Good morning, or good evening, wherever this finds you. This Saturday’s briefing begins in the Eastern Caribbean, where voters in Grenada did something their country has never done before: they gave the National Democratic Congress a second term in a row, and a near-total one at that. Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell’s party won 14 of the 15 seats in Thursday’s election.
At home, there is welcome news on crime. Police Commissioner Kevin Blake says eight police divisions went through October without a single murder, and the national count is running nearly a quarter below last year’s, which was already the lowest in decades.
Jamaica’s political temperature is also being turned down, at least for now. The governing Jamaica Labour Party has cancelled the public spectacle of its annual conference in favor of a delegates-only meeting in Montego Bay, while Government and Opposition representatives have agreed to sit down on Monday after this week’s heated scene in Gordon House.
In Washington, President Donald Trump has replaced his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, with Stephen Miller, the architect of his immigration crackdown, just days after Republicans lost both houses of Congress. The move matters for every Caribbean family with relatives in the United States.
Finally, in South America, Paraguay has lost a president in a single week. The collapse of a fast-growing digital bank froze the savings of millions, and by Friday Santiago Peña had resigned, been impeached and placed under house arrest.
Two of today’s stories, Jamaica’s parliamentary row and the aftermath of the US midterms, follow up on earlier briefings; we focus only on what is new. Here are today’s top five.
1. Grenada Hands Dickon Mitchell a Landslide and a Place in History
What happened
Grenadians went to the polls on Thursday, November 5, and returned Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) with 14 of the 15 seats in the House of Representatives. As the Jamaica Gleaner reported, carrying copy from the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC), it is the first time the NDC has won two consecutive terms since the party was founded in 1987. The opposition New National Party (NNP) was left with a single seat.
The provisional national numbers were just as decisive. According to a tally published by News Americas Now after all 282 polling divisions reported, the NDC took about 61 percent of the popular vote to roughly 37 percent for the NNP, with the newly formed Democratic People’s Movement (DPM) under 2 percent. Turnout was 63.3 percent of the 97,031 registered voters. The Jamaica Observer’s CMC report gave slightly different vote shares, 60.8 percent and 37.1 percent, and both outlets stress that the results remain provisional until the official count by the Parliamentary Elections Office.
The seats that told the story
The most striking result came in St Andrew South East, where Education Minister David Andrew defeated the NNP’s leader, Emmalin Pierre, by 2,011 votes to 1,849, according to the Gleaner’s CMC report. Pierre had hoped to become Grenada’s first woman prime minister; instead she lost the seat she had taken from Andrew in 2022. In the capital, Attorney General Claudette Joseph won the Town of St George’s, beating former foreign minister Peter David, who had held the seat since 2003 and was running this time for the DPM.
The NNP’s lone survivor was Tawfiq Adrian Marlan Joseph in St George North West, the seat that former prime minister Dr. Keith Mitchell held for 42 years until his retirement earlier this year. Even there, the opposition’s hold now rests on a new face.
Speaking to supporters at Pearls Airstrip, the prime minister told the crowd, “This is your victory.” He promised to keep the focus on people over the next five years. Pierre conceded graciously, saying that Grenadians had spoken and that she respected their decision.
Background
Grenada’s elections are rarely gentle. In June 2022, Mitchell, an attorney, led the NDC to a 9-6 win that ended the NNP’s long run in office; the NNP had held all 15 seats going into that vote. News Americas Now notes that the NDC also formed governments after the 1990 and 2008 elections but lost the following vote both times. This week’s result breaks that pattern.
Parliament was dissolved in early October, and the election was set for November 5, according to the Wikipedia entry on the election, which also records the 2022 vote shares of roughly 52 percent for the NDC and 47 percent for the NNP. That swing of about nine points is large by the standards of Caribbean two-party politics.
Regional reaction
Congratulations came quickly from around the region. Guyana’s Kaieteur News reported that President Irfaan Ali described the outcome as a vote of confidence in Mitchell’s leadership, while Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley hailed a “resounding electoral victory” and said she looked forward to continuing a close partnership.
What this could mean (analysis)
Large majorities bring both freedom and risk. With only one opposition member in the House, Mitchell’s government will face little resistance in Parliament, which can speed up reconstruction, investment and reform. But lopsided parliaments can weaken scrutiny, and Grenada itself has seen an NNP government that commanded all 15 seats lose power at the very next election. Civil society, the media and the Senate will carry more of the weight of holding the government to account.
For Jamaicans and the wider diaspora, Grenada’s result fits a broader regional pattern: incumbents who are seen to deliver are being rewarded decisively, and voters are increasingly willing to break with old party loyalties. It also adds another settled government to CARICOM’s table at a time when the region is trying to speak with one voice on climate finance, US trade and visa policy.
What to watch next
Watch for the official count from the Parliamentary Elections Office, the swearing-in of the new Cabinet, and whether the NNP keeps Pierre as leader after she lost her seat. Mitchell’s early priorities, which News Americas Now lists as economic development, infrastructure, health care, education and jobs, will show how he intends to use a mandate this large.
2. Jamaica’s Murder Count Keeps Falling as Eight Divisions Record Zero in October
What happened
Police Commissioner Dr. Kevin Blake says eight of Jamaica’s police divisions recorded no murders at all in October. The Jamaica Gleaner reported on Saturday that the commissioner shared the figure in his weekly column in the Force Orders, the internal publication of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). The eight were Kingston Central, Kingston East, St Andrew Central, St Andrew North, St Thomas, Portland, Trelawny and Manchester.
Blake wrote that he could not remember another month in which so many divisions were murder-free, and that in those communities “no one had to mourn the loss of their loved ones.”
The bigger picture
The October figure sits on top of a sustained national decline. According to the same Gleaner report, Jamaica has recorded 439 murders since January 1, which is 131 fewer, or 23 percent, than at the same point in 2025. The report does not say on exactly which date the count was taken.
That comparison is with a year that was already historic. Jamaica ended 2025 with 673 murders, a 40 percent drop from 2024. In late August, the Gleaner noted that 2025 was the first year in more than three decades with fewer than 700 killings; the last time was 1994, when 690 people were murdered. At that point, the 2026 count stood at 349 murders through August 22, down 20 percent, and shootings were down 24 percent.
Not every area is calm
The commissioner was careful not to declare victory. He singled out St Andrew Central, which he said had recorded only one murder in three months, but he also noted that Manchester, one of October’s zero-murder divisions, has struggled with violent conflicts for much of the year. One quiet month does not erase that.
In August, Blake had warned officers against easing off with four months still left in the year. “We cannot afford to do that,” he wrote then, in a column reported by the Gleaner.
Concerns that remain
Falling murder numbers are not the only measure of public safety, and some communities are asking hard questions about policing itself. The Jamaica Observer reported that St Ann South Eastern MP Dr. Kenneth Russell, in his State of the Constituency address on November 3, raised the April killing of two men, Ramone and Davian Henry, by police in Steerfield. Police say the men opened fire; relatives say they were killed in cold blood. The Independent Commission of Investigations (INDECOM) is probing the case, and Russell said six months had passed without a report. He also praised officers at the Claremont and Moneague stations and argued that security is central to development.
Both things can be true at once: the country can welcome fewer killings while insisting that every police shooting is investigated quickly and openly.
Why it matters
For the Jamaican diaspora, crime has long shaped decisions about visiting, investing, retiring home or sending children to school on the island. A second straight year of steep declines, if it holds, chips away at one of Jamaica’s most stubborn reputational problems. It also matters for tourism and investment, both still recovering from Hurricane Melissa.
What this could mean (analysis)
The causes of the decline are debated. Supporters of the government point to tougher gun laws, more officers and targeted operations against gangs; others credit community work, violence interruption and economic change, or caution that crime figures can move in cycles. The honest answer is likely a mix. What the numbers do suggest is that the old assumption, that Jamaica’s murder rate was simply fixed, no longer holds.
What to watch next
Watch for the JCF’s official end-of-year figures, whether the holiday season, traditionally a violent period, breaks the trend, and whether INDECOM reports on cases such as Steerfield. Full-year 2026 below 600 murders would be another milestone.
3. Jamaican Politics Turns Down the Volume: JLP Scales Back, House Leaders to Talk
This section follows up on our November 5 briefing, which covered the uproar in Gordon House. Here is what is new.
What happened
The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) will not hold its customary mass rally this year. The Jamaica Gleaner reported that the party’s annual conference will be a private, delegates-only session on Sunday, November 15, at the Montego Bay convention center in St James, with about 6,000 delegates expected. Only Prime Minister Andrew Holness’s address will be public, and it will be broadcast live.
Deputy Leader Desmond McKenzie announced the decision at a press conference on Friday, saying the party’s central executive took account of the fact that parts of the island are still dealing with the effects of Hurricane Melissa a year on. Deputy Chairman Dr. Andrew Wheatley put it simply: “We wanted to forgo the celebratory aspect of our annual conference.”
Changes at the top
The business session will include elections for party leader and deputy leaders. According to the Gleaner, veteran deputy leader J.C. Hutchinson has indicated he will not seek re-election, and St James Central MP Heroy Clarke has been nominated to replace him, a nomination expected to be ratified at the conference.
The Jamaica Observer reported that the party is moving away from its usual spectacle at the National Arena in Kingston and wants to engage stakeholders in western Jamaica, which bore the brunt of the hurricane. Party chairman Robert Montague rejected suggestions that the JLP was copying the People’s National Party, which held the public session of its own conference in Savanna-la-Mar in September. “We have a responsibility to provide mature leadership to the country,” he said. Wheatley also urged delegates to prepare for the next local government elections.
Talks after the ruckus
Meanwhile, the two sides of the House have agreed to talk. The Observer reported that Phillip Paulwell, the Opposition’s leader of business in the House, has accepted a proposal from House Speaker Juliet Holness for a meeting with Government representatives on Monday. The talks follow Tuesday’s confrontation after the sitting, which involved profanity and allegations of misconduct.
Paulwell welcomed the meeting but said he was disappointed by the tone of the Speaker’s letter and accused her of partisanship in her handling of the Opposition’s censure motion, which was cut short by a Government motion. He said the meeting should be “a frank and constructive dialogue among equals,” and suggested it could involve the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader, or an independent mediator.
Calls for tougher rules
Academics are urging Parliament to go further. In a separate Gleaner report, Damion Gordon, a lecturer in the Department of Government at the University of the West Indies, called for stronger penalties for MPs who breach procedure, including financial penalties. “We can think about, perhaps, suspension,” he said, warning that without consequences sittings could slide toward open brawling.
The Gleaner recounted that Manchester North Western MP Mikael Phillips confronted the Speaker after Tuesday’s adjournment, and the exchange escalated with Western Kingston MP Desmond McKenzie. Phillips has apologized, saying McKenzie made remarks about his late mother; McKenzie denies wrongdoing. Government senator Abka Fitz-Henley has blamed Opposition members for starting the uproar. Accounts differ, and both parties are defending their members.
Also tabled in Parliament
Not every parliamentary paper this week was about tempers. The Observer reported that the Office of Utilities Regulation’s annual report, tabled on Tuesday, shows the National Water Commission paid just $23.76 million of $73.78 million in potential compensation for 14,817 breaches of its guaranteed service standards in 2025-26. The regulator said many customers did not submit claim forms and that the utility received relief after Hurricane Melissa. The NWC is now seeking a 51 percent tariff increase.
What this could mean (analysis)
Scaling back a party conference is partly about optics in a hard year, but it also signals that both major parties are reading the public mood: voters still rebuilding homes and farms have little appetite for political carnival or shouting matches. Monday’s meeting is a test of whether Parliament can repair its own norms without outside pressure. If it fails, calls for formal sanctions will grow.
What to watch next
Watch the outcome of Monday’s talks, the Speaker’s next steps on conduct, and the JLP leadership vote and Holness’s speech on November 15. The OUR’s decision on the NWC’s tariff request will also land on household budgets.
4. Stephen Miller Becomes Trump’s Chief of Staff, and What It Means for the Caribbean
This section follows up on our briefings of November 4 and 5 on the US midterm elections.
What happened
Three days after Republicans lost control of both houses of Congress, President Donald Trump has replaced his White House chief of staff. CBS News reported that Susie Wiles submitted her resignation on Thursday night and that, according to three sources, her departure was tied to the party’s midterm defeats. She had planned to stay through the lame-duck session, but the president moved up her exit. Trump named Stephen Miller, his deputy chief of staff for policy, to the post, starting Monday, November 9. “I wanted to make a change,” the president told reporters.
Fox News reported that Wiles served about 21 months, the longest of any Trump chief of staff across both terms, and was the first woman to hold the job. She is moving to the president’s political operation. “Today is my last day as White House Chief of Staff,” she wrote on X.
Two very different reactions
Democrats reacted with alarm. CBS reported that Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Trump could not have made a worse choice, while House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, expected to become Speaker in January, called Miller a dangerous extremist. Rep. Robert Garcia, in line to chair the House Oversight Committee, said Democrats there would investigate Miller.
Trump’s supporters see the appointment differently. Townhall reported that one source close to the White House said Miller’s hiring “probably sends the best possible message to the base,” framing it as the White House turning the page after heavy losses. Former press secretary Karoline Leavitt called Miller the perfect choice.
The economy surprises
The shake-up came on the same day as an unexpectedly strong jobs report. The Associated Press, via the Jamaica Gleaner, reported that US employers added 165,000 jobs in October, far above the 65,000 experts had projected, and unemployment dipped to 4.1 percent. August and September were revised up by a combined 84,000 jobs, and average hourly pay rose 0.4 percent, the biggest monthly gain since January. One strategist called it “a blowout jobs report.”
Immigration at the center
Miller is best known, as CBS put it, as the architect of the administration’s immigration enforcement and deportation program. His promotion comes as Democratic officials, emboldened by the election, begin pulling back from cooperation with federal immigration agents. The AP reported, via the Gleaner, that Houston Mayor John Whitmire signed an order on Friday limiting police contact with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to people arrested on jailable charges or covered by an ICE warrant. The same report noted that Democrat Gina Hinojosa ousted Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Tuesday.
In New York, the Caribbean Media Corporation reported, via the Jamaica Observer, that federal Judge Mae D’Agostino refused a request from more than 15 county sheriffs to block a state law that bars local police from partnership agreements with ICE. Caribbean immigrant advocates welcomed the ruling. Governor Kathy Hochul has defended the law, saying, “People are terrified, and it seems very un-American.”
The Caribbean view
What does all this mean for the region? Antigua and Barbuda’s ambassador to Washington, Ronald Sanders, argued in a Gleaner column that “the administration’s principal foreign-policy priorities are unlikely to change.” In his view, a Democratic Congress can shape policy through funding, legislation and oversight, but the president keeps wide authority over diplomacy, immigration enforcement and trade. He pointed to US tariffs hurting Caribbean competitiveness, broad visa restrictions on some Caribbean nationals, and the need for cooperation on guns, drugs and Haiti.
What this could mean (analysis)
For Jamaican families in the United States, Miller’s promotion is a signal that federal immigration enforcement is likely to remain a top priority, even as some cities and states push back. That could mean more legal clashes between Washington and local governments, and more uncertainty for people with pending cases. On the other hand, a Democratic Congress will hold the purse strings from January and has promised oversight. Readers should expect a contest of powers, not a sudden change of direction.
What to watch next
Watch Miller’s first moves after he starts on Monday, any further White House staff changes, and early signals from incoming Democratic committee chairs. For the Caribbean, watch visa policy, tariffs and any change in deportations to the region.
5. Paraguay’s Bank Collapse Topples a President in Five Days
What happened
In the space of a single week, Paraguay has gone from a bank failure to a change of president. Euronews reported that early on Tuesday, November 3, customers of Ueno Bank, a fast-growing digital lender owned by Grupo Vázquez, found that the bank’s app had stopped showing their balances. The Central Bank of Paraguay announced a takeover and liquidation after the bank’s solvency fell below required levels and it could not meet a legal reserve requirement of $70 million. A central bank board member told customers that “neither the app, nor the cards, nor any service is active from today.”
Ueno had almost three million customers and 75 branches in a country of just over six million people. Euronews said about $850 million in public money was held at the bank, including funds of the Social Security Institute, which supports pensions and health care.
From bank to presidency
On Wednesday, eight senior executives, including chief executive Miguel Vázquez, were arrested. Anger quickly turned toward the government. Opposition lawmakers accused President Santiago Peña of conflicts of interest, poor oversight and the alleged misuse of pension funds placed with the bank.
On Thursday, Peña announced his resignation in a video, citing social peace and “the need to preserve our democratic institutions,” Latin Times reported. Minutes later, the lower house voted 78-0 to send impeachment charges to the Senate anyway. Latin Times reported that critics point to a stake Peña held in a company linked to Ueno until 2025, the placement of public pension and health money in the bank, and the fact that the central bank chief he appointed had previously led Ueno’s predecessor. Those claims have not been tested in court.
Euronews reported on Saturday that Peña was placed under house arrest in Asunción on Friday and was due to be questioned by prosecutors over alleged breach of trust, influence peddling and misappropriation of funds. Peña has not been convicted of anything, and the Senate has yet to decide whether to hold a trial.
A new president
Vice President Pedro Alliana, 52, of the governing Colorado Party, has been sworn in as president. Euronews described him as a former national basketball player, departmental governor and speaker of the Chamber of Deputies who later led the Colorado Party. He has vowed to tackle the crisis before his term ends in August 2028. A separate attempt to impeach Alliana himself was shelved, and Congress must now choose a new vice president.
The human cost
For ordinary Paraguayans, the crisis is about rent, wages and pensions. Crowds gathered outside the bank’s headquarters and branches in Asunción, with signs asking whether anyone would be punished. Paraguay’s deposit guarantee covers balances up to roughly $38,000 per client, which Latin Times says protects about 97 percent of depositors by number, and the first payouts began on Thursday. Larger balances and institutional deposits face a slower, less certain path. Hundreds of Ueno employees also protested over unpaid wages, and an importers’ group warned of a sharp drop in retail sales.
Why it matters for the Caribbean
Paraguay is far from Kingston, but the story should feel familiar. Caribbean savers are moving quickly to app-based banking and digital wallets, and governments across the region regularly place public and pension funds with financial institutions. Paraguay shows how fast trust can evaporate when a popular, fast-growing institution turns out to be fragile, and how quickly a financial failure can become a political one.
What this could mean (analysis)
The central lessons are about supervision and conflicts of interest. A bank that reached a majority of adults in under five years needed regulators willing to slow it down, and public funds need to be placed at arm’s length from political relationships. Deposit insurance did its job for most small savers, which is a reminder of why such schemes matter. But the crisis also shows that institutions can act quickly: Paraguay’s Congress, prosecutors and central bank all moved within days.
What to watch next
Watch the Senate’s decision on Peña’s impeachment trial, the choice of a new vice president, the pace of reimbursements to depositors, and the criminal cases against the bank’s executives. Markets will also watch whether the crisis spreads to other lenders.
Closing Reflection: Faithful in Little Things
This is a personal reflection and opinion, not reporting.
Today’s stories turn on a single word: trust. Grenadians trusted a government enough to give it almost every seat. Communities across Jamaica trusted one another, and the police, enough to get through a month without burying a neighbor. Jamaica’s lawmakers are being asked to rebuild trust after an ugly afternoon in Gordon House. And in Paraguay, millions of people opened an app on Tuesday morning and discovered that the trust they had placed in a bank, and in those meant to watch over it, had been misplaced.
Jesus once told his disciples, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much” (Luke 16:10, KJV). It is a quiet verse, but a searching one. Trust is not usually lost in a single dramatic moment. It is built, or squandered, in small things: a balance sheet honestly kept, a vote fairly counted, a word held back in anger, an investigation finished on time.
That principle does not settle who should govern Grenada or Paraguay, how America should handle immigration, or which party in Jamaica has the better case. People of faith and good will disagree on all of those questions. But it does hold every one of us, leaders and citizens alike, to the same standard of faithfulness in ordinary duties.
This weekend, let us pray for Grenada’s new Parliament, for the families of Paraguay waiting on their savings, for police officers and the communities they serve, for our MPs as they meet on Monday, and for leaders in Washington whose decisions reach into so many Caribbean homes. And let us ask for the grace to be faithful in the little things entrusted to us.
Walk good, and God bless.
Sources
- 1. Grenada’s election
- Jamaica Gleaner (CMC), “PM Mitchell leads NDC to historic victory in Grenada,” November 6, 2026.
- Jamaica Observer (CMC), “Mitchell’s National Democratic Congress sweeps Grenada polls,” November 6, 2026.
- News Americas Now, “Landslide: Dickon Mitchell’s NDC Wins 14 Of 15 Seats To Secure Second Term In Grenada Elections 2026,” November 5, 2026.
- Kaieteur News, “Mitchell’s NDC crushes NNP in landslide election victory,” November 6, 2026.
- Wikipedia, “2026 Grenadian general election,” accessed November 7, 2026.
- 2. Jamaica’s falling murder count
- Jamaica Gleaner, “Zero murders in eight police divisions in October – Blake,” November 7, 2026.
- Jamaica Gleaner, “Murders, shootings continue to decline, Commish warns against complacency,” August 29, 2026.
- Jamaica Observer, “Security is central to development, says Russell,” November 7, 2026.
- 3. Jamaica’s politics: JLP conference and House talks
- Jamaica Gleaner, “No public session at JLP conference this year,” November 7, 2026.
- Jamaica Observer, “Labourities riding west: JLP forgoes customary public rally at National Arena for scaled-down conference in MoBay,” November 7, 2026.
- Jamaica Observer, “Gov’t, Opposition agree to meet Monday after Parliament ruckus,” November 6, 2026.
- Jamaica Gleaner, “SIMMER DOWN – Tougher sanctions needed to curb parliamentary tensions, lecturer warns,” November 7, 2026.
- Jamaica Observer, “NWC customers miss out on $50m,” November 7, 2026.
- 4. Stephen Miller and the Caribbean
- CBS News, “Trump installs Stephen Miller as White House chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles,” November 6, 2026.
- Fox News, “Trump names Stephen Miller new White House chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles,” November 6, 2026.
- Townhall, “Why Stephen Miller Replaced Susie Wiles As White House Chief of Staff,” November 7, 2026.
- Associated Press (via Jamaica Gleaner), “US Dept of Labour delivers ‘solid’ job report following stunning midterm defeat for Republicans,” November 7, 2026.
- Associated Press (via Jamaica Gleaner), “Houston police to limit cooperation with ICE as Democratic mayor takes over in Texas,” November 7, 2026.
- CMC (via Jamaica Observer), “Caribbean immigration advocates welcome US court ruling on ICE ban,” November 7, 2026.
- Jamaica Gleaner, “Ronald Sanders | New Congress in Washington: What Changes for the Caribbean?,” November 7, 2026.
- 5. Paraguay’s bank collapse
- Euronews, “Ueno Bank collapse in Paraguay prompts President Santiago Peña to resign,” November 5, 2026.
- Latin Times, “Who Is Pedro Alliana? The Man Tasked With Rebuilding Paraguay After Its Worst Financial Scandal in Decades,” November 5, 2026.
- Euronews, “Pedro Alliana sworn in as Paraguay president after Santiago Peña’s impeachment,” November 7, 2026.
This briefing was prepared with AI research and writing assistance under Colin Beharie’s editorial direction. Every fact links to its original source. Spot an error? See our Sources & Corrections policy.
THE BEHARIE LETTER · EVERY SUNDAY
Enjoyed this? Get one idea worth thinking about every Sunday.
Business, leadership, faith, culture and life between Jamaica and Norway. Free gift when you join: 20 Jamaican Phrases Every Visitor Should Know.
Prefer something daily? Try The Morning Three. No spam, unsubscribe any time.
Discover more from Colin Beharie
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
