn of events that led to the endangered designation, SGES remains optimistic that the international wake-up call will prove to be a turning point. “It is regrettable that matters had to progress to this point, but we hope this designation will act as a much-needed stimulus to finally implement all required conservation measures,” Deekman said. The heritage foundation is calling for coordinated action from the national government, private property owners, and other relevant stakeholders to heed UNESCO’s warning, collaborate on addressing the identified threats, and preserve Paramaribo’s irreplaceable historic inner city for future generations.

  • Zapping Haiti of August 1st, 2026

    Zapping Haiti of August 1st, 2026

    In a series of interconnected developments unfolding across Haiti in the final days of July 2026, multiple events spanning security, politics, infrastructure, sports, and diaspora engagement have reshaped the country’s current landscape.

    The most urgent development came on July 31, when heavily armed assailants intercepted a vehicle carrying two South Korean citizens in the Delmas 32 neighborhood, close to Port-au-Prince’s La Paix Hospital. The attackers abducted the two foreign nationals, and a police officer assigned to the pair’s security detail was shot during an attempted resistance against the kidnappers. No further details on the abductees’ status or demands from the perpetrators have been released as of the first of August.

    In a move to strengthen ties with Haiti’s large global diaspora community, J.E. Kathia Verdier, Haiti’s Minister of Haitians Living Abroad (MHAVE), announced the official launch of the ministry’s new mobile platform, MHAVE Connect, on both the Apple App Store and Google Play on July 31. Verdier confirmed that officials are working to quickly roll out full functionality for the app, which allows Haitians residing outside the country to register their information, share updates directly with the ministry, and maintain consistent connection to home government resources regardless of their global location. The platform is expected to build a comprehensive, multi-use database that will serve government operations at every administrative level.

    In Haitian sports, the hunt for a new head coach of the country’s national men’s football team, the Grenadiers, has drawn widespread interest, according to insiders. Carlo Marcelin, a former secretary general of the Haitian Football Federation (FHF) and current member of the National Technical Directorate, revealed in an interview with a Port-au-Prince radio station that more than 30 qualified coaching candidates have submitted applications to fill the position left vacant by outgoing coach Sébastien Migné. Marcelin noted that the large volume of strong applications is the primary reason the FHF has taken an extended period to review candidates and name a permanent replacement.

    A key infrastructure development hit a pause this week, as French authorities announced the suspension of funding for the reconstruction of Haiti’s State University Hospital (HUEH). French Ambassador to Haiti Antoine Michon confirmed the decision during a public press briefing on July 30, adding that the French government has not permanently closed the door to future support. Michon stated that funding could be restored at a later date if Haitian government officials formally request the resumption of support for the critical public health project.

    On the political front, Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé traveled to Haiti’s northern coast this week for an official visit to Cap-Haïtien City Hall, where he held talks with Mayor Michel Saint-Croix and deputy mayors Edeline Jean and Micardo Vreus. The productive, cordial meeting centered on ongoing infrastructure and development projects across the North Department, as well as long-term growth prospects for the region. Participants also prioritized discussion on strengthening cross-level institutional coordination, stabilizing local security, and fostering peaceful collaboration between national and municipal governments. These steps are viewed as critical to creating the conditions required for holding upcoming elections that are credible, inclusive, and free of violence.

    In a departure that has drawn political attention, former Haitian president Michel Joseph Martelly left the country on July 30 aboard a commercial Sunrise Airways flight bound for Florida, U.S. No official statement has been released by Martelly or his representatives regarding the purpose or duration of his stay outside Haiti.

  • Finabank eerste commerciële bank in NOB/IDB-programma voor extra financiering MKB

    Finabank eerste commerciële bank in NOB/IDB-programma voor extra financiering MKB

    On Friday, Suriname’s Nationale Ontwikkelingsbank (NOB) and local commercial lender Finabank marked a historic milestone in the country’s small and medium enterprise (SME) development landscape, signing the first ever second-tier loan agreement under a joint financing initiative between NOB and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). This agreement makes Finabank the first commercial financial institution in Suriname to gain access to additional credit earmarked specifically for supporting SME investments.

    The partnership forms a core component of the IDB’s $SU-L1069 program, officially titled the Financing Program for Productive and Sustainable Development in Suriname. Under the program’s structure, the IDB has extended a core loan to the government of Suriname, with NOB tapped as the implementing body responsible for on-lending funds to local commercial partners. Through the newly signed agreement, Finabank will gain access to a pool of additional capital, which it will then disburse as tailored loans to local SME owners across the country.

    The allocated funds are targeted at high-impact investment priorities: business expansion, operational innovation, transitions to more sustainable business models, and new job creation. Stakeholders across all partnering institutions have emphasized that this first agreement represents a critical step forward in strengthening financing access for Suriname’s entire business community.

    Under the program’s unique second-tier lending model, NOB acts as an intermediary: it receives the core funding from the IDB-backed initiative, then passes these resources on to participating commercial banks like Finabank, which in turn handle direct lending to SME entrepreneurs. This structure is specifically designed to address longstanding gaps in credit access for small and medium-sized businesses, enabling more enterprises to pursue growth-oriented and sustainable development investments.

    A defining feature of the broader program is its explicit focus on advancing inclusive economic growth. Special provisions have been built in to prioritize lending to underrepresented entrepreneur groups, including women-led businesses, organic agricultural operations, and enterprises owned by or serving Maroon and Indigenous communities. NOB officials noted that the program is intentionally structured to better support entrepreneurs who have historically faced systemic barriers to accessing affordable credit, helping them expand operations and strengthen their economic standing.

    Beyond expanding credit flow to SMEs, the initiative also aims to drive long-term development of Suriname’s domestic financial sector. Participating financial institutions receive support to expand and deepen their credit portfolios, equipping them to play a larger role in funding productive, growth-generating investments across the national economy.

    With its established expertise and leading position in corporate lending, NOB identifies Finabank as a key strategic partner for rolling out the program across the country. The collaboration between the public development bank and the private commercial lender is expected to help build a financing framework that is far more aligned with the actual needs of Suriname’s entrepreneurs. According to NOB leadership, the signing of this first agreement marks a significant milestone toward building a more robust business climate and advancing inclusive, sustainable economic growth across Suriname.

  • UNDP and UEH sign an agreement to strengthen the psychosocial well-being of displaced persons

    UNDP and UEH sign an agreement to strengthen the psychosocial well-being of displaced persons

    Against a backdrop of surging armed violence that has displaced hundreds of thousands of Haitians and left deep trauma across affected communities, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Haiti’s State University (UEH) formalized a new partnership on July 31, 2026, to expand critical mental health and psychosocial support for displaced people and host communities in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area. The two institutions signed a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to launch the initiative, which operates under the umbrella of the South Korea-funded Rekonekte project.

    Decades of escalating gang violence in Haiti has turned everyday life upside down for millions of residents, forcing more than 300,000 people to abandon their homes to seek safety in displacement camps or informal host communities across the Port-au-Prince region. While international attention has often focused on addressing immediate material needs like food, shelter, and medical care, leaders from both institutions note that unaddressed psychosocial trauma from violence and forced displacement has emerged as a silent crisis affecting all demographics, from young children to older adults.

    Under the terms of the new partnership, UEH will leverage its decades of academic expertise in psychology, social work, and community engagement to design and deliver locally rooted support services, while also building long-term national capacity for mental health care across the country. Ronald Jean-Jacques, the initiative’s coordinator at UEH, outlined the project’s scope during a virtual presentation, explaining that all programming will follow a evidence-based protocol already tested and proven effective by UEH teams across Haiti. Services will be delivered by a trained team of psychologists, social workers, and on-the-ground field supervisors, with direct outreach to displacement camps in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area.

    Jean-Jacques emphasized that the project’s core mission goes beyond traditional clinical care: it aims to create safe, welcoming spaces where displaced people can process their trauma, rebuild a sense of self-worth, and kickstart personal and collective healing. Programming will take diverse, accessible forms to meet communities where they are, including peer discussion groups, targeted trauma rehabilitation sessions, creative sociocultural activities that leverage storytelling, art, music, dance, and nature connection, all designed to help survivors understand their trauma and build practical coping skills for long-term mental well-being. “When we went into the field, the people clearly shared their needs with us,” Jean-Jacques said. “Beyond material assistance, they expressed the urgent need for psychosocial support to cope with the trauma caused by violence and forced displacement.”

    Xavier Michon, UNDP’s Resident Representative in Haiti, framed the partnership as a deliberate rejection of fatalism about Haiti’s crisis, rooted in the organization’s core belief that progress is possible even amid unprecedented challenges. “We refuse to accept this as inevitable. We refuse to believe that there is no way out for Haiti. We are convinced that, despite the challenges, it is possible to move forward,” Michon said.

    He also highlighted the unique dual value of the university-led partnership: the model gives emerging psychology students at UEH the chance to gain hands-on field experience serving their own communities, while building a sustainable local workforce for future mental health programming. For UNDP, the initiative will also serve as a critical learning opportunity to inform larger-scale recovery and reintegration programs for violence-affected populations across Haiti. Michon stressed that the project is just a first, vital step rather than a full solution to Haiti’s overlapping crises, noting “It is only a beginning, but it is an important one. We will dedicate our full commitment to it as an organization, and I know that we will do it together.”

    UEH Rector Dieuseul Prédélus reaffirmed the university’s longstanding commitment to placing academic expertise and research at the service of Haiti’s most pressing national development challenges. He extended gratitude to partners including the Haitian Psychological Association, UEH’s Faculty of Ethnology, Faculty of Humanities, and all university staff who continue to deliver public-facing programming under extremely difficult security and operational conditions. Through this new partnership, Prédélus noted, UEH is reaffirming its mission to connect science, education, and community service to support Haitian people amid ongoing crisis.

  • Chief Drug Inspector Alfred Athill Participates in Global Regulatory Summit

    Chief Drug Inspector Alfred Athill Participates in Global Regulatory Summit

    The global landscape of pharmaceutical regulation is shifting rapidly as new treatments, drug manufacturing supply chains, and public health threats continue to emerge. Against this backdrop, one of the leading voices in drug safety oversight has joined a high-profile gathering of regulators from around the world. Chief Drug Inspector Alfred Athill is among the hundreds of senior regulatory officials, pharmaceutical industry leaders, and public health experts gathered for the annual Global Regulatory Summit, a landmark event focused on aligning standards and strengthening cross-border cooperation to protect global public health.

    The summit comes at a critical juncture for drug regulation worldwide. In recent years, the rapid expansion of generic drug manufacturing, the rise of novel biologic therapies, and ongoing challenges related to counterfeit medications entering global supply chains have highlighted gaps in international coordination. Regulators have also been grappling with how to speed up the approval process for life-saving new treatments without compromising safety standards, a debate that gained urgency during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

    Athill, who brings decades of experience in drug safety inspection and regulatory enforcement to his role, is expected to lead a working group focused on improving shared inspection protocols across major drug manufacturing hubs. His participation underscores the commitment of his home regulatory body to fostering international collaboration, as even the most robust national regulatory systems cannot address cross-border challenges alone. Attendees at the summit will also discuss emerging topics including the regulation of cannabis-derived medical products, gene therapies, and the impact of artificial intelligence on drug development and safety monitoring.

    Participants in the summit note that coordinated global action on drug regulation not only improves public safety but also facilitates timely access to high-quality medications for patients in every region, from low-income nations to the world’s largest developed economies. The event is scheduled to run for three days, with attendees set to issue a joint statement outlining shared priorities and collaborative action plans by the closing ceremony.

  • Insecurity : A true national tragedy

    Insecurity : A true national tragedy

    Six months of relentless violence across Haiti has left the nation grappling with what human rights advocates are calling a full-blown national tragedy, with new casualty data laying bare the catastrophic scale of the country’s ongoing insecurity crisis. The Order of Human Rights Defenders (ORDEDH) published the grim findings in an official press release, compiling statistics collected between January 1 and June 30, 2026 that confirm at least 1,305 people have been killed in violent incidents across the country in that window.

    This figure translates to an average of nearly 218 violent deaths per month, or more than seven people killed every day, a death toll that human rights defenders describe as morally and socially unbearable. ORDEDH’s records also document 408 major security incidents across the six-month period. While violent unrest has penetrated every region of Haiti, the organization notes that two departments are bearing the brunt of the terror: the West Department and the Artibonite Department, where daily life has been brought to a standstill by pervasive insecurity.

    In response to the escalating crisis, ORDEDH has put forward urgent structural demands to address the failure of current security governance. The group is calling for the immediate establishment of a special restructuring commission for the Haitian National Police (PNH), to replace the existing acting Director General. This proposed independent body would be tasked with hearing the concerns of rank-and-file police officers, addressing their legitimate grievances and workplace complaints, while also responding to public criticism and expectations for improved police performance.

    ORDEDH emphasizes that the PNH cannot reverse the crisis on its own. To deliver tangible security improvements and rebuild public trust, the organization says coordinated collaboration must be rapidly established between the PNH, the Armed Forces of Haiti, and the FRG (Gendarmerie Reform Force). Only through aligned strategy, combined operational capacity and shared tactical intelligence, the group argues, can Haitian authorities reclaim control of territory from armed groups.

    The spiraling crisis has unfolded under the 20-month tenure of de facto Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, who took office with a core mandate to restore domestic peace and organize long-delayed general elections. Last week, Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council released an official electoral timeline scheduling the first round of voting for December 13, 2026. But ORDEDH and observers agree that no free, fair, or even logistically feasible election can be held if the government does not urgently restore basic security and guarantee the right to life across Haiti before voting begins.

  • AFC recommends captains refuse to operate ferries if faulty

    AFC recommends captains refuse to operate ferries if faulty

    ### Updated: Friday, 31 July 2026, 21:25 By Denis Chabrol

    Weeks after the fatal July 19 capsizing of the MV Barima killed more than 100 passengers and crew off Guyana’s coast, political opposition and civil society activists escalated public pressure on the Guyanese government during a 100-person protest outside the Office of the President on Friday. The demonstration centers on demands for full accountability, immediate salvage of the sunken vessel, and broader safety reforms for the country’s state-operated ferry network.

    Addressing protesters from the picket line, David Patterson, leader of the opposition Alliance For Change (AFC), issued a direct warning to captains and senior crew of all ferries run by the state’s Transport and Harbours Department (T&HD): refuse to sail any vessel that you deem unfit for service. He reminded crews that three of their colleagues already face unprecedented murder charges over the MV Barima disaster, a stark departure from the negligence charges that typically follow maritime accidents.

    The three charged crew members—40-year-old captain Kevin “KP” Price from Melanie Damishana, 42-year-old chief mate Rondell Dwayne Roberts from Grove Public Road, and 33-year-old goods superintendent Delon Granderson from Fellowship—all face the same severe criminal charges. Patterson stressed that captains who choose to operate a known defective vessel put themselves at equal legal risk. “If you take a boat that you know is defective, sail it, and a tragedy happens, authorities will frame the incident as if you intentionally meant to harm people,” he said. “You won’t just face negligence charges—you’ll be charged with murder, just like your three colleagues.”

    Beyond his warning, Patterson shared practical guidance for ferry crews to protect themselves: formally document all safety concerns about vessel conditions in writing to senior officials, including the Minister of Public Works, and require all orders to sail in unsafe conditions to be provided in writing. “If something goes wrong, you will have clear proof that you followed official instructions,” he explained. Holding a protest placard reading “Salvage MV Barima”, Patterson also revealed he has already been in contact with a marine salvage firm based in the United Kingdom, which has outlined a salvage plan that would cost far less than the Guyana government’s current US$8 million estimated price tag.

    Patterson also pushed back against any suggestions that political leadership had previously pressured crews to cut safety corners, noting that when he served as Minister of Public Infrastructure, he never ordered any captain to overrule their own safety concerns or force vessels to carry excess cargo beyond safe limits.

    The call for salvage has gained broad support across Guyanese civil society, including from prominent Guyanese international environmental activist Janet Bulkan, who joined Friday’s protest. Bulkan emphasized that the sunken ferry itself is critical evidence for the ongoing investigation, calling it the “murder weapon” at the center of the criminal case against the three crew members. “If authorities are pressing murder charges against these men, we need the vessel raised to get the full truth,” she told Demerara Waves Online News. She added that recovering the ferry would also give closure to the families of the over 100 victims, allowing them to bury their loved ones properly. Bulkan also noted that the investigation must follow the formal requirements laid out in Guyana’s Shipping Act and the international Safety Of Life At Sea (SOLAS) Convention.

    In response to recent comments from Prime Minister Mark Phillips that the government would only salvage the vessel if victim families request it, Bulkan pushed back, arguing that such a major decision should not be left solely to grieving families. Instead, she said, it should be made by a multi-stakeholder group including investigators, legal representatives, civil society leaders and family advocates.

    One young protester at Friday’s demonstration carried a placard calling for the resignation of Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, and defended that demand in an interview. “The Ministry of Public Works has a legal and moral responsibility to provide safe, reliable public transportation for every Guyanese citizen,” she said. “Over 100 people died simply trying to travel to their destinations. This is the result of gross negligence, incompetence and complacency. If Minister Edghill truly considers himself an honorable person, the only honorable step he can take right now is to resign.”

    In response to growing public outcry, President Irfaan Ali has approved a formal Commission of Inquiry to conduct a full, wide-ranging probe into the MV Barima tragedy. On Friday, Ali appointed three experts to lead the inquiry’s review of maritime safety compliance: Dr. Ivor English, former Director-General of the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD); Colonel Julius Skeete of the Guyana Defense Force; and Captain Joseph Lewis, a veteran marine officer and ship surveyor. The commission’s mandate includes examining whether existing maritime safety rules were followed, and making actionable recommendations to strengthen regulatory oversight, improve enforcement, and bring Guyana’s vessel operations, operator protocols and regulatory systems up to the highest achievable international standards for safety and accountability.

  • PM Blames Red Tape for Defense Ministry Payments

    PM Blames Red Tape for Defense Ministry Payments

    In a press briefing aired on the evening of July 31, 2026, Belizean Prime Minister John Briceño pushed back against growing scrutiny over a series of controversial low-value payments issued by the nation’s Ministry of Defense to third-party suppliers. Each of the processed payments was intentionally set just below the $10,000 threshold that triggers formal, multi-agency procurement oversight, a pattern that critics have slammed as a deliberate effort to bypass standard regulatory checks.

    Briceño has rejected these allegations, framing the repeated use of sub-threshold transactions not as an attempt to avoid accountability, but as a necessary emergency measure to keep the Belize Defense Force (BDF) supplied with critical daily provisions including food. According to the prime minister, lengthy processing delays from two oversight bodies — the Office of the Contractor General and the Ministry of Finance — left defense officials with no other option to meet urgent operational needs.

    Addressing claims that the practice constitutes circumvention of official procurement rules, Briceño clarified that the Ministry of Defense had followed all required preliminary steps for formal contracting: department leadership submitted bid recommendations to the relevant oversight agencies 13 times in pursuit of full regulatory approval, and the prime minister acknowledged that the Contractor General’s office had extended consistent cooperative support throughout the process. The bottleneck, he argues, emerged at the Ministry of Finance, which took an excessive amount of time to issue formal responses to pending requests.

    With the BDF requiring daily food supplies to maintain operations, defense officials turned to repeated sub-$10,000 transactions as a stopgap solution, Briceño explained. He noted that the practice of using sub-threshold payments for urgent provisions is not a new scheme, but a long-standing operational workaround that has continued into 2026. When pressed on whether the arrangement violates formal procurement protocols, Briceño acknowledged that systemic gaps have created the current predicament, arguing that blame for the broken process is shared across multiple government agencies. He emphasized that the priority moving forward is not to point fingers, but to redesign the approval system to deliver greater speed and efficiency without sacrificing oversight.

    Briceño added that any questions about the specific vendors selected for the contracts fall within the remit of the Contractor General’s office, and that his own intervention was only to clarify the operational context that led to the repeated use of sub-threshold payments. This report is a transcribed adaptation of an evening television news broadcast.

  • PM Downplays CabSec Leslie’s Link to Defense Supplier

    PM Downplays CabSec Leslie’s Link to Defense Supplier

    A brewing controversy over undisclosed ties between Belize’s top civil service official and a defense ministry contractor has put the country’s highest office under growing pressure for stricter transparency rules, following comments from Prime Minister John Briceño that frame the unreported connection as a minor learning misstep rather than a serious breach of ethics.

    The controversy centers on Stuart Leslie, Cabinet Secretary — the highest-ranking non-elected official in the national government — who held an unreported directorship at RSL Group Limited, a firm that secured supply contracts with the Ministry of National Defense. When pressed by reporters on the unfolding story July 31, 2026, Briceño told journalists he had no prior knowledge of Leslie’s role at the firm.

    When reporters asked if the arrangement amounted to self-dealing, a clear violation of government conflict of interest rules, Briceño pushed back on the characterization, saying Leslie had only taken on the director role to assist a family friend. Briceño added that Leslie himself has acknowledged the decision was poorly thought out, telling the prime minister in hindsight he would have declined the position.

    Leslie has also strenuously denied ever lobbying or pressuring defense ministry officials to secure contracts or special treatment for RSL Group, Briceño said. Records show all payments to the firm from the defense ministry came in at amounts below $10,000, and the company accounted for only a tiny fraction of the ministry’s total supply spending. There is no evidence to date that the firm received preferential treatment in the bidding process, Briceño argued.

    “Sometimes we don’t think things through and then you look back and say shux, I could have done it better, different. So, it is a learning process for everybody,” Briceño told reporters, adding that he could not recall the full scope of goods RSL Group supplied beyond condiments.

    Despite Briceño’s effort to frame the incident as an innocent oversight, the prime minister’s response has already opened new lines of questioning about conflict of interest disclosure rules, government oversight, and how potential ethical violations are handled among the most senior members of the administration. Good governance advocates have already called for a formal review of existing disclosure requirements to prevent similar unreported connections from going undetected in the future.