News

Washington, Dec 5 (EFE).- The United States said Friday that the next Summit of the Americas, to be held in April in Panama City, will still be “credible” even if Cuba attends and insisted it is focused on the issues to be addressed as opposed to which countries are present.The deputy spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, Marie Harf, made ...

San Juan, Dec 5 (EFE).- The Taiwan Embassy in St. Lucia donated 1,200 Christmas toys to the island’s poor children to enjoy the season.The government of St. Lucia said the gifts were presented at a brief ceremony at Prime Minister Kenny Anthony’s official residence by Taiwan’s ambassador, James Chang.The toys will be distributed to members of Parliament for disbursement to ...

San Juan, Dec 5 (EFE).- Labor unions in Trinidad and Tobago staged Friday a national march against corruption, gathering hundreds of workers and other citizens in the capital, Port-of-Spain.The event was organized mainly by the Joint Trade Union Movement and Oilfield Workers Trade Union, or OWTU, the Trinidad Express reported.OWTU leader Ancel Roget has previously said that his union disapproves ...

San Juan, Dec 5 (EFE).- Jamaican artists Ziggy Marley, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Sean Paul and Sly & Robbie, Spicy Chocolate were announced Friday as nominees for the Grammy award for best reggae album.The nominations demonstrate Jamaica’s supremacy in reggae, a style invented on the island in the 1960s.Ziggy Marley, son of legendary musician Bob Marley, was nominated for his album ...

Jamaican legislators Friday afternoon passed legislation that will allow state funds to be used to fund the country’s political parties. The bill to amend Jamaica’s Representation of the People Act was passed in the Lower House of Parliament. It was then debated and taken through its stages in the Senate but not without objections from both government and opposition senators. ...

The 15-nation Caribbean Community (Caricom) appears to be taking a wait-and-see approach to the political impasse in Guyana, even as a group of civil society organisations called on President Donald Ramotar to lift the almost one-month old suspension of Parliament. The President prorogued the Parliament on November 10, the same day that the opposition had planned to debate and pass ...

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 ...