Pulse of the Caribbean

#128 Caribbean News Round Up Episode 4 Week of October 13

• Pulse of the Caribbean

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Here are some of the stories making Caribbean headlines.

  • Puerto Rico responds to U.S. federal shutdown by expanding programs for federal workers
  • Colombia’s president rejects a regional summit in Dominican Republic over exclusions 
  • Guyana’s President addressed Guyana–Venezuela tensions along Guyana’s Cuyuni frontier
  • BVI, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago earn awards from the Pan American Health Organization
  • Hyatt Centric Hotel approved for Grand Cayman’s Seven Mile Beach
  • Barbados named World Travel Awards Caribbean's top wedding destination

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This podcast is brought to you by Diamond Key Marina, Yosvendike, British Virgin Islands, home of Foxy's taboo and gateway to the bubbly pool, a natural jacuzzi and hidden gem. To reserve more in Diamond Key, visit Botiball.com. Welcome to the Pulse of the Caribbean News Roundup Episode 4 for the week of October 13th. Here's a look at what's making Caribbean headlines. We still a report in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico Department of Family and Department of Labor and Human Resources are working to help federal employees on the island with suspension or dismissal notices. To ease the financial burden of job losses, food, child care, and employment programs have been expanded. Trading Economics estimates 21,900 U.S. federal government workers in Puerto Rico. According to Susan Freud Fuertez, the Family Department's Socioeconomic Development Administration Secretary, federal employees who have received suspension or dismissal notices can apply for food assistance through the nutritional assistance program. The October 1st, 2025 U.S. federal government shutdown is in its 16 day. September 30th saw U.S. President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans and Democrats failed to agree on health care policy reforms and funding measures. Now on to the Dominican Republic. On Wednesday, Colombian President Gustavo Petro said he would not attend the December summit of the Americas in the Dominican Republic. The exclusion of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela and U.S. military and Caribbean waterways prompted the decision. Petro posted on X, I will not attend the summit of the Americas in the Dominican Republic. Dialogue begins without exclusion. The Colombian president also stated he had suggested a community of Latin America and Caribbean states, CLAC U.S. Summit, to discuss economic union of the Americas, but Washington has not responded. Our next stop is Guyana. On Wednesday, Guyana's commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, President Dr. Iphram Ali, strongly condemned Venezuela's attack on soldiers and residents in the Coyuni region of Guyana. Speaking at the commissioning parade for the Standard Officer Corps 56, President Ali said, We condemn the attacks against our citizens and our military using the Cayuni. We will not tolerate it. Venezuela-Guyana tensions intensified following 2025 Coyuni attacks. Venezuelan-based armed men fired upon Guyanese military patrols and personnel and election officials. Armed Venezuelan attacks at Guyana Defense Force Patrol boat on the Cayuni River in February, injuring six soldiers. Venezuelan armed men also attacked Guyana Defense Force Patrols three times in May. No Guyanese were hurt. Following in August, Venezuelans fired upon Guyanese Joint Services Patrol, carrying election officials and vote boxes across the upper Cayuni River. President Ali said Guyana welcomes thousands of Venezuelan refugees, just as our citizens would have moved in our dark days of dictatorship. He said the Guyana Defense Force will defend Guyana's sovereignty and serve its people. He said while we defend our territory and uphold the rule of law at home, we also champion these principles in the wider region, advocating for a Caribbean and Latin America free from threats of any kind. The president said they support all efforts to fight transnational crime, the drug trade, and regional destabilization. The Guyanese president said by developing our capabilities at home, Guyana can safeguard its sovereignty and meaningfully contribute to a stable and peaceful Caribbean and Latin America. Now on to the Pan American Health Organization. The British Virgin Islands, Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago were honored for outstanding surveillance and immunization coverage at the 39th meeting of the Caribbean Immunization Managers organized by the Pan American Health Organization in Trinidad and Tobago last week. Grenada won Best Surveillance, followed by Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados. The British Virgin Islands won the Henry Smith Immunization Award for their high coverage. Trinidad and Tobago won the Barrel Irons Immunization Award for immunization efforts. Professor Peter Figueroa, Chair of the Meeting and Caribbean Immunization Technical Advisory Group, praised the managers but warned the Caribbean to maintain vaccination gains due to the resurgence of measle cases with multiple measle outbreaks in the Americas. Over 11,000 cases and 25 deaths have been reported, with 19 of them in indigenous people, showing that they're more at risk. He warned about vaccine-deprived polio virus in Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean, and Europe. He said, We must not relax. We must maintain our achievements. Assistant director of the Pan American Health Organization, Dr. Ronda Seeley Thomas also praised the managers for their hard work, praising Belize for managing measle cases, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines for vaccine introductions, and Dominica and Trinidad and Tobago for EPI self-assessments. Next up, former Treasure Island Margarita Vale Resort owners approved for new$120 million project on Grand Cayman after this. Email Biz BIZ at pulsofthecaribbean.com. Get your ads in front of our ever-expanding Caribbean and diaspora community. Contact us at BizBIZ at pulsofthecaribbean.com. Engage in networking and advertising with Pulse of the Caribbean. This is the Pulse of the Caribbean News Roundup Episode 4 for the week of October 13th. Former Treasure Island and Margarita Ville Resort owners on the Caymans have been approved to bill another 10-story hotel on Grand Cayman's 7 Mile Beach. The Cayman Island Central Planning Authority approved revised plans for the$120 million project last month, allowing a four-star Hyatt centric hotel with 316 beds, a rooftop restaurant, a ground floor bar restaurant, pickle courts, three pools, and a pool bar. The old resort buildings, which were recently converted into condo residencies, are set to be demolished so work can begin on the new project, which has raised concerns due to its size. The owners began selling resident units in the hotel project this summer, but size concerns forced the plans to be changed before the Central Planning Authority approved it. The original proposal of 352 bedrooms was reduced to 316. And here's our final note. The World Travel Awards Caribbean and North American Gala ceremony at Sandals Grand in St. Lucia on October 4th validated the award. The yearly event honored travel and tourism achievement that brought tourism regional leaders and competitors together. The Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. said the win showed the island's commitment to a world-class wedding sector. This podcast is brought to you by Diamond Key Marina, Yosmondike, British Virgin Islands, home of Foxy's taboo and gateway to the bubbly pool, a natural jacuzzi and hidden gem. To reserve moorings at Diamond Key, visit Botiball.com. Have news and information you'd like to share with us, send news releases to news at pulsofhecaribbean.com. This has been your Pulse of the Caribbean News Roundup, episode four for the week of October 13th. Here's a special greeting going out to our listeners in Puerto Rico, Alabama, New Hampshire, and Canada. Thanks for listening. And do spread the word and share our podcast with others across the region and diaspora. Be sure to like and follow us on Facebook. I'm Keisha Blyden. See you next time.

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For more Caribbean news stories and information, visit us online at pulsofthecaribbean.com. If you found value in this podcast, be sure to like and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts. And thank you in advance for choosing Pulse of the Caribbean Caribbean News Roundup as your source for Caribbean centered news.