News Americas, BELIZE CITY, Belize, March 11, 2026: Belize has taken a significant step toward ensuring that every person in the country has access to quality, affordable eye care, with the official launch of the World Health Organization (WHO) SPECS 2030 initiative.

The national launch and planning workshop brought together representatives from the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Education, Culture, Science and Technology, the Belize Council for the Visually Impaired (BCVI), the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation, the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Participants convened to assess the current state of eye health services in Belize, identify gaps, and chart a clear path forward.

“With the launch of the WHO SPECS 2030 initiative, Belize advances in its commitment to ensuring that every citizen can access quality eye care. Preventable vision impairment should not limit a child’s learning, a person’s ability to work, or an individual’s quality of life. Through its adoption, we are reinforcing our national vision for a stronger, more equitable health system that leaves no one behind,” said Hon. Kevin Bernard, Minister for Health and Wellness.

WHO’s SPECS 2030 initiative provides countries with a structured approach to strengthening refractive error services across five areas:

Services — improving access to refractive services

Personnel — building the capacity of personnel to provide refractive services

Education — promoting public awareness about eye health

Cost — reducing the cost of eyeglasses and services

Surveillance — strengthening data collection and research

For Belize, the initiative translates into three clear priorities at the country level.

First, convening all relevant eye health stakeholders — across the public and private sectors — to agree on national priorities and key areas of action. Second, developing a SPECS 2030 integration plan with measurable targets that can be embedded within Belize’s broader health and eye care strategies. Third, establishing a monitoring and evaluation framework to track progress, review data regularly, and improve services over time.

“Belize is demonstrating how global frameworks like WHO SPECS 2030 can be translated into practical, country-led action. The Foundation’s role in this effort is to support technical implementation — from strengthening refractive services to building local capacity and improving service delivery models. We are proud to stand alongside Belize as it advances a more integrated and accessible eye care system,” said Daniele Cangemi, Head of the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation, Latin America.

Progress will be measured against a defined set of indicators, reported every three to five years through the WHO Global Status Report. These include the reach of school eye health programmes for early detection, the availability of refractive services within the public health system, the size and scope of the eye care workforce, and the degree to which costs are covered through health insurance or other financial protection mechanisms. At the impact level, Belize will track effective cataract surgical coverage and effective refractive error coverage through population-based surveys and health system data.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Education, Culture, Science and Technology welcomes the WHO SPECS 2030 initiative from the BCVI and MOHW in collaboration with PAHO and the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation. We are committed to strengthening our partnership and collaboration with BCVI and the MOHW as we work together to prevent avoidable blindness and expand support services through existing Primary Care and Rehabilitation Programs for children who are blind. The Ministry congratulates and applauds BCVI for its ongoing dedication and commitment to Belize’s visually impaired community,” commented Hon. Francis Fonseca, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade, Education, Culture, Science and Technology.

BCVI, working alongside MOHW, the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation and the initiative’s national and international partners, will lead coordination and follow-up to ensure that commitments made at the workshop translate into meaningful progress on the ground.

The launch of SPECS 2030 reflects Belize’s commitment to universal health coverage and to a future where no Belizean loses the ability to learn, work, or thrive because of a vision condition that could have been corrected.

About the OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation
The OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation is a registered charitable organization dedicated to eliminating uncorrected poor vision within a generation. As part of EssilorLuxottica’s commitment to universal vision care, the Foundation works to expand access for millions in underserved communities worldwide. It is also the Global Collaborating Partner of the World Health Organization’s SPECS 2030 initiative, which focuses on refractive error, myopia prevention, and improving access to vision care in low-resource settings.

Find out more at: onesight.essilorluxottica.com

About the Belize Council for the Visually Impaired
The Belize Council for the Visually Impaired (BCVI) is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention of blindness and the provision of comprehensive eye care services.

Established in 1981, BCVI works in partnership with the Ministry of Health & Wellness to deliver accessible, affordable, and high-quality eye care across the country.

Through a network of clinics and outreach programmes, BCVI provides services including eye examinations, refractive error services treatment of eye diseases and rehabilitation support for those who are irreversibly blind.

Special initiatives focus on children, persons with diabetes, and underserved communities, ensuring that no Belizean is left behind in accessing essential eye care and support for independent living.

BCVI collaborates with local and international partners to strengthen Belize’s eye health system and advance equitable access to services for all.

For more information, visit: www.bcvi.org

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Tues. Mar. 10, 2026: Haiti’s escalating security crisis may be entering a troubling new phase: the growing use of explosive drones in densely populated neighborhoods. A new report from Human Rights Watch warns that armed quadcopter drones used in security operations have killed more than 1,200 people in Haiti since 2025, raising serious concerns about civilian casualties and potential extrajudicial killings.

FLASHBACK – Vanessa, 28, poses for a portrait with her son as they return to their home, destroyed by armed gangs in 2024, in the Solino neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 3, 2026. Haiti’s presidential transitional council, which has run the impoverished Caribbean nation for nearly two years, on February 7, 2026, handed power to US-backed Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime, after failing to rein in rampant gang violence. Rubio said in February he was upbeat about progress in setting up a new UN-blessed force to suppress Haiti’s powerful gangs and voiced hope that the country will finally hold elections this year for the first time in a decade. (Photo by Clarens SIFFROY / AFP via Getty Images)

According to the report, Haitian security forces and private contractors working with them have conducted at least 141 drone strike operations between March 1, 2025, and January 21, 2026, killing 1,243 people and injuring 738 others. Among the dead are at least 43 adults who were reportedly not members of criminal groups and 17 children, highlighting the dangers of deploying explosive drones in densely populated urban areas.

“Dozens of ordinary people, including many children, have been killed and injured in these lethal drone operations,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “Haitian authorities should urgently rein in the security forces and private contractors working for them before more children die.”

Human Rights Watch says the attacks have been carried out using quadcopter drones armed with explosives, capable of maneuvering between buildings while transmitting live video feeds to operators controlling the strikes remotely.

The United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti attributes the drone operations to a specialized “Task Force” created by Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, reportedly operating with support from Vectus Global, a private military company. The U.S. ambassador to Haiti has confirmed that the U.S. State Department issued a license allowing Vectus Global to export defense services to Haiti.

Neither the Haitian government, the Haitian National Police, nor Vectus Global responded to requests for comment from Human Rights Watch regarding the strikes.

The report notes that the number of drone attacks has surged in recent months, with 57 operations reported between November and January 21, nearly double the 29 reported from August through October. More than 40 percent of reported killings occurred between December 1 and January 21, suggesting a sharp escalation in the use of drone warfare-style tactics in the capital.

One of the deadliest incidents occurred on September 20, 2025, in the Simon Pelé neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, where a drone carrying an explosive detonated near the “Nan Pak” recreation complex during a gathering organized by a local criminal group.

Human Rights Watch found that 10 people who were not members of criminal groups — including nine children between the ages of 3 and 12 – were killed in the blast.

Witnesses described scenes of chaos as families rushed to help the wounded.

“I heard the sound of the explosion,” said a woman who lost both her husband and her three-year-old daughter in the strike. “My husband and daughter were together at the place where my husband makes his crafts.… There was panic, and I wanted to go and see what had happened.”

Another mother said her six-year-old daughter had been playing near the complex when the drone exploded.

“When I arrived near the vendor, I heard an explosion. It was chaos, people were mutilated, there were noises everywhere,” she said. “It was full of children. Many people were dead.”

Doctors who treated victims reported severe blast injuries, including traumatic amputations, complex fractures, and fragmentation wounds caused by the explosion.

Human Rights Watch researchers also reviewed videos circulating on social media showing drones striking vehicles, buildings, and individuals in Port-au-Prince neighborhoods including Martissant and Village de Dieu. In several cases, the footage did not appear to show targets engaged in violent acts at the time of the strike.

Residents say the drones have become a constant source of fear.

“I live with this fear, this anxiety, all the time,” said a shopkeeper living in Martissant, one of the neighborhoods affected by the strikes. “I pray that the drones will no longer be in our area.” The woman fled the explosion but returned to the scene a few minutes later, where she found her cousin dead. She said that she had been unable to recover the body because she would have had to pay criminal groups for the remains. 

She stated that she had not seen or heard any sign of a threat before the explosion. “I was on the phone with my cousin when the explosion happened, so I knew that her [truck] had been hit, but I don’t know why they hit that [truck],” she said.

While Haitian authorities have argued that the operations are necessary to combat heavily armed criminal groups controlling large parts of the capital, human rights advocates warn that explosive drones are difficult to use safely in crowded urban environments.

Human Rights Watch said the strikes may violate international human rights law, which requires that lethal force in law enforcement operations be used only when strictly unavoidable to protect life.

“Restoring security in Haiti is essential,” Goebertus said. “But unlawful attacks with armed drones are adding a new layer of abuses to the violence that has devastated communities for years.”

The organization is calling on Haitian authorities to halt the use of explosive drones in populated areas, investigate alleged unlawful killings, and ensure accountability for any violations of international law.

As Haiti struggles to contain gang violence and restore stability, the report raises a stark question: whether the country’s security strategy is turning parts of its capital into something resembling a drone battlefield – a development with profound implications for civilian safety and the future of law enforcement in the Caribbean.

By NAN NEWS EDITOR

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Mar. 9, 2026: Cuba has expressed deep regret over Jamaica’s decision to terminate decades-long medical cooperation between the two Caribbean nations, saying the move reflects pressure from the United States rather than the health needs of the region.

FLASHBACK – In 2010, 140 members of the Henry Reeve International Contingent of Doctors Specialized in Disasters and Serious Epidemics left for Jamaica to join this country’s fight against SARS-CoV-2 virus.

In a statement issued March 6, Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Jamaica’s Foreign Ministry formally notified Cuban officials on March 4 of the unilateral decision to end the bilateral health cooperation agreement that has linked the two countries for decades.

“With this action, the government of Jamaica yields to the pressures of the government of the United States,” the Cuban statement said, adding that Washington “is not concerned about the health needs of the Caribbean brothers.”

The decision will lead to the withdrawal of Cuba’s medical brigade from Jamaica, which currently includes 277 healthcare professionals working across the island.

A Longstanding Caribbean Partnership

Cuba noted that over the past 30 years more than 4,700 Cuban medical collaborators have served in Jamaica, providing healthcare support in hospitals, clinics, and rural communities.

According to Cuban officials, the program has produced significant outcomes:

• More than 8.1 million patients treated
• 74,302 surgeries performed
• 7,170 births attended
• Over 90,000 lives saved

Through the Operation Miracle program, launched in Jamaica in 2010, Cuban doctors also helped restore or improve the vision of nearly 25,000 Jamaicans.

The Cuban government said its medical professionals have also supported disease prevention programs, malaria control, and COVID-19 response efforts across the island.

Regional Ripple Effects

Jamaica’s decision comes as several Caribbean and Latin American governments face mounting U.S. pressure to end or modify medical cooperation agreements with Cuba. In a statement, Jamaica said it has taken the decision after the two sides were unable to “agree on the terms and conditions of a new technical cooperation arrangement, following the expiration of the previous agreement in February 2023.”

Cuban medical professionals have been serving in various public health facilities across the island, and Jamaicans have benefited notably from the eye care programme as well as the general care by nurses and doctors. 

The Government of Jamaica has expressed its sincere appreciation to the Government of Cuba for its significant contribution to the health sector in Jamaica. 

In recent months, countries including Guyana, The Bahamas, Antigua and Barbuda, Honduras, and Guatemala have either ended or phased out similar arrangements.

U.S. officials have argued that Cuba’s medical missions exploit healthcare workers by taking a portion of their salaries and restricting their freedom of movement.

However, many Caribbean governments have long viewed the programs as essential to maintaining healthcare services in small island states where shortages of doctors and specialists are common.

Cuba’s Response

Cuba said its doctors will leave Jamaica “with the satisfaction of a duty fulfilled” but reaffirmed its commitment to solidarity with Caribbean nations.

“The Jamaican people will always be able to count on the selfless cooperation of Cuba,” the statement said.

The departure of the Cuban Medical Brigade could create new pressure on Jamaica’s healthcare system, particularly in rural areas where foreign medical support has historically filled staffing gaps.

For the wider Caribbean, the move highlights the growing geopolitical tension shaping health cooperation across the region. Jamaican American actress, Sheryl Lee Ralph joined the conversation surrounding the discontinuation of the Cuban Medical Brigade program by asking on social media: “Will America now send the doctors so badly needed in Jamaica?.”

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By Dr. Isaac Newton

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Mar. 9, 2026: A Caribbean region may speak confidently about peace. The deeper question is whether it has decided what it is willing to protect and what it is prepared to lose.

This quiet dilemma now moves across the Caribbean.

When regional leaders gathered recently in Basseterre, Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness offered a reminder about the Caribbean that is both obvious and often overlooked. Diversity in the region is a form of strategic intelligence. Different languages, colonial histories, and cultural traditions allow Caribbean societies to read global power from several perspectives at once.

Yet perspective does not automatically produce direction.

The environment surrounding small states is changing quickly. Assumptions that once appeared settled now feel provisional. The hemispheric outlook shaped by the Monroe Doctrine still influences how the United States interprets developments in the region. At the same time, China’s commercial and diplomatic presence continues to deepen throughout Caribbean economies.

These realities lead to a question that the region can no longer postpone.

Will Caribbean interests be defined within the region or largely outside of it?

For many years the Caribbean cultivated a political culture that valued restraint. Governments preferred dialogue to confrontation. Borders were not militarized against neighbors. Disputes were managed through diplomacy. These choices underscored intentional values practiced by small societies that understood the destructive potential of rivalry.

However, principles endure only when institutions sustain them.

Sovereignty rarely disappears through a single dramatic decision. It more often fades through a pattern in which choices affecting a region are shaped elsewhere while local governments gradually adjust to decisions they did not help design.

The consequences of this pattern reach into ordinary life. When a country depends heavily on imported food, a diplomatic disagreement can quietly affect what appears on supermarket shelves. When highly trained professionals build their careers abroad, the hospitals, laboratories, and engineering firms that remain at home operate with fewer hands and fewer ideas. Geopolitics eventually finds its way into the routines of daily survival.

This is why the strategic choices now facing the Caribbean are practical and ethical.

How should governments cooperate with partners to address security threats such as narcotics trafficking while preserving the freedom to determine domestic priorities? How can states welcome foreign investment while retaining cultural values and authority over long term development decisions? At what point does cooperation begin to narrow independence?

Three broad responses are visible.

Some governments adapt individually to the expectations of larger powers. Others emphasize national autonomy while acting largely alone. A third possibility requires more discipline. It asks Caribbean states to coordinate policy where shared leverage strengthens them.

Evidence that such cooperation is possible already exists.

When hurricanes strike countries such as Dominica or Grenada, emergency aircraft, engineers, and medical personnel from neighboring states often arrive before assistance from distant capitals. When storms threaten Jamaica, regional disaster systems mobilize meteorologists and logistics specialists whose expertise reflects decades of confronting the same weather patterns.

A similar pattern appears in the long partnership between Caribbean states and Cuba. Cuban physicians support clinics that might otherwise struggle to remain open. Trainers have helped develop Caribbean athletes who later compete successfully on the global stage. Engineers and technical specialists have assisted governments working to expand infrastructure and technical capacity.

These examples show that regional cooperation is not an aspiration. It is already part of the region’s experience.

What remains incomplete is the economic foundation capable of sustaining similar collaboration.

The Caribbean imports most of the food consumed by its population. A significant share of its scientific and professional talent builds careers abroad. Universities often conduct research without strong links to regional industries capable of translating knowledge into production.

These patterns limit strategic freedom.

A region dependent on external food supply cannot easily insulate itself from geopolitical pressure. A region that consistently exports its expertise weakens its own capacity to design complex solutions.

Future cooperation therefore requires attention to systems rather than declarations.

Agricultural production in Guyana, Suriname, and Belize could anchor supply networks that provide island populations with more reliable access to food. Caribbean universities could collaborate in applied research focused on energy resilience, climate adaptation, and regional manufacturing. Health partnerships could expand so that specialized treatment becomes more accessible within the region itself.

Diplomacy must also grow more deliberate. Caribbean governments will continue to engage major powers in trade, security, and investment. The challenge lies in approaching those relationships with clearly defined priorities that are understood throughout the region.

Small states preserve autonomy not by withdrawing from the world but by recognizing precisely where cooperation strengthens them and where it quietly limits their choices.

The Caribbean Sea connects societies that share storms, migration histories, music, and economic vulnerability. Geography created this proximity. Geography explains why the region exists.

Geography alone does not explain whether it will matter.

The future of the Caribbean depends on a different force. It depends on whether neighboring states develop the institutional discipline to think together when their long term interests are at stake.

Geography determined where the Caribbean sits in the world.

Only collective will can determine how it stands within it.

Editor’s Note: Dr. Isaac Newton is a strategist and leadership advisor focused on governance, institutional development, and small state strategy. Educated at Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia, he has spent more than three decades working across government, finance, academia, and civil society in the Caribbean and internationally. His work examines leadership, policy design, and regional cooperation in an era of shifting global power.

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By NAN Staff Writer

News Americas, WASHINGTON, D.C., Wed. Mar. 4, 2026: The United States government is seeking the forfeiture of a crude oil tanker seized on the high seas in December 2025 that authorities say was falsely flying the flag of Guyana while transporting millions of barrels of Venezuelan oil linked to sanctioned networks.

The U.S. Department of Justice said a civil complaint has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to seize the Motor Tanker Skipper and its cargo of approximately 1.8 million barrels of crude oil supplied by Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA).

A group of Iranian men prays in an area that is targeted in U.S.-Israeli attacks in Tehran, Iran, on March 4, 2026. (Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

According to the complaint, the vessel was intercepted by U.S. authorities on December 10, 2025, after it was determined the ship was falsely claiming Guyana’s flag, effectively rendering it stateless under international maritime law.

The tanker and its cargo are being targeted for forfeiture because prosecutors allege the operation helped generate revenue and influence for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including its Qods Force, which the United States has designated a foreign terrorist organization.

US Officials Cite Sanctions Enforcement

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the case demonstrates Washington’s determination to disrupt financial flows to hostile regimes.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, the era of secretly bankrolling regimes that pose clear threats to the United States is over,” Bondi said. “This Department of Justice will deploy every legal authority at our disposal to dismantle operations that defy our laws and fuel chaos across the globe.”

FBI Director Kash Patel said the complaint highlights the agency’s efforts to enforce sanctions and disrupt global networks used to fund militant groups.

“The FBI, working alongside our interagency partners, will continue aggressively identifying, disrupting, and dismantling the financial networks used by foreign adversaries to fund terrorist organizations and destabilize international security,” Patel said.

  “We will aggressively enforce U.S. sanctions against Iran and relentlessly pursue ghost fleet vessels whose illicit oil shipments have served as revenue sources for the IRGC and its terrorist proxies,” said U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro for the District of Columbia. “With the continued seizures and forfeitures of tankers and related profits, we are sending a clear message that there will be no safe harbor for sanctions evasion – and that we will deny Iran the ability to fund terrorism through its shadowy maritime networks.”

Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva added that the case is part of broader efforts to stop millions of dollars from flowing to designated terrorist organizations.

Alleged Global Oil Smuggling Network

According to the DOJ, the forfeiture complaint alleges a scheme dating back to at least 2021 involving the shipment and sale of petroleum products to benefit the IRGC.

Investigators say the Skipper transported crude oil originating in both Iran and Venezuela, using ship-to-ship transfers and other deceptive maritime practices to move cargo around the world.

Authorities say the tanker most recently loaded approximately 1.8 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil in November 2025 at the José Terminal in Venezuela.

Shipping documents cited in the complaint show that about 1.1 million barrels of the cargo were scheduled for delivery to Cubametales, a Cuban state-run oil importer that has been under U.S. sanctions since 2019.

However, U.S. officials say the vessel changed course before reaching Cuba and was intercepted on the high seas in the Caribbean.

Part of Broader Oil Enforcement Campaign

The seizure of the Skipper is part of a wider U.S. effort to disrupt sanctioned oil trade linked to Venezuela and Iran.

Officials allege the tanker had been operating as part of a so-called “shadow fleet” used to evade sanctions by falsifying locations, changing vessel identities and flying false national flags.

If a federal judge approves the forfeiture request, the U.S. government could take ownership of the tanker and its oil cargo, potentially selling the crude and redirecting the proceeds.

The case remains pending before the court.

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