By Gail S. Pero-Weston & Dr. Isaac Newton

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Sat. August 21, 2026: Four CXC numbers reveal a Caribbean education story we can no longer afford to overlook.

Imagine a boy beginning secondary school with his classmates. He enters the classroom beside girls who have the same opportunity to learn, grow and dream. At CCSLC, the numbers are almost even: 52 percent boys, 48 percent girls. Then the road changes. At CSEC, boys account for 41 percent of candidates. By CAPE, only 38 percent are boys, compared with 62 percent girls. The children started the journey side by side. Somewhere along the way, too many boys began to lose theirs.

We should read those numbers carefully. They measure examination participation, not intelligence or ability. They do not tell us that boys cannot learn, or that girls are responsible for boys’ struggles. They tell us that fewer boys are remaining on the academic pathway. And the wider Caribbean evidence deserves attention: girls have generally recorded higher CSEC pass rates and more top performances, while research shows that school characteristics, subject choices and other circumstances help explain the differences. The issue, then, is bigger than boys’ performance. It is about the journey that gets a child to the point of performance.

That journey needs a closer look. When does attendance begin to fall? When does reading become difficult? When does a boy stop raising his hand? When does school begin to feel disconnected from the life he imagines for himself? And what would we learn if we asked him before he failed?

This is where Maxine Greene of Teachers College, Columbia University, gives us an important intellectual lens. Greene believed education should cultivate imagination and help people see possibilities beyond the conditions they have inherited. At Teachers College, she helped make social imagination a serious educational and civic idea. We should apply that imagination here: the numbers describe what is happening; they do not dictate what must happen next.

The practical work begins early. Education systems should follow children from primary school through secondary school and identify the first signs of straying: missed classes, weak literacy, falling grades, disciplinary problems, withdrawal from demanding subjects or declining confidence. Then intervene before disengagement becomes failure. Provide strong reading support, mentoring, tutoring, career-connected learning, trusted adults and meaningful partnerships with parents. Most importantly, measure the results. If an intervention works, expand it. If it does not, change it. Good intentions are not an education strategy. Evidence is.

But there is another blind spot we must confront. Gender equity should never become a competition for compassion. Empowering girls and investing in boys are not competing agendas. Different children can face different barriers, and addressing one does not diminish the other. The real test of equity is whether we can see the whole landscape of human need and ensure that no child becomes invisible.

There is an old Caribbean wisdom: “Prevention is better than cure.” It may be the simplest way to understand the urgency. Do not wait for a CSEC result to tell us a boy has been disengaged for years. Find him when he first misses class. Find him when his reading falters. Find him when he stops believing that school has something to do with his future.

The goal is not to make boys more like girls. It is to make education work better for every child. Behind every percentage is a person. Behind every boy who remains engaged in learning is a future the Caribbean has not yet seen.

That future is worth shaping urgently.

About the Authors: Dr. Isaac Newton is a leadership strategist, governance scholar and author focused on ethical leadership, institutional excellence and human development. Gail S. Pero-Weston is an Antiguan attorney and former educator whose work spans law, education and civic advocacy. Together, their perspectives bring leadership, governance, education and community experience to the urgent question of keeping Caribbean boys engaged in learning.

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By NAN Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Weds. Aug. 19, 2026: Attorneys for Guyana’s Opposition Leader Azruddin Mohamed and his father, gold dealer Nazar Mohamed, are demanding that Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) President Justice Winston Anderson step aside from all proceedings involving their clients, threatening legal action if a full set of internal court records isn’t disclosed within seven days.

In a letter dated August 14 and obtained by the Trinidad Express, attorneys Roysdale Forde, Siand Dhurjon and Damien Da Silva told the CCJ Registrar their clients were “deeply disturbed and distressed by the allegations” and had formed “the strong and reasonable view that they may not have received the fair hearing which is constitutionally guaranteed to them.”

What they’re demanding

The lawyers want “full and frank disclosure” of all emails, correspondence and documents touching on the leaked internal disputes among CCJ judges, as well as records of Anderson’s 2025 meetings with then-Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton and President Irfaan Ali over the more than two-decade delay in confirming Guyana’s Chancellor and Chief Justice. That request extends specifically to any material bearing on the July 29 ruling in the Mohameds’ own extradition appeal, whether Home Affairs Minister Oneidge Walrond’s authorization to proceed against them was politically motivated.

“Given the exceptional urgency of these matters, we request that the information and materials sought be provided within seven (7) days,” the lawyers wrote, warning that failing that, “our clients reserve the right to institute such proceedings and seek such relief as may be appropriate.” They’ve also asked the court to preserve all related records, including communications, itineraries and diary entries involving Anderson, Norton, President Ali, and Guyanese government officials.

The underlying case

The Mohameds were indicted in Florida in 2025 on wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering and conspiracy charges, tied to an alleged gold-export and tax-evasion scheme U.S. authorities say involved more than 10,000 kilograms of gold and over $50 million in evaded taxes. They’ve denied the allegations. The CCJ rejected their latest challenge to the extradition process on July 29, clearing the way for hearings to resume next month before Chief Magistrate Judy Latchman.

Anderson’s response, and what he’s already conceded

Jamaican born Justice Winston Anderson, President of the Caribbean Court of Justice

Anderson broke his own silence on the controversy August 14, in the same lengthy statement examined in our previous coverage. Anderson addressed the Mohamed extradition case directly, the allegation that has driven the most alarm in Guyana. “Those allegations are entirely unfounded and untrue,” he wrote, explaining that judicial conferences “frequently involve spirited discussion, differing legal analyses and careful consideration of competing views before a final judgment is settled,” and that such exchanges are “not evidence of disagreement within the institution” but of judges doing their jobs. He noted the ruling against Mohamed reflected “COMPLETE UNANIMITY among all seven judges,” and pointed out that in the Court’s Original Jurisdiction, dissenting opinions are never published, standard practice among international courts, not evidence of suppressed dissent.

On the related allegation of “panel fixing,” tied to the removal of Justice Chile Eboe-Osuji from a separate case, D’Almada v Trinidad and Tobago, Anderson said the change was made “solely” over a dress code dispute and “had nothing whatsoever to do with any judicial views of the legal merits of the proceedings.” Going forward, he announced a structural fix: every judge will now be required to sit on every panel unless formally excused for legitimate reason.

The Mohameds’ lawyers argue that concession isn’t enough. Citing Norton’s own public allegations directly, they wrote that the claims “trespass into partisan political activity” too seriously for the court to leave “unanswered while adjudicating upon politically sensitive Guyanese litigation.”

Mohamed’s WIN party won 16 of 29 opposition seats in Guyana’s September 1, 2025 general election. He has said additional appeals to the CCJ are still to come.

NewsAmericasNow will continue following the Mohamed extradition case and the CCJ crisis.

By NAN Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Tues. Aug. 18, 2026: Several Caribbean-born candidates are hoping to make history in the Florida Primary election today as voting got underway early this morning.

A historic race to succeed Congresswoman Frederica Wilson

Two Haitian-born immigrants are among a crowded field of candidates seeking to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson in Florida’s 24th Congressional District, setting up a race that could make history for one of the nation’s largest Haitian-American communities.

Former Miami-Dade County Commissioner Jean Monestime and physician Dr. Rudolph Moise are both seeking the Democratic nomination, hoping to become the first Haitians elected to represent the district in Congress. Wilson, who has represented the heavily Democratic Miami Gardens-based district since 2011, announced earlier this year that she would not seek another term, triggering a crowded primary.

Monestime, born in Haiti, arrived in the United States alone at age 17 without speaking English. He later earned finance and business degrees from Florida International University and Nova Southeastern University before becoming the first Haitian American elected to the Miami-Dade County Commission, and later its first Haitian-born chairman, championing infrastructure improvements and neighborhood revitalization across North Miami-Dade during his 12 years on the commission.

Moise, a physician, attorney, and entrepreneur born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is making his third bid for the seat after previously challenging Wilson. After immigrating to the U.S. as a teenager, he served in the U.S. Air Force before earning degrees from the University of Illinois Chicago and the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine. In Miami, he built a medical practice serving many Haitian refugees and later founded the city’s first full-time Creole-language radio station, Radio Carnivale.

The Democratic primary field also includes former State Senator Shevrin Jones, Miami-Dade Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III, who has Wilson’s endorsement, Kendrick Meek Jr., attorney Roderick Vereen, and Marshall Davis Sr., longtime director of the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center in Liberty City. Republicans Te Mayonna Brown and Andy Daro are also on the ballot.

Jamaican candidates eye Congress and the courts

Caribbean candidates across Florida are making history in Tuesday’s primary, from Jamaican Dale Holness to a historic Haitian congressional race to a mother continuing her daughter’s legacy.

Elsewhere on Tuesday’s ballot, Jamaica-born Dale Holness is making his third attempt to win Florida’s Congressional District 20, having lost a 2020 special election by just five votes. A win would make him the first Jamaica-born member of the U.S. Congress. He faces a crowded field, including redistricted incumbent Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Haitian American former Congresswoman Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, who represented the district from 2022 until her resignation in April 2026 under a federal indictment; Luther Campbell and Elijah Manley. Holness said he’s raised more than $200,000 toward a $1 million goal, building his campaign around affordability, citing that 13% of Floridians currently live in poverty.

Kaysia Earley, who has Jamaican roots, is running in Congressional District 22, campaigning on what she calls “Faith. Family. Future.” A trial attorney and founder of Seeds of Manna, Earley is a first-time congressional candidate after a previous unsuccessful run for a judgeship.

On the Republican side, Jamaican Carla Spaulding is competing in a four-way primary for District 20.

Elsewhere on the ballot, Jamaicans Tamar Hamilton and Veronica Walker are also both running for judgeships.

Jamaican, Haitian Roots In Gubernatorial Race

In the Republican Primary Byron Donalds, the Jamaican-roots current U.S. Representative, serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and House Financial Services Committee is in the race to replace Gov. Ron DeSantis who is term-limited as is Cuban American attorney Rachel Rodriguez who has worked for the Vires Law Group PLLC in West Palm Beach since 2022 and also founded Paragon Law Group, PLLC in March 2025.

While in the Democratic Primary the seat, Dotie Joseph a Haitian-born attorney and term-limited state representative from North Miami, is among the candidates on the ticket.

A daughter’s legacy, continued

In Coral Springs, Florida, Marly Metayer, a longtime registered nurse and Haitian immigrant, is running for the City Commission seat left vacant after the tragic death of her daughter, Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen, earlier this year. City leaders opted to let voters choose a successor rather than appoint one to finish Metayer Bowen’s term. Metayer Bowen was allegedly murdered by her Jamaican-born husband in April.

If elected, Metayer would follow directly in her daughter’s footsteps. Metayer Bowen made history in 2020 as the first Black and Haitian American woman elected to the Coral Springs City Commission, winning re-election unopposed in 2024 and becoming vice mayor in 2025. She also served as Florida’s Caribbean Vote Director for Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign before she was fatally shot in April in what authorities described as a domestic violence incident. Her husband, Stephen Bowen, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and remains in custody awaiting trial.

“She really felt like she wanted to continue the work that Nancy was doing,” said campaign manager David Metellus, who also managed Metayer Bowen’s campaigns. “She taught her kids to never leave a job undone.”

Born in Haiti, Marly Metayer immigrated to the U.S. at age 13, graduated from Dillard High School, and has worked as a registered nurse for more than 35 years. A Coral Springs resident since 1999, she hopes to build on her daughter’s focus on environmental justice, public safety and economic opportunity, with added emphasis on mental and behavioral health, following what her family has called an extraordinarily difficult year: she lost her youngest son, Donovan, to suicide in late 2025, just months before Nancy’s death. Other qualified candidates for the seat include William “Bill” Capplis, Adeline Darius, Erick Nyatenya and Terry Williams Edden.

What voters need to know

Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd is urging residents to participate, reminding voters that polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. local time on Tuesday. “I encourage all Florida voters to exercise their right to vote,” Byrd said.

Voters must present a current, valid photo ID to vote, and those in line by 7 p.m. will still be permitted to cast a ballot. Preliminary unofficial results will begin posting on the Florida Election Watch website after 8 p.m. Eastern time.

NewsAmericasNow will continue tracking Caribbean candidates across Florida’s primary and general elections.

By NAN Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Fri. Aug. 14, 2026: Embattled President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, CCJ, Justice Winston Anderson, broke his silence Friday, issuing a lengthy statement denying he manipulated judicial panels or influenced the ruling against Guyana’s Opposition Leader, Azruddin Mohamed, while conceding he mishandled two other matters that have engulfed the region’s highest court in crisis.

“I condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the unauthorised disclosure and publication of confidential material relating to the internal deliberations and confidential correspondence of the Court,” Anderson said, addressing the leaked internal emails first reported by the Trinidad Express, in which five of the CCJ’s six sitting judges accused him of “dictatorial” leadership.

On Mohamed: flat denial, citing unanimity

Anderson addressed the Mohamed extradition case directly, the allegation that has driven the most alarm in Guyana. “Those allegations are entirely unfounded and untrue,” he wrote, explaining that judicial conferences “frequently involve spirited discussion, differing legal analyses and careful consideration of competing views before a final judgment is settled,” and that such exchanges are “not evidence of disagreement within the institution” but of judges doing their jobs. He noted the ruling against Mohamed reflected “COMPLETE UNANIMITY among all seven judges,” and pointed out that in the Court’s Original Jurisdiction, dissenting opinions are never published, standard practice among international courts, not evidence of suppressed dissent.

On the related allegation of “panel fixing,” tied to the removal of Justice Chile Eboe-Osuji from a separate case, D’Almada v Trinidad and Tobago, Anderson said the change was made “solely” over a dress code dispute and “had nothing whatsoever to do with any judicial views of the legal merits of the proceedings.” Going forward, he announced a structural fix: every judge will now be required to sit on every panel unless formally excused for legitimate reason.

On the dress code: a partial admission

Anderson gave an extensive account of the dispute that started it all, a colleague judge wearing traditional national dress rather than a bench jacket during two hearings, which Anderson said conflicted with established CCJ practice and drew concern from senior judicial figures across the region. He removed the judge from one interlocutory panel over the disagreement. “I understand and appreciate the view that I may have approached the matter of the handling of the issue dress code too strongly,” Anderson conceded.

On Guyana: “another course would have been much better”

Perhaps Anderson’s clearest admission concerned his private meetings with Guyana’s President and its Opposition Leader over the more than two-decade delay in substantively appointing the country’s Chancellor and Chief Justice, both currently serving in acting capacities. Anderson said his concern reflected a constitutional principle raised by his two predecessors as CCJ President, not personal preference over who fills the roles. Still, he acknowledged the intervention itself was likely a misstep: “Looking back, I recognise that another course would have been much better. It may have been better to have confined myself to public commentary on the constitutional importance of substantive judicial appointments, as did my predecessors.”

What comes next

The Regional Judicial and Legal Services Commission, which Anderson chairs, announced August 10th, it will conduct a “transparent and independent review” of the allegations. Former RJLSC member Martin Daly has already said Anderson must recuse himself from any investigation into his own administrative decisions. Multiple Guyanese opposition parties have called for Anderson’s resignation outright.

Anderson closed his statement without resigning, committing instead to the Court’s ongoing work. “I undertake that the Court will continue to hear and determine the cases that come before us… to serve the people of this Region with independence, fairness and integrity deserving of the trust and confidence of the Caribbean people.”

NewsAmericasNow will continue following the CCJ crisis and its implications for the Mohamed extradition case.

RELATED: The Caribbean Court Of Justice, And The Standard The Judiciary Must Meet

By Dr. Isaac Newton

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Thurs. Aug. 13, 2026: Independence begins with the integrity of the process. The allegations concerning the President of the Caribbean Court of Justice, CCJ, Justice Winston Anderson are serious, but they remain allegations until tested against evidence. They may be substantiated, partly substantiated, or found to have no foundation. All three possibilities must remain genuinely open.

That is why Justice Winston Anderson should have no role in selecting those who conduct the review, defining its mandate, controlling its evidence, participating in its deliberations, or receiving information unavailable to others. Every real or apparent conflict should be removed. A credible process must be capable of finding wrongdoing if wrongdoing occurred and clearing an innocent person if the evidence does not support the allegations.

The issue is therefore larger than Justice Anderson, opposition leader Azruddin Mohamed, or Guyana. It concerns the confidence citizens place in the region’s highest court. If the allegations are proven, particularly if judicial proceedings or a litigant’s rights were improperly affected, the law should provide an appropriate response and remedy. If they are not proven, that conclusion should be stated with equal clarity. The purpose of an independent review is not to protect an institution or punish an individual. It is to establish what happened. Preserve the evidence. State the mandate. Remove conflicts. Examine the facts. Explain the findings. Then allow the evidence and the law to determine what follows.

Caribbean history makes this responsibility especially important. For generations, the region worked to build institutions in which justice would not depend upon political power, personal influence, or colonial authority. The creation of the Caribbean Court of Justice in 2001 and its inauguration in 2005 reflected that larger effort to strengthen Caribbean legal independence and confidence in Caribbean justice. Judicial independence was never intended to mean that judges are beyond scrutiny. It means that judges must be free to decide according to law, while the institutions around them must be strong enough to examine credible concerns fairly and without fear.

That is the standard this moment should reinforce. The region should strengthen transparent procedures for judicial complaints, clear conflict rules, protection for evidence and witnesses, and public explanations of consequential findings, subject always to lawful limits. The goal should not be to weaken the judiciary. It should be to make legitimate judicial authority more trustworthy. A court becomes stronger, not weaker, when it can demonstrate that the same principles of fairness it applies to others also govern the examination of its own conduct.

The lesson should outlast this controversy: no judge should be condemned without evidence, no credible allegation should be dismissed without examination, and no institution should be so important that the truth must be protected from scrutiny.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Isaac Newton is a leadership strategist, governance scholar, and author specializing in institutional excellence, ethical leadership, and human development. Educated at the University of the Southern Caribbean, Oakwood University, Princeton, Columbia, and Harvard, he writes on leadership, governance, diplomacy, economics, the development of people and institutions. He is the author of Fix It Preacher, Face Life Squarely, and Intimate Intimacy; coauthor of Steps to Good Governance and Daring to Hope; and author of the forthcoming When Nations Kneel and The Belief Code.

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