The State of Emergency (SoE) in Trinidad and Tobago has been extended for three months following a parliamentary decision late Monday night. The extension was approved after Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley raised the motion, which was debated by both government members and the opposition.
The SoE, initially declared on December 30, was enacted after the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service provided credible intelligence about the likelihood of reprisal killings following a mass shooting in Laventille that weekend. The original declaration, set for 15 days, required parliamentary approval for any extension.
During the debate, Prime Minister Rowley explained that the SoE did not restrict the rights of law-abiding citizens.
National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds reported significant results from the SoE’s implementation. He noted that the country recorded 12 murders so far in 2025, representing a 50% reduction compared to the same period in 2024.
Hinds also confirmed that 137 individuals remained in custody out of more than 500 detained during SoE operations. He assured citizens that the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force was actively patrolling communities, with plans to increase their presence in the coming days.
In a statement made just days before leaving office, U.S. President Joe Biden announced Cuba’s removal from the list. Initially added in 1982 under President Ronald Reagan, Cuba was taken off in 2015 during the Obama administration but reinstated on January 12, 2021, during Donald Trump’s presidency.
President Biden’s decision follows a comprehensive review, concluding that Cuba no longer meets the legal criteria for inclusion on the list. “The Government of Cuba has not provided any support for international terrorism during the preceding six months and has assured it will not support such acts in the future,” Biden stated.
This move is expected to strengthen U.S.-Cuba relations and promote regional stability in the Caribbean. It also significantly impacts travel to the United States, particularly for individuals subject to the U.S. Visa Waiver Program (VWP).
A Cuban foreign ministry statement said the decision reflected the “humanitarian nature of the Cuban justice system” but did not tie the prisoner release to the Biden announcements.
Cuba’s government called the breakthrough a step in the “right direction,” but accused the U.S. of continued “economic warfare” against the island, warning that the measures could be quickly rolled back and that the Cold War-era U.S. trade embargo against Cuba remained.
Last year Belize marked the 29th anniversary of diplomatic relations with Cuba, with Cabinet expressing gratitude for the strong partnership. Acknowledging Cuba’s significant contributions in healthcare and education through its doctors and teachers, the government reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening ties with this key Caribbean ally.
In 2024, Belize’s tourism industry hit a major milestone, welcoming an impressive five hundred, sixty-two thousand, four hundred and five overnight visitors. This not only matches the pre-pandemic record set in 2019 but surpasses it by a remarkable eleven point eight percent. After the severe impact of COVID-19 in 2020, the industry has been steadily recovering, thanks to the strategic planning and dedication of its stakeholders. Here’s Tourism Minister Anthony Mahler with more.
Anthony Mahler
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism
“We created this, I think, fantastic campaign, Grab Life, at that time and that’s changing and evolving as we go along. I think with focus from both public and private sectors, strategic marketing efforts and creative in terms of using, like you said, innovations. We are here now, where we’re about sixty thousand over 2019, which is almost about twelve percent over 2019 and about twenty-three percent over 2023 and that’s a huge accomplishment.”
The conflict between Palestine and Israel has been raging for over a century, making it one of the most violent disputes in the world. This ongoing struggle over land, borders, and rights includes the current war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Belize has shown its support for the Palestinians, publicly calling for Israel to halt its attacks. Today, at the invitation of Nancy Marin, Leader of the Belize People’s Front, a delegation from the Palestinian Liberation Organization (P.L.O.) is visiting Belize. The delegation, led by P.L.O. Commissioner and Coordinator of the Anti-Apartheid Department, Mohamed Salam, will be meeting with government officials.
Mohamed Salam
Mohamed Salam, Commissioner, P.L.O/ Coordinator, Anti-Apartheid Department
“We will be meeting with the Prime Minister and after that … for the Palestinians and also for Belizean youths? We are looking forward to … also the Palestinian universities in Palestine.”
Reporter
“Hamas is being named as the reason for this massacre that’s ongoing.”
Mohamed Salam
“Hamas is not the reason … while we don’t. The ceasefire, as of twelve noon, there was nothing … it will be Netanyahu’s fault.”
As we mentioned, the visit was organized by Nancy Marin, founder of the Belize People’s Front. She shared that she felt it was crucial to set up a meeting between the delegation and Prime Minister John Briceño. Despite being the leader of another party with close ties to the P.L.O. officials, she emphasized that this didn’t affect her decision to reach out to the current administration for this meeting.
Nancy Marin, Leader, Belize People’s Front
“I also arranged for him to meet with the current government. It is important. They are the people in authority, and we respect that, but our relationship with the anti-Apartheid Department of the P.L.O has nothing to do with who is in power in this country. I think that when it comes to something that goes so wrong, like what happened in Palestine and when it comes to the education of our people, it doesn’t matter who is in power. We collaborate and I’ve always collaborated with this current Prime Minister.”
Wildfires sweeping across Los Angeles County have claimed at least two lives, left dozens injured, and destroyed over 1,000 structures, forcing the evacuation of more than 70,000 residents. Firefighters are battling four major blazes—Palisades, Eaton, Hurst, and Woodley—that remain completely uncontained, stretching emergency services to their limits. Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley acknowledged the overwhelming strain, stating that the department was prepared for one or two significant fires but not four simultaneously.
The Palisades Fire is the largest and most destructive, having burnt over 5,000 acres and destroyed 1,000 structures. Fierce winds grounded firefighting aircraft and left fire hydrants temporarily dry in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, intensifying the challenge for emergency responders. Currently, 37,000 residents are under evacuation orders as the blaze continues to grow.
The Eaton Fire near Pasadena has resulted in two fatalities and multiple injuries, some of which are severe. This fire has consumed over 2,000 acres and forced the evacuation of 32,500 residents. Meanwhile, the Hurst Fire, which ignited near Sylmar, has grown to 500 acres, prompting the evacuation of 3,000 people. The Woodley Fire, the most recent to ignite, has burnt 75 acres so far, with crews scrambling to contain it.
Authorities warn that strong winds and worsening conditions could escalate the situation, putting all of Los Angeles County at risk. A local reporter, who has lived in California for 25 years, described these wildfires as the most alarming he has ever witnessed, noting their unprecedented scale and intensity.
President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday a controversial proposal to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America,” escalating his rhetoric against Mexico.
He also criticised Mexico for contributing to increased drug trafficking into the U.S. and vowed to impose substantial tariffs on both Mexico and Canada.
The Gulf of Mexico, historically known as the “Golfo de México” since the mid-16th century, spans approximately 600,000 square miles and is the ninth-largest body of water in the world. The name was first recorded on maps during Spanish colonial rule over the regions now recognised as Cuba, Mexico, and parts of the U.S.
This isn’t the first time the idea of renaming the Gulf has surfaced. In 2012, Mississippi State Representative Steve Holland jokingly proposed a bill to rename it the “Gulf of America,” criticising Republican anti-immigrant policies. Holland later clarified that the proposal was satirical, intended to highlight discriminatory rhetoric.
Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister, Dr. Keith Rowley, has announced plans to resign before the conclusion of his People’s National Movement (PNM) term, which ends in August 2025. The 75-year-old leader, who has served in public office for 45 years, shared the news during a speech in Tobago.
Dr. Rowley has led the PNM since 2010 and secured victory in the 2020 general election with 22 of 41 parliamentary seats. He entered politics in 1981 and remains the only PNM candidate to have contested elections in both Tobago and Trinidad. R
As part of his final term, Dr. Rowley stressed the importance of mentoring young leaders within the PNM to ensure the party’s future.
During his tenure, Dr. Rowley faced significant challenges, including managing the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Rowley also addressed the rising negativity in public discourse, lamenting attacks on officials fuelled by hate and vitriol. Despite this, he celebrated the achievements of young leaders he introduced to politics, many of whom are now well-positioned to take Trinidad and Tobago forward.
A reef of at least 4,000 years old died in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, between November and December 2024. This is according to Edwin Alexis Hernández, a research affiliate at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, and senior research scientist at Sociedad Ambiente Marino. He issued a chilling wake-up call following the catastrophic loss. “What you see here no longer exists… because of record-breaking sea surface temperatures, degree heating weeks, and massive coral bleaching,” Hernández said. “These are highly endangered Elkhorn corals (Acropora palmata). They are now >99% gone! In a blink of an eye! This is called climate change! Are you sceptical? Well, here you go! Are we going (again) to do nothing about it and pretend nothing has just happened? Or are we going to step forward and do something about it this time?” he added.
According to Hernández, even with the most intensive restoration efforts, it will take 20 to 30 years to rebuild what was lost—if that’s possible.
Hundreds of nautical miles south of Puerto Rico, coral reefs in Bonaire are being devastated by bleaching. Reef Renewal Foundation Bonaire (RRFB) says that rising ocean temperatures, which reached record highs across the Caribbean in both 2023 and 2024, have inflicted widespread damage on nearly every coral species around the island. A comprehensive seven-year study conducted by Stichting Nationale Parken Bonaire (STINAPA) revealed a sharp increase in corals affected by thermal stress, jumping from 25% in 2016 to over 80% in 2023. “The scale of bleaching is evident across reefs around the island, with widespread impacts on nearly every coral species.”
In Belize, coral bleaching has worsened. Northern Belize has already seen significant coral loss, and while southern areas are faring slightly better, experts warn that without drastic action, similar outcomes are likely. Fragments of Hope, an organisation dedicated to restoring coral reefs across Belize, has shifted its focus in recent years due to escalating sea temperatures. With each year hotter than the last, the group has paused coral restoration efforts for the past two years, instead prioritising coral bleaching surveys. The decision stems from the heightened risk of mortality for stressed corals under such extreme conditions. Monique Vernon, a coral reef practitioner with Fragments of Hope, said the bleaching in southern Belize in November is “off the charts.” She added, “At Laughing Bird (Caye), along which has been the Fragments of Hope control site, it’s really sad to see, because since 2006, Fragments of Hope has been restoring corals there, and the corals have been doing wonderfully, but this year, they bleached, and they died, and unfortunately only a few of them are recovering.”
The unprecedented coral bleaching is not only occurring across the Caribbean, but it is a global event.
NOAA Confirms Fourth Global Coral Bleaching Event
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) confirmed in April the 4th global coral bleaching event. Derek Manzello, Ph.D., NOAA CRW coordinator, said, “From February 2023 to April 2024, significant coral bleaching has been documented in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres of each major ocean basin.”
According to NOAA, mass bleaching has affected tropical coral reefs worldwide, including regions such as Florida, the Caribbean, Brazil, the eastern Tropical Pacific (encompassing Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, and Colombia), Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, large areas of the South Pacific (Fiji, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Kiribati, the Samoas, and French Polynesia), the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Gulf of Aden. Widespread bleaching has also been reported in the Indian Ocean basin, including Tanzania, Kenya, Mauritius, the Seychelles, Tromelin, Mayotte, and parts of Indonesia.
Manzello said, “As the world’s oceans continue to warm, coral bleaching is becoming more frequent and severe…When these events are sufficiently severe or prolonged, they can cause coral mortality, which hurts the people who depend on the coral reefs for their livelihoods.”
The summer of 2023 was the hottest on record globally, with sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic and Caribbean reaching unprecedented levels.
What is Coral Bleaching?
Coral reefs are among the most diverse and valuable ecosystems on the planet. Though they occupy only 1% of the world’s oceans, these ecosystems provide critical habitats for at least 25% of all marine life. According to NOAA, coral reefs support over 4,000 species of fish, corals, and other organisms.
Beyond fisheries, coral reefs bolster local economies through tourism and recreation. “Coral reefs support jobs and businesses through tourism and recreation. Local economies receive billions of dollars from visitors to coral reefs through diving tours, recreational fishing trips, hotels, restaurants, and other businesses located near reef ecosystems,” NOAA said in a statement.
Coral reefs are also pivotal in medical research. According to NOAA, compounds derived from coral reef organisms have led to the development of treatments for cancer, arthritis, bacterial infections, and other diseases.
So coral reefs are extremely important, and addressing coral bleaching in a timely manner is critical. Coral bleaching occurs when corals, stressed by changes in conditions such as temperature, light, or nutrients, expel the symbiotic algae living in their tissues. This causes the corals to turn white and, if the stress continues, can lead to their death. Vernon said, “Consider the corals like the forest, the rainforest of the sea. Without the trees, there are no birds, right? And a dead ecosystem has no life. So there’s no reason for fisThe fishesgo there. The that we have in Belize, they’re very colorful. So when you go to any dead reef, you can see, you can easily find the fishes. They’re not easily camouflaged anymore because the corals are all dead. They’re not colourful anymore, so they can’t camouflage in. And because the corals are dead, the strength of the corals is lost, which means they’re very, they’re even more fnow, which now, means the stability for fishes to hide in it decreases. It’s like you’re living in an abandoned house that no one takes care of, basically.”
Vernon explained that corals can only survive within a specific temperature range. When the water temperature falls too low or rises too high, the corals experience stress. She said that corals are animals that house algae, a plant that lives inside them. This algae enables the corals to photosynthesise and gives them their vibrant colors. However, when the water temperature becomes too warm, the algae perceives the environment as too stressful and expels itself from the coral. This process leaves the coral pale or white, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the coral is dead. “Until there are macroalgae that start to grow on top of that coral, that’s when we know for sure it’s dead. We’ve seen corals that turn fully white, and they bounce back and gain their colour again. Those are what we consider thermally resilient corals,” Vernon said.
Restoring Hope
Earlier this year, in April and June, Fragments of Hope trained 23 Belizeans in coral identification and bleaching surveys with the aim to cover more ground across Belize’s various dive sites, such as Laughing Bird Caye, and to increase local community involvement in the organisation’s mission. “So what they are trying to focus on is locating those thermally resistant corals so that they can start propagating those across Belize. And when I say corals, I’m talking about the acroporidae species: elkhorn, staghorn, and fud staghorn. orn.Those are faster-growing corals than the boulder corals,” Vernon shared.
But is this enough?
“I mean, there’s only so much we can do. If we could get a tent to put and shade these corals, you know, but it’s not realistic. And the only thing that we can do is train Belizeans to help us go out and source these corals, thermally resistant corals, to get more of those out on the ground. And next year, we’re actually going to add fish identification to the list. So that more people can get more involved with those surveys as well.”
Despite these efforts, public and governmental attention to the crisis remains limited. Many view the Belize Barrier Reef, the second largest in the world, as intact from surface observations, but underwater surveys reveal extensive coral death and algae overgrowth.
The loss of corals has wide-reaching implications, not just for biodiversity but also for tourism and fisheries. Laughing Bird Caye, for instance, saw coral coverage rise from 6% after Hurricane Iris to over 60% following restoration, only to experience significant loss again this year. Without corals, fish populations decline, affecting food security and livelihoods. Vernon said, “If we lose our barrier reef just at Laughing Bird Caye alone, where there were so many, I mean, after the 2001 hurricane, Iris, that had, like, destroyed corals, it was left down to 6 percent, and fragments of hope restored those corals. Recently to over 60%. And so now those corals are almost all dead. And that’s why I feel like more emphasis needs to be put on this because that’s a national park, and most people go there. And now there’s not even as many fish; you know, more corals equal more fish, and with dying corals, I mean, the fisheries population can also see a shift as well.”
In Bonaire, RRFB “is working to strengthen coral populations at a biological level and build resilience against these threats.” According to RRFB, during the peak bleaching season, it intensifies its monitoring efforts to pinpoint resilient coral colonies. Between October and December, their team dedicated over 150 hours to surveying 25 reef sites around the island in search of “super corals.” Once identified, these corals are nurtured in nurseries, outplanted to the reef, and incorporated into RRFB’s coral breeding program, allowing them to pass on their resilient traits to future generations.
Meanwhile in Puerto Rico, a research team of divers partnered with the Institute for Socio-Ecological Research (ISER Caribe) focused on installing suspended habitats for baby Diadema antillarum, the long-spined sea urchin, a species crucial to coral regeneration by controlling harmful algae. ISER Caribe has launched the Caribbean Reef Project, which aims to restore 5 acres of coral reef in Puerto Rico by employing an ecosystem-based approach that not only targets coral restoration but also addresses the rehabilitation of herbivores vital to coral reef health. The project will restore six coral reefs across Fajardo, La Parguera, and Mayagüez by outplanting 20,000 coral fragments, 1,600 sea urchins, and 100 crabs at each site. The team’s efforts are vital in the battle against coral decline, and their work is an essential part of preserving Puerto Rico’s fragile marine ecosystems.
The stakes are high, but coordinated international action offers hope for the future of these vital ecosystems.
The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has dragged on for over a decade, and now, foreign allies are taking a stand. To curb Russia’s relentless invasion, the United States and the United Kingdom have imposed sanctions on trade linked to Russia’s supply chain. These sanctions, which started in October, have been expanded as recently as this month. Among those affected is Berezia Management, a Belizean-based company reportedly tied to Perspective Technologies Agency (UPT), a Russian firm specializing in communication networks and submarine cables. We spoke with Doctor Osmond Martinez, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Trade, to see if he expects these sanctions to impact Belize’s foreign trade. Here’s what he had to say.
Britney Gordon
“Amid escalating international pressure on Russia over the, it’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States and the United Kingdom have announced new sanctions aimed at disrupting Russia’s military supply chain among these sanctioned entities. Bereza management, a Belize based company is accused of facilitating operations linked to Russia’s defense industry. Do we anticipate that these sanctions will affect Belize’s trading ability?”
Dr. Osmond Martinez, Minster of State, Ministry of Foreign Trade
“I’m not familiar with that information. I don’t have the details, but I think this is a question that can be asked to, um, to be placed to the minister responsible for foreign [affairs]. But based on your question, I don’t think it will affect Belize.”
