Caribbean Briefing: Gunmen Shoot Up a Suriname Union Building on the Eve of Its Election
CARIBBEAN & THE GUYANAS · WEEKEND BRIEFING
Key Facts
- —Suriname Masked gunmen fired on the headquarters of the power utility’s union hours before its board election.
- —Suriname Nine cooperation agreements and a joint declaration were signed with Venezuela in Paramaribo on Friday.
- —Guyana Siemens Energy met the prime minister on readiness for the 300-megawatt Wales gas plant.
- —Jamaica August arrivals at Montego Bay fell 23.65% year on year, to 166,325 passengers.
- —Trinidad The state of emergency expires in days and no extension had been announced by Friday.
- —The catch Jamaica’s bond buyback drew US$476.6 million against a target of roughly US$2.33 billion.
Three men in a grey Toyota opened fire on the union’s headquarters and wounded one person. In Jamaica, the recovery from Hurricane Melissa is still not visible in the arrivals data.
The most violent thing that happened in the Caribbean this week was aimed at a trade union. Masked gunmen fired on the headquarters of Suriname’s power-utility workers hours before its leadership election.
The rest of the Caribbean week was economic. Guyana moved closer to first power from gas and Jamaica’s arrivals kept falling.
Trinidad’s state of emergency ran towards expiry without a decision. It is the third such deadline this year.
Suriname: Shots Before a Union Vote
The building belongs to OWOS, the workers’ organisation at Energie Bedrijven Suriname, the national power utility. It stands on the Drambrandersgracht in Paramaribo.
Three masked men in a grey Toyota Ractis opened fire during the night of Thursday into Friday. The number plate is unknown.
One person was wounded, with a gunshot injury, two broken ribs and a fractured collarbone. He was admitted for observation.
Board elections were scheduled for Friday. The union’s chairman, Marciano Hellings, was standing for re-election against a rival slate and called the shooting intimidation.
Police had not established a motive. Unions at the port authority, the state oil company and the airport authority issued a joint statement condemning the violence.
Suriname and Venezuela Sign Ten Documents
On the same Friday, Suriname signed ten documents with Venezuela at the presidential palace in Paramaribo. Nine are cooperation agreements and one is a joint declaration.
The sectors covered are fisheries, agrifood, aviation, tourism, oil and gas, higher education, training, academic cooperation and diplomacy. It is the deepest Caribbean bilateral package Caracas has signed this year.
President Jennifer Simons signed for Suriname. She raised an unresolved matter during the meeting.
That is a third-party seizure on Venezuelan state oil assets in Suriname, tied to the Petrocaribe compensation mechanism. She noted that proceedings continue and no final ruling exists.
Guyana: Three Months From First Fire
Siemens Energy met Prime Minister Mark Phillips on Friday. The subject was operational readiness for the Wales power plant, not a new contract.
The plant is a 300-megawatt combined-cycle station, the power half of the gas-to-energy project. Siemens Energy is the selected operations and maintenance contractor.
Its terms are a five-year operating period with a renewal option, alongside a twenty-year maintenance programme for the turbines. The meeting covered staffing, training, logistics and technical prerequisites.
About 57 megawatts from the first gas turbine is targeted by the end of 2026. The public utilities minister has said first fire is expected around 4 December.
No other Caribbean state is bringing this much new thermal capacity online at once. Guyana’s grid is small and its oil revenue is not.
Demerara Waves puts the project cost at US$759 million. No value has been disclosed for the Siemens contract itself.
Jamaica: The Numbers Have Not Turned
International arrivals at Sangster International in Montego Bay fell 23.65% in August. That is 166,325 passengers against 217,849 a year earlier.
Year-to-date commercial traffic at the airport is 2.62 million passengers, down 25.7%. This is one airport’s traffic, not the national visitor count.
The American market fell 28.73% and Canada 22.57%. The United Kingdom rose 12.12% and Latin America 19.8%.
The Fort Lauderdale route collapsed 60.54% while Atlanta grew 8.79%. The airport’s commercial director said traffic depends on the reopening of closed hotels.
A significant number of rooms across the western tourism belt remain out of service after Hurricane Melissa. Recovery in the Caribbean’s largest English-speaking tourism market is not yet visible in the data.
Jamaica: A Buyback That Mostly Was Not Taken
Investors offered back US$476.6 million of roughly US$2.33 billion targeted. That is about a fifth.
The 2028 notes drew US$343.2 million and the 2039 notes US$131.3 million. The 2036 notes, which pay the highest coupon, drew only US$2.15 million.
The offer closed on Wednesday and settles on 17 September. Citigroup and Scotia Capital were dealer managers.
Jamaica plans to fund the buyback partly from a new note issue announced on 2 September. The rate on that new bond has not been published, so whether the exercise saves money cannot yet be judged.
Trinidad and Tobago: Days to Decide
The state of emergency was five days from expiry on Friday with no extension announced. The relevant minister said the security threat still exists.
The government will instead return zones of special operations legislation to Parliament. That is the post-emergency plan.
Separately, 563 people detained under the emergency are to be released in batches over six days. No reparations committee announcement could be verified in any Trinidadian outlet this week.
Cuba and the Wider Caribbean
Cuba’s backlash over solar panels happened online rather than in the street. New rules require prior approval from physical planning offices before private panels can be installed.
An architectural project must assess a building’s load capacity and the best placement. Buildings with several families need residents’ consent, and the authorisation fee is 68 Cuban pesos against project costs many times higher.
The complaints arrived as comments on official Facebook posts, including the science minister’s. No street protest was reported.
In the Bahamas, reported domestic violence is up more than 125% and armed robberies 25%, against an overall decline in crime. Barbados says it will patent discoveries about sargassum-digesting microbes to keep the commercial value at home.
The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank revised its outlook for St Kitts and Nevis downward amid fiscal pressure. Puerto Rico recorded fifteen load-shedding events in two months, matching the whole of the previous summer.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is OWOS?
It is the workers’ organisation at Energie Bedrijven Suriname, the country’s national electricity utility. Its headquarters in Paramaribo was fired on before a board election.
What is Guyana’s gas-to-energy project?
A scheme to pipe associated gas from offshore oil fields ashore and burn it for power at Wales, on the west bank of the Demerara. The plant is rated at 300 megawatts.
Why are Jamaica’s arrivals falling?
Because hotel rooms in the western tourism belt remain closed after Hurricane Melissa. Airlines have cut capacity accordingly, with the Fort Lauderdale route down more than 60%.
What happens when Trinidad’s state of emergency ends?
The government plans to bring back zones of special operations legislation, and 563 people detained under the emergency are to be released in batches.
Sources: Starnieuws, Department of Public Information Guyana, Guyana Chronicle, Demerara Waves, Jamaica Gleaner, Trinidad Guardian, 14ymedio, Tribune242, Barbados Today, WINN FM, El Nuevo Día.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
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