Barbados: 20 straight quarters of growth. $3bn in reserves β 25.5 weeks import cover vs a 12-week benchmark. Inflation at 1.1%. Through hurricanes, a pandemic and global trade chaos.
β https://t.co/noVa9k93fh | π¬ https://t.co/XqimBHXjvy
Speed raced Chloe Bailey at St Lucia's Sulphur Springs. Won. Then flew to St Vincent on an Expedia Gulfstream β the first branded travel partnership of his career. 150M followers. The Caribbean is the destination.
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IShowSpeed: T&T β Grenada β Barbados. Scuba diving, Jab Jab, a school visit and a fan gave him a rock. Barbados is a rock. 12 islands still to go.
β https://t.co/vN0I2Sxzrt | π¬ https://t.co/XqimBHXjvy
Guyana waived $525M in ExxonMobil taxes in 2025 β then borrowed money for its own development. The 2016 contract requires Guyana to pay Exxon's tax bill out of its own oil share.
β https://t.co/gFde5llWn0 | π¬ https://t.co/XqimBHXjvy
Jamaica: 1 of 5 countries in the Americas still criminalising same-sex relationships β all CARICOM members. The IACHR ordered repeal in 2020. Five years on: nothing.
Sovereignty vs reform, examined β https://t.co/CksbJ82FWK | π¬ https://t.co/XqimBHXjvy
IShowSpeed brought Port of Spain to a standstill yesterday. 150 million followers watching live as Trinidad showed out β tassa, stickfighting, Peter Minshall, cricket, KFC.
"Hell yeah" he's coming back for Carnival.
β https://t.co/RnF5IQktp9 | π¬ https://t.co/XqimBHXjvy
US flags "crimes targeting tourists" in Barbados β but keeps it at Level 1, the safest rating possible.
729K visitors in 2025. US now the #1 source market. More visitors = more advisory language.
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Lisa Hanna left Parliament. Launched a luxury skincare brand. Now stocked at Equinox Hotels in New York.
"It's not youth to recapture. It's the courage to let your story show β scars and all."
Jamaica to the world. Again.
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Digicel founder Denis O'Brien lost his Caribbean telecoms empire to bondholders in 2024. He kept warrants to buy back in if the value recovered.
It has. He's on track to double his stake and make $290m on a $110m investment.
β https://t.co/dMbZy5xgtl | π¬ https://t.co/XqimBHXjvy
Flying CAL? A US$15β$25 fuel surcharge now applies per sector on new bookings.
Jet fuel nearly doubled in 5 weeks. A war thousands of miles away just made your Caribbean flight more expensive.
β https://t.co/pTmHHJATD9 | π¬ https://t.co/XqimBHXjvy
Antigua and Barbuda heads to the polls April 30. Browne wants a clean sweep of all 17 seats and is promising a public holiday if he gets it.
He won 9 of 17 last time.
β https://t.co/0mRtWM8qES | π¬ https://t.co/XqimBHXjvy
Jamaica: six months after the worst hurricane in its history, airports back open, tourists returning, schools still rebuilding β and carnival this weekend.
Resilience isn't a hashtag. It's a decision.
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20-knot trade winds, 5 hours of racing, 15+ nations competing out of Nelson's Dockyard.
The inaugural Antigua Racing Cup delivered on day one. Racing runs through Sunday.
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Dominican Republic: 1,200 travel pros in Miami, 1,800 business meetings, $15B tourism economy, Four Seasons + W Hotels + St. Regis all building.
Whatever you think of the numbers β the strategy is working.
β https://t.co/DymqA2UGui | π¬ https://t.co/XqimBHXjvy
Cayman Islands just tightened visa rules for nationals of Venezuela, Peru, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
If you transit through Grand Cayman on one of these passports, you now need documentation you may not have. β https://t.co/1xNfIi9Q4l | π¬ https://t.co/XqimBHXjvy
Oil chemistry detected in Jamaica's offshore waters. Up to 7 billion barrels of prospective resources. No well drilled yet. US$60β70m needed to get there.
Real progress. Real distance still to go.
β https://t.co/Ceekclrbtm | π¬ https://t.co/XqimBHXjvy
T&T: World Bank forecasts 3.2% growth in 2027. Good news β if new gas projects arrive on schedule.
Guyana the same year: 23.5%.
The Caribbean's economic gravity is shifting.
β https://t.co/2Cjtgp6wad | π¬ https://t.co/XqimBHXjvy
Barbados' "record low" 42% turnout is calculated against a voter roll nearly as large as the entire population.
A leading pollster says the real figure is likely closer to 50%. The roll itself may be the story.
β https://t.co/B4zXpBxN2B | π¬ https://t.co/XqimBHXjvy
CAL lost US$255m on Air Jamaica over 14 years. Jamaica contributed nothing. T&T taxpayers footed the bill. No audited accounts in 8 years.
Now CAL wants a $1 billion bailout.
Some deals only work for one side.
β https://t.co/gWAJiAkIEg
| π¬ https://t.co/XqimBHXjvy
But:
π¨π¦ Canadian visitors: -5.3%
πͺπΊ European visitors: -3.3%
π¨ Hotel occupancy: down
πΊπΈ US tourists: nearly half of all arrivals
The headline number is real. The dependence risk is too.
β https://t.co/udOuJjZZjN