We need no hostility towards America to insist on self-respect. We need no romance about Havana to remember the humanity of Cubans. And we need no permission from either capital to think. Andrew, Kamla and every other custodian of Caribbean office should remember the distinction: you represent a people; you do not possess them. Keep the international friendships. Make the diplomatic journeys. Bring home an argument that can stand without the photograph. But leave our right

Why was there no trial run of direct deposits, a solution floated during negotiations in July, October, and December 2025? While Cuba reportedly left some of those overtures unanswered, one must ask: where was the legislative tweak or the updated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to bridge the gap? Jamaica has the capacity to make such arrangements work for essential services. Instead, the government chose to wash its hands of the matter, leaving 277 specialists high and dry

Over the years I have been a direct beneficiary of Cuban medical assistance. Members of my own church family, as well as countless residents of Port Antonio and the wider parish of Portland, have received care from Cuban physicians and nurses whose dedication and conspicuous competence earned the deep respect of our community. To speak plainly: their presence mattered. They strengthened our hospitals, steadied our clinics, and brought reassurance to families facing illness

Judas used a kiss. Jamaica uses deportation. For 30 pieces of silver — filthy lucre in our time — we have betrayed Haitians seeking refuge, dignity, and kinship among us. We bave uncharacteristically turned them back into the hands of their tormentors, without hearing, without compassion, without even a pause to remember who we once were. This is not poetry. This is refoulement — the forced return of asylum seekers to danger without due process. It violates the 1951 Refuge