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South Florida Man To Spend 20 Years In Jail For Laundering COVID Relief Money That Helped Kill Haiti President

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By NAN Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, CORAL SPRINGS, FL, Fri. July 24, 2026: A Coral Springs man was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison Thursday for laundering fraudulently obtained pandemic relief funds that helped finance the 2021 assassination of Haiti President Jovenel Moise. U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Becerra handed down the sentence in Miami federal court after Keegan Harricharan, 42, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida announced.

How the money moved

Prosecutors said Harricharan and a co-conspirator, Jacob Israel, fraudulently obtained roughly $840,827 in Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loan funds issued under the CARES Act, beginning in June 2020, with Israel and associates pocketing about $126,124 in kickbacks. Harricharan ran a Coral Springs company called TNR Holding Group Inc., which prosecutors say he used to move the fraud proceeds toward the assassination plot.

During the spring of 2021, Harricharan met repeatedly with members of the conspiracy in South Florida, where the group discussed funding, weapons, ammunition and personnel for the operation, according to court records. Between May 18 and May 28, 2021, about $175,000 in fraud proceeds landed in the TNR Holding bank account; Harricharan quickly wired the money to co-defendant Walter Veintemilla for distribution to other plotters. Weeks later, in early June, he wired another $80,000, including EIDL funds, through the same pipeline.

U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida said the case shows how financial crime can fuel far more dangerous plots, saying Harricharan helped funnel stolen taxpayer money into a conspiracy that ultimately ended in bloodshed and political violence.

The assassination

On July 7, 2021, a team of Colombian mercenaries entered Moise’s private residence in Port-au-Prince and exchanged gunfire with security guards. The attackers shot and killed Moise, 53, and wounded First Lady Martine Moise, while the couple’s children hid inside the home during the attack. The killing plunged Haiti into what has become years of continued political and security turmoil.

Part of a broader prosecution

Harricharan’s sentencing is the latest in a yearslong prosecution spanning Miami federal court. Four other defendants in the case were convicted at trial in May. A fifth defendant is scheduled for trial later this year, and a sixth, who pleaded guilty, awaits sentencing in December. Previous sentences in the broader case have included life imprisonment for former Haitian Sen. John Joel Joseph, Haitian-Chilean national Rodolphe Jaar, and Colombian ex-army officer Germán Alejandro Rivera García, all convicted or pleaded guilty to roles in the plot to kidnap or kill Moise.

NewsAmericasNow will continue following developments in the ongoing prosecution of those responsible for the assassination of Haiti’s former president.

A $647 Million US Caribbean Operation Has Killed 205 People And Congress Says It’s Not Even Legal

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By Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, WASHINGTON, D.C., Thurs. July 23, 2026: A US Caribbean operation and military campaign that has killed at least 205 people in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific has cost American taxpayers more than $647 million – and, according to Congress’s own nonpartisan research arm, almost none of the policy driving it has ever been authorized by law.

That finding comes from a Congressional Research Service report, “U.S. Foreign Policy in the Western Hemisphere: Issues for Congress,” published on May 26th for members of Congress and their staff. The report documents how the Trump administration has reshaped US policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean almost entirely through executive orders, presidential proclamations, and bilateral agreements – without a single law passed by Congress to authorize, codify, or constrain any of it. Efforts to invoke the War Powers Resolution to check the campaign have failed by razor-thin margins.

The toll and the cost

Since September 2025, the campaign – known as Operation Southern Spear – has carried out dozens of lethal strikes on small boats accused of drug trafficking in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific. As of early May, at least 205 people had been killed, including seven missing and presumed dead, while only three people have been captured alive and two extradited to the United States. The Trump administration has provided little public evidence connecting each vessel or victim to drug trafficking, and the overwhelmingly lethal ratio – 205 killed against three captured – has drawn criticism from legal experts who argue the campaign functions less like law enforcement and more like undeclared warfare.

The U.S. military started attacking boats off the coast of Venezuela on Sept. 2; the Trump administration has said it’s part of an effort to thwart drug smuggling. The U.S. has since struck at least 59 boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean. In October 2025, President Donald Trump declared that the U.S. is in an “armed conflict” with drug cartels and designated some as terrorist organizations.

Rights groups like Amnesty International called it “extra-judicial killings.” “With nearly 200 killings, these extrajudicial killings are becoming normalized,” said Amnesty International USA’s National Director for Government Relations, Amanda Klasing. “Not only are these killings illegal, they are immoral. People of good conscience cannot allow this to continue, yet Congress has so far failed to halt, or even slow down, this lethal and unlawful campaign.”

A Department of War Inspector General report found the operation cost more than $647 million in its first two quarters alone, with additional strikes conducted since that accounting period likely pushing the total higher. Family members of people killed in at least one strike have filed wrongful death lawsuits in US federal court, arguing their relatives were fishermen and laborers with no connection to trafficking. The United Kingdom reportedly stopped sharing maritime intelligence with the US late last year over concerns that its intelligence was being used to facilitate killings without due process.

Executive action, not law

The CRS report is notable for what it doesn’t find: congressional authorization. It describes a hemisphere-wide policy shift – the strikes, tariffs imposed on regional allies, the military capture of Venezuela’s president, and the rollback of longstanding democracy-promotion programs – carried out almost entirely by executive action. That distinction matters because it means the policy remains, in the report’s own framing, legally vulnerable and potentially reversible, without the durable legitimacy a congressional vote would provide.

The doctrine underlying the campaign, dubbed the “Trump Corollary” to the 1823 Monroe Doctrine in the administration’s November 2025 National Security Strategy, asserts the US will actively enforce primacy across the Western Hemisphere to prevent migration, secure cooperation against cartels, and block rival powers – chiefly China – from gaining influence.

A region reacting unevenly

The Caribbean Community has responded to the surrounding pressure unevenly. Some CARICOM governments have joined the broader Americas Counter Cartel Coalition, also called the “Shield of the Americas,” a 17-nation security alliance the administration launched in March. It focuses on deploying military capabilities against narco-terrorist networks.

“Cooperate in the following areas: whole-of-government efforts regarding border security; countering narcoterrorism and trafficking; securing critical infrastructure; and other areas as mutually determined” and “Join a coalition to combat narco-terrorism and other shared threats to the Western Hemisphere” states the memorandum signed in Doral, Florida.

Others have voiced concern about sovereignty, and CARICOM foreign ministers have pushed to accelerate the CARICOM Single Market and Economy in part to reduce the region’s dependence on Washington.

For a region built substantially on tourism and small, trade-dependent economies, a US military campaign of this scale and cost operating without firm legal footing – one that has already killed people from Caribbean and neighboring nations – carries consequences that reach well beyond the current news cycle.

NewsAmericasNow will continue tracking Operation Southern Spear, the “Trump Corollary,” and Congress’s response as the policy develops.

The MV Barima Predates Guyana’s Independence By 27 Years

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By Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Fri. July 24, 2026: The MV Barima, the ferry that capsized off Guyana’s coast on July 19, killing at least 65 people with dozens more still unaccounted for, was not built for Guyana. It was built for a colony that no longer exists – 27 years before that colony became an independent nation.

Built for a colony that no longer exists

The MV Barima was born on the River Clyde in Port Glasgow, Scotland, at the yard of Ferguson Brothers – a shipbuilder that still operates today as Ferguson Marine. According to the company’s own heritage records, work began on a passenger-cargo vessel named the Pomeroon, which underwent sea trials in January 1936.

The yard then built two sister vessels, the Lady Northcote and the Barima, which were completed in 1939. All three were ordered through the Crown Agents for the Colonies on behalf of the Transport and Harbors Department of British Guiana Railways, built specifically to stitch together a colonial territory by water – decades before Guyana would become an independent nation on May 26, 1966.

The Barima was a twin-screw vessel of modest ambition by design – built to cruise at roughly 8.5 knots, carrying the cargo and passenger loads of a colony whose coastal trade bore little resemblance to a modern independent nation’s. When it capsized on July 18, nearly six decades after Guyana’s independence, the vessel was carrying 179 people and cargo, a load far exceeding what its rigid, nearly 90-year-old hull, engineered under colonial administration, was ever built to safely stabilize.

An echo of the 1970 Christena disaster

The Barima’s capsizing bears an unsettling resemblance to another Caribbean maritime tragedy from a similar era: the MV Christena, the government ferry that disappeared beneath the waters of The Narrows between St. Kitts and Nevis on August 1, 1970, killing 233 people and leaving only 91 survivors — one of the deadliest maritime disasters in Caribbean history. The Christena was smaller than the Barima, at about 66 feet long with a 16-foot beam versus the Barima’s roughly 126 feet, but both were aging government ferries serving as the primary lifeline for isolated island and coastal communities, and both capsized carrying more people than their design and era were ever built to accommodate.

A pattern that predates both disasters

The Christena’s sinking led to a Commission of Inquiry that found the vessel had been dangerously overloaded and improperly loaded with cargo positioned to destabilize it – findings that reshaped maritime safety oversight across the Eastern Caribbean in the years that followed. Guyana has similarly launched an independent Commission of Inquiry into the Barima’s capsizing, with Prime Minister Mark Phillips confirming a full investigation into potential criminal negligence and institutional failures within the country’s maritime administration.

Whether an independent nation, nearly 60 years removed from the colonial administration that ordered the Barima into existence, still relied on that same vessel as recently as this month is itself a question the Commission of Inquiry may have to reckon with – one that goes beyond mechanical failure, to what infrastructure a country inherits at independence, and how long it can go without replacing it.

NewsAmericasNow will continue following the Commission of Inquiry into the MV Barima disaster as it develops.

RELATED: Guyana: The MV Barima Tragedy Puts The Spotlight On A Decades-Old Issue – An Aging Ferry Fleet

Funerals Begin For Guyana Ferry Disaster Victims As Recovery Total Rises To 72 And Vigil Set For NYC

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By NAN Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Fri, July 25, 2026: Families across Guyana have begun burying their dead as the confirmed recovery total from the Guyana ferry disaster, the MV Barima, rose to 72 Thursday night, with 65 victims positively identified, Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips said in his latest update.

With 179 people confirmed to have been aboard the ferry when it capsized on July 18, and 76 to 77 rescued in the days that followed, roughly 30 people remain unaccounted for as search and recovery operations continue.

Burials begin across the country

Funerals were held Thursday for several of the identified victims, including Kevin Wilson, laid to rest in East Bank Berbice, and 11-year-old Ronaldo Poon, buried following a service in Wakenaam. Seven-year-old Adans Williams of Bartica was set to be laid to rest today, July 24th. Other victims identified so far include Paul Seepersaud, the MV Barima’s chief engineer; Viviana Sadruddin; Rubina Hernandez; Akeela Rodrigues; Rachel Wells and her three children, Nathaniel Jr., 8, Natalia, 5, and Ezekiel, 3; Bibi Akela Mohamed, 49 and Ravindra Singh, 46.

Survivors describe a traumatic ordeal

Opposition WIN Member of Parliament Deon La Cruz, who traveled to Port Kaituma to meet with survivors and victims’ families, said accounts from survivors were consistent: that the ferry was overloaded, that rescue boats took too long to arrive, and that survivors watched helplessly as others who could not hold on any longer went under. La Cruz said survivors have not yet received a single call from human services or any government representative checking on their well-being, and that many cannot sleep, replaying the sounds of screams and calls for help each time they close their eyes. La Cruz called on the Guyana Minister of Amerindian Affairs, the Minister of Social Services and Minister Collin Croal to urgently dispatch qualified counselors to the affected communities.

Meanwhile, Guyana opposition leader Azruddin Mohamed, who has participated directly in the search along the Pomeroon River from Sunday, said his search teams recovered more than 25 bodies in a single stretch of the operation and renewed his call for Guyana’s Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill to resign. Mohamed reported that at least three additional bodies were recovered today.

US Diaspora response

The tragedy has drawn attention from US officials representing New York’s large Guyanese-American community. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement that he is “thinking of the Guyanese American community in New York this week,” adding that his office would do everything it can to help members of the diaspora affected by the disaster during Guyana’s period of national mourning.

In Brooklyn, a candlelight vigil for victims of the MV Barima tragedy is planned for today, Friday, July 24, at 6:30 p.m., at the corner of Church and Utica Avenues in Brooklyn, NY and is open to all Guyanese and friends of Guyana.

How the disaster unfolded

The MV Barima’s manifest listed 133 people – 116 passengers and 17 crew – but investigators later confirmed at least 179 people were actually aboard, with dozens having boarded unofficially and never recorded. The ferry issued a distress call around 10:30 to 11 p.m. on July 18th while traveling through the North Atlantic off the Pomeroon River, roughly seven miles offshore near Iron Punt, an area mariners have long described as one of the most hazardous stretches of the Georgetown-to-Port Kaituma route due to unpredictable currents and sudden wave shifts as the ferry clears the shelter of the Demerara River and Essequibo River mouth. Survivors described a sudden, powerful wave or tide shift striking the vessel in the darkness.

Local fishermen were the first responders in the wee hours of the morning Sunday, followed by the Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard, private vessels and later support boats from ExxonMobil. Passengers and crew remained in the water for hours overnight before rescue reached them.

RELATED: The MV Barima Predates Guyana’s Independence By 27 Years

Queens, NY Soldier Killed In Iranian Attack In Jordan Was Born In Trinidad

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By Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Thurs. July 23, 2026: U.S. Army Sgt. Angel Sarah Rampersad, who was killed in action on July 17 during an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, was an immigrant from Trinidad and Tobago.

Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, Queens, was reportedly killed during an Iranian ballistic missile and drone attack on the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, according to the Department of War. She was born in Trinidad and Tobago and moved to New York at age 5 with her mother, an American citizen, and an older sister. Her Trinidad-born father remained in Trinidad.

She grew up in Ozone Park, NY, and taught herself to play drums, sang in her church choir, and ran track and played softball at Forest Hills High School. An uncle who served in the military inspired her toward the Army, though her mother, Carol Acevedo, initially asked her to attend college first. Rampersad enrolled at CUNY’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice before enlisting at 21, around 2019, and re-enlisted last year. Her awards included the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

Remembered in Ozone Park

Members of a US Army carry team transports a flag-draped transfer case containing the remains of US Army Sergeant Angel S. Rampersad during a dignified transfer solemn event at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, US, on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. The US and Iran signaled they aren’t ready to return to the negotiating table after both countries escalated attacks deep into a second week of renewed fighting. Photographer: Daniel Heuer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

An American flag now flies at half-staff outside her family’s home in Queens, NY. Rampersad was one of four American service members killed in the attack, alongside Army 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Hawaii, and Army Pvt. Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Texas. A fourth soldier, Sgt. Michael Emmanuel Swinton of North Carolina, died separately while attempting to disarm a downed Iranian drone in Iraq. Their deaths bring the total number of American service members killed since the war with Iran escalated to 18.

Sgt. Rampersad was assigned to 1st Battalion, 57th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air & Missile Defense Command, Ansbach, Germany.

The government of Trinidad and Tobago said Rampersad’s heritage gave her death “a particular resonance” for the nation, extending sympathies to her family, fellow service members and all those whose lives she touched.

In a statement released by her family, Rampersad was remembered as “a gentle giant” who “stood up for those who couldn’t fight for themselves – a defender, a friend,” and who “loved her family fiercely and will live on in the hearts of everyone she touched.”

“Today, we mourn the loss of Sgt. Angel Rampersad,” said Brig. Gen. Glenn Henke, commanding general of the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, in a statement.

Rampersad’s family traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday for the dignified transfer of her remains alongside those of the three other fallen service members, a ceremony attended by President Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and other officials also offered condolences, with Hochul saying, “New York, and our nation, are safer because of brave Americans like her who answer the call to serve” while New York City’s Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani stated: “Sgt. Rampersad’s courage and sacrifice will be remembered not just in Queens, but across all five boroughs. My deepest condolences are with her family, loved ones, and all those grieving this profound loss.”

Sergeant Rampersad was assigned to the 52nd Air Defense Artillery Brigade, 10th Army Air & Missile Defense Command, in Ansbach, Germany. Her father is a national of Trinidad and Tobago, while her mother is an American citizen.

“Her passing is therefore mourned with particular sorrow in Trinidad and Tobago. Though she served under the United States flag, Sergeant Rampersad also shared a meaningful connection with our nation through her Trinidad and Tobago heritage.,” said Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister Kamala Persad-Bissessar. On Tuesday July 21st, a team from the Consulate General of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in New York visited Sergeant Rampersad’s family to express the nation’s sympathies and offer support.

The Ozone Park Residents Block Association planned a candlelight vigil outside Rampersad’s family home this week, with neighbors describing her as someone whose sense of duty and warmth touched the wider community well beyond her own family.

NewsAmericasNow extends its condolences to Sgt. Rampersad’s family and the entire Trinidadian and Trinidadian-American community during this difficult time.

RELATED: Guyana – US Pushes To Lead Guyana’s Energy Future As Country’s Aging Ferry Fleet Turns Deadly

Guyana Ferry Disaster: 53 Dead, 50 Still Missing

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By Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Weds. July 22, 2026: The confirmed death toll from Saturday’s Guyana Ferry Disaster has risen to 53, with roughly 50 people still unaccounted for, as search and rescue teams continue combing the waters off Guyana’s coast and near the place where the MV Barima sank.

Guyana Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips said investigations have established that 179 people, and not 133, were aboard the MV Barima when it capsized roughly seven miles offshore near the mouth of the Pomeroon River Saturday night – a figure he said is unlikely to change significantly. As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, authorities had verified 76 people rescued and 53 bodies recovered, with 26 positively identified so far, leaving approximately 50 people still unaccounted for.

Sixteen vessels remain deployed within the wreckage area, and the search zone has been expanded by an additional 400 square miles, extending up to Waini Point. French and local divers, including a 15-member team from the French Armed Forces in French Guiana, continue underwater search and recovery operations at the wreckage site. Bodies recovered are being transferred to Guyana Police Force custody at a facility established at the Charity River Dam, with identification carried out by family members at Suddie Hospital.

Members of the Guyana Coast Guard are working tirelessly with local fishermen and private boat owners in the search.

Captain, crew member test positive for cannabis

Separately, the captain of the MV Barima and another crew member have tested positive for cannabis and been arrested, authorities disclosed this week. Phillips said blood samples were drawn from both men following the capsizing, and that the results were released to the public as soon as they were confirmed. He said the disclosure reflected the government’s commitment to transparency, noting that when investigators separately determined more people had been aboard the vessel than listed on its manifest, that information was also released promptly.

“This remains a search and rescue operation”

Phillips pushed back against treating the disaster as settled, telling the public that recovering bodies does not mean the government has given up hope of finding survivors. “Notwithstanding the fact that we are recovering bodies, we still have hope that people are out there who are alive, and therefore we continue our search and rescue activities,” he said, urging the public to approach the tragedy with sensitivity and avoid circulating unverified reports, photos or videos.

A separate investigation will be conducted to determine the cause of the capsizing, which the government has said will be full and transparent.

Three days of national mourning

President Irfaan Ali has declared three days of national mourning, from Wednesday, July 22, through Friday, July 24, with the national flag flown at half-mast on government buildings across the country. Wednesday has been designated a National Day of Prayer, with a Day of Prayer and Remembrance held at the Kingston Seawall in Georgetown. A Night of Reflection and Prayer follows in Port Kaituma on Thursday and in Mabaruma on Friday. The government has encouraged religious organizations, civic groups and citizens nationwide to hold candlelight vigils during the mourning period.

NewsAmericasNow will continue following the search and rescue operation and the investigation into the MV Barima disaster.

RELATED: Guyana: The MV Barima Tragedy Puts The Spotlight On A Decades-Old Issue – An Aging Ferry Fleet

Guyana: The MV Barima Tragedy Puts The Spotlight On A Decades-Old Issue – An Aging Ferry Fleet

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By NAN Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Tues. July 21, 2026: As search teams continue looking for dozens still missing after the MV Barima capsized off Guyana’s coast on July 20th, the disaster is renewing attention on a challenge Guyana’s ferry system has faced for more than 15 years: an aging fleet that has been repeatedly patched rather than replaced.

The Guyana government confirmed Monday that the confirmed death toll has risen to 27 as 83 persons remain unaccounted for. The identification process, involving relatives, is being carried out at Suddie Hospital.

The Maritime Rescue Coordination Center deployed 13 assets from first light Monday and declared that 69 people, including passengers and crew members, have been rescued. The government says it remains fully committed to the search and continues deploying all available resources to account for everyone who was aboard. The government also said the ferry’s location was identified not by its own military or divers, but at 13:31 hrs today by a fisherman – Haresh Singh, who had earlier assisted in rescue efforts yesterday.

International assistance has since joined the operation. President Irfaan Ali announced Monday that a 15-member team from the French Armed Forces in French Guiana, including 12 specialist divers, two medics and a mechanic, had arrived in Guyana to help with the search, rescue and recovery effort. The team is led by Lieutenant Commander Alexis Touboul. The ferry capsized roughly seven miles offshore near the mouth of the Pomeroon River. As of the latest count, 67 people have been rescued and 10 confirmed dead, with the Guyana Defense Force, Coast Guard, private vessels and local fisherfolk continuing to scour the area, including the privately owned vessel Gilligan Island.

Port Kaituma residents began publicly calling for a newer, faster vessel as early as 2010, citing disruptions that caused losses for passengers and local businesses. By 2015, government officials were openly acknowledging that the MV Barima and other ferries serving the North-West District were aging and needed urgent attention. Then-Cabinet Secretary Joseph Harmon, under the David Granger government, said at the time that the old vessels should not remain in service much longer, citing unreliable transportation and its effect on residents, businesses and the movement of goods from Region One. The administration announced plans that year to lease a ferry and acquire two new vessels for the route.

Those plans didn’t result in the MV Barima’s retirement. Instead, in 2017, the government spent 150.6 million Guyanese dollars rehabilitating the vessel – work on its hull, propellers and rudders, two new engines, and improvements to passenger accommodation. The 87-year-old ship, built in Scotland in 1939, remained in active service for nearly another decade until it capsized on July 19 while traveling from Georgetown to Port Kaituma with some 133 people aboard, along with cargo.

Minister pushes back on “unseaworthy” claims

Guyana’s Minister of Public Works, Bishop Juan Edghill, dismissed claims circulating publicly that the MV Barima was unseaworthy, telling reporters at a Sunday evening, July 20th press briefing that the vessel was operating within its routine maintenance schedule and was due for planned dry-docking later this year. Edghill said the ferry was last dry-docked in 2024 and was scheduled for its next dry-docking in the latter half of 2026, alongside the MV Malali and MB Hercules. He said public reports suggesting the vessel had been declared unfit for service were inaccurate.

A fleet of similar age

The MV Barima was far from the only aging vessel in Guyana’s Transport and Harbours Department fleet.

The MV Malali, built in 1962, and the MV Makouria, built in 1959, remain technically active but are prone to frequent mechanical breakdowns and parts shortages. The Malali primarily serves the Parika-to-Bartica route, while the Makouria now operates mainly as an infrequent backup.

The MV Kanawaima, which has handled the Guyana-Suriname crossing since 1998, is reportedly plagued by technical issues serious enough that the terminal has had to rent or swap in alternative tugs and barges to keep the route running.

The government has made some investments in modernizing parts of the fleet in recent years, commissioning the MV Ma Lisha in 2023 and the MV Konawaruk 1899 in December 2025, along with newer vessels serving the busier Essequibo routes. But those additions have not reached every route, and the money committed to the Barima itself went toward continued rehabilitation rather than replacement.

In March 2026, the Ministry of Public Works invited bids for a $440 million rehabilitation initiative covering three vessels – the MV Ma Lisha, the MV Barima and the MB Hercules – with $124.5 million specifically earmarked for further work on the Barima, according to a Department of Public Information notice at the time. Guyana’s 2025 budget had allocated 9.9 billion Guyanese dollars for river transportation overall, rising to 11.2 billion dollars for 2026, but no purpose-built vessel intended to retire the Barima outright was funded in that plan.

In February 2025, President Irfaan Ali said the government was considering acquiring another ferry for the North-West District given rising travel demand, and later that year the administration acquired the Kalliopi N, a vessel that can carry 284 passengers and 51 vehicles, for the Georgetown-to-Region One route. It is unclear from public records whether that vessel had entered service, or was intended to replace the Barima specifically, at the time of Saturday’s disaster.

A pattern beyond one ship

Even as search and rescue operations continue, the broader fleet shows signs of ongoing strain. The Ministry of Public Works temporarily withdrew the MV Sabanto, one of two primary vessels on the heavily used Parika-to-Supenaam route, for urgent repairs this month. That leaves the MV Kanawan and the newly commissioned MV Konawaruk 1899 to carry the load on one of the country’s busiest crossings.

For the outlying Indigenous and rural communities in Regions One, Two and beyond that depend on these aging vessels for both transportation and the movement of cargo and produce, Saturday’s disaster raises a question that predates this weekend by well over a decade: how long a country can keep patching an aging fleet before the patches run out.

NewsAmericasNow will continue following the investigation into the MV Barima disaster and the state of Guyana’s ferry fleet.

RELATED: Over Four Dozen Missing After Guyana Ferry Disaster

Over Four Dozen Missing After Guyana Ferry Disaster

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By Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Sun. July 19, 2026: Search and rescue teams in Guyana were racing against time Sunday to find 49 people still unaccounted for after the Guyana ferry disaster. The MV Barima, an almost 90-year-old vessel, capsized off the country’s North Atlantic coast, in what officials are calling one of Guyana’s most serious maritime disasters in recent years.

The vessel, built in 1939 and serving Guyana for decades, transporting both passengers and cargo, was one of the country’s oldest operating vessels. It was reportedly carrying 133 passengers and 17 crew when it overturned in the early hours of Sunday while traveling from Georgetown to Port Kaituma in Region One. The vessel’s manifest listed 116 passengers and 17 crew members but it was reportedly carrying 133 people.

Prime Minister Mark Phillips said Sunday afternoon 67 people had been rescued – 41 men, 11 women and 15 children, six boys and nine girls. Those rescued were taken to medical facilities in Charity and Lima, with the Ministry of Health leading the medical response. The government said only two are confirmed as dead so far. Among those identified as still missing are Sherida Hussein, 48; Babuni Harrier, 75, a pensioner; and Alwin Joseph as well as Rachel Welch, and her three children – Nathaniel Jr., Natalia, and Ezekiel. Indrawattie Natram and Eve Jerome, who was traveling to Mabaruma in Region One aboard the MV Barima survived but her two children, Alliya Gonsalves, 12, and Jerome Jacobs, 3, remain missing. Elena Moonsammy lost seven children.

The search operation

Since first light Sunday, the search area has expanded from 400 to 1,070 square kilometers, with air and sea assets increasing throughout the day. Three command centers were established by 7 a.m. Sunday, in Mabaruma, Port Kaituma and at the Umana Yana in Georgetown. The Guyana Defence Force Coast Guard is leading the operation, supported by other emergency responders, private vessels and local fisherfolk with knowledge of the waters. The vessel’s captain and mate, who were among those rescued, have returned to the search area to assist.

President Irfaan Ali and Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, according to government statements, have remained engaged in the response, and multiple Cabinet ministers have been meeting directly with families of passengers at the Umana Yana, Port Kaituma Community Centre and the NAREI Extension Centre in Kumaka, providing updates and psychosocial support. “This is why we govern, for people,” said Kwame McCoy, minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, urging the public to rely only on official government channels for verified information.

Minister rejects overload claims

As speculation spread on social media that the ferry had been overloaded, Guyana’s Public Works Minister Juan Edghill said there is no evidence the vessel was carrying more passengers or cargo than permitted, and that investigators have not yet determined the cause of the capsizing.

According to Prime Minister Phillips’ statement, the MV Barima is licensed to carry more than 300 passengers; it had 133 aboard. Its cargo capacity is 284 tonnes; the manifest recorded 268 tonnes at the time of the incident. The vessel was last dry-docked in 2024 and remains within its required docking cycle. Officials said it is operating with new engines, making three to four trips to Port Kaituma monthly. The government says the vessel was equipped with 250 life jackets, six inflatable life rafts and two rigid life rafts.

Prime Minister Phillips has also revealed that some of the people rescued after the MV Barima capsized were not officially listed as passengers, and two of the crew members tested positive for narcotics.

Opposition raises safety concerns

The opposition party, We Invest In Nationhood, pushed back on the government’s account, saying in a Facebook statement that the 87-year-old MV Barima “should never have been sent out to sea” and should have been decommissioned in favor of a modern vessel, alleging the ship had unresolved “structural, hull, propulsion and steering damage and issues.” The party framed the ferry’s continued use as reflecting how the government treats Indigenous communities along the route, calling the disaster “an abomination.”

Questions over helicopter readiness

Separately, the opposition said two of the Guyana Defence Force’s primary helicopters, a Bell 429 and a Bell 412, have been out of service for more than a month due to reported cockpit display unit failures during engine start, potentially leaving the older Bell 407 as the Air Corps’ only airworthy helicopter during the search. Estimates suggest that repairing both aircraft’s display systems could cost approximately 100 million Guyanese dollars in total. It is not publicly known whether an investigation into the failures has been completed. The timing has raised questions about whether additional air search capacity could have supported the ongoing operation roughly eight miles offshore.

Authorities have appealed for patience as the search continues and the investigation proceeds. NewsAmericasNow will continue following developments as more information becomes available.

Why The Teacher Standing Before A Child May Be The Most Important Leadership Decision A School Makes

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By Dr. Isaac Newton

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Sun. July 19, 2026: The child arrived early on the first morning of school. The uniform was carefully prepared. The backpack was filled with fresh books. The excitement was visible, even though the child could not yet explain the dreams, fears, and questions carried into that classroom. What the child did not know was that a leadership decision had already been made about the person who would influence those dreams. Before the first word was written on the board, before the first assignment was completed, before the first conversation between teacher and student occurred, leaders had already determined who would occupy one of the most influential positions in that child’s life. The child did not choose the teacher. The family trusted the school. The community trusted its leaders. And the future waited to see whether that decision would be worthy of the responsibility entrusted to it.

This is the heart of The Placement Principle. The placement of a teacher is not simply an administrative decision. It is a leadership decision that determines how human ability is positioned to shape human possibility. Great schools understand something that ordinary systems often overlook: classrooms do not create themselves. They are created through intentional choices about people, purpose, and priorities. A teacher assignment is less focused on filling a vacancy. It rests on what a school believes matters most. It reveals whether leadership values convenience or contribution, tradition or evidence, availability or impact. The strongest principals and deputy principals approach placement with a deeper responsibility. They ask where a teacher’s greatest strengths can serve students most effectively. They examine instructional expertise, classroom leadership, emotional intelligence, professional commitment, adaptability, and the ability to build relationships that encourage students to believe in themselves.

Because every classroom has a different need. Some students need confidence before they need complexity. Some need structure before they can discover independence. Some need challenge because their abilities have not yet been fully recognized. Others need a teacher who sees possibility before they see it themselves. The exceptional leader understands that effective placement occurs when three realities meet: The teacher’s strengths. The students’ needs. The institution’s mission. When these three align, education reaches its highest purpose. In religious private schools and other values-driven educational communities, this responsibility carries an even deeper meaning. Teachers do not simply transfer knowledge. They influence character, model values, demonstrate integrity, and shape the attitudes students carry into families, workplaces, and society.

The best leaders also know that good intentions are not enough. Placement decisions require evidence and wisdom working together. Student progress, classroom observations, professional growth, collaboration, reliability, family relationships, and demonstrated contribution provide the insight required for responsible decisions. Data does not replace leadership judgment. It strengthens it. A leader who ignores evidence risks protecting comfort. A leader who uses evidence wisely creates opportunity. The most transformative schools also recognize that every placement decision has a future beyond the current academic year. A teacher placed in a classroom today may become tomorrow’s mentor, department leader, administrator, or educational innovator. Every assignment either strengthens institutional capacity or leaves potential undeveloped.

For Caribbean societies, this responsibility holds national significance. Small nations cannot depend on accidental excellence. The teacher placed before a child today influences the professionals, leaders, entrepreneurs, parents, and citizens who will shape tomorrow. Teacher placement is therefore not only a school decision. It is a societal investment. Before finalizing assignments, every principal and deputy principal should confront one standard: “If this classroom represented my own child’s future, would I make this placement with confidence, conviction, and peace?” That question removes bias. It challenges assumptions. It restores the purpose of leadership. Because schools reveal their deepest values through the teachers they place before children.

Buildings matter. Resources matter. Technology matters. Curriculum matters. But every morning, the most powerful influence in education enters the classroom as a person. A teacher. The future of education is shaped long before examinations are written. It is shaped in the quiet decisions leaders make about who will inspire, challenge, guide, and believe in the next generation. The right teacher in the right classroom at the right moment is more than a placement decision. It is a commitment to human possibility. That is The Placement Principle.

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, and 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 coauthor of the forthcoming works When Nations Kneel and The Belief Code.

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The Will Of God Or The Work Of The Devil? – Pursuing Power In The Church

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By Dr. Isaac Newton

Power never creates the heart. It reveals it. Elections do not manufacture character. They uncover it. Every campaign, every committee, and every difficult decision exposes what was already present. The church does not face its greatest danger when people seek responsibility. It faces its greatest danger when responsibility becomes more important than the reason it exists.

The deepest crisis is not conflict. Healthy people can disagree. The deepest crisis begins when sacred language is used to excuse conduct that sacred Scripture condemns. Prayer cannot cleanse manipulation. Worship cannot redeem gossip. A vote cannot justify betrayal. No holy purpose is advanced by unholy means because the method eventually becomes the message.

Leadership worthy of the church follows another pattern. It listens before deciding. It tells the truth even when the truth is costly. It protects the dignity of opponents as carefully as the loyalty of friends. It understands that every conversation teaches people what the church truly believes. Culture is not written in policy. It is written in daily conduct.

History repeats one lesson with remarkable consistency. Institutions seldom fail from a lack of gifted leaders. They fail when gifted leaders love position more than purpose. Titles change hands. Character shapes generations. Every leader leaves two legacies. One is recorded in the minutes. The other is written in people. The second always lasts longer.

Some will welcome these words. Others will dismiss them. That changes nothing. Truth does not wait for permission. Every genuine renewal has required leaders with enough humility to examine themselves before attempting to correct everyone else. Reform always begins with the person in the mirror.

The church will never rise above the character it rewards. Every election casts two votes. One selects leaders. The other defines culture. The first lasts for a term. The second shapes a generation. Wherever ambition claims the highest seat, everyone pays the price. Wherever Christ remains the highest authority, power finds its proper place, people flourish, and the gospel speaks with unmistakable credibility.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Isaac Newton is a leadership strategist, development specialist, theologian, and author of Steps to Good Governance and Fix It, Preacher. He is coauthor of Daring to Hope and When Nations Kneel, and forthcoming author of The Belief Code. Educated at Oakwood University, the University of Southern Caribbean, Harvard, Princeton, and Columbia, he advises leaders across government, business, education, and the church, helping build cultures where people flourish and leadership creates lasting impact.

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