Category: CANA News

The main opposition New National Party (NNP) says it will boycott Tuesday’s sitting of Parliament saying it was doing so ‘after careful review of the troubling pattern of unacceptable behaviour and blatant disrespect demonstrated’ by the government.

The NNP said it will also not be attending the November 6 sitting of the Senate.

The opposition party said that the last parliamentary sitting last Tuesday ‘was chaotic’ with Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell scolding ‘the Speaker and unilaterally dictated the adjournment of the House.

‘It came after serious procedural failures, with members receiving documents late, a clear breach of parliamentary norms and respect for the institution.’

The NNP said that ‘the adjourned date for the sitting of the House was unilaterally dictated to the Speaker by the Government side without consultation with members of the Opposition or respectful adherence to established parliamentary norms and practices.

‘The leader of the opposition’s request for appropriate consultation on the date was ultimately trivialized,’ it added.

The NNP said that the opposition members’ absence from the Parliament on this occasion is an act of principle.

‘As the Opposition in Parliament, we stand firm in protest against the intolerable erosion of our democratic parliamentary norms, the continued shameful attempts to marginalise the official Parliamentary Opposition, and the creeping authoritarianism that has no place in Grenada’s Parliament.

‘We cannot condone a process that mocks the very principles we as members of the House were elected to uphold,’ it added.

Prime Minister Mitchell is due to make a statement in Parliament on Tuesday regarding a request from the United States to temporarily install a radar at the Maurice Bishop International Airport (MBIA) and the deployment of US military assets on or near Grenada.

With a win over Bangladesh in their last T20I series, West Indies white-ball captain, Shai Hope says his troops are bursting with confidence ahead of their matchup with New Zealand.

The Windies, who are coming off an impressive 3-0 series win over Bangladesh, will take on the fourth ranked New Zealand in the first of five T20Is on Wednesday.

It was just their second bilateral T20I series win in nine outings and halted a losing slide following defeats to Nepal, Pakistan and Australia.

The regional side has not defeated New Zealand in a T20I series since 2012 and has lost three consecutive series to the Black Caps.

However, speaking in a pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Hope said the West Indies were still on a high and were hoping to carry that momentum into the New Zealand series.

‘Coming off that 3-0 victory that we had in Bangladesh is a great confidence booster for us as a team, so it’s just to keep challenging ourselves and testing ourselves to see where we’re at as a team and building to that World Cup.

‘.You have to take a lot [of pride], especially going into conditions that you may not have faced ever in your career and getting the success that we’ve had says a lot about the unit, the strength of the unit and like I said it’s a great confidence booster going into this series,’ Hope said.

‘It’s a place I’m sure the batters and even the bowlers will be much happier to be playing on these surfaces, but yes, confidence booster from Bangladesh, and hopefully we can turn things around in New Zealand and get a lot more success here.’

Hope acknowledged that the conditions in New Zealand were expected to be much different than the ones they faced on the Asian subcontinent.

Therefore, he said it would be important for the players to adapt to those conditions as quickly as possible.

‘Slightly different conditions, maybe totally different conditions, but as we all know it’s one of the biggest things of being a professional cricketer; you have to be able to adapt to the conditions you go into.

‘Like I always speak about, conditions, dimensions, adaptability, and in this particular situation you have to understand that I don’t just expect the New Zealand bowlers to put it in the slot for the shorter straight boundaries either, so it’s about understanding what you’re going to get and formulating those plans to be as successful as possible, whether with bat in hand or ball in hand,’ Hope explained.

‘On the back of that success in Bangladesh it’s about trying to repeat. We want to be a very good team and it’s about consistency and if you want to be the best you have to beat the best in their home territories, so it’s something else we need to tick off our boxes.’

The managing director of the state-owned oil and energy company, Staatsolie, Annand Jagesar, is pleased with the company’s financial and production figures.

‘Our production, refining, and offshore activities are proceeding according to plan. The Gran Morgu project, with which Suriname is expected to produce 220,000 barrels of oil per day starting in 2028, is on schedule and within budget,’ Jagesar told shareholders at a meeting where Rudolf Elias was elected as the new chairman of the Supervisory Board of the state-owned company.

Elias had previously served as managing director of Staatsolie from 2014 to 2021.

According to Jagesar, the project will not only generate direct revenue through royalties and taxes but also contribute to local employment and business activity.

‘Local content development is crucial. We want Surinamese employees and businesses to actively participate in this growing sector,’ Jagesar told the shareholders.

The state-owned Communications Service Suriname (CDS) said that with the appointment of Elias, Staatsolie strengthens its strategic oversight during a crucial phase of further growth in the oil and gas sector, both onshore and offshore.

It said that the new board, together with the management, will oversee professional governance and sustainable value creation for Surinamese society.

Supervisory board member Sergio Akiemboto spoke of the importance of close cooperation between the board, management, and the state as shareholder.

‘The supervisory board represents the shareholder and safeguards the direction and vision of the State within Staatsolie. At the same time, our task is to supervise, monitor, and advise, so that the management can adequately fulfill its responsibilities,’ Akiemboto said.

‘Oil revenues must be used to strengthen other sectors, such as education, agriculture, and tourism so that we can build a resilient and diversified economy.’

The following is the CANANews and SPORTS Schedule for Tuesday, November 4, 2025.

ST. JOHN’S – Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, Tuesday called for the Caribbean to remain a zone of peace warning against the impact of the military build-up by the United States ostensibly to deal with drug traffickers in the region.

PORT OF SPAIN -Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has doubled down on her support for the United States war on drug traffickers in the Caribbean, saying also that ‘many drug money-funded businesses’ are pumping money into a public relations campaign against the US initiative.

ST. GEORGE’S – Grenada government says it will not enter into any agreement that violates local, regional and international law as it still reviewing a US request to establish radar at Maurice Bishop International Airport.

ST. JOHN’S – The Antigua and Barbuda Defence Force (ABDF) is denying reports of unauthorized American military activity on the island, saying that the presence of Canadian military officials are as a result of the planning process for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held here next year.

GEORGETOWN – The Guyana government says the global environment is impacting the revenue of the oil and rice industries, but remain confident that the country’s economic projections would be met.

SPORTS:

AUCKLAND — With a win over Bangladesh in their last T20I series, West Indies white-ball captain, Shai Hope says his troops are bursting with confidence ahead of their matchup with New Zealand.

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, Tuesday called for the Caribbean to remain a zone of peace, warning against the impact of the military build-up by the United States ostensibly to deal with drug traffickers in the region.

‘We remain resolute in our call for the Caribbean a zone of peace and this is a call we continue to empasise and reiterate in all forums,’ Prime Minister Browne said as he addressed the launch of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference (CHOGM) to be held here November 1-4 next year.

‘The reality is, if as a result of the military buildup that we are seeing the southern Caribbean results in any form of conflict.the small island states, particularly the OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) countries that will suffer disproportionately and that is because we are so vulnerable’.

Prime Minister Browne told the ceremony attended by Governor General Sir Rodney Williams and the Commonwealth Secretary General, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, that even the fruits consumed in the region are imported from North America.

Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has described as ‘garbage’ suggestions that the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) was seeking to prevent the leader of the opposition We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), Azrrudin Mohamed, from being sworn in as Opposition Leader.

Parliament met for the first time on Monday following the September 1 regional and general election and the WIN party has emerged as the one with the second most seats in the 65-member Parliament, taking the position traditional by either of the two dominant political parties, the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) or the PPP/C.

The leader of the We Invest in Nationhood (WIN), Azrrudin Mohamed, being sworn in as a legislator on Monday

The WIN has since written to the re-elected Speaker of the National Assembly, Manzoor Nadir concerning the holding of an election for the post of Opposition Leader, now that its leader, Mohamed was Monday sworn in as a parliamentarian on Monday.

‘The Leader of the Opposition, of course, is me. We’re the main opposition party; no questions about that so we’re waiting for the Speaker to convene the meeting so that the other parliamentarians will elect me, of course,’ Mohamed told reporters, adding that he is concerned that that meeting was not held Monday ‘because it should have happened today’.

However, in previous parliamentary sessions, the Opposition Leader was not elected at the first sitting.

Fellow WIN parliamentarian, Tabita Sarabo-Halley, told reporters that her party dispatched a letter to the House Speaker signed by all WIN parliamentarians, formally requesting that he calls a meeting of opposition parliamentarians to elect the Opposition Leader.

She said the party formally asked that that election be held during the course of Monday’s sitting, but Nadir said orally that formal notices would have to be issued but it does not have to wait until the next sitting of the National Assembly.

Jagdeo told reporters that ‘there is no opposition leader elected yet’, adding ‘they have to go through a process, through a selection or voting process, to determine who will be the next opposition leader’.

He recalled that in 2020, when the PNCR’s leader Aubrey Norton was elected as opposition leader, the process took a month because the opposition could not reach a consensus.

Jagdeo said that WIN misleadingly told their supporters that the opposition leader would be sworn in on Monday ‘and somehow that it is a conspiracy of the People’s Progressive Party not to have that done.

‘That’s all garbage. They peddle that a lot, misinformation’, he told reporters.

Mohamed and his billionaire businessman father, Nazar Mohamed, were arrested and granted GUY$150,000 (One Guyana dollar=US$0.004 cents) bail last Friday, a day after the United States formally sent an extradition request to Guyana.

The 38-year-old politician along with his 73-year-old father, are the subject of an indictment unsealed on October 6, 2025, by a United States Grand Jury sitting in the Southern District of Florida, which charges them with multiple offences including wire fraud, mail fraud, money-laundering, conspiracy, aiding and abetting and customs-related violations connected to an alleged US$50 million gold export and tax evasion scheme.

The indictment alleges that between 2017 and June 2024, the accused conspired to defraud the Guyana government by evading export taxes and royalties on over 10,000 kilograms of gold, using falsified customs declarations and re-used export seals to disguise unpaid duties. The indictment further references the attempted shipment of US$5.3 million in undeclared gold seized at Miami International Airport, and the alleged under-invoicing of a luxury vehicle valued at over US$680,000.

According to the indictment, the alleged fraudulent scheme operated ‘from in or about 2017’ through June 2024.

In June 2024, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Mohameds and their company, Mohamed’s Enterprise, citing allegations of tax evasion, trade-based money-laundering, and gold smuggling.

Jagdeo told reporters that ‘not a ingle person’ in the ruling party indicted him, saying ‘the U.S. prosecutors went to a grand jury, and the grand jury indicted him on serious charges’.

Jagdeo reiterated that holding public office offers no immunity from criminal prosecution.

‘There’s no immunity as a Member of Parliament, even as Opposition Leader’, he said, rejecting the idea that Mohamed’s swearing-in could influence his legal troubles, insisting that the government acted fully within the constitutional timeframe for reconvening the 13th Parliament.

The leader of the main opposition New Democratic Party (NDP), Dr. Godwin Friday is promising public sector workers that if his party wins the November 27 general election, they will receive 50 per cent off the duty on a vehicle if they work in the public sector for 10 years or more.

‘I don’t ask people about their affiliation, how they vote. I don’t even ask them – now, in the current time, the most I might ask is if you’re registered, but I don’t even ask that,’ he added.

But Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves has dismissed such a policy, saying instead of having a vision ‘instead of critiquing our policies, what the NDP has taken to doing is to try to kerfuffle people with gimmicks.

‘Today, there are a few more gimmicks,’ he said, referring to the other announcements made by Friday.

Friday, who has been representing the Northern Grenadines since 2001, is making his second bid to lead the NDP to victory after it was voted out of office in March that year, also announced two value added tax (VAT) free shopping days annually, a payout to parents on the birth of a child, and a concession on equipment valued at up to EC$20,000 (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents).

He said that if elected to office, he does not want everyone coming to him as prime minister, adding that he wants a public service in which public servants just do their jobs.

‘. and they don’t have to look over their shoulder. All they have to say is, ‘Minister, this is what it says I’m supposed to do, and that’s what I did. If you don’t like that, go and take it up with the people who write this law, don’t come to me about it.’

‘And they are protected. The minister can’t say, ‘Well, look, I’ll send you to someplace else’, because they have to go through me first. I am not going to allow that to happen in government.

‘Because when that happens, all of us suffer because the people are not efficient and not producing. They’re not doing the things that taxpayers are paying them to do because they feel that their hand is tied behind their backs. We have to get rid of that because we are a modern country. We aspire to be more than that, some people.

‘But the point is that we are not going to get the best out of our public servants, and they are some of the best trained people, best educated people.’

He cited the Ministry of Agriculture, which has ‘some of the most highly-educated, skilled people, ready to work, want to do something.

‘And they’re just sitting around waiting for a minister every Monday morning to come and tell them they will be sending a container of something next week to someplace else, with no real strategy as to how.

‘Say, ‘Listen, guys, this is how we’re going to revitalise agriculture. Advise me what is the most effective way you think we can get there? We have set the policy. Tell me how we get there.’

‘And no idea is off the table, because I’m open to that.’

But Gonsalves, who is seeking to lead his ruling Unity Labour Party (ULP) into a historic sixth consecutive term in office, told supporters that the idea of two days a year as VAT-free days is another gimmick.

‘They try that in Barbados. They stop it because it makes absolutely no sense,’ Gonsalves said, adding that ‘then imagine this man (Friday) get on a radio and propose that to have babies, he go give EC$500.

‘Which world Friday live in. Imagine that, he insulting woman to say have pickney and I go get $500. $500? $500 really? He serious?’ Gonsalves said, asking Friday to state specifically if the EC$500 was to encourage people to have children in light of the declining population.

But Friday doubled down on his proposal saying ‘I just want to make it clear, again, that this policy that we’ll introduce is that we will pay – the government – a bonus of $500 on the birth of a child in St Vincent and the Grenadines – that is to the parents of the child.

‘And that is, call it the baby bonus. That is something that we will have in place, and families will be able to take advantage of that at that time when there are such, you know, additional costs and prices and so on.’

However, Gonsalves said the National Insurance Services (NIS), ‘once you are there, they give you a grant of $660’ adding that Friday is unaware of that.

Gonsalves also noted the proposed 50 per cent reduction in the duty on vehicles will extend to the police, nursing, health and teaching services.

‘Look at the rubbish,’ he said, adding that there are over 4,000 people in the public sector with more than 10 years’ service.

‘Now, let us assume that the average duty on a vehicle these days is about EC$35,000 and you give half of that as a relief, that’s EC$17,500,’ Gonsalves said, adding that it would amount to around EC$76 million.

‘But the question you have to ask, to show you all these gimmicks come and they don’t seek them out: so, somebody is in the service for 10 years, but they don’t have the level in the service, that that person is going to get the duty-free concession, but their boss can’t get it?

‘And those who are civil servants will know the confusion, which you going have.’

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar has doubled down on her support for the United States war on drug traffickers in the Caribbean, saying also that ‘many drug money-funded businesses’ are pumping money into a public relations campaign against the US initiative.

In recent weeks, the United States military has been bombing vessels in the international waters claiming that the occupants were drug traffickers without offering any evidence of such activity.

The United Nations UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also strongly condemned the airstrikes carried out by the United States against alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific.

Volker Trk said in a statement that the strikes ‘violate international human rights law’, demanding that they be stopped immediately.

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar

Among those reportedly killed are two Trinidad and Tobago nationals, but Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar has reiterated her full support for President Donald Trump’s move to violently kill drug traffickers.

She told the Express newspaper that ‘President Trump’s comments were clear. He is committed to the fight against drug trafficking within our region. My Government will continue to support the US military drug interdiction exercises within the region’.

She said that Trinidad and Tobago has suffered tremendously from the illegal drugs trade and that members of the population ‘have been forced to live in terror behind burglar-proof bars in your own homes.

‘There are many drug money-funded businesses who are pumping money into a PR campaign against the American military-led drug interdiction exercises. Take note of local and regional persons and groups that are vociferously condemning the fight against the drug cartels,’ she told the Express newspaper.

‘They are showing you who they are, believe them. I prefer for drugs and arms traffickers to be killed violently than for you, the law-abiding citizens to continue being killed violently in your own homes.

‘I simply do not care about the glib opinions, fake sophistication and the grovelling masked as diplomacy to protect drug traffickers. Law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear but those who commit violence against the population will face a most brutal reality.’

Persad-Bissessar said that the country would be informed if there is cause to do so, adding that there have been failed efforts by some persons and organisations to foment chaos and hysteria among the population regarding relations between Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago.

‘The PNM (main opposition People’s National Movement), their trolls and some in the media are trying to gaslight the population about war and attacks against Trinidad in the hope that myself or the government will respond to every rumour. That is not going to happen,’ she said.

‘I will let the population know if there is any cause for concern. In the meantime, whoever wants to take basket from the persons hysterically trying to protect drug traffickers from the US military, they are free to do so and make fools of themselves,’ she added.

Earlier, Venezuela’s Minister of Justice Diosdado Cabello has called on Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar to refrain from meddling in Venezuelan affairs, saying that the South American country reserves the right to take ‘necessary action’ .

Caracas has accused Washington of using the was on drugs as a pretext to remove President Nicolas Maduro from office and has accused Port of Spain of siding with the Trump administration in carrying out the regime change.

Cabello said Port of Spain has taken a stance of forming a front against Venezuela despite historical relations and trade between the two.

‘Yet we have been attacked by Trinidad and Tobago, by the hand and by the voice of the lady who is the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, who has shown no regard for the long history of good relations between our nations.

‘It will not be the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, with her provocations, who derails us from the train of peace. No. Because they have a habit of threatening and attacking us, and then pretending they want to maintain good relations.

‘What good relations? If you are attacking and targeting Venezuelans, if you don’t care about them at all, then Venezuela, as always, reserves the right to take the necessary actions,’ he said, adding that Trinidad and Tobago could decide what it wants to do with the Venezuelans living in its borders, noting that Trinidadians in Venezuela are not harmed or mistreated.

‘We have many Trinidadians here, and we don’t harm them, not at all. Anyone who wants to understand how things really work can ask the governor of Sucre State: people from Trinidad come here to take Venezuelan products every single day. Isn’t that true? Every single day. Because it’s a historic relationship. And we do not mistreat the people of Trinidad. They are our brothers,’ he said.

Cabello said he wanted to give advice to Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar.

‘She should focus on governing her own country. There are enough problems there instead of meddling in Venezuela’s internal affairs, attacking our nation by allowing military exercises right next to our coasts. Those were undoubtedly provocations against us, provocations we did not fall for,’ he said.

Last month, the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat said that regional leaders had discussed several issues on the regional agenda, including the security build-up in parts of the Caribbean and its potential impact on member states.

It said that the position at that meeting was not endorsed by the government of Trinidad and Tobago.

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, Tuesday called for the Caribbean to remain a zone of peace, warning against the impact of the military build-up by the United States ostensibly to deal with drug traffickers in the region.

‘We remain resolute in our call for the Caribbean a zone of peace and this is a call we continue to empasise and reiterate in all forums,’ Prime Minister Browne said as he addressed the launch of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference (CHOGM) to be held here November 1-4 next year.

‘The reality is, if as a result of the military buildup that we are seeing the southern Caribbean results in any form of conflict.the small island states, particularly the OECS (Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States) countries that will suffer disproportionately and that is because we are so vulnerable’.

Prime Minister Browne told the ceremony attended by Governor General Sir Rodney Williams and the Commonwealth Secretary General, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, that even the fruits consumed in the region are imported from North America.

‘If there is any curtailment of shipping or airlift between the Caribbean region and the United States, the impact will be disproportional ‘ he said, reminding the audience of the impact the Russian war on Ukraine has had on the region, with prices increasing by as much as 10 per cent.

‘That was not even in our hemisphere, so just imagine the impact if there should be any form of military action in this hemisphere.

‘I will say to our Caribbean people that we must all coalesce and stand against any form of military action in this hemisphere. And I must say to our Caribbean people that we must all coalesce and stand against any form of military action.any form of military intervention.

‘We are not getting involved in any geopolitical spat between any group of countries. We are defending our own national interests and it is not in our national interests for any form of military action to take place within this hemisphere because of dipropionate impact that will take place.’

Browne said that while Antigua and Barbuda is ‘small and vulnerable, we should not be afraid to stand on the truth and if there are going to be consequences standing on the truth let it be so. But at the end of the day history will absolve us and will remember us as a nation, a non-aligned nation that continues to call for peace, justice, love among humanity and certainly to call out all of the inequities in the global system’.

He said that is the obligations of human beings living on a plant with other people with whom ‘we are all brothers and sisters.with a common grandmother 250 thousand years ago, notwithstanding the colour of our skin, the texture of our hair’

He said this should be the hallmark of humanity reminding that ‘when you discriminate or undermine any nation, any set of people, you are literally undermining all of humanity and when you take military action against any nation, any group of nations, you are literally undermining all of humanity and we should not be afraid to stand for peace and justice’.

In recent weeks, the United States military has been bombing vessels in the international waters claiming that the occupants were drug traffickers without offering any evidence of such activity.

The United Nations UN High Commissioner for Human Rights also strongly condemned the airstrikes carried out by the United States against alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and Pacific.

Volker Trk said in a statement that the strikes ‘violate international human rights law’, demanding that they be stopped immediately.

Last month, the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat said that regional leaders had discussed several issues on the regional agenda, including the security build-up in parts of the Caribbean and its potential impact on member states.

It said that the position at that meeting was not endorsed by the government of Trinidad and Tobago.

Prime Minister Browne said that the CHOGM, which will be held under the theme ‘Accelerating Partnerships and Investments for a Prosperous Commonwealth,’ next year will be a ‘transformative one’ and should not be an event with commitments and declarations ‘that are shelved.

‘We will make sure that all of the commitments are implemented,’ he said, making reference t issues such as reparation and climate change financing.

‘Our efforts here in Antigua and the Commonwealth must be redoubled to develop those partnerships that can unlock financing for development and build resilience for small and other vulnerable states.

He said he believes the challenge is not one of resources in the world, but one of political will and prioritising what matters most to people.

‘Even as we seek to turbo charge these areas of interest we have an obligation as a family of nations not to be afraid or be ashamed but to engage in difficult and sensitive conversations,’ he said, noting that the issue of reparation for the salve trade will be one of those sensitive areas.

‘Our position is that we will not use the issue of reparation to shame any nation, but we should be able to have very honest discussions about the issue of reparations and to establish a framework in which we can discuss this issue honestly and to resolve.and ultimately to put the issue behind us, recognising that certain atrocities were committed and there is need for the current generation to right the wrongs that were actually committed against our forebearers’.

Guyana’s archery team produced a historic performance at the recently concluded 2025 Caribbean Development Championships, which were held in Trinidad and Tobago.

Guyana ended the competition with an impressive medal haul of 44, including 22 gold, 12 silver and 10 bronze, from individual, doubles, and mixed team events.

The championships featured 262 archers from 11 countries and took place at the at the Marvin Lee Stadium.

President of Archery Guyana, Vidushi Persaud-McKinnon said he was extremely proud of the team’s performance.

‘This is a monumental moment for Archery Guyana and our nation. To see so many Guyanese archers standing on the podium, including our youth, truly reflects the success of our developmental pathway,’ he said.

Guyana secured 10 individuals gold medals courtesy of Ravish Singh (compound beginner – U-15 men), Samiyyah La Cruez (barebow beginner – U-15 women), Nolan Gray (barebow beginner – senior men), Suzanne Affonso (barebow beginner – senior women), Jeewanram Persaud (recurve amateur – senior men) and Julie-Ann Williams (recurve amateur – senior women).

Guyana is set to host the Caribbean Development Championships in 2026.