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UN urges Caribbean to build on successes of decolonization

QUITO, Ecuador, CMC - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has urged Caribbean countries to build on the successes of decolonization, saying they must also show statements of principle can be transferred into action. “Let us build on the many successes of decolonization,” said Ban in his message to the Caribbean Regional Seminar on Implementation of the Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism.

St. Lucia PM receives one of Cuba’s highest honours

HAVANA, Cuba, CMC – Cuba has bestowed the Jose Marti medal of honour on St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony, who is on an official visit to the Caribbean Communist country. The award is the highest honour bestowed upon a foreign dignitary by the Cuba government. On Tuesday, Anthony laid a wreath at the base of the monument of the National Hero at Revolution Square, Havana, before holding talks with President Raoul Castro “on a wide range of subjects of mutual interest in a private meeting”.

Region urged to maximise natural resources

CARACAS—According to a new ECLAC document launched yesterday, Latin American countries must review and strengthen institutions and instruments to maximize the contribution of natural resources to regional development, particularly in the current cycle of high prices.

Biden heads to Brazil after ‘brutal’ discussions in Caribbean

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden left Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday after what he and leaders of the mostly English-speaking 15-member Caribbean Community and the Dominican Republic called “frank” discussions on issues of mutual interests. “It was completely open, completely frank and completely straightforward — even where we disagreed,” Biden said before heading to Brazil, where he will spend three days discussing energy matters and improved U.S.

CARIBBEAN-RIGHTS-US claims several Caribbean countries discriminate against Rastafarians, Muslims

WASHINGTON, CMC - The United States says several Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, including Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Haiti and the Bahamas, are engaged in discriminatory practices against Rastafarians, voodoo practitioners and Muslims.
In its International Religious Freedom Report for 2012, the Department of State says while there were no reports of abuses of religious freedom in Haiti, some members of the voodoo and Muslim communities “complained they did not enjoy the same legal protections as Christians”.

CUBA-POLITICS-St. Lucia PM underscores importance of diplomatic relations with Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, CMC – St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony began a five-day official visit to Cuba on Monday praising the Caribbean Communist country for support to his island “with no strings attached”. Anthony met with the President of the Institute of Friendship with the Peoples, Kenya Serrano as well as mothers of five Cubans imprisoned in the United States. During the visit, Anthony reaffirmed his commitment to working closely with the Institute to promote the relationship now enjoyed by both countries as well as the rest of the region.

Decline in food production

HAVANA, Cuba, CMC – The Cuban government says it has seen a dramatic and unexplained drop in the harvest of vegetables and fruit in the first three months of the year. In a report, the Cuban National Statistics Office (ONE) gave no reason for the production decline, despite government reforms to increase production in the Spanish-speaking country that spends more than US$1.5 billion on food imports. ONE said overall agricultural production with the exception of sugarcane, declined by 7.8 percent in the first quarter of this year compared to the first three months of 2012.

Human rights group claims prosecution of Caribbean migrants hurting families

WASHINGTON, CMC – A major international human rights group says the skyrocketing criminal prosecutions of Caribbean and other migrants for illegally entering or reentering the United States carry huge human and financial costs. In a report released here on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch said imprisoning migrants with minor or no criminal records before deporting them often affects people seeking to reunite with their families in the US or fleeing persecution. The 82-page report, “Turning Migrants into Criminals: The Harmful Impact of US Border Prosecutions,” documents the negative impact of ill

Three held in multi-million dollar cocaine bust in Caribbean Sea

MIAMI, United States (CMC) — United States federal prosecutors have indicted three foreigners in a US$27 million cocaine bust in the Caribbean Sea.
They said Beat Jegge of Switzerland and Daniel Velazquez and Julio Claro Alvarez of Colombia were arrested by US Coast Guard officers after their suspicious boat was interdicted somewhere off the Panama coast.
Authorities said the men appeared in US federal district court here, where they pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to distribute 2,200 pounds of cocaine, which were "tightly wrapped in plastic bags".

Brazil offers better terms for infrastructure investors

BRASILIA, (Reuters) – Brazil is sweetening terms for major infrastructure contracts to whet investor appetite and draw private capital and expertise needed to upgrade its deficient roads, railways and ports, the man in charge of planning the projects said on Tuesday.
Bernardo Figueiredo said Brazil needs to double its current level of investment in infrastructure to at least 80 billion reais ($39.2 billion) a year if it wants to resolve a transport crunch that has stymied the economy in recent years.

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