Key Points —Haiti and the Dominican Republic agreed on April 17 to reopen shared airspace starting May 1, 2026, ending a suspension that began in March 2024. —Flights will connect Cap-Haitien in northern Haiti with three Dominican airports, but Port-au-Prince remains excluded due to ongoing gang control. —The United Nations welcomed the agreement as a […]

The post Haiti and DR Reopen Airspace on May 1 After Two Years appeared first on The Rio Times.

Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago — The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is grappling with a protracted period of regional tensions, tied to the new normal in international politics. In some respects, this moment is the bloc’s toughest test yet. 

At a time when the unity of CARICOM is under growing strain, marked by a discernible shift in respect of interactional norms and diplomatic coherence pertaining to the foreign policy realm, St. Kitts and Nevis took up the mantle of Chair of the bloc.  

Arguably, the impacts of that strain on the regional grouping have had a profound effect on how Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis Terrance Drew has approached his leadership role in CARICOM — on behalf of his country. 

Drew is the Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM — for a six-month term that got underway this past January. As the bloc’s constituent treaty notes: “The Conference shall be the supreme Organ of the Community.”

In this framing, regional priorities are the rotating chairmanship’s main focus. Perhaps most consequentially, Drew is discharging his regional leadership responsibilities at a juncture when CARICOM member states are facing up to emergent geopolitical dynamics that have driven a wedge between them.         

A wide (foreign policy) gap   

CARICOM member states’ duelling perspectives on the high-stakes “Trump Corollary” to the Monroe Doctrine became a consequential, foreign policy-related sticking point that placed the bloc in a months-long diplomatic rut.

This situation has weighed down the regional grouping, making its members’ efforts to cohesively contend with an international order that is undergoing a seismic change that much more difficult. (The international system last experienced change on such a scale at the Cold War’s end, which also precipitated the demise of bipolarity and ushered in the now erstwhile unipolar moment.) 

While most CARICOM member states have responded to that Doctrine with suspicion and trepidation, some have offered full-throated support. The former subset of member states are standing their ground in respect of long-established CARICOM foreign policy-related principles, which hinge on the shared desire of such small states to respect processes of international cooperation and multilateralism.   

In contrast, Trinidad and Tobago has controversially thrown its support behind Washington in respect of the spiralling U.S.-Israeli war with Iran — which has been quelled by a tenuous cease-fire for now. Instructively, early on in that conflict, Barbados called for “restraint as Middle East tensions intensify.” 

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres has raised serious concerns about the conflict, too, as have many other stakeholders. Of note, legal experts have been sounding the alarm about what has transpired in the Middle East.      

At the core of such concerns are breaches of the UN Charter — a document whose normative and legal standards are the traditional bedrock of the conduct of CARICOM member states’ international relations as small states. This is precisely why breaches of this Charter endanger these states in respect of the anarchic international system. 

Few dynamics in this system undercut the UN Charter more than great powers behaving as if they have a license to do what they want without fear of the consequences.

This is why the U.S. military campaign that, according to the U.S. administration, sought to target illegal drug trafficking in the Caribbean by going after alleged “narco-trafficking” boats raised so many eyebrows within the CARICOM fold. (All along, of course, Venezuela’s Maduro regime was in Washington’s crosshairs.)     

Trinidad and Tobago did not share those concerns, unequivocally supporting the U.S. military action that laid the groundwork for and resulted in the capture of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro.

The U.S. administration has rewarded Port-of-Spain for its foreign policy positioning, deepening security cooperation. This was a priority area of the most recent bilateral engagement between Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio — convened on the margins of the Fiftieth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM.         

What also stands out is Trinidad and Tobago’s inclusion in the Shield of the Americas initiative. Indeed, Port-of-Spain is over the moon with its participation in the recently held Shield of the Americas summit. Guyana is the only other CARICOM member state that the U.S. has included in this high-profile initiative.

With the two camps of CARICOM member states being far apart on key demands of the U.S., the status quo has fuelled mutual mistrust among members of the now five-plus-decade old grouping. It did not help that Washington operationalized the aforesaid Doctrine in invasive, heavy-handed security and foreign policy-related terms.  

It is also the case that regional politics have focused intently on seeing the way forward, amidst widespread dissatisfaction with this difficult situation. Notably, upon the start of his term as CARICOM Chair, Drew sought to shift the situation in a positive direction. With an eye to preparing the ground for the success of the Fiftieth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, held under his chairmanship this past February, he piloted “a series of high-level engagements with regional leaders.”  

Drew’s intent was to build goodwill among his fellow regional leaders, with a view to creating the conditions for them to all gather at this summit. In effect, those high-profile, face-to-face bilateral meetings held the promise of building “trust” and “shared purpose” in respect of the region’s leaders. He said as much. 

Beyond ensuring that all CARICOM members’ respective leaders were at ‘the (summit) table’, Drew was also committed to having them primed for a productive exchange on key issues on the regional agenda.

Drew got his wish — at least in part. All his regional counterparts took part in the said summit; although, leaders of three of the bloc’s 14 sovereign member states departed early.

Consequently, closed-door deliberations that took the form of the leaders’ Retreat did not benefit from a full house.  

The Retreat was a key component of the summit’s proceedings. This one-day, all-important session partly focused on geopolitical developments. 

CARICOM member states did close ranks on some of the issues arising, which include Cuba policy. Their respective long-standing and wide-ranging bilateral relations with the Communist island have emerged as a diplomatic pressure point. In fact, several hold outs in the CARICOM fold have little choice but to accept Washington’s foreign policy line on how they should treat Havana vis-à-vis facets of those relations. 

One day prior to that leaders’ Retreat, and as part of the summit’s proceedings, Rubio met in-person with CARICOM leaders. One important take away from these talks is that they resulted in an agreement on a contemporary Cooperation Framework, which is now earnestly in the works. 

These developments had a direct bearing on regional leaders’ subsequent consideration of geopolitical developments — a priority matter at the summit — warranting the issuance of the ‘Joint Statement on CARICOM’s Engagement with Secretary Rubio’.    

The pre-eminence of the ‘sovereignty narrative’

Signals emanating from the summit in question also called attention to the limits of CARICOM-based regionalism, with member states reaffirming their pragmatic approach to integration.  

It is important to note that, with a nod to the Rose Hall Declaration on ‘Regional Governance and Integrated Development’, Prime Minister of Jamaica Andrew Holness drove this point home at the formal start of that very summit.

Regarding regional governance, the so-called Rose Hall Declaration states (in part): “The reaffirmation that CARICOM is a Community of Sovereign States, and of Territories able and willing to exercise the rights and assume the obligations of membership of the Community, and that the deepening of regional integration will proceed in this political and juridical context.”

Put differently, and as Terri-Ann Gilbert-Roberts notes in a 2013 scholarly work, there is a “strong aversion among political elites to delegating authority to supranational institutions — a legacy of the Federal Experiment.”

In his address to the Opening Ceremony of the summit under reference, Holness underscored the following: “For decades, an idealised narrative around Caribbean integration, while well-intentioned, has framed perhaps unrealistic expectations within our respective populations. It has also perhaps unintentionally diminished the genuine strengths of our existing arrangement, an association of independent states bound not by uniformity, but by shared purpose, mutual regard, and a deep history of collaboration.”

Yet it is equally important to recognize the tremendous achievements of a cohesively functioning CARICOM, as advanced (in large part) by regional summitry. Such summitry has long played a key role in member states’ broader efforts to coordinate with each other and partners, enabling dialogue that has paid off in spades over several decades.

Meetings of this kind are crucial for strengthening bilateral and multilateral ties and contributing to diplomatic solutions, now more than ever. 

Holness himself seemed to signal as much, conveying the following perspective at the opening of the 50th Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM: “We meet at a time when the speed of global change is outpacing the speed of regional coordination.” 

This summit, per its communiqué, represents an important win for St. Kitts and Nevis and CARICOM as a whole.    

Unity hopes suffer another blow

Yet what brought opportunity for coordination at a time of sharp tensions that are the cause of a foreign policy-related rift in CARICOM has also created yet another point of contention: The much-publicized controversy that has arisen surrounding the reappointment of the Secretary-General of CARICOM during the leaders’ Retreat.  

This controversy has been brewing ever since Drew’s initial statement — issued on March 25th — regarding the reappointment of incumbent Secretary-General of CARICOM Carla Barnett for a second term of office beginning in August 2026.

The impasse runs deeper than procedural concerns over the reappointment of the Secretary-General and attendant matters, with CARICOM’s governance and operations having also come under the spotlight. 

The headlines create the impression that there is little sign yet that a resolution is imminent. 

The parties out-front on the matter have apparently doubled down on their respective positions, which have only hardened. In this regard, the latest missives (as of this writing) penned by Trinidad and Tobago Foreign Minister Sean Sobers (dated April 9th) and Drew (dated April 11th), respectively, come to mind. Although dispatched via diplomatic channels, the correspondence in question is now in the public domain. 

While some political leaders are clashing publicly, others in the CARICOM fold are walking a tightrope on this issue.  

High-level diplomatic efforts to see a way forward on what has become a significant bone of contention — with the potential to stymie CARICOM regionalism — will no doubt continue.

Rising to the challenge

And yet, CARICOM has not a moment to lose in effectively marshalling member states to contend with the resurgence of great-power politics. This spheres of influence-related development carries serious risks, which undercut a cornerstone of the postwar international order: multilateral cooperation.  

These dynamics of contemporary international politics continue to turn the screws on CARICOM — and fast.  

We are already seeing a key consequence of this turn of events: A new reality now shapes CARICOM diplomacy — already under strain from the aforementioned foreign policy-related rift in the bloc.   

In short, the shift within the grouping in respect of interactional norms and diplomatic coherence pertaining to the foreign policy realm exposes seemingly deep divisions in relation to worldviews.   

History shows that such moments do not augur well for the bloc. One could draw a historical parallel with the U.S. invasion of Grenada in 1983, which stoked tensions within and had far-reaching impacts on the region.      

Clearly, key foreign policy-related setbacks within today’s CARICOM fit a longer pattern. Even so, their ever-widening rifts ought not to become a fixture in the scheme of things either. 

While there was much-needed discussion at the summit under reference about geopolitical developments, along with a nod to the rationale qua nature of the bloc itself, CARICOM needs to work through how it can better rise to the challenge of navigating the return of great-power politics. 

In years ahead, the new normal in international politics will likely continue to undermine the UN Charter.

The stakes are high for such small states at this moment, and all concerned need to take a long, hard look at the issues arising.

There is increasing recognition in CARICOM foreign policy circles that, facing rising risks, the bloc needs to get a handle on the current state of affairs. 

When CARICOM foreign ministers meet next month, they will likely continue to try to work things through. 

Featured image: 50th Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM. Photo of CARICOM Leaders with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Image credit: CARICOM

The post What is behind growing disunity in the Caribbean Community bloc? (Opinion) appeared first on Latin America Reports.

Key Points — Cuba’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, told the Associated Press that the island will not accept any Trump administration ultimatum to release political prisoners as a condition for further talks. The two-week deadline that Washington reportedly imposed during the April 10 meeting in Havana expired Friday, April 24, without […]

The post The First U.S.-Cuba Talks in a Decade End in Stalemate as Havana Refuses Trump’s Prisoner-Release Deadline appeared first on The Rio Times.

Divers are installing waterproof speakers in the ocean to help pull a coral reef near Jamaica back from the brink

The northern coast of Jamaica once served as the backdrop for scenes in the James Bond thriller No Time to Die. But today, beneath those same turquoise waves, a real-life mission is unfolding: the race to pull a dying coral reef back from the brink.

However, the tools a team of divers are carrying to the seafloor are not what you would expect to find in a marine biologist’s kit. They are installing waterproof speakers at the bottom of the ocean, and the man leading the team is not a scientist.

Bills are seeking to change section that opposition says makes Godwin Friday, a dual citizen, ineligible to be PM

The St Vincent and the Grenadines government has delayed a controversial effort to amend a section of the country’s constitution that the opposition says renders the prime minister ineligible for his position in parliament.

Two bills, among six listed for the parliament session on Tuesday this week, were aimed at clarifying a section of the 1979 constitution governing the citizenship eligibility of members of parliament.

Key Points — NOAA’s April 2026 outlook gives a 61% probability of El Niño emergence in the May-July window rising to 62% for June-August, with a 1-in-3 chance the event classifies as “strong” during October-December 2026. — A moderate-to-strong event would cut Andean GDP by 0.6-1.7 percentage points, threaten 50% of LATAM’s hydro-dependent electricity supply, […]

The post Latin America’s Silent 2026 Risk: A Returning El Niño appeared first on The Rio Times.

The school’s $100m project to examine its slave ownership in Antigua is mired with controversy as academics allege obstruction

Christopher Newman remembers seeing campus police officers as he walked into a human resources office at Harvard University, but he didn’t imagine that they were there for him.

It was July 2024, and Newman had just turned in the results of a two-month-long internship with the Harvard University Archives: an annotated bibliography for the landmark 2022 Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery Initiative report, which detailed the university’s ties to slavery across three centuries. He completed his project on Friday, 26 July, and on Monday, he said he received an email that HR wanted to meet with him.

Key Points — At least 108,838 people were murdered across Latin America and the Caribbean in 2025, with contract killings accounting for a growing share in countries from Colombia to Peru — In Bogotá, half of all homicides are now classified as sicariato — professional hits carried out as outsourced services between criminal networks, with […]

The post How Latin America Turned Murder Into a Flourishing Global Industry appeared first on The Rio Times.

Key Points — The IMF’s April WEO cut global growth to 3.1% (down 0.2pp from January) and raised global inflation to 4.4%, citing the Iran war as the primary risk. Chief Economist Gourinchas said the world is “somewhere between the baseline and the adverse scenario.” — Latin America was raised to 2.3% growth (up 0.1pp), […]

The post Brazil Upgraded, Argentina Cut, Bolivia in Freefall: The IMF’s New Latin America Growth Map appeared first on The Rio Times.

Brian Hooker told police that Lynette Hooker fell overboard and that strong currents carried her away

Police in the Bahamas have released without charges a Michigan man who said his wife disappeared after falling overboard from a small boat in waters off the Caribbean island country, authorities said on Monday.

Brian Hooker, of Onsted in southern Michigan, had been in police custody since 8 April – five days – after being questioned by authorities.

Key Points — The Dominican Republic welcomed 223,328 tourists during Holy Week — up 14.8% year-on-year — as European carriers redirected flights from Greece, Turkey, and Egypt toward Caribbean destinations after Middle East airspace closures grounded over 20,000 flights — Brazil recorded 2.6 million international arrivals in January–February 2026 (+22%), Costa Rica hit 653,959 (+10.4%), […]

The post War Reshapes Latin America’s Tourism Map appeared first on The Rio Times.

Materializing out of the hazy blue, they gracefully glide on eight-foot wingspans. Whenever I’ve encountered a spotted eagle ray, this is how it starts. They seem to have an innate curiosity about snorkelers who reflect their quiet study. The spotted eagle rays will deliberately, peacefully, slowly come closer, making a wide circle around me before disappearing back into the mysterious deep blue. It all feels like slow motion. Never threatening or uncomfortable despite their size and advantage. But here’s the thing – if you wait in that quiet moment after they’ve gone, they usually come back around. I love that sense of curiosity, that shared way of seeing the world.

One of my favorite things about snorkeling is being immediately accepted as a part of the underwater world. As long as I don’t stalk the sealife, I can float among them, as one of them, ebbing and flowing with the rhythm of the waves.

It’s been a process. I used to be wary in the water, afraid of things touching me that I couldn’t see (slimy aquatic plants, nibbling panfish, or any variety of things I might step on in the oceans). I always waited for someone else to jump in first so I wouldn’t be alone in the vast unknown.

Once in the water, I stuck close to my snorkel buddy. If I couldn’t see another person in the water, a flush of panic would send me swimming madly back to the perceived safety of social connection. I always swam around instead of over shallow coral heads – you never know who is lurking in those crevices, ready to strike at my soft belly!

But this trip –

I jumped in first. Alone in the water, I saw my first “real” shark (ie, not a nurse shark), a black-tipped reef shark swimming away from me. I was energized!

I followed my curiosity regardless of where others went. I found myself alone, and it was okay. A fellow snorkeler yelled over, “We’re going back to the boat, and I don’t know where any of the guides are.”  I’m not going to get out until I’m cold or the guide says we’re leaving. My buddy was still in the water somewhere. I’m having the time of my life.

I sucked in my belly and floated closely over the coral, fascinated by all the tiny creatures that inhabit these living “rocks”.

In all my years of escaping the cold and snow to be healed by warm waters and humid air, I have never been blessed with so many days of sunshine for snorkeling. The rays of light make the dramatic colors of sealife illuminate with indescribable intensity. Awe at every turn. This is the reward for waiting out four days of high winds, rain, and clouds.

Reef Squid

Caribbean reef squid tend to hang out in the shallows, close to shore, amidst the seagrasses. They often congregate in flotillas of six or more, changing colors to suit their mood or to camouflage themselves from predators. They are iridescent at rest, but turn bright gold, white, or reddish at times.

The Wall

There’s an undersea wall just south of the atoll where the ocean floor drops abruptly away. It’s a popular scuba diving site. As a snorkler on the surface, it’s dramatic as everything fades into the deep blue. Your imagination can get the better of you, wondering who is lurking just outside the reach of your vision. Don’t let it deter you from this exploration of wonder. Each coral head perched along the edge of the wall was staked out by a barracuda. I quit counting after twenty! Let’s just say they were everywhere.

Invasive Lionfish

The Glover’s Reef Marine Reserve protects part of the atoll for spawning grouper.

It’s a year-round no-take zone, with one exception: invasive lionfish. Lionfish are native to the South Pacific and Indian Oceans. Their presence in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean is detrimental to the health and biodiversity of the reef ecosystems. Adult lionfish are voracious fish-eaters, eating the prey normally consumed by snappers, groupers, and other native species, leaving native fish to go hungry. A single lionfish residing on a coral reef can reduce the numbers of native reef fish on that coral patch by 79 percent! Their neurotoxic venomous spines mean they have few predators in the Caribbean. As such, lionfish may be killed throughout these waters without limitation. Our guide speared one and fed it to a nurse shark.

Giant Eel

The green moray eel is the largest eel in the Caribbean, growing up to eight feet in length. No wonder this one had no hesitation free-swimming among a group of gawking snorkelers. He was a bit intimidating!

A Marine Escort

An immense school of tang floated with me and then escorted me back to the boat where all my fellow snorklers (and guides!) were waiting. I felt part of an underwater parade!

There is an endless world of strange, fascinating, dramatic life just below the surface. I encourage you to take a look!

If you’re interested in purchasing or licensing any images you see here, please email me at SNewenham at exploringnaturephotos.com, and I’ll make it happen.

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The post Snorkeling Glover’s Reef Atoll appeared first on Exploring Nature by Sheila Newenham.