Tillerson’s Jamaica visit will divide CARICOM, Unless… Ambassador Curtis A. Ward While Secretary Rex Tillerson’s scheduled visit to Jamaica has been received with some level of scepticism, any visit by a U.S. Secretary of State to Jamaica should be welcome news. Ordinarily, such visits are expressions of good working relationships, and often used to strengthen ties even further. On the other hand, there are also visits by U.S. Secretaries of State which are triggered by disagreements on...
Conversation with Earl Jarrett – CEO of JN Group and Chair of Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference 2017 Ambassador Curtis A. Ward, Host – CaribNation TV (20 Sept. 2017) — In a wide-ranging conversation on the role and importance of the Jamaican Diaspora to Jamaica, Mr. Earl Jarrett, CEO of JN Group, who was chairman of the Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference 2017, provided an approach which should find resonance with members of the Diaspora; and which offers specific ideas for the way...
P.J. Patterson, In His Own Words – Interview with CaribNation TV I sat down as CaribNation TV Host with the Most Honorable P. J. Patterson, former Prime Minister of Jamaica at his New Kingston Office in Jamaica in July 2017 for a conversation which covered a broad range of issues. This conversation with the former Jamaican Prime Minister occured while the Jamaica 55 Diaspora Conference 2017 was underway at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston, attended by over a thousand Jamaicans...
Implementing the U.S.-Caribbean Strategic Engagement Act Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (21 July 2017) — As pointed out by Representative Eliot L. Engel (D-NY), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, in his opening remarks at the Committee’s hearing on implementation of the U.S.-Caribbean Strategic Engagement Act of 2016 – Public Law No: 114-291 (the Act) on July 19, 2017, having received the U.S. Strategy for Engagement in the Caribbean (the Strategy) report submitted...
Caribbean Response to COVID-19 Conversation Hosted by Ambassador Curtis Ward for CaribNation TV and The Ward Post Special Guests: Dr. Joy St. John, Executive Director, Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA); Dr. Douglas Slater, CARICOM Assistant Secretary General – Human and Social Development; Professor Dr. Clive Landis, Chairman, University of the West Indies COVID-19 Task Force This discussion explores the many important ways Caribbean regional institutions are...
Caribbean Diaspora aroused demonstrating discontent Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (04 December 2019) — Discontent within Caribbean diaspora communities is growing in intensity. To most governments in the region, peaceful demonstrations on the streets far removed from the homeland are viewed as non-threatening and inconsequential, thus easily ignored and dismissed. But they should take heed! What they see is only the tip of the iceberg. Traditionally, diaspora’s passionate patriotism has...
Collateral Damage from Trump’s Actions Destabilize Caribbean Countries Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (13 May 2018) –In just under 16 months of President Donald Trump’s administration, actions taken by the American president are sending shock waves across the Caribbean and the world. Unintended consequences – collateral damage – from U.S. actions threaten to destabilize the fragile economies and security of Caribbean countries. The Trump storm is creating new dynamics in geopolitical...
Tillerson’s Jamaica visit will divide CARICOM, Unless… Ambassador Curtis A. Ward While Secretary Rex Tillerson’s scheduled visit to Jamaica has been received with some level of scepticism, any visit by a U.S. Secretary of State to Jamaica should be welcome news. Ordinarily, such visits are expressions of good working relationships, and often used to strengthen ties even further. On the other hand, there are also visits by U.S. Secretaries of State which are triggered by disagreements on...
Carnage in the streets and the government’s response Ambassador Curtis A Ward (05 July 2024) — It’s hard for me or any well-thinking Jamaican to believe the Minister of National Security or the Commissioner of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) that crime is under control, or that there is a reduction in crime. The often-repeated positive statements which border on self-praise about progress in dealing with crime belie the facts about the intractable crime problem facing the...
We are not at war, but we are not safe Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (10 March 2022) –– Speaking as a Jamaican, we are not at war with any country, and we don’t expect to be. We are at war with ourselves. This reality is lived my many Jamaicans in their daily experiences. The high levels of crime, particularly homicide, and the wanton use of guns, put every Jamaican at risk. Some, because of the neighborhoods they live in are most vulnerable and are at greatest risk. They do not have...
Trump’s security assistance cuts and Pompeo’s Jamaica promises diverge Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (25 February 2020) — On the 10th anniversary of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), former president Barack Obama’s signature security assistance partnership with the Caribbean, president Donald Trump’s Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) budget cut proposal undermines the bold promises made by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his recent visit to Jamaica. Even as Pompeo was in...
Words of War could be deadly in 2026 Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (08 January 2026)–The recent exchange of harsh words and threats of violence between President Donald Trump and Iran government officials represents a mere smidgen of the hate that exists between the Trump administration and the Iran government. Netanyahu’s recent visit to Mar-a-Lago not only stoked the fire of war, but, as intended, added fuel to an already cauldron of hatred and mistrust. President Trump does not need much...
U.S. Military strike IS in Nigeria—Expanding war on terrorism in West Africa Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (04 January 2026)–The military strike on an Islamic State (IS or ISIS) affiliate in northern Nigeria is consistent with past U.S. actions against IS and combatting international terrorism. The timing is not relevant. And it should not be conflated with attacks on narco-traffickers in the Caribbean. There’s no similarity or parallel. One important distinction is that IS is...
CARICOM at the Crossroads of Pressure Sir Ronald Sanders (04 January 2026) —As 2025 draws to a close, the Caribbean Community stands at a moment that calls for less rhetoric and more realism. CARICOM is experiencing a period in which external pressure is intensifying, new norms are hardening among powerful states, and the need for small states to navigate emerging demands is growing. The central challenge before CARICOM is not disagreement between governments. Diversity of view is...
Gravitas or Dissolution: How Caribbean Civilization Is Saved by Builders, Not Talkers Gabriel J. Christian, Esq. (03 January 2026) — Small island Caribbean societies stand at a decisive civilizational moment. We possess sovereignty, cultural depth, and an accomplished global diaspora, yet we remain endangered by institutional decay, moral unseriousness, and a political culture too often dominated by spectacle rather than stewardship. The central question before us is no longer whether...
Evolution in European Geopolitical and International Security Leadership Ambassador Curtis A. Ward (02 January 2026) — The internal dynamics aside, the European Union + the United Kingdom (EU+UK) are evolving as a major participant in global leadership—as a collective rather than as a unipolar focused power structure. The United States which sat on the pinnacle of global leadership, particularly since the end of the Cold War in 1991, has ceded leadership under the Trump...
An Open Letter to the People of the Commonwealth of Dominica Gabriel J. Christian, Esq. (01 January 2026) — Fellow Dominicans, at Home and in the Diaspora, Friends of Dominica, and All Who Cherish Justice, Law, and National Dignity: We write at a moment of profound national consequence and with heavy but resolute hearts. This letter is not motivated by partisanship, personal ambition, or political reprisal. It is motivated by duty—the duty every honest and patriotic citizen owes first...
