Andrew Holness is doubling down on gender as a male-female issue while using Cold War history to slam his political rivals.
Hardline Stance on National Values
Holness declared a man is a man and a woman is a woman.
He argues Jamaica won’t change its position on gender.
The prime minister framed this as resisting foreign pressure.
He warned losing banking access was the alternative logic.
Foreign Policy Strategy in a Fragmented World
Jamaica is navigating a world with more competing superpowers.
Holness wants the multilateral system reformed, not abandoned.
He claims his foreign policy delivers economic benefits unmatched.
Decisions must prioritize Jamaica’s ability to bounce back.
Critique of Michael Manley’s Era
Holness accused...
A $2.28 million cash injection is finally tackling Saint Lucia’s crippling court case backlog.
Criminal Backlog Reduction Court
Philip J. Pierre inaugurated the new court on March 19.
The Swift Justice Project got $2,278,600 to make this happen.
Some criminal cases had sat unresolved for years.
Officials want faster access and less emotional strain for victims.
Justice System Overhaul Goals
The backlog got worse thanks to COVID and limited resources.
This move fulfills a promise from Pierre’s 2022 budget speech.
Boosting the Criminal High Court’s capacity is part of the plan.
They’re betting this speeds up hearings and clears pending matters.
Ignoring mental health and addiction in schools is just setting the prison system up for failure.
Root Causes of Repeat Offending
Irfaan Ali calls substance abuse a major driver of crime.
He says untreated mental health pushes people into the system.
The president argues that schools lack any structured intervention plans.
Vaping is getting called out as a linked mental health risk.
Guyana’s Broader Social Breakdown
Ali is sounding alarms about men losing their role across the Caribbean.
He claims male development has been ignored for too long.
Crime prevention needs more than just better prison buildings.
Early social interventions are being pitched as the real fix.
A tourism conference is about to put Belize on the map for Caribbean folks who still sleep on it.
Sustainable Tourism Conference 2026
Anthony Mahler is using the event to hype his country.
The shindig runs April 27–30 in San Pedro on Ambergris Caye.
Mahler bragged about the Belize Barrier Reef being huge.
He claims they’ve got pyramids so you can skip Egypt.
Belize’s Eco-Adventure Brag Sheet
Belize has been pushing sustainable tourism for nearly fifty years.
Their tourism game leans hard into eco-adventure stuff.
You’ll find roughly 12,000 rooms with a small-scale vibe.
They’ve got rivers, mountains, rainforests, and offshore islands.
Conference Agenda Highlights
Pania Tyson-Nathan will drop knowledge on indigenous-led tourism...
Barbados just signed up for the WTO’s backup trade court, becoming the 60th member to join a system designed to bypass the broken appeals body.
Barbados joins the MPIA
Matthew Wilson announced the move during a WTO General Council meeting.
The MPIA is a temporary fix for resolving trade disputes.
Wilson said it shows small economies still care about the trading system.
Barbados is now the 60th WTO member to join the arrangement.
Final prep before the big Cameroon meeting
The Geneva gathering was the last high-level huddle before the Yaoundé conference.
Christopher Sinckler will lead Barbados’ delegation later this month.
He’s also coordinating the 66 ACP member states at the ministerial.
Wilson pushed issues like WTO reform and...
Jamaica just shaved a year off its hurricane recovery timeline, with the economy now expected to bounce back in two to three years instead of four.
Faster recovery than expected
Richard Byles said agriculture rebounded quicker than anyone predicted.
Electricity and telecom services also came back stronger than forecast.
Real GDP is projected to contract between 1 and 3 percent this fiscal year.
Growth should return to 1 to 3 percent for 2026/27.
Tourism took a hit from Melissa
The current account balance is expected to worsen in the medium term.
Hurricane damage to tourism and higher imports are the main drivers.
Remittances and insurance payouts will help soften the blow.
The balance swung from a 3 percent surplus last year to a...
The Caribbean Development Bank is dragging regional leaders to The Bahamas for five days in June to figure out how to navigate a world that’s politically and economically unhinged.
Annual meeting hits Nassau
Michael Halkitis said the meeting kicks off a renewed conversation about the region’s future.
The theme is “Forging the Caribbean’s Future: Strategic Solutions for Uncertain Times.”
It runs from June 1 to 5 at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar in Nassau.
Halkitis chairs the Board of Governors for this year’s gathering.
Turning talk into actual action
Daniel Best said every session is structured to produce implementable ideas.
The goal is to translate uncertainty into tangible benefits for future generations.
Discussions will center on...
New HIV infections in the Caribbean are stuck at 15,000 a year, and shrinking donor cash is about to make a bad situation even worse.
Stubborn infection rates
About 15,000 new HIV cases pop up annually across the region.
One in four of those infections hits people between 15 and 24.
Frank Anthony said prevention efforts need to speed up immediately.
He warned that cuts to prevention programs will cause serious setbacks.
Funding is drying up
International support for HIV programs is starting to decline.
Prevention services usually take the first hit when money gets tight.
UNAIDS warned nearly 4 million extra infections could happen globally.
Anthony pushed for stronger regional cooperation to secure sustainable cash.
Game-changing...
Masholds is ditching the old CBD strategy and betting big on suburban housing after watching businesses flee the city center.
Shifting focus to the suburbs
Businesses are ditching Harare’s CBD for hubs like Newlands and Mt Pleasant.
Suburban office yields are at 9% while CBD assets lag at 6%.
Masholds is repositioning its portfolio to match what the market actually wants.
Grace Bema said they’re improving building equipment to boost tenant experience.
New projects are already moving
The Pomona Commercial Centre hit 60% occupancy after opening in December.
They’re building 30 upmarket apartments on Coronation Avenue in Greendale.
Construction starts this quarter with all approvals already locked in.
A 26.7-hectare site near Shurugwi...
