PHILIPSBURG:--- Antonio Carmona Báez and Tadzio Bervoets received the President's Award at the 23^rd edition of the St. Martin Book Fair on June 6, 2026.

The presentation of the President's Award was the final highlight of the two-day literary festival, according to Book Fair Committee member Cindy Peters.

Antonio Carmona Báez, president of the University of St. Martin (USM), was present to accept his award at the USM campus, where the fair’s annual Main Book Launch and Closing Ceremony were held. Tadzio Bervoets, who earlier conducted the environmental workshop, “Protecting and Preserving St. Martin’s Beauty. Soualigans, We Need You,” was unable to attend the ceremony because of a family commitment, Peters said.

“The President's Award is presented to individuals and institutions whose work is noted for its excellence and for combining literary, cultural, and liberation components in the service of progress, for their people or nation and for humanity,” according to House of Nehesi Publishers (HNP), a co-founding organization of the St. Martin Book Fair.

Carmona Báez has taught general social sciences and political science at the University of Puerto Rico and political science at the University of Amsterdam, where he earned a PhD in International Relations.

He is the author of State Resistance to Globalization in Cuba and numerous articles, chapters, and scholarly contributions on political economy, social policy, Caribbean labor, and decolonial thought.

Carmona Báez has served as a political analyst and consultant for Latin American embassies in The Hague and has led training workshops for African and Middle Eastern diplomats at the Clingendael Netherlands Institute of International Relations. He also worked with the Non-Aligned Movement Chemical Weapons Convention States Parties and China in The Hague. Along with Melissa F. Weiner, he co-edited Smash the Pillars: Decoloniality and the Imaginary of Color in the Dutch Kingdom.

Tadzio Yuko Bervoets is a St. Martin writer and leading environmentalist who holds a master’s degree in Environmental Resource Management from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

His work spans coral reef conservation, marine park management, and regional environmental leadership, including the establishment of St. Maarten’s Man of War Shoal Marine Protected Area.

Bervoets is a co-founder of the Caribbean Shark Coalition and director of the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund’s BluEFin Project. His writing has appeared in St. Martin and regional news media, the climate justice anthology Writing for Our Lives, and the journal BIM: Arts for the 21^st  Century. His forthcoming book is titled Lamio: Stories and Poems.

Previous recipients of the Presidents Award, described by The Daily Herald as a “prestigious award,” include Edwidge Danticat (USA/Haiti), Computech (St. Martin), Benny Wenda (West Papua), Norman Girvan (Jamaica), George Lamming (Barbados), Quince Duncan (Costa Rica), Nicole Cage (Martinique), Casa de las Américas (Cuba), Kamau Brathwaite (Barbados), Will Johnson (Saba), Dorbrene O’Marde (Antigua), Rhoda Arrindell (St. Martin), and Derek Walcott (St. Lucia).

The President's Award is named in honor of the presidents of the Conscious Lyrics Foundation (CLF), House of Nehesi Publishers, and the University of St. Martin.

The St. Martin Book Fair, held June 5–6, 2026, was organized by CLF and the St. Martin Book Fair Committee in collaboration with USM, Computech, and SOS 95.9 FM.

PHILIPSBURG:--- During discussions at the Interparliamentary Kingdom Consultation (IPKO) on Saturday in The Hague, Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams emphasized the urgent need to make critical national discussions more accessible to the people of Sint Maarten, linking the issue directly to her call for English in official documents and forums.

Following presentations by several distinguished experts on matters of significant importance to the country and the Kingdom, Wescot-Williams raised concerns about the gap between expert analysis and public understanding of what is at stake.

“Too often, valuable information is shared among politicians, professionals, and policymakers, while the wider population remains disconnected from the conversation,” Wescot-Williams noted. “If we are serious about shaping the future of Sint Maarten, then the people of Sint Maarten must be fully informed participants in that process.”

According to Wescot-Williams, this challenge lies at the heart of the Open Parliament principles she champions, particularly through her participation in regional and international parliamentary forums, including those of ParlAmericas.

Particular attention was given to language as a barrier to public engagement. Wescot-Williams highlighted the importance of translating and adapting key messages into the languages and communication styles most familiar to the people of Sint Maarten, thereby ensuring that discussions about governance, development, sustainability, and constitutional matters are accessible to all.

She also underscored the importance of cooperation among institutions, organizations, and community stakeholders in creating meaningful opportunities for public participation.

Wescot-Williams further encouraged those involved in forums such as IPKO to consider how to communicate the outcomes of these discussions more effectively to citizens, enabling them to engage meaningfully with matters that will impact the country’s future.

While acknowledging the complexity of many of the issues discussed, she expressed confidence that greater public awareness and participation can strengthen democratic decision-making and national development.

“We must remain realistic about the challenges we face, but we must also remain optimistic about our capacity as a people to confront them together,” Wescot-Williams concluded.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The House of Parliament will sit in an urgent Public meeting on June 10, 2026.
The Public meeting, which was adjourned on May 27, 2026, will be reconvened on Wednesday at 10.00 hrs. in the Legislative Hall at Wilhelminastraat #1 in Philipsburg.
The Prime Minister and the Minister of General Affairs will return to Parliament to answer questions posed by Members of Parliament in the first round.
The agenda point is:
Deliberations with the Prime Minister addressing the recent allegations of integrity breaches concerning the Prime Minister’s involvement in the affairs of the Ministry of Public Health, Social Development, and Labor (VSA) (IS/926/2025-2026 dated April 7, 2026)
Members of the public are invited to the House of Parliament to attend parliamentary deliberations. All persons visiting the House of Parliament must adhere to the house rules.
The House of Parliament is located across from the Courthouse in Philipsburg.
The parliamentary sessions will be carried live on TV 15, Soualiga Headlines, via SXM GOV radio FM 107.9, via Pearl Radio FM 98.1, the audio via the internet

St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago:---  The Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) today welcomed a distinguished international delegation to its Headquarters for a strategic courtesy call aimed at deepening agricultural innovation and regional food security.

The high-level delegation included Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim, Director General of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA); Ms. Diana Francis, IICA Representative in Trinidad and Tobago; Mr. Cleber Soares, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock of the Ministry of Agriculture, Brazil; and Ms. Priscila Rech Moser, Agricultural Attaché at the Embassy of Brazil in Costa Rica.

The visiting officials met with CARDI’s leadership team, led by Executive Director Mr Ansari Hosein, along with Mr Fayaz Shah (Manager, Science, Technology and Innovation), Mr Tristan Alvarez (Manager, Planning and Resource Mobilization), and Mr Curtis Nero (Head, Finance Unit). Discussions centered on several ongoing regional projects and future avenues of technical cooperation between the Caribbean, IICA, and Brazil.

A key highlight of the visit was a special exhibition showcasing tangible outputs from the robust CARDI-IICA partnership. On display were high-yield black-eyed peas from recent pilot initiatives, commercial-grade soybeans and black beans produced in Belize, and multiple climate-resilient varieties of sweet potato.

Additionally, the Brazilian Deputy Minister was given a live demonstration of innovative digital tracking technology deployed by CARDI to detect the larvae of the South American Palm Weevil. This technology plays a critical role in mitigating the pest's spread, safeguarding the region's coconut and palm industries.

This courtesy call underscores a shared commitment to deploying cutting-edge agricultural science and cross-border partnerships to build a more sustainable and climate-resilient food system across the Americas and the Caribbean.