The Trini Dispatch – Thursday, April 9, 2026

The Trini Dispatch

Port of Spain, Trinidad | Thursday, April 9, 2026

The news from the twin islands. Delivered dry.

KAMLA IS GOING TO VENEZUELA FOR GAS

Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar announced Wednesday that a diplomatic delegation will travel to Venezuela soon to secure Trinidad and Tobago’s “just share” of cross-border oil and gas resources. This is a renewed push to advance the Dragon and other stalled cross-border energy projects, which were frozen when the Trump administration revoked OFAC licences earlier last year. The Hormuz crisis has made this conversation considerably more urgent. T&T’s energy sector is running on mature fields and optimism. The Venezuela gas situation represents either a breakthrough or an extended diplomatic exercise, depending on how Caracas is feeling that week. Kamla is going to find out.

Caribbean Brief – Thursday, April 2, 2026

The Guyana Daily Brief surveys the wider Caribbean. The region never sleeps.

JAMAICA: ENTERING WORLD CUP PLAYOFF AS FAVOURITES

Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz enter the inter-confederation World Cup playoff as favourites following the appointment of a new head coach. The Boyz will face New Caledonia for a spot in the 2026 FIFA World Cup — their first appearance since 1998. With Haiti already qualified outright, the Caribbean Football Union is having an historic qualification cycle. Jamaica’s football public is cautiously optimistic, which for Jamaican football fans is essentially unbridled euphoria.

Caribbean Daily Brief — Friday, March 27, 2026

A weekly sweep of what’s moving across the Caribbean. Five minutes. No fluff.

JAMAICA — BUDGET DEBATE UNDER THE SHADOW OF HURRICANE MELISSA

Jamaica is deep in its 2026–2027 budget debate, and the numbers are sobering. Finance Minister Fayval Williams opened the debate last Tuesday facing a JA$1.4 trillion national budget with a significant gap, after Hurricane Melissa made landfall on October 28, 2025 as a Category 5 storm and wiped out an estimated 40% of GDP — causing roughly US$8.8 billion in physical damage. Williams announced new taxes for the first time in a decade, including a sugar beverage tax projected to raise JA$10.1 billion, noting bluntly that “it took a Category 5 hurricane for that to happen.” Opposition Leader Mark Golding has since taken the floor, and the debate is being closely watched across the region. Meanwhile, Montego Bay’s mayor is pressing the Auditor General for answers on the post-Melissa street light restoration arrangement with Jamaica Public Service. Much of St. James is still dark.

Caribbean Brief: Barbados Election Heats Up, Trinidad PM Addresses Energy Week, Jamaica IMF Deal, and Cuba's Humanitarian Crisis Deepens

Barbados heads to polls February 11 with schools closing for election day, Trinidad’s PM addresses Caribbean Energy Week, Jamaica’s IMF $415M deal progresses, and Cuba’s crisis worsens as US tightens the screws.