Category Archives: Caribbean

Florida shaken by 6.1-magnitude earthquake off coast of Cuba

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Earthquake was region’s strongest tremor in nearly 150 years and was also felt in parts of Mexico including Cancún

An earthquake on Monday off the coast of Cuba, which was that region’s strongest tremor in nearly 150 years, could be felt in Florida and parts of Mexico.

The 6.1-magnitude earthquake, which struck in the afternoon, occurred approximately 65 miles (105km) north-west of Mantua, Cuba, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). The USGS added that the earthquake had a depth of 16 miles.

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Two US pilots killed after plane bound to pick up former MLB star crashes

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Plane on way to pick up Yadier Molina and his family crashed in Dominican Republic, killing pilot and co-pilot

A pilot and co-pilot from the United States have died in a fiery plane crash as they attempted an emergency landing in the Dominican Republic, authorities said.

Former major league baseball all-star catcher Yadier Molina said on social media that the plane was bound for Texas to pick him up, along with family and friends.

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US imposes new sanctions on Cuban president and Castro family members

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US secretary of state Marco Rubio says anyone providing services to listed entities ‘is at risk of sanctions themselves’

The United States has announced fresh economic sanctions on Cuba’s president and some of his immediate family, alongside members of the Castro family, in Washington’s latest ramping up of pressure on its communist-led neighbour.

Among those targeted were the son and a grandson of former president Raúl Castro, who no longer holds an official position but remains a key figure on decisions about the future of the island.

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Musket balls and a burnt hull: evidence of real pirates of the Caribbean found in Bahamas

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Exclusive: First shipwrecks found in Nassau harbour on New Providence, once the hideout of Blackbeard and Calico Jack

The first shipwrecks linked to the real pirates of the Caribbean in the Bahamas have been discovered by an international team co-directed by a British marine archaeologist.

Blackbeard and Calico Jack Rackham were among pirates who, between the 1690s and 1720s, turned Nassau on the island of New Providence into a hideout where they plotted their next heists on the high seas and divided up their plunder.

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The race for oil: will Jamaica be the next country to drill and what does that mean for its green pledges?

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With early tests suggesting the presence of crude oil, the Caribbean island has begun to debate whether it could justify becoming a producer

Jamaica is closer than ever to drilling for oil. Tests on samples from the seabed off the Caribbean island’s south coast earlier this year identified hydrocarbons, which suggest the presence of crude oil below ground.

Jamaica imports all its fuel, which costs about $1.5-2bn (£1.1bn-1.5bn) annually, depending on global oil prices. It is a persistent drag on an economy that generated $4.3bn from tourism, its biggest earner, in 2024.

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Rubio doubtful of diplomacy with Cuba as Trump renews threat of military action

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US secretary of state says president would like a negotiated agreement with Havana but likelihood ‘is not high’

The US president, Donald Trump, and the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, on Thursday again raised the spectre of military intervention in Cuba, a renewed threat that takes on greater weight a day after the administration announced criminal charges against Raúl Castro, the island’s former leader.

“Other presidents have looked at this for 50, 60 years, doing something,” Trump told reporters when asked about Cuba during an event in the Oval Office. “And it looks like I’ll be the one that does it. So I would be happy to do it.”

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Cubans outraged at US charges against Raúl Castro as fears of military strikes grow

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It’s a nerve-racking time for Havana neighbours of top Cuban officials as fears of US attack mount

A new question in being asked in Havana as people digest the news that the US has brought criminal charges against Cuba’s 94-year-old former president, Raúl Castro: who’s your neighbour?

If you happen to live near a senior figure in Cuba’s government or armed forces, others suck their teeth in an expression of concerned sympathy. For the first time, US military strikes on the island are being considered a serious possibility.

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Macron says France must address issue of reparations for its role in slave trade

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French president’s use of term comes as demand grows for formal discussion on addressing legacies of enslavement

Emmanuel Macron has said reparations for France’s role in hundreds of years of enslavement of African people is an issue that should be addressed, but he stopped short of making clear proposals.

“How to repair … is a question that must not be refused,” the French president said in a speech on the legacies of slavery at the Élysée Palace. “It’s also a question on which we must not make false promises.”

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‘It’s broken English’: MP’s attempt to speak Jamaican in parliament sparks language row

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Parliamentary rule that only English is allowed has reignited debate about language, legitimacy and postcolonial identity

When the Jamaican MP Nekeisha Burchell stood up to give her maiden speech, she was keenly aware of how much her country’s parliament mirrored the Westminster version thousands of miles away in London.

As in the UK, the session on 12 May had started with the arrival of the ceremonial mace – a 1.7-metre ornamented silver staff representing the British monarch’s authority over parliament – which now rested on a table between the government and the opposition. Despite the heat outside, debate was presided over by the speaker dressed in a ceremonial robe.

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US indicts former Cuban president Raúl Castro as it seeks to oust regime

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Charges filed in Miami against 94-year-old for allegedly shooting down exiles’ planes in 1996

The United States issued a federal criminal indictment against Raúl Castro, Cuba’s former president, and five others on Wednesday in a significant escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign to oust the country’s six-decades-old communist regime.

The 94-year-old political figurehead was charged in Miami, Florida, with conspiracy to kill US nationals, four counts of murder and two counts of destruction of aircraft.

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Threatened indictment of Raúl Castro ratchets up US pressure on Cuba

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Trump administration move echoes indictment of Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro as fuel crisis racks Cuba

Tensions between Cuba and US seem set to rise further amid reports that
Raúl Castro, the country’s 94-year-old former president, may soon face the type of indictment that led to the US abduction of the Venezuelan leader, Nicolás Maduro, in January.

Although Raúl is officially retired, he remains the most potent figure in Cuban politics following the death of his brother Fidel in 2016, and by targeting him Washington appears to be heaping pressure on Cuba’s communist leadership at the end of an already extraordinarily intense week.

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13 men killed by US military boat strikes identified: ‘These were flesh-and-blood people’

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All victims of US strikes in eastern Pacific and the Caribbean identified so far came from extremely poor communities

A five-month investigation has named 13 previously unidentified victims of US attacks on boats allegedly carrying narcotics in a campaign that has killed nearly 200 people in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific.

It is unclear if the US has ever identified any of its 194 victims before attacking them, and the names of just three had previously emerged, after their families launched legal cases against the White House.

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CIA director has met officials in Havana for talks, Cuba claims

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Visit comes after US-Cuba relations deteriorated significantly, and as the island nation declared it had ‘absolutely no fuel’ because of US blockade

CIA director John Ratcliffe met Cuban officials in Havana on Thursday as a way to improve dialogue between the US and the communist-run island, the Cuban government said.

The meeting took place “in a context marked by the complexity of bilateral relations, with the aim of contributing to the political dialogue between both nations”, a statement said.

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Bahamas re-elects Progressive Liberal party’s Philip Davis as prime minister

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Davis is the country’s first leader to serve a second consecutive term in nearly 30 years

The Bahamas prime minister, Philip Davis, and his ruling Progressive Liberal party (PLP) have been re-elected, making him the country’s first leader to serve a second consecutive term in nearly 30 years.

“The Bahamian people have spoken, and I receive their verdict with humility and gratitude,” Davis told Reuters. “This victory is a mandate to keep moving the Bahamas forward, to expand opportunity, strengthen security, ease the pressure on families, and deliver progress across our islands.”

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Four south Florida men convicted in Haitian president’s assassination

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Men were convicted in Miami federal court for plotting to kill Jovenel Moïse at his Port-au-Prince home in 2021

Four south Florida men were convicted on Friday of plotting to kill the Haitian president, Jovenel Moïse, in 2021 by hiring mercenaries to assassinate him at his Port-au-Prince home, court records show.

Prosecutors argued during the nine-week trial in a Miami federal court that the men assembled two dozen former Colombian soldiers and supplied them with money, guns, ammunition and tactical vests in a conspiracy to kill Moïse. The 53-year-old president was shot dead in July 2021 at his private residence in the hills above Port-au-Prince, a killing that left a gaping political vacuum in the Caribbean nation and emboldened powerful gangs.

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Cuba says Trump’s fresh sanctions on its economy amount to ‘collective punishment’

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The US sanctions target people operating in broad sections of Cuban economy, including energy, defence and mining

Cuba’s government has said new sanctions imposed on the island by Donald Trump amounted to “collective punishment”, as an enormous 1 May procession outside the American embassy in Havana vowed to “defend the homeland”.

In an executive order on Friday, the US president said he would impose sanctions on people involved in broad sections of the Cuban economy, as he seeks to put more pressure on Havana after ousting Venezuela’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, earlier this year.

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Bahamas police release Michigan man questioned after wife disappeared from their boat

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Brian Hooker told police that Lynette Hooker fell overboard and that strong currents carried her away

Police in the Bahamas have released without charges a Michigan man who said his wife disappeared after falling overboard from a small boat in waters off the Caribbean island country, authorities said on Monday.

Brian Hooker, of Onsted in southern Michigan, had been in police custody since 8 April – five days – after being questioned by authorities.

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Bahamas police again question US man over disappearance of wife at sea

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Brian Hooker says wife Lynette fell overboard from dinghy but family members have cast doubt on that account

Police in the Bahamas on Monday were set to again interview a US man who said his wife fell overboard from their boat.

In a statement on Sunday to the Guardian, Brian Hooker’s attorney, Terrel Butler, said: “The police have requested another interview with [Brian Hooker] tomorrow.”

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At least 30 killed in crush at historic fortress in Haiti

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Officials said many killed at popular tourist site were young, with more people reported injured or missing

At least 30 people, many of them young, have died and dozens more are reported to have been injured after a crush at a mountaintop fortress in northern Haiti that is a popular tourist spot.

Jean Henri Petit, the head of civil protection for the country’s Nord department, said the incident took place on Saturday at Citadelle Henry, also known as Citadelle Laferrière, a large 19th-century fortress built shortly after the Caribbean country’s independence from France.

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US man in Bahamian jail after wife disappears into Atlantic waters during boat trip

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Lynette and Brian Hooker, from Michigan, were years into a sailing adventure when Brian said his wife fell overboard

Lynette Hooker bounced around the deck of the docked Soul Mate, smiled into the camera and proclaimed, “We’re finally leaving Kemah,” referring to a Texas port town.

“It’s only been four months,” she said as her husband, Brian, tugged on some rigging as they got ready to set sail.

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