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  • WATCH: KSAMC to fix sewage, streetlight problems on Beckford Street

    WATCH: KSAMC to fix sewage, streetlight problems on Beckford Street

    In downtown Kingston, Jamaica’s busiest commercial hub, a long-standing public infrastructure crisis on Beckford Street is finally drawing coordinated action from local authorities. Mayor Andrew Swaby, head of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC), has announced a multi-phase strategy to address persistent sewage problems that have disrupted daily commerce and quality of life for vendors and visitors alike.

    On Sunday, joint teams from KSAMC launched on-site clean-up operations, with technical representatives from Jamaica’s National Water Commission (NWC) and Jamaica Public Service (JPS) joining the effort to conduct full infrastructure assessments of the affected area. In an interview following the clean-up, Swaby acknowledged the growing frustration among local street vendors, who have borne the brunt of unsanitary conditions for months.

    He emphasized that while the municipal corporation is working to deliver immediate relief to vendors within the constraints of current resources and space, the broader sewage issue affects the entire downtown Kingston district. Permanent resolution will depend on the national government’s upcoming rollout of a comprehensive downtown infrastructure master plan, which will address systemic root causes of the problem.

    Beyond sewage remediation, the initiative targets other pressing public space concerns on Beckford Street. Swaby confirmed that JPS technical crews will return to the district this week to fix long-standing broken street lighting that has left the area unsafe after dark. The municipal authority is also moving to restore public order and improve accessibility, asking vendors to strictly operate within their legally allocated vending zones to keep roadways clear.

    Swaby stressed that unobstructed access is a critical public safety issue. Emergency services including police and fire departments require unimpeded access to the area at all times in case of accidents or incidents, a need that has been repeatedly blocked by unauthorized vending structures and tarpaulins set up in the middle of the roadway. “Our core goal right now is to reestablish orderly, safe public use of Beckford Street,” he explained.

    Local vendors have largely welcomed the intervention. Keisha, a street vendor who has operated her business on Beckford Street for more than 25 years, said the clean-up campaign addresses long-held concerns among local business owners. Many vendors had worried they would be displaced during infrastructure work, but the campaign has clarified that the current effort is a pre-Labour Day clean-up rather than a permanent displacement. “We’ve wanted this area to be clean for a long time, and we’re happy to see progress happening,” she noted.

  • Commissioner urges Jamaicans to de-escalate conflicts amid violent encounters

    Commissioner urges Jamaicans to de-escalate conflicts amid violent encounters

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — As violent clashes continue to claim lives across the island nation, Jamaica’s top law enforcement leader is pushing for collective action from citizens, while doubling down on the police force’s official commitment to reducing tension during public interactions. In his weekly address published as a newspaper column, Police Commissioner Dr. Kevin Blake sounded the alarm over a recent string of fatal violent incidents that have shaken communities across the country.

    “Unfortunately, we continue to see a number of violent confrontations where some have resulted in lives being lost,” Blake shared in the column, opening with a candid reflection on the current state of violent encounters between police, criminals and members of the public. The commissioner made explicit that the core mission of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) in every interaction with the public, particularly high-stakes confrontations, is to defuse tension before it escalates into harm.

    “Our main objective in any confrontation involving ourselves and the public is to de-escalate,” he emphasized. Beyond outlining the force’s internal protocols, Blake extended a urgent public appeal to all law-abiding Jamaicans to take shared responsibility for preventing unnecessary deaths. He asked residents to join law enforcement in urging the violent offenders that officers target on a daily basis to avoid resorting to deadly force during encounters with police.

    Blake stressed that fatal outcomes are never the intended goal of JCF operations, pushing back against any narrative that frames lethal shootings as an acceptable end to police work. “Fatal shootings do not benefit anyone. It is never a desired end state,” he added. The commissioner also highlighted that internal discipline within the force is a non-negotiable pillar of the JCF’s approach, noting that every serving officer is required to operate within the force’s established operating guidelines at all times.

    “In addition to our obligation under the use of force policy, I expect every single member to exercise discipline of self,” Blake said. For the JCF, centering de-escalation tactics, professional conduct, and unwavering adherence to the rule of law remains central to its broader strategy to cut down on violent crime and protect both citizens and officers across Jamaica.

  • The law relating to changing a woman’s name

    The law relating to changing a woman’s name

    A soon-to-be-married woman in Jamaica recently reached out to prominent Jamaican women’s rights advocate and senior attorney Margarette May Macaulay with a pressing legal question, sparked by conflicting guidance from her wedding officiant and her married boss. The woman explained that her boss, who recently wed, had chosen to combine her maiden name with her husband’s surname without using a hyphen – a choice that let her avoid the hassle of reissuing all her official identity documents, from driver’s licenses and passports to tax registration numbers. Eager to follow this same path ahead of her own wedding, the woman hit an unexpected roadblock when her counsellor, who also serves as the pastor officiating her marriage, insisted that combining two last names without a hyphen is not legally recognized in Jamaica, and refused to accommodate her stated wish.

    In a clear, authoritative response published for the public, Macaulay immediately debunked the pastor’s claim as entirely incorrect. Under Jamaican law, which follows common law principles that remain unchanged by national legislation on this issue, Macaulay confirmed that every woman marrying in Jamaica holds full, exclusive legal right to choose how she structures her surname after marriage. This includes four fully valid options: retaining only her original maiden name, adopting solely her husband’s surname, adding her husband’s surname to her own with a hyphen, or adding the husband’s surname without a hyphen. All of these choices are equally legally binding, the attorney emphasized.

    Macaulay further clarified that the long-standing social tradition of women automatically adopting their husband’s full surname was never a legal requirement. Instead, it was a cultural norm rooted in historical systems that suppressed the rights of married women, a practice that has been rendered obsolete as fundamental human rights principles have become the global and national standard. Nowhere in Jamaica’s Marriage Act is there any mandate requiring a married woman to change her surname at all, nor any rule that forces women to hyphenate combined surnames. The question of what name a woman uses for her legal identity after marriage is solely her decision, Macaulay stressed, and all public and private institutions – from government agencies to schools, hospitals, and commercial entities – are legally required to honor that choice. Any person or organization that denies a woman this right is acting unlawfully, violating her fundamental legal autonomy.

    For women who have already been forced into an unwanted surname arrangement due to similar misinformation, Macaulay outlined a clear remedy: the woman can legally adjust her name through a deed poll process. If the pastor’s incorrect legal guidance led to this unnecessary extra step, Macaulay noted, the pastor who spread the wrong information is responsible for covering all associated costs, including the deed poll fee and any charges for updating identity documents.

    Macaulay closed by emphasizing that this legal right extends to all women, whether they are about to marry or have been married for years. No individual, regardless of their social standing or professional authority, has the right to dictate a woman’s choice of surname. Once a woman begins using the combined or single surname she selected immediately after her wedding, that becomes her legal identity for life, unless she chooses to make a further change down the line. She also urged the woman to share this clarification with her pastor, to prevent him from spreading misinformation and violating the rights of other future brides in the future.

    This response was published via the All Woman advice column of the Jamaica Observer, where Macaulay answers public legal questions focused on women’s rights. Macaulay, a veteran attorney, is also a Supreme Court mediator, notary public, and longstanding advocate for women’s and children’s rights in Jamaica.

  • Department Of Correctional Services 50th Anniversary | 50Yrs of Excellence In Securing, Rehabilitating and Reintegrating Lives for a Safer Jamaica

    Department Of Correctional Services 50th Anniversary | 50Yrs of Excellence In Securing, Rehabilitating and Reintegrating Lives for a Safer Jamaica

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  • Drug kingpin ‘El Chapo’ requests transfer from US to Mexico

    Drug kingpin ‘El Chapo’ requests transfer from US to Mexico

    Court documents made public this week have revealed that notorious Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is formally asking U.S. judicial authorities to move him from a U.S. correctional facility back to his home country to serve out the remainder of his life sentence, which he has described as excessively harsh punishment.

    Guzman, once the leader of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, was extradited to the United States in 2017 following two high-profile escapes from Mexican maximum-security prisons. He was ultimately convicted on a sweeping array of charges including transnational drug trafficking and large-scale money laundering, and is currently serving his life term at the supermax ADX Florence facility in Colorado, one of the most secure correctional institutions in the U.S.

    Agence France-Presse obtained three separate handwritten letters penned by Guzman, all of which were officially filed with U.S. courts on Monday. In one of the documents, written in English, Guzman stated that his correspondence raised points about unproven critical evidence used to secure his conviction. The letter, addressed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, asks authorities to acknowledge his right to be transferred back to his native country. Guzman did not explicitly clarify that his request is to complete his sentence in a Mexican prison, but the implication of the appeal is clear.

    In a second letter dated April 20, Guzman alleged that his repeated formal requests for access to court documents tied to his conviction have been ignored by authorities. He added that even the documents themselves would not justify what he calls his “cruel punishment”, claiming that the guilty verdict handed down in his 2019 trial was fundamentally unfair. Guzman also noted that he has waited three years for a ruling on his appeal, and invoked legal protections laid out in the First through Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution to support his claims.

    This latest round of public complaints is not the first time Guzman has pushed back against his treatment in U.S. custody. Past letters released from prison have repeatedly raised grievances about extreme social isolation, inadequate conditions in his cell, and severely restricted access to family visits from his loved ones.

  • Strong, stretched but still standing

    Strong, stretched but still standing

    Every May, communities around the world observe Mental Health Awareness Month, an annual initiative designed to break down long-held stigma around psychological distress, expand public understanding of emotional wellbeing, and motivate people of all backgrounds to prioritize their mental health. This year, clinical experts are turning focused attention to the distinct, overlapping pressures that disproportionately impact women’s mental health – pressures forged by biological shifts, deeply ingrained social expectations, and the unbalanced distribution of domestic and emotional labor across most households.

    Angela Dacres, a licensed mental health counselor, explains that the challenges women face often cut across every domain of daily life, intersecting in complex ways that make consistent emotional wellbeing harder to maintain. For this reason, she argues, intentional awareness and targeted action during Mental Health Awareness Month are especially critical for women navigating these overlapping stressors.

    Unlike many other demographic groups, women’s mental health is tightly intertwined with lifelong hormonal and physical changes that can trigger dramatic shifts in emotional state. From the premenstrual mood fluctuations many face each cycle to the dramatic biological upheaval of pregnancy, postpartum recovery, and menopause, these physiological shifts create consistent emotional vulnerability that is still widely overlooked by both the public and many healthcare providers. Conditions like postpartum depression, for example, are a widespread and serious public health issue, yet they remain widely misunderstood, downplayed, or misdiagnosed, leaving millions of women without the support they need.

    Compounding these biological challenges are unforgiving social norms that demand women maintain high levels of productivity even when they are struggling with physical fatigue, chronic pain, or intense emotional strain. This constant pressure to perform often leads to burnout before many women even recognize they are experiencing distress. Systemic and cultural barriers only make this worse: limited access to affordable mental healthcare, persistent cultural stigma around seeking help for psychological issues, and a widespread lack of structural support leave many women unable to reach out for care even when they recognize they need it.

    One of the most underrecognized contributors to poor mental health among women is the unequal distribution of invisible emotional labor within family units. In the vast majority of households, women still serve as the primary caregivers for children, elderly relatives, and partners, taking on not just physical household tasks but also the full responsibility for managing every family member’s emotional needs. This uncompensated, unseen work – from remembering every family member’s schedule and medical appointments to mediating conflicts between relatives to maintaining the emotional stability of the home – is consistently draining and rarely acknowledged by other household members or society at large. Over time, the constant weight of this responsibility, paired with little to no time left for personal rest or self-care, often leads to chronic stress, clinical anxiety, and a persistent feeling of being overwhelmed.

    Romantic and personal partnerships add another layer of emotional pressure for many women. Social norms often push women into unequal dynamics that require them to take on most of the work of relationship communication, manage a partner’s emotional needs, and balance the expectation of independence with the pressure to prioritize a partner’s goals over their own. This widespread social pressure to put others’ needs before their own leads many women to suppress their own emotions and leave their core emotional needs unmet for years. In more extreme cases, when relationships are marked by conflict or a total lack of mutual support, this persistent imbalance can cause long-term damage to both mental health and self-esteem.

    For women who are parents, the pressure is amplified even further by the pervasive cultural myth of the “perfect mother” that is constantly reinforced through social media and popular culture. Women are bombarded with unrealistic standards for what it means to be a “good mom,” leading to widespread feelings of guilt, crippling self-doubt, and constant unhealthy comparisons to other women. Juggling the demands of parenting with paid work, personal career goals, and maintaining a romantic partnership often feels unmanageable, and without adequate structural or familial support, many mothers end up experiencing chronic emotional exhaustion and social isolation.

    Despite the scope of these challenges, Dacres emphasizes that Mental Health Awareness Month offers a critical, accessible opportunity for women to pause, reflect on their current state, reset their routines, and take intentional action to improve their long-term wellbeing. Meaningful action does not require dramatic overhauls of daily life, she notes: simple, consistent steps can make a profound difference over time. These steps include setting clear boundaries to protect personal time and energy, reaching out for licensed professional support when distress persists, and building intentional support networks with friends, family members, or local community groups who can step in during difficult times.

    Dacres adds that this month is also an ideal time for women to prioritize realistic, guilt-free self-care that fits their individual schedules and needs. Whether that means prioritizing extra rest, adding regular low-impact movement to a routine, keeping a mood journal to process emotions, or simply taking small daily breaks without feeling guilty for putting their needs first, every small action counts. Educating oneself on common signs of chronic stress and burnout can also help women catch distress early before it develops into more serious mental health conditions.

    Ultimately, Dacres explains, the goal of engaging with Mental Health Awareness Month as a woman is not to make dramatic, unsustainable changes to one’s life. It is to build consistent, small habits that support long-term emotional wellbeing. By openly acknowledging the unique challenges women face and taking intentional steps to address them, women can turn this annual awareness month into an opportunity to not just cope with daily stress, but to build lasting emotional resilience and create a healthier, more sustainable balance across all areas of their lives.

  • Willie Stewart’s ‘Have a Little Faith’ tops South Florida Reggae Chart

    Willie Stewart’s ‘Have a Little Faith’ tops South Florida Reggae Chart

    An all-star reggae collaboration born from a desire to honor disaster resilience has claimed the number one position on one of South Florida’s most prominent reggae rankings, marking a heartfelt win for humanitarian art amid ongoing recovery efforts.

    *Have A Little Faith*, the brainchild of former Third World drummer Willie Stewart and a collective of renowned Jamaican and Caribbean musicians, has reached the peak of the South Florida Top 25 Reggae Chart after making its initial chart entry back in February. The track, which assembled a roster of iconic and emerging talent including Leroy Sibbles, Carlene Davis, J C Lodge, Gem Myers, Dwisdom, Glen Washington, Wayne Armond, Alecia Marie, Carl McDonald, and Patrick Ulysees Pinkney, is far more than a commercial release—it is a tribute to the strength of Jamaican communities in the wake of devastating natural disaster.

    The song traces its origins to October of last year, when Hurricane Melissa tore through southwestern Jamaica, leaving widespread destruction across multiple parishes. At the time, Stewart and his family were watching the recovery unfold from their home in South Florida. Struck by the unyielding courage of Jamaican people navigating the crisis, he began crafting the track as a love letter to their resilience.

    “Three days after the hurricane, inspired by the outpouring of humanitarian aid and my wife’s suggestion, I realised I could contribute to the recovery effort by writing a song,” Stewart explained in an interview with Observer Online. “After sharing the idea with Steve Lane, we decided to build this project together, bringing in dozens of talented musicians who joined the effort even while navigating their own personal and professional challenges.”

    Stewart co-produced the single alongside Ian Sanderson, with executive producer Steve Lane handling distribution via his Digital 1 Media Service. Beyond its digital release, the track got a high-profile live debut earlier this year: Stewart and his orchestra performed *Have A Little Faith* at the 2025 Rhythms Of Africa festival, held April 18-19 at the Miramar Cultural Center in South Florida. The festival, which Stewart has curated and produced annually since 2010, carried the theme “Run di Riddim: Every Beat For Jamaica” this year, with all programming centered on supporting post-Hurricane Melissa recovery.

    In addition to the headlining performances from Stewart’s collective, J C Lodge, and Gem Myers, this year’s event included a moving tribute segment to three giants of reggae: the iconic Jimmy Cliff, celebrated guitarist Stephen “Cat” Coore—Stewart’s former bandmate in Third World—and legendary drummer Sly Dunbar. Coore passed away in November 2024, followed by Dunbar in January 2025, making the tribute a bittersweet celebration of their enduring contributions to reggae music.

  • Advantage to Arsenal as Man City held in six-goal Everton thriller

    Advantage to Arsenal as Man City held in six-goal Everton thriller

    LIVERPOOL, United Kingdom (AFP) — In a chaotic, title-shifting Premier League clash at Goodison Park (Hill Dickinson Stadium) on Monday, Jeremy Doku’s 97th-minute thunderbolt snatched a 3-3 draw for reigning champions Manchester City against Everton — but a catastrophic second-half defensive collapse has put the fight for the English crown firmly back in Arsenal’s hands.

    Mikel Arteta’s Gunners, who currently sit atop the league table, now hold all the cards in their quest to end a 20-year trophy drought: three wins from their remaining three fixtures will secure them the first Premier League title of their 21st-century history. Manchester City, the serial title winners hunting a seventh championship in nine seasons, sit five points back with one game in hand, but their messy implosion on Merseyside has left their hopes of retaining the crown hanging by a thread.

    Pep Guardiola’s side looked set to cruise to three crucial points after a dominant first half, where they pinned Everton deep inside their own half for nearly 45 minutes. The breakthrough finally came two minutes before the break, when Rayan Cherki threaded through Doku, who curled a clinical finish into the top right corner past Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford. The hosts survived a major moment of danger before halftime too: defender Michael Keane escaped a red card for a reckless, sliding tackle on Doku, receiving only a yellow card — a call that would prove pivotal by the final whistle.

    The second half, however, quickly descended into chaos for City, as a string of uncharacteristic basic defensive mistakes handed Everton all three goals. First, a slack, underhit backpass from Marc Guehi left striker Thierno Barry one-on-one with City keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, and Barry slotted home to equalize. Minutes later, another turnovers: Abdukodir Khusanov was caught in possession by Iliman Ndiaye, and while Guehi made a last-ditch block to stop the immediate chance, the resulting corner saw Jake O’Brien rise unmarked to head Everton into the lead. A rapid Everton counter-attack soon extended the home side’s advantage, with Barry poking home his second from a deflected cross to make it 3-1, leaving City stunned.

    But Guardiola’s side refused to fold completely. Straight from the restart, Mateo Kovacic played a through ball to Erling Haaland, who finished clinically to cut Everton’s lead to 3-2. Then, in stoppage time deep into the seventh minute of added time, Doku produced a moment of individual magic to fire home a sensational equalizer, salvaging a point for the visitors and dashing Everton’s hopes of claiming a pivotal win for their own European aspirations.

    Speaking after the match, Guardiola acknowledged that the title race is no longer in City’s control. “It’s better than losing, It shows what type of team they are,” he said of his side’s late fightback. “It’s not in our hands. Before it was, now it’s not. We have games left. We will see what happens.”

    Arsenal, who have picked up two wins since City’s last league outing, have now built a comfortable buffer at the top of the table. Their remaining fixtures start with a trip to relegation-battling West Ham United this Sunday, followed by a home clash against already-relegated Burnley and a final-day away game against Crystal Palace.

    City entered the match under extra pressure after a two-week gap between their regular league outings, caused by Guardiola rotating his entire first team for last weekend’s FA Cup semi-final win over Southampton. Many expected the side to look rusty after the extended break, but they started sharp, controlling possession and pinning Everton back for the entire first half. That control dissolved completely after the break, however, with individual errors handing the hosts three goals and turning a certain win into a scrappy draw that benefits only Arsenal in the title race. While the point keeps City mathematically in the hunt, it is Arsenal that now hold every advantage in the run-in to the 2024/25 Premier League campaign.

  • Bartlett excited by launch of UWI’s Research Support Fund

    Bartlett excited by launch of UWI’s Research Support Fund

    Jamaica has launched a landmark JMD 100 million Research Support Fund for the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FMS) at The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona Campus, with government officials framing the initiative as a critical intersection of medical progress, public confidence and national economic growth.

    Speaking as the keynote speaker at the launch event held last Tuesday in St. Andrew, Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett argued that the fund is far more than a simple injection of capital into academic research. For Jamaica, whose economy relies heavily on tourism as a primary engine of growth, the initiative opens new pathways for aligned development across health science and the travel sector, he said.

    “This represents a launch of possibility, signaling a deeper bond between scientific advancement, societal well-being and the country’s long-term economic future — especially through the lens of tourism,” Bartlett emphasized during his address.

    The minister positioned the new fund within a broader national “tourism, health and resilience” strategy, noting that the sustainability of Jamaica’s $3 billion-plus tourism industry hinges entirely on public trust. Unlike common perceptions that frame tourism as only driven by scenic beauty and cultural attractions, Bartlett pointed out that modern travelers prioritize assurance of safety, stability and proactive health preparedness when choosing destinations.

    “Tourism is not merely about movement of people across borders — it is about confidence,” Bartlett said. “Trust is the decisive factor that drives travel decisions, attracts foreign investment and encourages visitors to return year after year.”

    That foundational trust, he explained, can only be built on a robust public health system, cutting-edge local research capacity and a proven ability to respond rapidly to emerging public health crises. Bartlett defined tourism health resilience as a nation’s ability to anticipate, detect and mitigate health threats without derailing economic stability, a mandate that extends beyond clinical care to protecting tourism workers, supporting resort-dependent communities, and upholding strict standards for food safety, water quality and public sanitation.

    To turn this vision into reality, Bartlett called on FMS and the affiliated University Hospital of the West Indies to take a leading role in strengthening Jamaica’s national destination assurance framework. Medical researchers and clinical professionals, he noted, are the unsung guardians of Jamaica’s global reputation as a safe, welcoming travel destination.

    Demonstrating the Jamaican government’s commitment to the initiative, the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) has contributed JMD 10 million to the overall research fund. The National Health Fund (NHF) has added JMD 35.4 million to the pot, earmarked specifically for advancing research into mental health and maternal health outcomes. Additional funding is expected to come from private sector and institutional partners in the coming months.

    Looking ahead, Bartlett laid out an ambitious vision for UWI Mona to grow into a central pillar of Jamaica’s national health security architecture. His vision includes expanded access to telemedicine for rural and underserved communities, more coordinated emergency response systems, and greater integration of artificial intelligence into clinical care and public health monitoring. He also called for the fund to be used to support ground-breaking interdisciplinary research that connects medical science, tourism policy, data governance and AI ethics, creating a model that can be replicated across small island developing states.

    Through all these efforts, Bartlett stressed, protecting the health of both international visitors and Jamaican citizens remains the core mission — one that is inseparable from sustaining the country’s tourism industry and delivering inclusive long-term national development.

  • Guyana says neither Spain nor Venezuela ever administered the Essequibo region

    Guyana says neither Spain nor Venezuela ever administered the Essequibo region

    At the United Nations’ highest judicial body, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) based in The Hague, Guyana has launched a comprehensive argument challenging Venezuela’s territorial claim to the resource-rich Essequibo region, centering its case on centuries of administrative and historical evidence that contradicts Caracas’ assertions of ownership.

    Spanning more than 61,600 square miles, Essequibo makes up roughly two-thirds of Guyana’s total land area. The region, which is teeming with untapped natural resources and extraordinary biodiversity, sits between the Essequibo River along its eastern edge and the Venezuela border to the west, making it one of the most contentious territorial disputes in the Western Hemisphere.

    During the opening round of oral arguments before the ICJ panel, Guyana’s legal team and diplomatic representatives laid out a detailed historical record of the region’s occupation and governance. Ambassador Donnette Streete, who leads the Frontiers Division at Guyana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Carl Greenidge, Guyana’s designated agent for the case focused on the 1899 Arbitral Tribunal Award’s legal validity, emphasized that neither Spain nor Venezuela ever established formal control over the territory. The first European settlers to occupy Essequibo, they argued, were Dutch colonists arriving at the turn of the 17th century.

    Between the 17th and 19th centuries, the territory was subsequently populated by descendants of enslaved Africans and indentured Asian laborers brought to the region by Dutch and later British colonial rulers. Today, Streete told the court, Guyana exercises full, uninterrupted sovereign authority over Essequibo: the national government collects taxes there, provides public administration, elects nine members to Guyana’s national parliament from the region, and manages its ecologically valuable biodiverse landscapes.

    Data from Guyana’s 2022 national census puts Essequibo’s current population at more than 313,000 people, accounting for over a third of the country’s total population. This population includes members of nine indigenous communities, who Streete confirmed are the original, long-standing inhabitants of the land.

    Greenidge, a former Guyanese foreign minister, supplemented the historical narrative with tangible documentary evidence, including archival maps and place-name records. The maps, he explained, clearly place the farthest eastern Spanish outposts more than 650 kilometers outside Essequibo’s boundaries, while 35 existing settlements within the region still retain Dutch-origin names centuries after their founding.

    Post-Columbian European settlement in what is now Guyana, Greenidge argued, begins definitively with the 1598 arrival of Dutch explorers. By 1616, the Dutch had formally established the Colony of Essequibo, built Fort Kykoveral along the Mazaruni River (west of the Essequibo River) as their colonial administrative seat, and extended settlement and formal governance westward all the way to the Orinoco River. In 1621, the Dutch West India Company took over formal administration of the colony, and the administrative seat was relocated to Fort Zealandia in 1744. “The Spanish, they were nowhere to be found, not east of the Orinoco, at any rate,” Greenidge told the court. “Their nearest outpost was San Tome on the banks of the Orinoco. This was the easternmost Spanish settlement. The Spanish governor there was candid about his predicament. The settlement, he wrote, was so far distant from other Spanish positions.”

    Beyond historical evidence, Guyana’s legal team built a robust case based on established international judicial precedent. Pierre d’Argent, a globally recognized expert in public international law representing Guyana, referenced two previous ICJ rulings on the border dispute issued in 2020 and 2023. He noted that Venezuela has never formally challenged the legal principle of res judicata — the rule that final court rulings are binding on all parties — nor has Caracas filed a formal application for review under Article 61 of the ICJ Statute, the only legal pathway to contest this binding precedent.

    “It must be concluded, therefore, that Venezuela has not discovered any new fact of such a nature had it been known as to be a decisive factor on the conclusions reached by the court in its judgments of 2020 and 2023 and in these conditions, these judgments remain res judicata for the parties in the court itself,” d’Argent told the panel.

    Paul Reichler, another senior member of Guyana’s legal team, added that Venezuela itself accepted, respected and abided by the 1899 Arbitral Award for more than six decades after it was issued. Caracas did not formally challenge the award’s validity until February 1962, when Venezuela’s UN permanent representative sent a formal letter to the UN Secretary-General contesting the ruling. Even at that time, Reichler noted, Venezuela explicitly acknowledged that the 1897 bilateral treaty underlying the 1899 award remained legally binding. It was not until 1963 — 66 years after Venezuela ratified the 1897 treaty — that Caracas first began to question the treaty’s validity.

    The ICJ is currently hearing the first round of oral arguments in the case, which is split into multiple three-hour sessions for each side. Both Guyana and Venezuela are presenting their full cases during this round, with proceedings set to continue through Friday and conclude next Monday.