The Year Is Still New

The Year Is Still New

18 January 2026

You wouldn’t think so, but it is only the third weekend of 2026. It feels different because in a short period of time, so much has already happened that would normally fill an entire year. On 3 January, the United States attacked Venezuela, or however one chooses to describe it. Shortly afterwards, two ministers and the minister plenipotentiary were forced to step down. At the same time, carnival kicked off at full speed. Tourism is experiencing its busiest period, and for the first time in a very long while, crude oil has returned to the island.

And yet there is a need for a sense of a new beginning. Space to reset. To reset means returning a device to its original state, as it left the factory. Sometimes this involves wiping everything to solve problems; sometimes it is nothing more than a simple restart.

The term “reset” acquired a political charge when the World Economic Forum spoke in 2020 about “The Great Reset”, a plan to rebuild the global economy after the pandemic in a more sustainable and inclusive way. For some, this was a necessary reform; for others, it became a symbol of an undemocratic power grab by a global elite. Since then, the word “reset” has carried a political undertone. That is not what I mean here.

What I mean is much simpler: by the end of the month, we, as an island, should formulate a few clear goals. Managing tourism must be priority number one, because we are being overrun at the moment. At the same time, we need to remain flexible, because everything seems possible, for better or for worse.

Miguel Goede