Caribbean & Central America - April 2023
CARIBBEAN POINTERS
*** GUYANA-SURINAME BORDER DISPUTE FLARES UP. A Guyana Defence Force (GDF) operation in mid-February in the Tigri area, an area over which Suriname claims sovereignty, produced a strong reaction in Suriname in the first week of March. The GDF operation on 19 February targeted unauthorised and illegal mining activities in the area. It was reported that a Brazilian helicopter was intercepted, and two Brazilian nationals detained.
On 2 March, Suriname’s main opposition Nationale Democratische Partij (NDP) raised the issue in parliament. The Nationale Partij Suriname (NPS), now also in opposition, issued a statement saying: “It is striking that so far no clear action has been taken [by the government] to hold the government of Guyana accountable for the unsolicited entry into the Sipaliwini district in the southwest of our country. It is unheard of and wrong for a neighbouring country to behave in this way for the government to remain silent about it.” In response, Defence Minister Krishna Mathoera told parliament: “This case has definitely not passed the government by. The government immediately took action.”
The disputed area, which Suriname says is part of the Coeroenie district of Sipaliwini, amounts to some 60,000 square kilometres.
*** GUYANA OPPOSITION WARNS OF EARLY ELECTION. Aubrey Norton, the leader of Guyana’s People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR)-led opposition coalition, A Partnership for National Unity+Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC), has warned that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPPC) government might be planning to spring a surprise election. Speaking at an opposition rally in Georgetown on 5 March, Norton warned that the powerful vice president, Bharrat Jagdeo, “is seeking to make you complacent and believe that elections aren’t going to be until 2026, and once you become complacent he will call elections earlier. We must see through his strategy and prepare for elections next year. I want to say to you that the PPP is calling elections next year. We must continue to work and be ready this year.” Local government elections are scheduled for 12 June 2023.
*** BELIZE SEEKING TO STRENGTHEN ANTI-CORRUPTION REGIME. Belize was not listed in NGO Transparency International (TI)’s 2022 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) due to a lack of data. The government, led by Prime Minister John Briceño, has said that it wants to rectify this and that he has tasked the Good Governance Unit to continue talks with TI over the lack of data.
On the separate Worldwide Governance Indicator produced by the World Bank, Belize’s level of Control of Corruption is listed at 45.67%. In a press release dated 22 February, the government said that this indicates “that Belize ranks around 47th-52nd of 180 countries and territories ranked by Transparency International’s CPI”.
A 2021 poll on Rule of Law perceptions, conducted by the World Justice Project (WJP), an international civil society organisation, found that only 22% of Belizeans thought that a high-ranking government official would be prosecuted and punished if they were to embezzle public funds. This was significantly below the findings from neighbouring countries which ranged from 38%-51%. The same poll found that 50% respondents thought that “most or all” members of parliament were involved in corrupt practices, with 45% believing that police officers were similarly engaged.
*** ST LUCIA TO MAKE CCJ FINAL COURT OF APPEAL. On 28 February, St Lucia’s parliament voted to adopt the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) as the country’s final court of appeal rather than Britain’s Privy Council. St Lucia becomes the fifth Caribbean Community (Caricom) country to make the CCJ its final court, along with Barbados, Belize, Guyana, and Dominica.