By Tom Clifford US threats of intervention and military action, are not unusual; they are the norm. From the end of WW1 in 1918 to 2002 there have been 248 armed conflicts across 153 regions, the United States was involved in 201. The Monroe Doctrine in 1823 declared US dominance over the Western Hemisphere. It was aimed at rapacious European colonial powers but it set the path for aggressive expansionism in the guise of liberty. American interference in Latin American affairs was viewed as natural. It set the way for the Spanish-American War in 1898, which handed the US control…
Author: The Publisher
By StMaartenNews.com Editorial Staff Based on reporting by Tom Clifford PHILIPSBURG — The Caribbean region is once again at the center of global attention as the United States confirms it has authorized covert operations inside Venezuela and deployed B-52 Stratofortress bombers over the Caribbean Sea, raising fears of renewed U.S. military intervention in Latin America. The development follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s confirmation that he approved CIA involvement in Venezuela, a move that has drawn sharp condemnation from Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and sparked concern among regional governments about possible military escalation. B-52s Conduct Strategic Flights Near Venezuelan Airspace According…
THE HAGUE — Kroniek van een Gebroken Belofte (Chronicle of a Broken Promise) is a collection of observations about the situation on the BES-islands (Bonaire, Statia and Saba) since they became a Dutch public entity on October 10, 2010. While there has been progress in the fields of, for instance, education and healthcare, the level of public services on the islands is still far behind the level citizens in European Netherlands enjoy. Poverty remains a major headache and the cost of living, the lack of affordable housing, the lack of a proper system of public transport and skyrocketing prices for…
PHILIPSBURG — Kathron Fortune has appealed the 30-year prison sentence the Assize Court in Basse Terre (Guadeloupe) handed down recently for the torture and killing of Angelique Chauviré in 2006 on the French side of the island. Fortune, nicknamed Cuchi, has a long list of horrible crimes to his name; this inspired Maitre Karine Linon, the attorney representing the family of one of Fortune’s victims, to describe him as a serial killer. The now 47-year old convict was already sentenced to life with a 22-year minimum sentence on September 25 for the killing of Jomo Maynard and Gilbert Hyman in…
By Hilbert Haar Fifteen years and counting … that is the story of a proper dispute regulation and the end is nowhere in sight. Never mind that the Kingdom Charter ordered the establishment of such legislation. It matters to the Caribbean autonomous countries St. Maarten, Curacao and Aruba, but, based on results, it does not matter at all to the Dutch government. The Caribbean kingdom-countries desperately want that dispute regulation because it would limit the authority of the kingdom government, assuming of course that the legislation would make this possible. What is it that the countries want? An independent institution…
PHILIPSBURG — President of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams is not pleased with the decision by the Dutch government to dismiss a draft kingdom law Dispute Regulation as submitted by the Prime Minister of Aruba. Instead, the Dutch insist on reviving an earlier proposal of its own that was at the time withdrawn under pressure of Curacao, Aruba and St. Maarten. “The draft law, submitted by the prime minister of Aruba was the result of consultations between the parliaments of Curacao, Aruba and St. Maarten,” Wescot-Williams wrote to Prime Minister Luc Mercelina. She described the reaction from the Dutch government as “a…
PHILIPSBURG — Since 2010, the Kingdom Charter contains an article that orders the establishment of a dispute regulation but fifteen years later that piece of legislation is still a pipedream because the Caribbean countries and the Kingdom government are unable to reach an agreement about it. The Kingdom Council of State issued an unsolicited advice about this issue and the outgoing government of Prime Minister Dick Schoof has now clarified its opinion about it in a so-called position paper. This reaction will not be welcomed in Philipsburg, Willemstad and Oranjestad because the Dutch government has dismissed the advice from the…
The letter from MP Ludmilla De Weever is not mere rhetoric or political posturing — it is a clear ultimatum. It forces the government’s hand. It demands accountability. It underscores that what is at stake is nothing less than our island’s telecom sovereignty, service reliability, and fiscal integrity. If Finance Minister Marinka Gumbs and her colleagues respond with ambiguity or delay, they risk being remembered as the government that let TELEM die on their watch. Political Accountability: On Notice By publishing her letter, De Weever has placed the government firmly on notice. Vague promises, foot-dragging, or pro forma responses will…
PHILIPSBURG — The letter sent by Member of Parliament Ludmilla De Weever to the Minister of Finance is more than a request for clarification. It is a public indictment of government inconsistency, and a challenge to political will. De Weever’s question cuts to the core: if government could bail out a private company like ENNIA under opaque terms that tie the country into decades of obligations, why is TelEm, our own national telecom provider, left to wither? This is not an abstract debate. TelEm is not just another struggling company. It is part of St. Maarten’s backbone infrastructure. Its collapse…
PHILIPSBURG — Member of Parliament Ludmilla De Weever is escalating pressure on the Government of St. Maarten to formally reveal its intentions regarding financial support for the national telecom operator TELEM. In a letter addressed to Minister of Finance Marinka Gumbs, De Weever demands clarity, accountability, and transparency on a government guarantee of XCg 5 million reportedly needed to stabilize TELEM’s operations. According to the text of the letter obtained by this newsroom, De Weever raises tough questions about whether government will inject funds, the precise structure and oversight of any support, and the risks of non-action. “The people of…
