News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. March 25, 2026: Just weeks after being removed from her role as U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem is already back on the international stage – this time making high-level visits to Guyana and Costa Rica that are raising new questions about U.S. strategy in the Caribbean and Central America.

FLASHBACK – Former US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem delivers remarks during a working lunch at the “Shield of the Americas” Summit at Trump National Doral in Miami, Florida, on March 7, 2026. President Trump is hosting a dozen right-wing leaders from Latin America and the Caribbean to discuss issues facing the region, from organized crime to illegal immigration. The summit also aims to serve Washington by boosting US interests in the region and curbing those from foreign powers like China. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Now serving as a Special Envoy under the Trump administration’s “Shield of the Americas” initiative, Noem’s regional engagements signal a continued and possibly expanded focus on migration control, transnational crime, and security cooperation across key countries in the hemisphere.

In Guyana, Noem is meeting with President Irfaan Ali, senior government and defense officials, and representatives of U.S. energy companies operating in the country. According to U.S. Embassy statements, the discussions are centered on dismantling drug cartels, disrupting firearms trafficking, discouraging illegal immigration, and strengthening regional security.

But it is the timing – and the scope – of these visits that are drawing increased attention.

Noem’s removal from the Department of Homeland Security followed mounting criticism over the administration’s aggressive immigration policies, including mass deportations and controversial third-country agreements. Yet her rapid reemergence in a diplomatic and strategic role suggests continuity, rather than retreat, in Washington’s approach.

COSTA RICA

Her stop in Costa Rica further underscores this point.

During her visit there, Noem met with President Rodrigo Chaves, President-elect Laura Fernández, and senior officials to advance cooperation on migration enforcement and counter-narcotics efforts. Notably, she was involved in signing a migration cooperation agreement designed to facilitate the transfer of third-country nationals deported from the United States – part of a broader strategy to manage migration flows beyond U.S. borders.

Costa Rica has also joined initiatives aimed at strengthening regional security coordination, including efforts to dismantle criminal networks and enhance border control mechanisms. U.S. officials have framed these partnerships as critical to ensuring stability throughout the hemisphere.

Taken together, the visits to Guyana and Costa Rica point to a coordinated regional push.

GUYANA

Guyana, with its rapidly expanding oil sector and growing geopolitical importance, has become an increasingly strategic partner for the United States. Engagement with U.S. energy companies during Noem’s visit highlights the economic dimension of the relationship, particularly as global energy dynamics continue to shift.

At the same time, Costa Rica represents a key node in migration management efforts, serving as both a transit country and a partner in implementing U.S.-backed deportation and security initiatives.

For analysts, the broader picture is becoming clearer. It is not just about individual country visits but reflects a wider effort by the U.S. to strengthen its influence across the Caribbean and Central America, particularly in areas tied to migration, security, and economic interests.”

The dual-country visit also comes at a time when international scrutiny of U.S. immigration policies remains high. Human rights organizations have raised concerns about deportation practices and the use of third countries to manage migration flows, adding another layer of complexity to these agreements.

For Guyana and Costa Rica, the benefits of closer cooperation with the United States may include enhanced security support, economic partnerships, and increased global visibility. However, these relationships also bring challenges, particularly as governments balance domestic priorities with international commitments.

As Noem continues her regional engagements, one thing is clear: her role – and the policies she represents – remain central to the United States’ evolving strategy in the hemisphere.

What began as a personnel change in Washington is now playing out as a broader geopolitical signal. And for the Caribbean and Central America, the implications are only beginning to unfold.

RELATED: Caribbean Ingenuity In Pictures: How Haiti & Cuba Are Adapting Through Crisis

News Americas, NY, NY, Tues. March 24, 2026: Across parts of the Caribbean, where economic hardship, blackouts, and instability remain daily realities, something else is also visible. Here’s Caribbean ingenuity in pictures.

From the streets of Haiti, where children fashion football goals from scrap metal and discarded tires, to neighborhoods in Cuba where communities gather in dim light during ongoing power outages, life continues – creatively, defiantly.

In Delmas, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, young boys play football in the street using makeshift equipment, turning limited resources into moments of joy. In Havana, Cuba, residents navigate fuel shortages and blackouts, improvising solutions to move, cook, and survive while playing dominoes in the dark.

These images reflect more than struggle. They reveal ingenuity.

Across the region, communities are adapting in real time – building, repurposing, and finding ways forward despite mounting challenges tied to economic strain, infrastructure gaps, and political uncertainty.

For many, this is not new. It is a continuation of a long Caribbean tradition: making something out of nothing.

Even amid crisis, the region’s spirit remains unmistakable – resilient, resourceful, and unbroken.

People play football in Delmas, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 22, 2026. (Photo by Clarens SIFFROY / AFP via Getty Images)

Fishermen return from fishing on a makeshift raft in Havana during a national blackout on March 22, 2026. Cuban authorities scrambled on March 22 to restore power to the island after the second nationwide blackout in less than a week, as the grid struggles due to an aging infrastructure and a US oil blockade. (Photo by YAMIL LAGE / AFP via Getty Images)

A woman pushes her cart after filling her water containers in Havana during a national blackout on March 22, 2026. Cuban authorities scrambled on March 22 to restore power to the island after the second nationwide blackout in less than a week, as the grid struggles due to an aging infrastructure and a US oil blockade. (Photo by YAMIL LAGE / AFP via Getty Images)

People transit on a street without power during a nation wide blackout in Havana on March 21, 2026. A power outage struck the entire island of Cuba on March 21, 2026, the energy ministry said, in the second nationwide blackout in less than a week as its grid struggles under a US oil blockade. (Photo by Yamil LAGE / AFP via Getty Images)

By Ron Cheong

News Americas, TORONTO, Canada, Mon. March 23, 2026: A bizarre theatre unfolded at Guyana’s Attorney General’s office last Thursday, when the Leader of the Official Opposition arrived with wheelbarrows of small notes and coins to satisfy court-ordered costs of G$4.5 million. The payment stemmed from a failed legal attempt to block extradition to the United States, where he faces charges tied to an alleged US$50 million gold smuggling and money laundering scheme.

The spectacle was deliberate. It was political theatre designed not merely to pay a debt, but to project defiance, grievance, and identification with “the people.”

But it raises a more fundamental question: is this the movement that has displaced APNU as Guyana’s official opposition? How does such a transformation occur?

To understand this moment, one must first understand the myth, and the method, of the populist “champion of the people.”

The Myth Of The “Champion”

The self-styled “champion of the people” presents himself as instinctive and unfiltered – a voice rising organically from the frustrations of ordinary citizens. Supporters reinforce this image: he “speaks his mind,” “says what others are afraid to say,” and “cannot be coached.”

This is a myth. What appears spontaneous is often carefully constructed. The language of grievance, the division of society into “pure people” and “corrupt elites,” and the ritual denunciation of institutions are not improvisations. They are elements of a well-worn political script; refined across countries and decades because they reliably produce results.

The resemblance among such figures is no coincidence. The pattern repeats with striking consistency: simplify complex realities into moral binaries, personalize power, and discredit institutions that might challenge the narrative.

Donald Trump exemplifies this model – reducing complexity into stark moral conflict while positioning himself as both victim and champion.

Privilege And Performance

In Guyana’s current political moment, the leader of the We Invest in Nationhood, (WIN) movement has cultivated precisely this posture – presenting himself as a corrective to injustice, a voice for the overlooked, and a disruptor of the established order.

Yet this raises an inconvenient question: how does one become a “champion of the people” from a position of considerable privilege?

It is not a contradiction. It is a pattern.

Many of the most effective populists emerge not from deprivation, but from advantage. Their distance from everyday struggle becomes an asset. It allows them to construct grievance selectively, dramatize injustice without constraint, and perform identification with “the people” while remaining insulated from their realities.

Again, the example of Donald Trump is instructive – a billionaire who successfully cast himself as the tribune of the forgotten.

What matters is not biography, but the construction.

The Script Beneath The Performance

Human beings are predisposed to respond to narratives of threat, belonging, and betrayal – a dynamic long established in Social Psychology.

Effective populists do not invent these instincts; they exploit them.

The method is consistent:

simplify complexity into moral conflict

elevate the individual above institutions

transform criticism into persecution

dominate the narrative space, particularly through social media

What feels authentic is often rehearsed. What feels instinctive is often engineered.

Champion Vs. Manager: The Test That Matters

If the “champion” is constructed, then the public must be brought to change how it evaluates him – not as a champion, but as a manager.

A champion thrives on emotion, symbolism, and defiance. A manager must deliver outcomes: competence, stability, institutional respect, and measurable progress.

This distinction explains a broader political reality. Consider Donald Trump and J. D. Vance. Vance can replicate arguments and mirror grievances, but he cannot replace Trump as the focal point of that movement.

Why? Because he presents as a manager attempting to perform a champion.

Trump, by contrast, is perceived, however controversially, as the authentic article. His appeal lies not in administrative precision but in emotional command. The contrast exposes a hard truth: populism is not merely a set of ideas. It is a performance not all can sustain.

Guyana’s Political Earthquake

The implications for Guyana are no longer abstract.

The rise of the We Invest in Nationhood, (WIN), movement has upended the country’s political architecture. In a stunning electoral breakthrough, a newly formed party captured 16 parliamentary seats, displacing APNU/PNC as the official opposition and fracturing what once appeared to be an entrenched political order.

This was not an incremental change.

It was a political earthquake – one that cannibalized the traditional opposition base and revealed a deep appetite for disruption over continuity.

Law, Legitimacy, And The Risk Ahead

That disruption now faces its most serious test.

Mohamed’s political rise has unfolded alongside an ongoing extradition battle tied to U.S. indictments alleging large-scale gold smuggling and related financial crimes. The case is not incidental to his political identity – it is central to it.

To supporters, it reinforces a narrative of persecution.
To critics, it raises fundamental questions about credibility and governance.

If extradition proceeds, WIN faces an existential challenge. Movements built around a singular figure rarely outlive his absence. Without Mohamed at the center, the party risks fragmentation, internal rivalry, or gradual absorption into the system it sought to disrupt.

If extradition does not proceed, the challenge shifts to his opponents.

For APNU/PNC, the lesson is stark: its base has been breached. Mimicking populist rhetoric will likely accelerate decline rather than reverse it. Renewal must come through credibility, organization, and a demonstrable capacity to govern.

For the governing PPP/C, the risk lies in miscalculation. If legal pressure is perceived as political containment, the “champion” narrative may deepen rather than diminish. A figure cast as embattled can become more potent, not less.

The more effective response is not theatrical opposition, but competent governance – delivering results, strengthening institutions, and addressing the grievances on which populism feeds.

Beyond The Man: Confronting The Method

Guyana is no longer confronting a personality alone. It is confronting a method.

A method that can rapidly redraw political loyalties. A method that thrives on distrust, feeds on division, and presents performance as authenticity.

And methods, unlike men, do not disappear when one individual exits the stage.

They wait – until the conditions allow them to return.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Ron Cheong is a frequent political commentator and columnist whose recent work focuses on international relations, economic resilience, and Caribbean-American affairs. He is a community activist and dedicated volunteer with extensive international banking experience. Now residing in Toronto, Canada, he is a fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers and holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Toronto.

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Oil, Food And Geopolitics: How Guyana Could Decide CARICOM’s Future

By Lilia Burunciuc

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Sun. Mar. 22, 2026: It is International Water Day today, March 22nd. Across the Caribbean, tourism, agriculture, and fisheries shape the rhythm of economic life. They support millions of livelihoods in the region. Tourism alone sustains more than 2.75 million jobs. Agriculture and fisheries provide employment for roughly 3 percent of the population and remain critical for food security, rural incomes, and coastal economies. All of this economic activity depends on a fundamental resource: water. Hotels need it to serve guests, farmers rely on it for irrigation and livestock, and fisheries depend on clean coastal waters.

Yet, across much of the Caribbean, water – and the systems that deliver it -are increasingly under pressure. Water utilities face aging infrastructure, growing demand, and intensifying climate change impacts. Strengthening water security is therefore essential for protecting jobs, supporting businesses, and sustaining economic growth.

Despite decades of investment and the fact that about 90 percent of households in the Caribbean are connected to piped water systems, reliable service remains a challenge in many countries. Droughts can lead to water rationing, water pressure is often inconsistent, and utilities frequently struggle to maintain aging infrastructure.

One of the biggest challenges is the scale of water losses. Across the region, utilities lose, on average, about half of the water they produce to leaks and aging pipes. This represents a major economic cost. Caribbean utilities already face some of the highest electricity prices in the world, and pumping and treating water can account for roughly 40 percent of operating costs. When large volumes of water are lost before reaching customers, both energy and financial resources are also lost.

Weak wastewater management also carries economic consequences. In the Caribbean, around 85 percent of wastewater is discharged untreated, polluting coastal ecosystems and marine environments. These waters sustain coral reefs, fisheries, and beaches that are central to tourism and coastal livelihoods. When pollution damages these ecosystems, the impacts extend directly to employment, income, and food security in coastal communities.

Natural disasters are exacerbating these challenges. Heavy rainfall and hurricanes have caused flooding in several Caribbean countries, damaging infrastructure and disrupting water systems and transport networks.

Addressing these challenges requires continued efforts to strengthen the management, financing, and maintenance of water systems across the region.

Several priorities stand out.

First, the region needs to adjust its operational approach. To move more toward reliability, countries should foster a culture of performance. This means running water utilities like modern, data-driven businesses. When a utility uses digital tools to reduce energy waste and find leaks, it stops losing money and gains the financial independence required to reinvest in its own resilience. 

Regional Integration

Second, countries should prioritize stronger regional integration. In an archipelago of small states, technical silos lead to inefficiencies. The goal is to ensure that a breakthrough in one island becomes a shared blueprint for its neighbors. By pooling resources and expertise, the region can implement standardized solutions for leak detection and disaster recovery that would be too costly for any single island to develop alone.

Third, modernizing the water sector requires investing in people. As utilities adopt more advanced technologies and data-driven systems, the workforce must evolve as well. Strengthening education and training in environmental engineering, water resource management, and digital technologies can help prepare Caribbean workers for the skilled jobs emerging in a modern water sector.

Finally, mobilizing investment will be essential. Across Latin America and the Caribbean, achieving universal and climate-resilient water services will require an annual investment of around 3 percent of GDP through 2030, far above current spending levels. Public resources alone will not be enough to close this gap. Strengthening utility governance, improving financial sustainability, and preparing investment-ready projects can help attract greater private investment into the sector.

Transformation

The World Bank is committed to supporting this transformation. We are already supporting promising examples led by national governments, such as Barbados adopting a program-for-results financial instrument to shift the focus from infrastructure delivery to efficient service delivery, and Saint Lucia and Grenada’s commitment to water and sanitation policy reforms, which strengthen the sector’s financing, sustainability, and efficiency.

Building on these national efforts and leveraging Caribbean regional synergies, the World Bank is preparing a new regional water security program which will support countries in improving utility performance and strengthening cooperation across the region.

With governments, utilities, and regional partners already advancing practical solutions, the Caribbean is well-positioned to build stronger water and sanitation systems that support businesses, protect coastal resources, and create and secure jobs across sectors such as tourism, agriculture, and water services.

As the world marks International Water Day today, March 22, the importance of strengthening water systems that sustain Caribbean jobs and industries has never been clearer.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Lilia Burunciuc is the World Bank Director for Caribbean countries. Ms. Burunciuc, a Moldovan national, is
responsible for maintaining the partnership with the countries to address their development challenges. She has extensive experience on leading policy dialogue with governments on various aspects of development.

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