News

Fire, suspected to be the work of arsonists, Wednesday evening destroyed a building housing critically important aviation communication equipment near Dominica’s Douglas- Charles International Airport, just hours after authorities explained why security has been tightened at the Caribbean island’s two airports. Chief Executive Officer of the Dominican Air and Sea Ports Authority (DASPO), Benoit Bardouille said arson is suspected to ...

Caracas, Dec 2 (EFE).- Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on Tuesday approved a 20 percent reduction in “unproductive expenses” by the government as a result of the recent plunge in the oil price and emphasized that the measure does not affect “at all” his administration’s social investment policy.“I’ve approved the reduction of 20 percent in … unproductive expenses, which do not ...

Brasilia, Dec 3 (EFE).- Brazilian state-controlled oil giant Petrobras’ former downstream director, who has blown the whistle on a massive corruption scheme as part of a plea-bargain deal with prosecutors, said he alerted the government to irregularities at the company in 2009.In an appearance Tuesday before a congressional committee investigating the scandal, Paulo Roberto Costa, who was arrested in March ...

Washington, Dec 3 (EFE).- The White House on Wednesday urged Cuba to release U.S. government subcontractor Alan Gross, who is serving a 15-year sentence on the Communist-ruled island after being convicted for subversion.“Five years ago today Alan Gross was arrested for his efforts to help ordinary Cuban citizens have greater access to information through the Internet,” White House press secretary ...

San Juan, Dec 3 (EFE).- Guyana is seen as the most corrupt English-speaking country in the Caribbean Community, according to the Corruption Perception Index of 2014, published Wednesday by watchdog organization Transparency International.“The ranking of Guyana on the 2014 CPI is just another international indicator which, taken together with the local reality, simply increases the public perception that corruption remains ...

Havana, Dec 3 (EFE).- The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, or CCDHRN, said Wednesday that in November there were 398 political arrests on the communist-ruled island, the lowest monthly figure so far this year, but the dissident group expressed its concern over recent violence against opposition leaders.According to a communique released by the CCDHRN, headed by Elizardo ...

San Juan, Dec 3 (EFE).- The St. Lucia Ministry of Sustainable Development launched “the largest project ever negotiated” by the government with the World Bank to reduce the Caribbean island’s vulnerability to natural disasters and to the impacts of climate change.The Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project aims to strengthen critical local infrastructure and improve the national capacity to repair damaged infrastructure, ...

Heavily armed security personnel are guarding Dominica’s two airports, in the wake of concerns by Leader of the Opposition United Workers Party (UWP), Lennox Linton that the incumbent Dominica Labour Party (DLP) was flying in persons to vote in next Monday’s general election. The UWP has repeatedly accused Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit’s DLP of planning to rig the December 8 ...

San Juan, Dec 2 (EFE).- The Venezuelan-led Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America, known as ALBA, gave the government of St. Lucia a $10 million grant to support an employment initiative for the next two years.The new grant from the ALBA Bank will help continue the work of the National Initiative to Create Employment, or NICE, the St. ...

Miami, Dec 2 (EFE).- A Miami judge fined a Venezuelan traveler $89,000 for joking last October that he was carrying explosives in his luggage, for which the authorities declared a security alert at two terminals at the city’s international airport, a court announced Tuesday.Most of the money that Manuel Alberto Alvarado, 60, must pay will serve to defray the cost ...