sovereignty

Prime Minister Philip Davis seems determined to make one word stick: ‘sovereignty’.

At the United Nations General Assembly last month, the Prime Minister warned that small nations must not become somebody else’s “backyard,” declaring that sovereignty that must ask permission is not sovereignty at all. Now, Davis is bringing that same language to Grand Bahama.

At the Grand Bahama Shipyard on Thursday night, Davis unveiled plans for a new development council, a review of the Hawksbill Creek Agreement and a proposed Grand Bahama Development Act. He framed the reforms as an effort to correct what he described as an imbalance between private authority and the power of an elected government.

His argument is blunt: land ownership does not mean ownership of governing authority. No private institution, he insists, should have a veto over Grand Bahama’s future.

But why has sovereignty become such a recurring theme for Davis?

Grand Bahama offers Davis a concrete example of the question he raised at the UN: how much control does an independent nation truly exercise when important economic arrangements were established under colonial rule?

The Hawksbill Creek Agreement was signed in 1955, when The Bahamas was still a British colony. It helped establish Freeport as a special economic zone, attracting investment and enabling the development of major infrastructure. But it also created a distinctive governance and commercial framework whose future is now being challenged by the government.

That history is complicated. The agreement helped build Freeport, but its origins and the powers it established have become central to Davis’ debate over who should shape the island’s future.

Davis is now promising reform through Parliament and the legal process, while pledging to respect contracts, vested interests and existing investments. The question is whether the proposed changes can deliver greater public accountability and wider economic opportunity without creating uncertainty for businesses and investors

Then comes the royal visit.

King Charles is arriving as the Bahamas’ constitutional Head of State.

His visit is already unfolding amid renewed demands for an apology and reparations for slavery and colonialism. Buckingham Palace has said the King will not shy away from Britain’s colonial past, but a formal apology is not planned for the tour, and the British government has rejected financial reparations.

The GB Speech and the King’s visit, however, bring different dimensions of sovereignty into public view: who governs, who answers to the people, and how an independent nation confronts the legacy of its colonial past.

The real test is what happens after the speeches by Davis.

Davis has promised a green paper and six months of public consultation. Grand Bahamians will need more than declarations about sovereignty but they will need to see exactly what powers would change, how decisions will be made and whether development will reach communities beyond Freeport.

As the King prepares to arrive, Davis is making his argument about who should hold power at home. The country now has to examine what that argument means in practice.

The Trump administration’s “capture” and removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by the United States has sent shockwaves across the region. And now, his administration plans to “run” Venezuela until a “safe” transition is completed.

Legal and political questions raised by the case matter deeply for small countries like the Bahamas.

The issue is not only about Venezuela, but it is also about sovereignty, power, and whether international rules apply to smaller countries when global powers act one-sidedly or only in their best interest.

President Donald Trump even boldly suggested that Cuba and Colombia could be next. Some say his actions are designed to show the US as muscular to strike fear in the region and a reminder that the US is in charge of the Caribbean and Latin America.

“This is clearly a blatant, illegal, and criminal act,” said Jimmy Gurule, a Notre Dame Law School professor and former assistant U.S. attorney.

For countries like the Bahamas, sovereignty is one of the strongest legal shields on the international stage. It should protect nations from foreign interference and ensure that no outside power can lawfully enter, arrest leaders, or conduct operations without consent.

Legal experts warn that if powerful nations normalize the arrest of sitting leaders without United Nations approval or host-state consent, small states could be left vulnerable.

The concern is that international norms no longer seem strong. Once those norms erode, smaller countries appear to lack the ability to push back.

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said, “The bombings on Venezuelan territory and the capture of its president cross an unacceptable line,” he wrote in Portuguese. “These acts represent a grave affront to Venezuela’s sovereignty and yet another extremely dangerous precedent for the entire international community.”

There is no indication that the Bahamas faces any similar scenario to Venezuela. The Bahamas has a stable democracy with strong diplomatic ties with the United States.

However, experts say the larger concern is the precedent the US has set, asking whether international law continues to apply equally to all nations or whether one country’s power increasingly supersedes the law.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez took to social media, saying the country will not recognize a U.S. intervention “that violates international law.”

“Spain did not recognize the Maduro regime. But neither will it recognize an intervention that violates international law and pushes the region toward a horizon of uncertainty and belligerence.”

The Bahamas also faces a delicate balancing act:

• Maintaining close relations with the United States
• Upholding international law principles
• Standing with regional partners who call for no intervention

Historically, CARICOM nations have advocated for peaceful dialogue and respect for sovereignty, even in times of crisis. How the region responds or chooses silence could shape expectations.

A moment for regional reflection

The Nicholas Maduro case has forced governments across the Caribbean to examine:

• how safe are international protections
• whether power dynamics are shifting
• and how small island states should position themselves in an increasingly unpredictable world.