SURINAME

• The Transaction sets the stage for the creation of an Americas focused leading intermediate gold producer.
• Continues GMIN's strategy of building an Americas focused intermediate gold producer through its Buy, Build, Operate Strategy.
• The acquisition of Oko West is the second step towards our vision of becoming a leading intermediate gold producer, building on the team's success at Tocantinzinho.
• Strengthens portfolio and positions GMIN to execute on its strategy of building the next intermediate gold producer leading to further re-rate potential and index inclusion.

• LONDON, April 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Cerillion (AIM: CER), a leading provider of BSS/OSS-as-a-Service solutions to the telecoms industry, today announced the successful migration of Telesur's fixed line customers onto its convergent BSS/OSS platform .
• This marks the full completion of this large digital transformation project, following the earlier migration of all prepaid and postpaid mobile services, allowing Telesur to decommission its legacy support systems.
• As the leading telecommunications provider in Suriname, Telesur offers a full range of fixed and mobile services to consumer, corporate and government customers.
• "Telesur has a strong digital vision and we are proud to be helping them to transform their customer engagement and boost operational efficiency with our pre-integrated BSS/OSS suite," commented Louis Hall, CEO, Cerillion.

• The objective of this fund was to provide critical financial resources to host communities where Newmont operates, targeting funds to address immediate impacts of the global pandemic while catalyzing long-term resiliency and future community development.
• $500,000 donation matched by the Colorado Health Foundation resulting in a $1 million total donation to the Colorado Community Support Fund to support community health and prevention for underserved populations in the state.
• $300,000 donated to the American Red Cross Global Disaster Preparedness Center to support research and local-level grants for emergency response community resilience.
• Crown Agents is proud to collaborate with Newmont and the Ministry of Health to contribute to the health and resilience of Suriname."

• Threats to economic and physical security have become persistent and pervasive across Latin America and the Caribbean – and that is affecting the way people view the state of democracy in the region.
• The 2023 round of AmericasBarometer, which includes nationally representative surveys of 39,074 individuals across 24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, reveals widespread pessimism and adversity, decreased satisfaction with the status quo, and yet also resilience in popular support for democracy.

Elevated economic and physical insecurity

• In brief, despite variation among different countries, the average resident of the region has been facing elevated economic and physical security challenges for over a decade, our surveys have found.
• In the mid-2010s, a global economic commodity boom ended, and the region’s economic recovery has been thwarted by structural issues, including low productivity and high income inequality.
• The uptick in crime and insecurity is similarly driven by a range of factors, including economic crises and the growth of well-armed transnational criminal syndicates.

Disillusionment is a challenge to democracy

• Our results show that disillusionment with the democratic status quo is strikingly high in the region, with only 40% thinking democracy is working.
• Although the root causes are debated, disillusionment with the status quo fuels support for populist leaders with autocratic tendencies.
• El Salvador stands as an example of how disillusionment can undermine democracy.
• He cheekily referred to himself on social media as a “dictator”, while his running mate spoke of their program to eliminate democracy.

Democracy retains popular support

• Despite general gloom about how well democracy is performing, there is reason for optimism: Support for democratic governance has largely held steady over the last decade of our survey.
• Across the region, on average, 58% say that they believe democracy is the best form of government.
• In all but three countries – Guatemala, Honduras and Suriname – majorities say they prefer democracy.
• For now, at least, an enduring belief in democracy may facilitate efforts by leaders in and outside the region to champion and strengthen democratic governance.

• The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or any other funding agency.
• Elizabeth J. Zechmeister co-directs the AmericasBarometer, which has been supported by grants from USAID, the US National Science Foundation, and the Inter-American Development Bank.