Caribbean Report 29-07-2003

Abstract

Description

Table of Contents

1. Headlines (00:00-00:28)
2. Bermudians appear to have accepted the removal of Jennifer Smith as Premier. MPs from her own Progressive Labour Party called for her removal soon after she led them to another victory. People say it’s a step towards unifying the party (00:29-03:48)
3. The operations of the Bank of Saint Lucia Ltd. have been seriously disrupted by a strike over the Bank’s plans to defer a pay increase. Close to 300 employees withdrew their labour. Timothy Poleon reports (03:49-04:58)
4. Guyana’s President Bharrat Jagdeo and a ministerial team are on a two-day working visit to Brazil. A main issue for discussion with the Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is the challenge from Brazil, Australia, and Thailand to preferential sugar prices being paid by the EU to certain farmers (04:59-05:47)
5. Isabel Roque, sister of the jailed Cuban dissident Marta Beatriz Roque launches an international appeal to secure her release from prison. Miami based Cuban exile Isabel Roque is fearful that her ailing sister, a leading Cuban economist, will die (05:48-06:50)
6. The US-based legal-rights pressure group, ‘Judicial Watch’, has taken on the case of the Cuban Roque sisters. Chairman and Founder of ‘Judicial Watch’, Larry Klayman, says Marta Beatriz can die if the EU and the Vatican don’t intervene (06:51-09:30)
7. Officials say Army Sergeant Juan Manuel Serrano Concepción died when a military vehicle fell on him. Sgt. Serrano, aged thirty-one, was the sixth soldier from Puerto Rico to die in the war on Iraq (09:31-09:54)
8. A pilot mediation programme to cut down on costly and lengthy court cases has become so successful in Saint Lucia that it will be extended to three other Caribbean countries viz. Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda, and the British Virgin Islands. Pete Ninvalle reports (09:55-12:07)
9. The Vatican is seeking the help of politicians and support from public opinion worldwide in its campaign against gay marriages. The Vatican is alarmed by the growing legal acceptance of same-sex unions in Europe and North America. Mike Jarvis reports (12:08-13:27)
10. Construction of the first facility to be built specifically for cricket in the United States is starting soon. Lauderhill in South Florida wants to position the city to bid for matches in the Cricket World Cup of 2007 and it has the support of West Indian born cricket fans (13:28-15:37)

Keywords

Citation