SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, CMC – Caribbean countries are to benefit from a regional initiative that is aimed at providing first-hand information and generating up-to-date statistics on the degree status of human resources as well as the structure, size, and level of investment in research and development (R&D) in Central America and the Caribbean.

The Inter American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) said that the information would be used to update the data available for the Caribbean dating back t0 1996 and in the case of Central America, 2006.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The Caribbean will likely see a surge in drug-trafficking activity by 2015 as operations move slowly out of Central America due to an international crackdown, a top U.S. State Department official said Wednesday. William Brownfield, assistant secretary of state for international narcotics and law enforcement, said he believes drug traffickers squeezed out of Mexico, Central America and South America will target the Caribbean because it's spacious and allows them to remain undercover and take advantage of weak law enforcement in certain countries.

WASHINGTON, Mar.17, CMC – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) along with the People's Bank of China (PBC) have approved the China Co-financing Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean to support public and private sector projects that promote sustainable economic growth in the region.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico, CMC - The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says research in the Caribbean may result in better protection for depleted fish species. NOAA said the research is using the underwater sounds of reef fish, such as groupers, to identify areas where they gather to spawn “a behaviour that makes the fish easier to catch and susceptible to overfishing. “The research may lead to more precise measures to protect spawning locations and thereby allow a depleted fish population to rebuild,” it said in a statement issued here.

HAVANA, Cuba, CMC – Russia’s Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov says his country will forgive part of Cuba’s US$25 billion Soviet-era debt and restructure the rest as part of agreements that include Havana getting Russian jetliners worth US$650 million. On an official visit here, Manturov told reporters that Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Ricardo Cabrisas, vice president of the Council of Ministers, had initialed the debt agreement, adding that the details would be worked out by the end of the year.