🌴 THE CARIBBEAN DAILY BRIEF 🌴
Your 5-Minute Regional News Digest
Tuesday, March 24, 2026
Good morning from across the archipelago, where Jamaica is doing budget math, Trinidad and Tobago just received a very uncomfortable list from Washington, and Sandals is spending $200 million on resorts that a hurricane knocked down.
Also: Caribbean AIDS deaths fell 60%. That’s the rare piece of news that’s just straightforwardly good.
📊 REGIONAL NUMBERS
| Country | Story | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Jamaica | Hurricane Melissa damage | US$8.8 billion (40% of GDP) |
| Jamaica | New taxes being introduced | JA$29.5 billion target |
| Sandals | Jamaica resort reinvestment | US$200 million |
| Caribbean | AIDS-related deaths decline | Down 60% |
| Trinidad | US persons-of-interest list | Received, unnamed |
🇯🇲 JAMAICA: HURRICANE MATH IS UGLY
Finance Minister Fayval Williams is scheduled to open Jamaica’s 2026–2027 budget debate this month, outlining how the government plans to address a gap in the JA$1.4 trillion national budget.
The gap exists because Hurricane Melissa struck Jamaica on October 28, 2025, causing an estimated US$8.8 billion in physical damage and wiping out 40% of the country’s gross domestic product in one October weekend.
Williams announced new taxes in February aimed at raising about JA$29.5 billion for the upcoming fiscal year. The headline measure: a tax on sweetened non-alcoholic beverages expected to generate JA$10.1 billion.
Williams acknowledged this is the first time in ten years the government has introduced new taxes, saying: “It took a Category 5 hurricane for that to happen.”
The Brief’s translation: A hurricane did what opposition parties and fiscal hawks have been arguing for years. Nature: 1, Politics: 0.
🏨 SANDALS DROPS US$200M ON HURRICANE-HIT RESORTS
Speaking of Hurricane Melissa’s Jamaica damage — Sandals Resorts International is moving forward with a $200 million reinvestment across three flagship Jamaica properties: Sandals Montego Bay, Sandals Royal Caribbean, and Sandals South Coast.
All three have been closed since the hurricane. Originally expected to reopen in May, the resorts will now return later in the year following a decision to expand the scope of renovations. Sandals South Coast is set to reopen on November 18th.
The company is calling it their “Sandals 2.0” transformation.
What this means: Jamaica’s largest resort operator is betting $200 million that tourism will bounce back. That is a significant vote of confidence in an island still counting hurricane costs.
The Brief notes: The BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival is also underway through March 29. Some corners of the Caribbean did not get a hurricane and are having a very nice March, thank you.
🇹🇹 TRINIDAD: WASHINGTON SENDS A LIST
Homeland Security Minister Roger Alexander says the United States has provided Trinidad and Tobago with a list of “persons of interest” in the country linked to illegal drugs, guns and violence.
The list is not public. The recipients are not identified. The Homeland Security Minister confirmed the list exists and that T&T is reviewing it.
Regional context: This follows the Americas Counter Cartel (ACC) Conference attended by four CARICOM states including Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, which later joined the ACC coalition. The US is clearly engaging Caribbean nations more directly on organised crime.
The Brief’s concern: A list that you know exists but can’t see is the most anxiety-inducing kind of list. “Someone in your country is on it” is the regional equivalent of a vague threat.
T&T will also be hosting the Caribbean Energy Week, where the Prime Minister is expected to address the region’s energy future amid Middle East oil price volatility.
🇧🇧 BARBADOS: GOING ELECTRIC
Barbados is extending VAT and excise tax holidays on electric vehicles until March 2029. Electric vehicle dealers are welcoming the move as a major boost.
This is part of Barbados’s broader push toward energy transition — the island has been one of the more aggressive Caribbean nations in setting renewable energy targets.
Also: Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago are exploring the possibility of signing a memorandum of understanding on some regional matter (details pending — the headline exists, the content is thin).
British Airways has also launched direct flights from London Gatwick to Barbados as part of a new Caribbean expansion. Daily non-stop service from the UK. Barbados’s tourism industry is presumably delighted.
🌍 CARIBBEAN & IRAN: THE OIL SHADOW
The Middle East situation continues to cast a shadow over Caribbean energy costs. Sir Ronald Sanders, Kaieteur News columnist and regional commentator, has been writing this clearly: “The war in Iran is already at Caribbean doors. The attacks in Iran and the Gulf are pushing up the costs of fuel, freight, and everyday goods across the region.”
Trinidad and Tobago, as a regional energy producer, is in a complicated position — higher global oil prices benefit T&T’s exports but hurt its population’s cost of living on imported goods.
Guyana’s President Ali has separately noted that the Middle East conflict demonstrates why Guyana needs an oil refinery — to insulate domestic fuel prices from global shocks. He has also pushed profit margin cuts on oil companies as prices climb.
The regional picture: Higher oil prices are simultaneously a windfall for oil producers and a cost burden for everyone else in the Caribbean. The region’s oil states and non-oil states are experiencing the same event very differently.
🏥 THE GOOD NEWS: AIDS DEATHS DOWN 60%
The Caribbean region has seen AIDS-related deaths decline by more than 60 percent, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony reported.
This is a significant public health achievement, driven by expanded antiretroviral treatment access, improved testing coverage, and sustained HIV prevention programs across the region.
The Brief notes: This deserves more than a brief mention but the news cycle is full of oil and extradition. Caribbean AIDS response over the past decade has been one of the region’s genuine public health successes. Sixty percent is not a small number.
⚖️ CCJ UPDATE: BEYOND GUYANA
The Caribbean Court of Justice has been active this week beyond the Mohameds case. Justice Winston Anderson, CCJ president, recently delivered a keynote address on AI, freedom of expression, and the rule of law — a UNESCO-hosted webinar that highlighted the region’s interest in governance and tech ethics.
The CCJ’s Case Management Conference on the Mohameds extradition matter is tomorrow, March 25. All of the Caribbean will be watching — the case has implications for how extradition requests from the US interact with Caribbean sovereignty and judicial processes.
🌊 ST. VINCENT: “WE DIDN’T SAY THAT”
St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ prime minister clarified that his government did not authorise a recent US drone strike in Caribbean waters, underscoring ongoing tensions around foreign military operations in the region.
The specifics of the incident remain unclear, but the clarification itself is notable: a Caribbean prime minister having to publicly say “we did not authorise that” about a US military action in the region is a geopolitical signal worth noting.
The Middle East war’s effects on US regional military posture are apparently being felt in ways that are making Caribbean leaders uncomfortable.
🎯 WHAT TO WATCH
- March 25: CCJ Case Management Conference, Mohameds extradition
- This month: Jamaica budget debate — first new taxes in ten years
- November 1–4: Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Antigua — Browne assumes chairmanship
- November 18: Sandals South Coast reopening
The Caribbean Brief covers Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, and the wider CARICOM region. Satire intended. Hurricanes, unfortunately, are real.