Category: CANA News

The United States has delivered 20 armored vehicles to Haiti’s new Gang Suppression Force (GSF), marking the first shipment of equipment to the 5,500-member UN-backed mission tasked with curbing the country’s gang violence.

The force, created to replace the Kenya-led mission, is still in its formative stages even as deadly attacks continue across Haiti.

These vehicles will strengthen the capacity of the GSF and the Haitian National Police (PNH) to counter the deadly gangs terrorizing the people of Haiti,’ the U.S. Embassy in Haiti said in a recent statement .

‘They reaffirm the United States’ commitment to the country’s security.’

The GSF replaces the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS), whose mandate expired on Oct. 2 after limited progress against armed groups that now control about 90% of the capital. The new force, made up of military and police officers, aims to support anti-gang operations and create conditions for a return to democratic governance.

The U.S. Permanent Mission to the UN said discussions are underway with member states, including Caribbean Community (Caricom) nations, as part of the GSF’s formation and deployment planning.

Meanwhile, in Guatemala, 150 military officers, including 19 women, are training to join the force.

Guatemalan Colonel Alfredo Sáenz said the United Nations has not yet requested their deployment, but confirmed the troops are preparing to assist if called.

‘This demonstrates the strong commitment we have as military police to serve as ambassadors in uniform, peacekeepers, and soldiers of hope for the Haitian people,’ Sáenz said.

Guatemala is the first country to pledge new personnel for the GSF. It previously sent 150 soldiers to the Kenya-led MSS mission, which remains stationed in Haiti and is awaiting the transition.

Washington says it remains committed to helping Haiti confront its gang crisis and the U.S. has offered multi-million-dollar rewards for information leading to the arrest of Haiti’s most powerful gang leaders, many of whom have been designated as terrorists by U.S. authorities.

‘Together we will defeat the gangs terrorizing the region,’ the U.S. Mission to the UN stated. ‘The GSF will have consistent funding, appropriate personnel, and the authority to take on this task.’

U.S. officials emphasize that gangs continue to destabilize Haiti while publicly claiming to seek peace.

The Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA) says it is in the process has provided updates on water supply restoration and infrastructure recovery efforts, as the island recovers from the impact of Tropical Storm Jerry

According to Anazette Reynolds, Corporate Communications Manager at APUA, surface water reservoirs are experiencing significant replenishment from recent rainfall.

Reynolds cautioned that water distribution will not be immediate despite the showers. ‘We aren’t able to immediately distribute water,’ she explained during a public briefing.

‘The water will first need to undergo a treatment process in line with [World Health Organisation] standards, and then we can begin distributing water.’

APUA has established clear priorities for power restoration efforts that directly impact water service recovery. Priority feeders include those serving critical facilities such as hospitals, the airport, water facilities, and St. John’s City.

Once electricity is restored to these facilities, water maintenance technicians must conduct comprehensive safety inspections before operations can resume.

These checks ensure no moisture has compromised high voltage panels or other critical equipment on site – a crucial step given the wet conditions following the storm.

Reynolds urged residents to exercise caution around electrical infrastructure. The public should always assume that any downed power lines are energized and report them immediately.

Meanwhile, the Miami based National Hurricane Centre says the system is ‘disheveled’ and may not let much longer ask tropical cyclone.

In it’s latest update the center of Tropical Storm Jerry was located near latitude 25.8 North, longitude 63.2 West.

Jerry is moving toward the north near 16 mph and this general motion is expected to continue on Saturday.

A turn toward the northeast is forecast on Sunday, followed by an eastward motion on Monday.

Maximum sustained winds are near 50 mph with higher gusts and weakening is forecast during the next few days.

Meanwhile,swells generated by Jerry are affecting the Leeward Islands, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Bahamas. These swells will likely causing life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.

Caribbean-American Democratic Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke has described as a ‘sham’ the indictment of New York Attorney General Letitia James by the US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of Virginia.

The indictment on Thursday charges James with one count of bank fraud and one count of making false statements to a financial institution in connection with her purchase of a property in Norfolk, Virginia.

The charges come two weeks after Presisenr Donald Trump sought the successful indictment of former FBI director James B. Comey.

‘Let me be clear: this accusation, like the man who ordered it, is a sham,’ Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who represents the 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) on Friday. ‘The American people know it. The US Attorney whom Donald Trump forced to resign for refusing to carry out this case knows it. Even the president’s hand-picked attorney leading this case knows it.

‘But she, like every other instrument of the Trump regime, would rather abide by the president’s good graces than the United States Constitution,’ added the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. ‘While I am utterly disturbed by this unjustifiable and baseless attack against Attorney General James, I am not at all surprised by it.

‘This farce is nothing but the product of a years-long revenge crusade against the first woman who made Donald Trump face the consequences of his actions’ Clarke continued. ‘Where so many have failed to hold him accountable for his lifetime of wrongdoings and lawlessness, Tish (Letitia) James succeeded. To a convicted criminal like the president who is wholly consumed by his narcissism, ego, and limitless insecurities, that in his twisted thinking was a transgression that could not be forgiven or forgotten.

‘In a vacuum, these charges and the punishment they carry are absurd and disturbing,’ she said. ‘In the context of the rampant criminality this administration excuses and embraces without a second thought, they become simply laughable. But we know that, historically, neither authoritarian regimes nor the small men atop them can tolerate those with a total devotion to justice.’

The congresswoman said that, ‘when the rule of law is all that stands in the way of the absolute control they crave, they cannot bear those whose very being gives it life.

‘In Donald Trump’s America, this attack was always going to come. It will fail,’ she said. ‘When all these falsehoods fall apart in a court of law, Americans across the country will know the true character of Letitia James and salute her for her service to New York and the United States.’

US House of Representatives Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries also described as ‘baseless’ James’s indictment, stating that it is ‘part of Donald Trump’s corrupt weaponization of the criminal justice system against anyone who has sought to hold him accountable.

‘Attorney General James has courageously been at the forefront of successfully challenging the Trump administration’s lawless and deeply unpopular overreach,’ said Jeffries, whose 8th Congressional District in New York encompasses parts of Brooklyn and Queens, with heavy concentration of Caribbean immigrants.

He said James, ‘at all times, followed the facts, applied the law and been guided by the Constitution.

‘The malicious prosecution of Attorney General James has no legitimate basis in law or fact, was brought by a corrupt political hack and will not survive scrutiny in a Court of Law,’ Jeffries said.

James said her indictment is ‘nothing more than a continuation of the president’s desperate weaponization of our justice system.’

‘He is forcing federal law enforcement agencies to do his bidding, all because I did my job as the New York State Attorney General,’ she said, describing as ‘baseless’ the charges against her as ‘baseless’.

She said Trump’s ‘own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost.

‘The president’s actions are a grave violation of our Constitutional order and have drawn sharp criticism from members of both parties,’ she said. ‘His decision to fire a United States Attorney who refused to bring charges against me – and replace them with someone who is blindly loyal not to the law, but to the president – is antithetical to the bedrock principles of our country.

‘This is the time for leaders on both sides of the aisle to speak out against this blatant perversion of our system of justice,’ continued James, stating that she stands ‘strongly behind’ her office’s litigation against the Trump Organization.

The New York Attorney General said her office had conducted a two-year investigation into the Trump Organization ‘based on the facts and evidence – not politics.’

She said that ‘judges have upheld the trial court’s finding that Donald Trump, his company, and his two sons are liable for fraud.

‘I am a proud woman of faith, and I know that faith and fear cannot share the same space,’ James said. ‘And so, today, I am not fearful; I am fearless, and as my faith teaches me, no weapon formed against me shall prosper.

‘We will fight these baseless charges aggressively, and my office will continue to fiercely protect New Yorkers and their rights,’ she affirmed. ‘And I will continue to do my job.’

Police have arrested one person after a one year-old baby died after being stabbed during a domestic violence situation on Thursday night.

Police said that they went to the scene at Cocobiacoweg on the outskirts of the capital, after a report had been made that a man was assaulting his wife and children, armed with a knife.

They said that upon arrival, officers and paramedics encountered a harrowing scene, where the baby had suffered stab wounds and died despite prompt medical attention

The police said that the suspect, a cousin of the child’s father, was arrested at the scene and that the mother and any other people involved were treated by emergency services.

Police say they are conducting a thorough investigation into the circumstances that led to the death of the child and have included several agencies, including the Child Protection Services and Victim Support.

The main opposition Progressive Reform Party (VHP) Friday said it recognizes the important historical contribution the Maroons have made in Suriname at various points in the country’s history as the Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country observes Maroon Day.

Maroon Day is largely commemorated in the interior villages by descendants of the Maroons, who dress up in colorful ‘pangi’ to celebrate independence with everyone else in Suriname.

The VHP, headed by former president Chandrikapersad Santokhi, said that since October 10, 1974, Maroon Day has been commemorated here, dating back to 1760, when the Okanisi tribe was the first to make peace with the colonial rulers in Paramaribo.

It said that in the years that followed, three more peace treaties with other Maroon tribes followed, putting an end to the bloody hunt for escaped slaves.

‘This day is commemorated as a national holiday due to its great historical significance. It symbolises not only the peace that was concluded at that time, but especially the heroic struggle waged by the Maroon ancestors against oppression and slavery.’

The VPH said that while it recognises the ‘important historical contribution’ of the Maroons, at the same time, it ‘acknowledges that many Maroon communities still face difficult living conditions, both inland and on the coastal plain.

‘This group, which has lived largely in tribal groups along the major rivers of our interior for hundreds of years, holds a special position within our Surinamese community. They live traditionally and maintain customs, rituals, and traditions that are invaluable to Suriname’s cultural diversity.’

The party said that in recent years, several villages have been provided with clean drinking water and electricity by the previous government led by Santhoki.

‘They also worked hard to bring quality education to the interior of the country. Given the enormous backlog, this was no easy task, but improving the quality of life in the interior remains a priority for the VHP,’ it said, adding ‘this day remains a powerful symbol of freedom, resistance, and cultural richness, values that continue to inspire Surinamese society today’.

Guyana’s ambassador to the United Nations, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, Friday said that the Caribbean ‘treasures the region as a zone of peace’ even as it supports efforts by the United States to deal with narco-trafficking.

She told the United Nations Security Council discussing the Unites States’ military actions in the Caribbean that Guyana has joined several Caribbean countries in strengthening its response ‘to new and emerging drug threats by launching an early warning system designed to detect, assess and respond swiftly to new active substances and strengthen our overall public health and national security frameworks’.

She said while international regional and bilateral cooperation has been crucial in dismantling the trafficking networks that exploit Guyana as a trans-shipment point for cocaine and ither narcotics.

‘it is in this spirit that Guyana continues to advocate for strengthen partnerships and cooperation among countries and regional and international organizations. Such partnerships must be rooted in the rule of law and international legal frameworks ensuring a unified and lawful approach to combating drug trafficking and related crimes.

Former prime minister Dr. Keith Rowley Friday suggested that the Kamla Persad Bissessar administration should eat ‘humble pie’ and seek to hold talks with the Venezuelan government on the Dragon Gas deal, now that the United States has provided Port of Spain with a new Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) licence.

‘I would say in international relations countries sometimes are very far apart, but when they examine their interests, they eat humble pie and .ensuring that their interests take priority over their egos. Countries have to do that from time to time,’ Rowley told a news conference, less than 24 hours after the government said it had received the OFAC licence from Washington.

‘If you misstep you have a duty to walk it back and you now have to rely on your counterpart, accepting as a new convert, but to come and try to pretend your arrangement that you settle with somebody else is a new improvement is just to be gas lighting a whole nation, everybody with their eyes wide open,’ Rowley said.

On Thursday, Attorney General, John Jeremie said that the the United States Treasury Department had granted a six-month window under a newly OFAC licence, allowing the Kamla Persad government and the National Gas Company (NGC) to formally engage in negotiations with Venezuela on the development of the Dragon Gas project.

Jeremie told reporters that the new OFAC licence was ‘issued under certain executive orders and it authorises US persons, including employees, affiliates, contractors and service providers employed by or acting on behalf of or for the direct or indirect benefit of the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd, Shell, PLC, Futura Clara Limited, and their subsidiaries and their affiliates and contractors to engage in transactions ordinarily incident and necessary to negotiations with the government of Venezuela and Petroleos, the Venezuela executives in connection with the Dragon gas project.’

He said that the licence was awarded after an application was made by the government, which came to office following the April 28 general election, Government and the NGC on May 19.

‘First of all, it allows us to enter into negotiations with Venezuela, which at the present time would be prohibited under sanctions. We have six months to negotiate. Within parameters,’ Jeremie said, adding that the six month period is valid until April 2026.

Jeremie, however, declined to share details about the commercial terms, adding that the government has already begun to take the permitted steps pursuant to the licence to advance the project.

‘We have a window of opportunity and the government is moving assiduously to exploit that,’ he reiterated without providing details.

In April, the United States government revoked the OFAC licence granted to Trinidad and Tobago to allow Shell, the National Gas Company (NGC), and contractors to explore, produce, and export natural gas from the Venezuelan Dragon Gas Field.

The licence was valid until October 31, 2025, and enabled Trinidad and Tobago to pay for gas in various currencies and through humanitarian measures. On December 21, 2023, Trinidad and Tobago also secured a 30-year exploration and production license from the government of Venezuela for the Dragon gas field.

Washington had also revoked the Cocuina-Manakin license granted to Port of Spain on May 31, 2024.

Port of Spain had been planning to request an extension from Washington for a licence granted to Shell and the NGC to develop the Dragon gas project in Venezuela.

The license, issued in early 2023, allows the companies to plan the project. The project aims to supply gas to Trinidad by 2027. The Dragon Field is located in Venezuelan waters near the maritime border with Trinidad.

Persad Bissessar, when in opposition had been critical of the then People’s National Movement (PNM) decision to pursue the Dragon gas deal and soon after coming to office in April, declared the the project was ‘dead’.

In addition, the then opposition had been critical of the Nicolas Maduro administration urging Washington to impose sanctions on Port of Spain for seeking to engage the Maduro government on the gas project.

Rowley told reporters that he had been involved in the negotiations with Caracas dating back to 2016 after Trinidad and Tobago had been experiencing a gas shortage to provide support to many projects ongoing here.

He dismissed a statement by Jeremie on Thursday that the last government had spent in excess of 100 million dollars (One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents) in trying to get the Dragon Gas deal going, saying the present government should make clear the conditions included in the new OFAC licence.

Jeremie had told reporters that the Drago Gas project is ‘alive’ adding ‘you have to hit commercial targets for US companies. We don’t think those targets are hard to meet.

‘They are reasonable . It’s a commercial win-win for all of the parties. The United States benefits from this arrangement. There are terms and conditions in the licence which ensure that US companies benefit and there are tiers as to exactly how they should benefit. Trinidad obviously stands to benefit and to a certain extent, of course, the people of Venezuela will benefit.’

Rowley said he is confident that the population ‘would see where we are at now as against where we were or could have been and what is required now is for the government of Trinidad and Tobago to do no further harm.’

Rowley, who traced the project’s timeline from 2016 and the involvement of his then energy minister Stuart Young in the negotiations, said the Drag field with its four trillion cubic feet of gas, is very much a necessity for the future development of Trinidad and Tobago.

He told reporters that the Attorney General was ‘very careful ‘ not to tell the general public what the government had always been calling for when in opposition, ‘which is transparency.

‘We told the country what the two year OFAC licence had contained, we told the country why we had to go and renegotiate when the Americans said you can’t pay for the gas in cash. We told the country when we got that settled.

‘I cannot say after that moon show yesterday that I know what the term of that OFAC licence is. I know the AG was very cagey in not telling us what the details are and if I am to believe him, it is for six months and there is no way a six month licence could be an improvement on a two-year licence.

‘There is no way a licence that was broad covering all the bases could be inferior to one that you are now out on a leach and you walk in step and you get permission to go through the next step if you meet certain bench marks,’ Rowley said, adding ‘I don’t know what the bench marks are.

‘So I don’t know enough about the details of that to comment further,’ he said reiterating that his administration had not spent the estimated 120 million dollars as statement by Jeremie on advancing the Dragon Gas project.

Asked by reporters to comment on the government providing its ‘full support’ to the United States in its war on dugs in the Caribbean, while also indicating that it has nothing against the people of Venezuela, Rowley, who said he was forced to break his silence on the Dragon Gas deal issue, said ‘as a former prime minister who lived this situation before, especially one that led the CARICOM (Caribbean Community) position on this issue, I would reserve my comments’.

Rowley said he was doing so ‘because I don’t want to further inflame or embarrass anybody. I simply want to state that this little nation must be aware that nobody owes us lunch and everybody we deal with have their interest to protect and our skills and our success will be determined by whether we protected our interest.

‘This is a serious matter where the facts and the facts alone should guide us. Policies, diplomacy, diplomatic moves are matters for the governments. If our government finds itself ina situation where it cannot do what is required.then you know you have a problem with the government’.

But he recalled when Maduro was given eight days in office and the western countries were seeking his removal and regime change was spoken about as the objective, CARICOM took the matter before the United Nations so as to determine ‘just who should we deal with in Caracas.

‘The way these things go you need support, a small area like the CARICOM when you get on the international stage .you can’t allow to be brushed off and our position was we might be small but we are not insignificant.’

Rowley said that when the situation arose, Trinidad and Tobago had already began lobbying for a position on the United Nations Security Council to replace St. Vincent and the Grenadines, adding ‘I want to ask the government if they are still pursuing that and how it is going’.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Persad Bissessar says she remains optimistic after holding talks with representatives from three major energy companies on Thursday.

In a statement on Friday, the Energy Ministry said the prime minister met with high-level representatives from BPTT, Proman, and Woodside to engage in discussions on matters of mutual interest and to explore new avenues for collaboration. It said that Jeremie, Energy Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal and Minister in the Energy Ministry, Ernesto Kesar, also participated in those talks.

‘These strategic meetings underscored the vital importance of strong partnerships in advancing Trinidad and Tobago’s energy sector and ensuring lasting benefits for our citizens,’ Persad Bissessar said according to a statement issued by the Office of the Prime Minister.

‘Government continues to deepen energy security by strengthening our partnerships with major energy companies, ensuring that TT remains a competitive and attractive destination for investment.

‘ By building and maintaining these vital international partnerships, my Government is ensuring that TT continues to harness its energy resources strategically and responsibly, securing a stronger and more prosperous future for all,’ she added.

The Jamaica-based United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Multi Country Office has announced a strategic collaboration with the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI)that will enhance the Caribbean representation and expand youth engagement opportunities on climate action.

It said that the collaboration will allow for greater participation at Bermuda’s fifth annual Youth Climate Summit (YCS) being hosted by BUEI from November 17 – 22 this year.

The conference will follow the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, and according to officials YCS, one of BUEI’s most impactful signature educational programmes, is now positioned as one of its COP30-affiliated dialogues in the region.

The UNDP said that this innovative partnership combines YCS’s proven record of empowering young climate advocates with UNDP’s Climate Promise global programme to advance scaled-up climate action whilst promoting the UNDP Multi Country Office’s Ready Set Great initiative, an empowerment and advocacy movement facilitating youth-led solutions to the greatest challenges facing young people.

‘The impactful collaboration between BUEI and UNDP paves the way for Caribbean youth ages 13 to 22 years who live outside Bermuda to register as virtual delegates in the Bermuda Youth Climate Summit via UNDP’s readysetgreatja.com website. As virtual delegates, participants will gain access to YCS virtual sessions scheduled for the first three days of the Summit, plus alumni masterclasses scheduled on day four,’ it added.

‘This partnership significantly broadens YCS’s reach throughout the Caribbean, with UNDP encouraging virtual participation in the Summit from Ready Set Great participants and young people engaged in environmental programmes across their network.

‘The collaboration creates new opportunities to build meaningful connections between like-minded students within the region while maintaining YCS’s authentic, youth-driven approach,’ the UNDP said, adding that ‘the partnership also reflects the growing recognition of YCS’s impact in the youth climate space whilst providing UNDP with a platform to continue engaging young environmental advocates across the Caribbean and beyond’.

UNDP Resident Representative Dr Kishan Khoday said the critical nature of the climate emergency facing island nations and communities requires strategic youth engagement and mentorship for a climate ready future.

‘As the world looks to COP 30 for an ambitious vision, our youth advocates must be proactive and forward thinking, ensuring their voices are heard in corridors of power. UNDP therefore welcomes this opportunity to work with the powerful Bermuda Youth Climate Summit on amplifying youth advocacy and action on climate change throughout the region.

‘By facilitating the partnership between the Bermuda event and the Ready Set Great platform we are creating synergies that can only strengthen youth action, youth voices and youth impact in the Caribbean. UNDP feels it is vitally important to provide these opportunities, listen, learn and support, to advance the important cause of climate resilience within vulnerable island communities,’ Khoday said.

BUEI chief executive officer, Traci Burgess, said BUEI is excited to expand YCS throughout the Caribbean and connect like-minded young people, many of whom face similar climate challenges living in small island nations that are on the front lines of battling climate change.

‘Partnering with UNDP allows BUEI and YCS to expand our educational impact and make greater contributions to developing change makers who will be better prepared to use their voices in advocating for a healthier future. This significant collaboration provides substantial opportunities for youth from Bermuda and around the region to connect, educate, and inspire each other’.

The European Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) says Latin America and the Caribbean must embrace a new vision of productive development policies (PDPs) to escape the trap of low capacity for growth in which it is mired and to be able to tackle the challenges imposed by the new global geopolitical context.

In a new report titled ‘Panorama of Productive Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean 2025: How to escape the trap of low capacity for growth’, was presented by ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs.

He told a news conference that the trap of low capacity for growth can be attributed largely to a slow productive transformation and more than a decade of corresponding stagnation, and even decline, in the region’s labour productivity rate, which has fallen below average global productivity since 2017.

ECLAC warns that although the document indicates a 2.2 per cent rise in the region’s labour productivity between 2023 and 2024, that increase is not enough to surmount the overall lag.

The study points to great diversity regarding productivity levels and growth between countries, territories, companies of different sizes and sectors in the region, with the lowest-productivity sectors accounting for the largest share of employment in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The lowest productivity rate is seen in the agriculture, livestock and forestry sector, representing just 44 per cent of the region’s average productivity, according to data from 2023. It is followed, among the sectors with the lowest productivity, by commerce, with 69 per cent, and construction, with 77 per cent.

Meanwhile, microenterprises account for a mere 12.5 per cent of the productivity of the region’s large companies, which is a much bigger gap than what is seen in more developed economies.

‘The quandary facing Latin America and the Caribbean is substantial: either we begin a new era of high, sustained, inclusive and sustainable growth, or we head for a third lost decade,’ said Salazar-Xirinachs.

He said to avoid the latter scenario, countries must scale up and improve their productive development policies based on a new vision that includes, among other things, working on strategic agendas around driving sectors, multilevel and multi-stakeholder.

‘Let’s raise the political profile of these policies and delve deeper into the ‘hows,’ meaning how to carry out these transformations in practice,’ Salazar-Xirinachs said, recalling that the Panorama’s 2025 edition being presented today joins other documents and projects by ECLAC that aim to provide practical guidance on how countries and their territories can use PDPs to accelerate their productive transformation.

The report analyses various productive development policy efforts being carried out in the region in light of the recommendations that ECLAC has been formulating, which include sector prioritization, resource allocation, leadership at the highest level, collective construction, the territorialization of policies, the utilization of cluster initiatives, and monitoring and evaluation.

ECLAC said that although progress has been made, there are significant opportunities for improvement in the way the region has been developing PDPs, the Commission affirms.

According to the report, the ability to scale up and improve productive development policies depends, in part, on the way in which countries and their territories align their science, technology and innovation (STI) efforts with their economies’ productive transformation.

ECLAC sats the region is clearly lagging on STI investment, with investment levels in research and development of around 0.56 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), far below the countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (three per cent), the United States (3.6 per cent) and China (2.6 per cent).

ECLAC said however, the impact of STI policies depends not only on greater resources, but also on the design, operation and coherence of the strategies, institutions and instruments involved.

For that reason, ECLAC recommends strengthening multi-stakeholder coordination and governance, bolstering the technical, operational, political and prospective (TOPP) capabilities of the entities in charge of STI policies; diversifying and scaling up tools; increasing the financing of STI while also enhancing its direction and quality; and harnessing opportunities for regional and extra-regional cooperation in this area.

In addition, the Commission stresses that cluster initiatives and other productive articulation initiatives are a powerful tool for the multi-stakeholder and multilevel articulation that new-generation productive development policies require, which means they should play a leading role.

To date, ECLAC has identified 712 active cluster and productive articulation initiatives in 20 of the region’s countries. The most highly represented sectors in these initiatives are agriculture, manufacturing industries, tourism, and information and communications technology.

It said of this total, 58 per cent receive financing from national governments, 51% from subnational governments and 39 per cent from the private sector.

ECLAC said productive articulation initiatives do not occur spontaneously but rather require deliberate policies, which is why the report offers multiple recommendations grouped into 11 guidelines, such as utilizing these initiatives to work on strategic agendas around prioritised sectors under national and subnational PDPs; increasing the resources invested and ensuring the continuity of productive articulation initiatives.

The report also analyses the opportunities for the region’s productive transformation arising from climate change and the energy transition.

According to ECLAC’s calculations, between US$2.1 and US$2.8 trillion dollars in investments are needed in the region, cumulatively by 2030, in order to fulfill climate commitments while simultaneously driving economic growth.

Rising track star Naomi London has become the second Saint Lucian track and field athlete to ink a sponsorship deal with German sportswear giants PUMA.

The 18-year-old London made the announcement on Friday, joining Olympic gold medalist and World Championship bronze medalist Julien Alfred as an ambassador at the third largest sportswear manufacturer in the world.

In a post on social media, an excited London said, ‘Oh to be a PUMA GIRL. Blessed and thankful to join the PUMA family.’

It is the latest major accomplishment by the young sprinter, who is having a breakout season.

London, a 2023 double CARIFTA silver medalist, broke Alfred’s national junior record in March when she clocked 11.23 seconds in the 100 metres at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.

Two months later she ran a wind-aided 11.09 at the Texas State Twilight Last Chance Meet to become the fifth-fastest teenager in the world under all conditions for 2025.

Earlier this year London became a brand ambassador for the nation’s biggest bank, Bank of Saint Lucia.

She is already among the early favourites for gold in the Under-20 girls’ 100m at the 2026 CARIFTA Games after missing the last two editions through injury.