News Americas, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Thurs. Mar. 28, 2024: Former US President, Bill Clinton, advocated for greater unity within the Caribbean region during his keynote address at the United Caribbean Forum held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre in Guyana on March 26th.

Organized by the Dominican Republic (DR) Chamber of Commerce Guyana in collaboration with the Government of Guyana, the forum saw Clinton, as Guest of Honour, stressing the importance of Caribbean nations uniting for collective strength.

Highlighting the potential of partnerships between nations and organizations, Clinton expressed hope that collaborations like the one between the Dominican Republic and Guyana would invigorate the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). He emphasized the power of cooperation, stating, “We are almost always stronger together…we are almost always better emphasizing things that make us feel bigger.”

While the Dominican Republic is not a member of CARICOM, Clinton underscored the importance of regional cooperation, suggesting that closer collaboration could foster progress across the Americas. He offered assistance through the Clinton Global Initiative to support efforts aimed at bridging gaps and promoting unity within the region.

President Irfaan Ali echoed Clinton’s sentiments, highlighting the potential for partnership between Guyana and the Dominican Republic to address critical areas such as technology, human resource development, tourism, and food production. He emphasized the need to leverage the DR’s expertise to narrow existing gaps and propel Guyana towards global leadership in various sectors.

The forum, attended by diplomatic representatives including the DR Ambassador to Guyana, the US Ambassador to Guyana, the European Union’s Ambassador to Guyana, and the British High Commissioner to Guyana, served as a platform for discussions on enhancing cooperation and fostering development across the Caribbean region.

News Americas, MIAMI, FL, Mon. March 24, 2024: In response to heightened violence and unrest in the region, Royal Caribbean has halted visits to Labadee, its private resort on Haiti’s northern coast. The decision comes following a travel advisory issued by the U.S. State Department, urging individuals to avoid travel to Haiti and ranking the country at a Level Four advisory, aligning it with nations like Russia, Syria, and Burkina Faso.

People walk past burned bodies and an armed police officer monitoring a street after gang violence in the neighborhood on the evening of March 21, 2024, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, March 22, 2024. More than 33,000 people fled Port-au-Prince this month as the Haitian capital was overrun by well-armed gangs triggering political chaos in the impoverished Caribbean nation, the United Nations has said. (Photo by CLARENS SIFFROY/AFP via Getty Images)

In a statement reported by Cruiseindustrynews.com, Royal Caribbean announced the temporary suspension of visits to Labadee across its entire fleet, citing an abundance of caution amidst the evolving situation in Haiti. The company emphasized its ongoing monitoring and assessment of the situation in collaboration with its Global Security & Intelligence Team.

Labadee, Haiti.

Notably, Royal Caribbean clarified that neither passengers nor crew members have encountered violence or threats during previous visits to Labadee.

With several ships scheduled to visit Labadee in the upcoming days, Royal Caribbean has opted for alternative arrangements. Instead of docking at Labadee, ships will either spend an additional day at sea or extend their stay at other destinations, such as Falmouth, Jamaica, Nassau in the Bahamas, or Perfect Day at CocoCay, another resort owned by the company.

Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, which itself is under a Level 2 travel advisory, urging visitors to exercise increased caution.

The decision to suspend visits to Labadee follows previous travel advisories issued for Haiti, including a do-not-travel alert in July 2023. The State Department cited concerns over kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and inadequate healthcare infrastructure. Subsequently, in the same month, the U.S. government ordered the evacuation of family members of U.S. government employees and non-emergency personnel from Haiti. Restrictions were also imposed on the movement of American government personnel within the country, limiting their activities to confined areas around the Embassy and imposing curfews and travel restrictions.

Royal Caribbean’s suspension of visits to Labadee underscores the challenges posed by escalating violence and instability in the region, prompting adjustments to ensure the safety and security of its passengers and crew.

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Mar. 4, 2024: The Caribbean born President of the United Nations General Assembly,(UNGA), Dennis Francis, today called for the implementation of “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in the Gaza where Israeli troops have been fighting members of the terrorist group, Hamas, since the October 7 last year incursion into Israel.

United Nations General Assembly President Dennis Francis (Photo by Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

“The bombardment must stop, now,” the Trinidad and Tobago diplomat said, as the UNGA plenary meeting on the use of the “veto.”

A screen grab captured from a video shows the civil defense teams working to rebury the bodies unearthed under the soil after the Israeli warplanes bombed a cemetery at the Jibaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip, Gaza on March 4, 2024. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Francis said that from the inception of the United Nations in 1945, the General Assembly and the Security Council, both share a single overarching duty and that is “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.

“The purpose of our meeting today underscores the vital importance of that joint responsibility and the urgency for the two bodies to strengthen their collective efforts, within their respective mandates under the United Nations Charter, to preserve and promote global peace and security. In this context, I strongly urge member states to engage in today’s debate with a proactive, solution-oriented posture , mindful of all member states’ responsibility to exert every effort to avert further violence and to save lives,” he said.

There have been calls to do away with the “veto” mechanism used by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council including the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China and France.

Francis said that while he welcomes the the introduction and utility of the “Veto Initiative,” most especially in relation to the accountability it seeks to foster “it is nevertheless deeply regrettable that compliant with the rules of procedure, this General Assembly must use it at all, in connection with the current deepening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.

He said thousands of children have been killed, others are scrounging for food and watching their childhoods evaporate into the horrors of war.

“Countless mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, nieces, and nephews, ll gone. As the French would say “disparu,”, disappeared. Their dreams extinguished, their potential lost forever, and their futures obliterated,” said Francis, while adding that 85 per cent of Gaza’s population, or 1.9 million people, are internally displaced and nearly 1.5 million of them now reside in Rafah – that is, more than six times the population prior to October 7th.

“I am deeply concerned about intensified Israeli airstrikes in Rafah, including in residential areas. In the words of UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths, any ground operation in such a densely populated area would “leave an already fragile humanitarian operation at death’s door. I, therefore, urgently call for maximum restraint to prevail in order to save innocent civilian lives. Israeli restrictions on the humanitarian access have drastically reduced the flow of lifesaving aid to a mere trickle.”