Mexico, Dominican Republic propose joint efforts to fight sargassum seaweed
Hotel workers are struggling to keep beaches clean as mountains of pungent, decomposing sargassum accumulate on Caribbean coasts, releasing irritant gases, smothering marine ecosystems and hitting occupancy rates at seaside resorts.
Atlantic sargassum blooms, a type of algae, have dramatically increased over the past decade, fueled by nutrient pollution exacerbated by deforestation, warmer ocean temperatures and changes in sea currents pushing the spread westwards into the Caribbean.
"They proposed the creation of a bilateral inter-institutional roundtable between both countries' foreign and environment ministries to address the environmental threat posed by sargassum," the Dominican government said in a statement.
The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates tourism could boost the economies of Mexico and the Dominican Republic by $281 billion and $21 billion respectively in 2025, both breaking fresh records and representing about 15% of GDP.
In June, scientists at Mexico's UNAM university warned of sargassum levels close to double 2018 peaks, adding that some 10% - or 400,000 metric tons - could hit Caribbean coastlines throughout 2025. A quarter could arrive in Mexico, they said.
Several nations are looking to repurpose sargassum into usable materials such as biofuels, fertilizers and bioplastics, but removing toxins and heavy metals such as arsenic from the seaweed is costly and research remains in early stages.
There has been limited funding for projects seeking to repurpose sargassum, and the unpredictability of its blooms remains a barrier to investors looking for consistent harvests.
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The Sun
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- The Sun
I took my daughter on a Caribbean cruise for just £150 — the bargain holiday secret all parents need to know
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After scouring forums and cruise blogs for the best family-friendly cruises, I landed a deal that would make even Martin Lewis jealous — a seven-night Caribbean cruise. And the cost to take Mia on this holiday of a lifetime? Just £150. The cruise, in October 2024, was on Carnival Mardi Gras and the bargain price was due to her being the third person in our cabin. For the two of us, we paid £850 each for a seven nights sailing in a balcony cabin, bringing the total to £1,850 — plus £250 in pre-paid gratuities, which are expected on cruise ships. It would have been cheaper still if we had opted for the interior cabin, costing just £1400. I went on my first Disney cruise with classy champagne bars, watercoasters and West End-style shows These prices included all-inclusive meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It's also worth noting that the cruise price stays the same in school holidays, so parents with school-aged kids can also snap up a great deal. 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It was £49 per adult and kids under three go free, even though there is so much for them to do - including a massive soft play. Mia now insists she's "been to the moon" and tells all her friends. Why a cruise is ideal for families with young kids The Carnival Mardi Gras is the company's biggest cruise ship, and it definitely had the wow factor as we walked over the bridge to embark. James and I were handed a cocktail before we'd even found our cabin. Now that's service! 6 I was also really impressed with the family entertainment and childcare included. The kids club - Camp Ocean's Penguin Club - was fab, with lots of arts, crafts, and dancing. At first, we were a bit nervous leaving Mia but we were given a mobile phone so staff could reach us at any time. Not that they needed to - Mia adored it. Our two-year-old daughter was living her best life while we watched live comedy, ate child-free dinners, and actually had adult conversations. 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Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Canada is trying to salvage its relationship with Mexico after falling out with Trump
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They've benefited from trilateral trade deals with the U.S. for 31 years: first the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994 and subsequently the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement that replaced it in 2020. But the relationship between the two countries has been beset by allegations of betrayal on both sides and memories of fraught negotiations with Trump. Top officials virtually stopped talking in November after former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mused about cutting a trade deal with the U.S. without Mexico, suggesting the U.S. and Canada were more aligned on issues like China. A few days later, Trudeau flew to Mar-a-Lago for a surprise visit with U.S. President Donald Trump, stunning Mexican officials. It seemed as if Canada had already developed a strategy for dealing with Trump while Mexico was wringing its hands, one Mexican official said. An infuriated Sheinbaum directed her lieutenants to stop dealing with the Canadians, at least until Trudeau left office, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Nine months later, Canada finds itself on the back foot with Trump while Mexico is reveling in its relative success. Last week, Trump gave Mexico a 90-day pause on new tariffs going into effect, keeping the rate at 25%, while raising tariffs on Canada to 35%. Now, in a remarkable about-face, Canadian officials are on a campaign to win back Mexico's favor and save the trilateral trade deal Trudeau suggested he was willing to ditch, according to two people with knowledge of the countries' tense relationship. That treaty continues to shield a large number of Canadian and Mexican exports to the U.S. from Trump's latest rounds of tariffs. Carney said on Tuesday that "it's important to preserve" the trilateral agreement while Canada's foreign minister and finance minister traveled this week to Mexico for a two-day visit with top officials. Asked by Reuters whether the purpose of her visit was to repair shattered ties with Mexico, Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand said: "It is extremely important for Canada to have a resilient relationship with Mexico, and indeed, I'm here to kick start that relationship." Sheinbaum, on X, reiterated that message. "We're strengthening the relationship between our countries," she wrote. A spokesperson for Sheinbaum declined to comment. Whether they repair their partnership and become a tightly-knit bloc in negotiations with the U.S. will have lasting consequences not only for the three countries but the thousands of companies that depend on free trade in the region, from automakers to medical suppliers, three trade analysts said. "The big question I have is whether there's a real sense of communication or coordination between Mexico and Canada," said Kenneth Smith Ramos, a former trade negotiator for Mexico. "I don't get the sense that is the case. I think both are operating bilaterally with the U.S. and that's it." He said Mexico saved Canada from being ousted from the USMCA treaty when Canadian and U.S. negotiators got into a "severe fight" during negotiations in 2018. "Mexico insisted that the agreement remain trilateral," said Smith, who represented Mexico in those negotiations, adding it's that history that likely made Mexican officials especially bitter when Canada appeared to spurn Mexico to curry favor with Trump. A Canadian source involved in the 2018 talks sharply disputed that characterization. "The Mexican team went behind our back and negotiated their own bilateral deal with the U.S. Trump then used that to pressure Canada to make concessions," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. 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Reuters
2 hours ago
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Colombia's offshore energy hopes deflate amid poor discoveries, stricter regulations
HOUSTON/BOGOTA, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Hopes among foreign energy companies that Colombia's coast could serve as a key source of oil and gas for the future are being dashed as many exploration projects lag expectations, with unwelcomed regulation further deflating optimism. The disappointing finds and regulatory roadblocks are pushing some energy firms to abandon the Andean nation for neighboring countries like Peru, where incentives for exploring and producing have become clearer. The loss of foreign capital in Colombia's energy industry is expected to exacerbate trade imbalances coming from a larger need for imports, especially of natural gas, while domestic output falls. Despite the country's increasing reliance on foreign energy, the government of leftist President Gustavo Petro has defended a ban on fracking and imposed stricter rules for exploration and production of conventional oil and gas, creating delays and limiting opportunities for private investors in the industry. Exploration along Colombia's Caribbean coast has mostly ended in disappointment as major producers like Shell (SHEL.L), opens new tab have left the country and others, including Chevron (CVX.N), opens new tab, have shrunk operations. Earlier this year, Chevron's remaining offshore block in Colombia was removed from the regulator's list of active areas at the company's request. The U.S. firm, which had previously sold stakes in two other offshore gas fields in the Andean country, has now reduced its presence there to fuel retail, company sources said. Chevron told Reuters it still has "a sizeable downstream presence in the country," including six terminals and over 500 gas stations. Shell said in April the Colombia projects no longer fit with its strategic ambitions, adding that it would continue supplying liquefied natural gas and other fuels to the nation. Other companies that have exited onshore and offshore ventures in Colombia in recent years include U.S. Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), opens new tab and ConocoPhillips (COP.N), opens new tab, and Spain's Repsol ( opens new tab. Experts and company sources said the exits and drawdowns are due to a combination of poor exploration results and adverse policies. "It's a clear reality that there have not been big findings in Colombia for some time, and that means that many companies must move to other places to grow," said Andres Armijos, head of Latin America Research at U.S. energy consultancy Welligence. The government disagrees. The exits are "more because of the diversification of their portfolios than distrust in the country," the head of Colombia's energy regulator, Orlando Velandia, told Reuters. Some companies that previously had made Colombia the focus of their Andean region exploration, including TotalEnergies ( opens new tab, Chevron and Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N), opens new tab, are now expanding their interest in Peru, the firms and regulator Perupetro have said, as terms and prospects there improve. Meanwhile, majors like Exxon and Shell are investing billions of dollars in Caribbean and South American nations including Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname, where finds dwarf most Colombian offshore prospects and there is a push to produce for export. Even those Colombian projects showing promise are often tangled by infrastructure or permitting hurdles. "We are running out of gas reserves due to insufficient exploration, while the gas that has been found requires pipelines that remain tangled over a hundred needed permits," said Luis Carlos Sarmiento, chairman of the board of gas-assets owner Grupo Aval ( opens new tab, on the sidelines of a conference in Bogota. The country's largest gas discovery lies at the Sirius offshore project, where Brazil's Petrobras and Colombia's state-controlled Ecopetrol ( opens new tab are doing additional drilling after finding some 6 trillion cubic feet, enough to extend the lifespan of Colombia's gas reserves for over a decade. But despite support from Petro and Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the consortium's efforts have been costly and time-consuming. The project's partners must complete over 100 public consultations with onshore communities and wait for two environmental licenses, according to the regulator and data from the Colombian Petroleum Association (ACP). Ecopetrol said a second phase of consultations is about to start, which could lead to the environmental license, before building a submarine pipeline and onshore gas processing plants. "Ecopetrol's schedule, which says first gas from Sirius will come between 2029 and 2030, is too optimistic. We don't think it will happen in that time frame," said Felipe Calderon, Welligence's Andean region expert, referring to the long chain of regulatory requirements. A smaller offshore gas discovery by Shell at the Gorgon field failed to persuade the firm to remain in the country. And even Occidental's plans to drill the Komodo ultra-deepwater well, which could become the world's deepest, could be derailed amid delays to get the drilling permits. Occidental, which already sold some onshore assets in Colombia to the Carlyle Group (CG.O), opens new tab, is waiting for an appeal filed in January over its drilling permit, whose terms threaten the project's viability, it has argued. The firm declined to comment on Komodo and said it continues to evaluate seismic data to make a decision in offshore Peru. Ecopetrol, for its part, has not provided updated plans to develop a gas discovery at its Orca project, also in the Caribbean, since it finished drilling last year, following the pattern with other offshore prospects that were ultimately shelved. "The project is in evaluation," Ecopetrol told Reuters, adding it is still defining next steps. Even for many crude operators in oil-producing Colombia, over regulation and insufficient foreign investment are a challenge, executives said. Oil output across Colombia fell 4.8% year-on-year to 749,800 barrels per day in May, far from the 1 million bpd produced a decade ago, while gas output declined 18.9% in a year to 800 million cubic feet per day, according to government data. "Our oilfields are declining, especially our mature fields, and current exploration contracts only cover 14 wells per year through 2030. That is insufficient," said Frank Pearl, head of the ACP. Some 1,500 blockades to oil operations last year due to protests by communities led to 3,000 jobs permanently lost and 4 million barrels of deferred oil output, according to the ACP. An eventual permanent need for crude imports to feed Colombia's refineries, which would lead to an energy trade deficit of billions of dollars per year, is one of the major expected consequences in coming years, Pearl added. Petro has not allowed any new rounds for exploration and production contracts, instead pushing renewables and power generation. Some political opponents are already offering an industry revival if they win a presidential election in 2026. "I do not want to export coal. Nor do I want to explore gas, and the last oil reserves will run out, because that kills Colombia and kills humanity," Petro said at a conference last month.
