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O JANUARY 2008



S0


y o u


, o r I d


- N)F


Vol. 19 No. 2


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Jamaica: 654-7282


I THE MULTI AWARD-W~INNNE SM G ZN


The mayor of a
southern
Florida city
says a special
election will
be held by
March to
replace sus-
pended
Caribbean-born City
Commissioner Fitzroy
Salesman, who is facing a
gun-related charge, page 2.


Irving Burgie, a
music compos-
er who wrote
the Barbados
national
anthem and a
host of
Jamaican and
Caribbean folk
songs, was recently honored
for his work by the New York
City Council, page 11.


I!






The United States
Congress has honored
Caribbean-born pilot
Barrington Irving, a
Miami resident who last
year became the first
black man and the
youngest ever to fly solo
around the world,
page 2.

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INSIDE
News............................ 2 Health ..................................9 Viewpoint ..........................15 Politics ....................... 18
Local ................................. 8 Arts/Entertainment ..........11 Region ........................ 17 Sport ..................................19


W e


c o v e


The World Bank says that
while the Caribbean and Latin
American region remains the
largest recipient of recorded
remittances, growth of remit-
tances to the area has slowed
in recent months.


-7








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CARIBBEAN TODAY

n e WS


U.S. Congress honors Jamaican

pilot who flew solo around world


MIAMI- The United States
Congress has honored a young
Jamaican-born pilot who
became the first black to fly
solo around the world.
Miami-based Barrington
Irving, 23, was recognized by the
U.S. House of Representatives
when it unanimously passed a
resolution honoring him last
month. The bill, sponsored by
Florida Democratic representa-
tives Alcee Hastings and
Kendrick Meek, encourages
museums across the U.S. to
also commemorate Irving's
accomplishment.
"When the younger gen-
eration is looking for a role
model and hero, they need
to look no further than
Barrington Irving," Meek
said in a statement.
"This young pilot proved
that when you dream big
dreams and work hard, the


extraordinary is possible.
"I am honored to call
Barrington Irving a con-
stituent," he continued.
'INSPIRATION'
Irving started his 26,000-
mile journey on his single-
engine plane "Inspiration" in
March. He had convinced
friends, politicians and corpo-
rate sponsors to believe in his
aviation dream.
He had received recogni-
tions from cities in southern
Florida and his native Jamaica
after returning to Florida in June,
touching down at Orlando's Opa-
locka Executive Airport.
"It's just so humbling to
know that something that
started so small is now being
recognized across
the nation," Irving said.
"But, no matter what, the
greatest award will always be


./v6


k,


Irving
the impact that I've made on
youth and teaching them they
can do or be anything."
0


New Jersey to apologize for slavery


NEW JERSEY New Jersey
is expected this month to join
four other states in America
in apologizing for slavery.
Under a measure to be
considered by its legislators,
New Jersey will join Alabama,
Maryland, North Carolina and
Virginia in issuing formal
apologies for slavery. If it
does, it will also be the first
Northern state in the United
States to do so.
"This is not too much
to ask of the state of New
Jersey," said Democratic


Assemblyman William Payne,
sponsor of the slavery bill.
"All that is being request-
ed is to say three simple
words: 'We are sorry'. If for-
mer Confederate states can
take action like this, why
can't a Northeast state like
New Jersey?" he added.
RESOLUTION
The Caribbean diplomatic
corps at the United Nations
ended 2007 on a positive note
by getting the U.N. to pass a
resolution by acclamation,


designating Mar. 25 as
"International Day" in recog-
nition of the abolition of the
trans-Atlantic slave trade.
The resolution also adopt-
ed by consensus a call by the
Caribbean community (CARI-
COM) for the erection of a
permanent memorial in the
halls of the U.N. "in acknowl-
edgement of the tragedy and
in consideration of the legacy
of slavery and the trans-
Atlantic slave trade".
0


January 2008


Special election to fill seat

of suspended Jamaican-born,

Florida city commissioner
FLORIDA The mayor of a assault with a firearm, a felony.
southern Florida city says a Prosecutors said Salesman
special election will be held by pulled a gun on fellow shopper
March to replace suspended Lazavius Hudson, 18, at a
Jamaican-born Commissioner Winn-Dixie Supermarket on
Fitzroy Salesman. Thanksgiving eve, Nov. 21.
According to the Charter Authorities initially
for the City of Miramar, a spe- charged Salesman with a mis-
cial election must be held with- demeanor, but the Broward
in 90 days upon receipt of a sus- State Attorney's Office upgrad-
pension order to replace a com- ed the charge to a felony after
missioner. The commissioners interviewing more witnesses.
were scheduled to meet on Jan. Salesman, who posted a
9 to set the election date. $5,000 bond and was released,
Mayor Lori Moseley said holds a concealed weapons
the election license and his attorney said
can't be held he will plead not guilty.
until March, so The governor issued an
the city can give executive order suspending
candidates an Salesman on Dec. 21. Miramar
opportunity to City spokesman Romeo
contest the poll. Lavarias said once the city
So far, one can- received a signed suspension
didate has Mosel order from the governor's
emerged, but Mseley office Salesman's annual
others said they $23,800 commission salary and
are contemplating running for benefits would be frozen.
the seat. This is Salesman's second
Carl Lanke, 44, a school suspension in two years. In
activist, who sits on the South June 2005, three months after
Broward Drainage District Salesman was elected to a sec-
Board, said he initially planned ond term, then-Governor Jeb
to run in 2009. But he said he Bush suspended him after
will now launch a campaign authorities charged him with
and run in the March election. driving under the influence
"It's time to move on and and eluding police.
for new leadership to repre- He was acquitted, and
sent Miramar," he said. received $88,000 in back pay and
allowances, city officials said.
SUSPENDED Salesman has been a com-
Last month, Florida missioner in the south Broward
Governor Charlie Crist sus- County city of more than
pended Salesman, 50, after he 100,000 people since 2001.
was charged with aggravated 0


Cocaine traffickers shifting from Caribbean routes ~ U.S.


WASHINGTON The
United States Coast Guard
says that illicit trafficking in
cocaine is seemingly shifting
from the Caribbean to the
Pacific, as it announced record
seizures this year.
"We have forced them to
adapt to routes that are dan-
gerous and are expensive,"


said Coast Guard Commander
Bob Watts in announcing the
record annual cocaine seizures
worth more than $4.7 billion.
Watts said the Coast Guard
captured 355,755 pounds of
cocaine in the past year, and
that the largest seizure was 20
tons discovered aboard a
Panamanian vessel in March.


Watts said because of the
Coast Guard's increased sur-
veillance in the Caribbean Sea,
smugglers are turning to "riski-
er tactics" in trying to evade
interdiction, including dissolv-
ing cocaine in diesel fuel.
ALTERNATIVES
He said they have also


been forced to turn to the
more expensive and arduous
Pacific Ocean routes, includ-
ing via the Galapagos Islands,
since most of the major routes
via the Caribbean Sea have
been shut down. Watts said
Africa is increasingly being
used as an alternative trans-
shipment route to the drug


market in Europe.
"We have forced them to
adapt to routes that are danger-
ous and are expensive," he said.
"Right now, we're seeing
guys get in go-fasts and running
1,000 miles into the Pacific and
rounding the Galapagos
Islands to come in," he added.
0


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CARIBBEAN TODAY


U.N. secretary general joins Caribbean

in calling for end to 'modern day' slavery


UNITED NATIONS United
Nations Secretary General
Ban Ki-moon has joined the
Caribbean community (CARI-
COM) in calling for an end to
"modern day" slavery.
In a message commemo-
rating International Day for
the Abolition of Slavery last
month, Ban described as
shameful contemporary forms
of slavery, stating that such
practices "sanctioned, sup-
ported or ignored by those
with the power and the
responsibility to end them
should lead us to outrage."
He said millions continue
to live as "contemporary
slaves, victims of abominable
practices, like human traffick-
ing, forced labor and sexual
exploitation."


Ban said "countless" chil-
dren are forced to become sol-
diers, work in sweat shops or
are sold by "desperate" fami-
lies, and that \\ iin n are bru-
talized and traded like com-
modities.
"Entire households and
villages labor under debt
bondage," he said.
"The fact that these atroci-
ties take place in today's world
should fill us all with shame,"
the U.N. secretary general
added.

'CRIMES'
He said it is up to every-
one to raise his or her voice
against rMiLK that deprive
countless victims of their lib-
erty, dignity and human rights.
"We have to work together


to realize the equal rights prom-
ised to all by the United
Nations Charter," he continued.
"And we must collectively
give meaning to the words of
the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights that 'no one
shall be held in slavery or
servitude'," he said.
Stating that many of the
post-slavery dependency
arrangements still persist today,
CARICOM recently called for
their immediate end. Speaking
on behalf of CARICOM,
Dominica's U.N. Ambassador
Crispin Gregoire told the U.N.
Fourth Committee that it is
time for ending the "anachro-
nism of new millennium colo-
nialism in our part of the
African diaspora."


Former suspect in case of missing

American student regrets no trial


ORANJESTAD, CMC A
former suspect in the disap-
pearance in Aruba of American
high school student, Natalee
Holloway, says he regretted not
having the matter go to trial so
"everything could be out in the
open."
Joran van der Sloot, 20,
was re-arrested in Aruba in
November for a new interro-
gation about Holloway's dis-
appearance in 2005, but public
prosecutors on the island
closed their investigation
Dec. 18, saying they believed
Holloway was dead. They


also said they
did not have
enough evi-
dence to pros-
ecute van der
Sloot or two
other former
suspects,
brothers
Deepak and
Satish


Holloway


Kalpoe, 20 and 21.
The young men were
charged in the disappearance
of Holloway, 18, on May 30,
2005.
"I would have liked to


have seen a trial, so that
everything could be out in
the open," van der Sloot told
reporters late last month, his
first public remarks since being
released on Dec. 7.
All three suspects denied
any involvement in Holloway's
disappearance. Van der Sloot
denied there was any new
evidence to prompt his arrest
again last month, as prosecu-
tors had asserted.
"There was no new
evidence at all," he said.
0


New York governor pardons Jamaican man,

sparing him deportation despite prison time


NEW YORK, CMC New
York Governor Eliot Spitzer
has pardoned a 54-year-old
Jamaican-born man convicted
of robbery 16 years ago, saying
the pardon would spare the
man from being deported to his
native land.
The man, Frederick Lake,
entered the United States legally
in 1987, but was facing deporta-
tion under a federal statute that
calls for the removal of a lawful
alien who is convicted of an
aggravated felony.
Although convicted of rob-
bery in 1991 and released from
prison in 1997, Lake has long
maintained his innocence, and a
judicial inquiry suggested that
he might have been the victim
of a miscarriage of justice.
On Dec. 22 Spitzer said that
he issued the pardon, at least in
part, so that Lake, who suffers
from heart disease and diabetes,
could remain with his wife and
two young sons in East Flatbush,
Brooklyn, where he has lived


since his release from prison 10
years ago.
"Mr. Lake has fully served
the sentence imposed upon him
for his robbery conviction," he
said in a statement.
"He had a perfect discipli-
nary record while in prison, he
has had no other arrests or con-
victions during his lifetime, and
he has been living safely and
without incident in the commu-
nity for the last 10 years," he
added.

'NO PURPOSE'
"No purpose would be
served by separating Mr. Lake
from his many family members
who are United States citizens,"
the governor continued.
Lake was arrested and
charged with robbing a payroll
company in Inwood, on Long
Island, a New York City suburb,
in 1989. At his trial in 1991,
three people testified that Lake
had committed the crime, even
though the suspect was initially


described as
short and
stocky and
wearing an
earring. Lake
was nearly
six feet tall
and did not
have a
pierced ear. Spitzer
He also
produced airline tickets and pas-
senger manifests that showed he
had flown to Jamaica several
days before the robbery and
returned months later.
"Lawyers dream about
cases like this," said John
Lewis, one of Lake's attorneys.
"And it's just an enormous priv-
ilege to be able to be there.
"I think that Governor
Spitzer has a lot of courage
doing this," he continued. "It
would be hard to find a more
worthy subject than Frederick
Lake for this distinction."
0


Haitian mother tries to stop

N.Y. hospital from pulling plug

on her brain-dead daughter


NEW YORK A heartbroken
Haitian mother in Brooklyn is
trying desperately to stop a local
hospital from pulling the plug
on her brain-dead three-year-
old daughter.
Marie Joseph, 35, said on
Dec. 29 she needs more time to
come to grips with the awful
reality.
Only six days after
Brookdale University Medical
Centre in Brooklyn declared
Patricia Joseph brain-dead, doc-
tors told her mother that they
were going to pull the plug -
prompting her to get an emer-
gency court order.
"All I'm saying is that I
want my daughter to be able to
go on her own," said a tearful
Joseph.
"I just want my daughter to
live for a few more days, because
when she is gone, she is gone for-
ever, and I'm never going to see
her again," she added.
New York State law allows
hospitals to declare people dead
when they meet medical stan-
dards for brain death, but
requires hospitals to have a plan
for "reasonable accommoda-
tion" to the next of kin's reli-
gious or moral objections.
In a similar case in 1989, a
hospital was found to have the
authority to take an infant off
life support over the parents'
objections.

COMA
Joseph said she took
Patricia to Jamaica Hospital in
Queens on Dec. 16 to get her
checked for leg pains. But she
said doctors there transferred
the girl, who suffers from sickle-
cell anemia, to Brookdale
University Medical Centre,
where she was given morphine
and a blood transfusion. The
next day, Joseph said Patricia
went into a coma-like state after
doctors believed she had a
stroke. On Dec. 18, doctors
placed her on a ventilator.
Four days before Christmas,


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Joseph said Brookdale
University Medical Centre
declared Patricia brain-dead,
drew up a death certificate and
gave Joseph the bad news.
"They came to me every
day," Joseph said.
"They told me that they did
not need my permission, and
that they were just letting me
know," she added.
"It was thanks to one of the
doctors that they gave me a few
days."

PANIC
Panicking, Joseph said she
immediately contacted lawyer
Keith Sullivan, who got a tempo-
rary restraining order discussions
with the hospital broke down. He
was back in a Brooklyn court on
the afternoon of
Dec. 28 asking that the order
be extended.
"Their conduct, on its best
day, is heartlessly callous,"
Sullivan told Justice Lawrence
Knipel.
"On its worst day, it's evil."
Knipel heard testimony
from a doctor, Mayank Shukla,
who conceded that Joseph never
gave the green light.
"She never said 'O.K.',"
Shukla said.
"But she understood the
process," she added. "She want-
ed more time, and we were giv-
ing her more time."
Knipel adjourned proceed-
ings until the new year, keeping
the existing stay in effect until
then.
Michael Hinck, a spokesman
for Brookdale University Medical
Centre, said the hospital had
made every effort to come to an
agreement with Joseph during
the six days after the girl was
declared brain dead. He said that
staff had even facilitated an in-
room baptism.
"The hospital is trying to be
as sympathetic as possible," he
said.
0


Jamaican charged with drug

smuggling in prosthetic legs
4EW YORK A Jamaican not be removed. However,
ian was held without bail at a inspectors became suspicious
detentionn Centre in Brooklyn because Stewart's airline ticket
waiting charges for smuggling had been purchased in cash
cocaine into the John E three days earlier and immi-
1ennedy International Airport gration records showed that he
sing his prosthetic legs. had traveled to the U.S. three
Dean Stewart, 22, who times between June and
ses a wheelchair, was detained August for brief visits.
shortly after arriving on an Air Stewart's prosthetic legs
amaica flight from Kingston were removed and X-rayed
ist month, where agents found multiple
According to an indict- packages of cocaine concealed
lent filed in Brooklyn federal inside the limbs, according to


court, Stewart told custom
officers that he could not walk
and his prosthetic legs could


the complaint.


January 2008








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*


CARIBBEAN TODAY

n e wS


Bhutto's death shocks Caribbean leaders


GORDON WILLIAMS
Caribbean leaders have
reacted with shock and
horror at the assassina-
tion of Pakistan Opposition
Leader Benazir Bhutto, who
was cut down in her home
country late last month.
Several condemned the
killing of the 54-year-old
leader of the Pakistan People's
Party and some indicated her

upheaval in
that country,
while others
warned peo-
ple in the
region not to
let political
passions lead
them to vio-
lence. Bhutto
Bhutto, a for-
mer prime minister, died after
attending a political rally on
Dec. 27 in her homeland. The
exact cause of her death was
still being hotly debated up to
press time. One explanation
was that a gunman shot her
and then set off an explosion
which killed him and at least
15 others near the scene.
Yet Bhutto's death also ignited
an emotional bombshell in the


Caribbean, with leaders
directing outage at the terror-
ist act.
"The government of the
Republic of Trinidad and
Tobago strongly condemns this
act and reaffirms its unwaver-
ing commitment to internation-
al efforts to eradicate terror-
ism", read a statement issued
by Trinidad and Tobago's
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"The government and peo-
ple of the Republic of Trinidad
and Tobago express the deep-
est sympathy to the govern-
ment and people of the Islamic
Republic of Pakistan and fami-
ly members of former Prime
Minister Ms. Benazir Ali
Bhutto, political leader of the
Pakistan People's Party, on the
tragic incident which resulted
in her untimely demise and
that of innocent civilians".

CONFLICT
Caribbean leaders claimed
that the political uncertainty in
Pakistan, which up to press
time was still scheduled to
hold general elections this
month, had been of serious
concern to the region and was
even discussed at November's
Commonwealth Heads of
Government meeting in


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Kampala, Uganda. The
Commonwealth had recently
suspended Pakistan, claiming
the Islamic state needed to
move towards restoring
democracy. Pakistan is ruled
by ex-Army head President
Pervez Musharaf, who had
been expected to oppose
Bhutto in the elections.
"The assassination of such
a prominent political figure as
Mrs. Bhutto has pushed the
country (Pakistan) into fur-
ther conflict, violence and
uncertainty," said Jamaica's
Prime Minister Bruce Golding
in a statement.
Meanwhile, at least one
Caribbean politician issued a
warning to people in the
region not to allow their polit-
ical loyalties to get out of con-
trol and lead to violence simi-
lar to that in Pakistan.
"One would never want
any such incidents to happen
in the Caribbean," former St.
Lucia Prime Minister Kenny
Anthony was quoted as saying.

Gordon Williams is
Caribbean Today's managing
editor. CMC reports con-
tributed to this story.
0


/2008j ~


January 2008


Grenada's RM. could face

charges in U.S. ~ judge


ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada,
CMC A district judge in the
United States says that Prime
Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell
could be brought back to face
charges if he loses the next
general elections in Grenada.
District judge Leo Glasser
issued the ruling in dismissing
a case brought against the
Grenadian leader and his wife
Marietta Mitchell by Boston
businessman Charles Howland,
on the grounds that Mitchell
was subjected to immunity
from prosecution given his sta-
tus as head of government.
Mitchell's New National
Party (NNP) government had
written to the George W. Bush
administration in Washington
seeking immunity from prose-
cution on the grounds of head-
of-government status.
In his ruling, Judge
Glasser pointed to the case
involving Ferdinand Marcos,
a former president of the
Philippines now deceased,
and his wife Imelda. They
were hounded down in the
U.S. court and had to seek
immunity from prosecution,
which was later waived by the
Philippine government.
"It would follow, there-
fore, that a similar waiver
asserted by the government
of Grenada depriving Dr.
Mitchell of the immunity he
might otherwise enjoy after
leaving office would permit
Mr. Howland to pursue his
claims in this action," Judge
Glasser explained.
"To be clear, this court
cannot hold that head of state
immunity does or does not


apply to for-
mer heads of
state because
that issue is
not yet ripe; if
the plaintiff
renews his
claim against
the Mitchells Mitchell
at a point in
the future
when Dr. Mitchell is no
longer the prime minister of
Grenada, the issue will then
be ripe."

LAWSUIT
Howling is suing Prime
Minister Mitchell and his
wife, along with his former
Ambassador Eric Resteiner,
the imprisoned international
fraudster, in connection with a
multi-million dollar mail and
wire fraud in which the busi-
nessman lost thousands of dol-
lars. Howland is alleging that
Mitchell and his wife benefit-
ed financially from the
Resteiner scheme.
The Grenada prime minis-
ter has publicly admitted
receiving "approximately
US$15,000" from Resteiner,
but Timothy Bass, the former
chief of security for the impris-
oned conman alleged that he
videotaped Mitchell in June
2000 collecting $500,000.00 in
a briefcase from Resteiner.
The money was allegedly
given in the form of a bribe
for Resteiner to obtain a
diplomatic posting, but Prime
Minister Mitchell has consis-
tently denied the claim.
0


U.S. to help CARICOM

fight region's drug trade
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, market provides weapons to
CMC The United States has terrorist groups, drug traffick-
announced that it will be pro- ers, gangs, and other criminal
viding assistance to Caribbean organizations," McCormack
community (CARICOM) said in a statement released by
states to help them battle the the U.S. Embassy here last
illicit trafficking in small arms month.
and light weapons in the He said under the agree-
region. ment, which came out of last
U.S. State Department March's meeting between
Spokesman Sean McCormack CARICOM foreign ministers
said under the CARICOM- and U.S. Secretary of State
U.S. Initiative to Combat Condoleezza Rice, concrete and
Illicit Trafficking In Small practical measures will be
Arms and Light Weapons, undertaken to address illicit traf-
Washington will be assisting picking in small arms and light
participating member states to weapons throughout the region.
address the problem. CARI- Recently, Barbados
COM states have often com- Foreign Minister Dame Billie
plained that they cannot fight Miller called on the United
the problem on their own. Nations and the international
"Illicit trafficking in small community to offer the region
arms and light weapons poses more assistance in fighting
a serious threat to the security illicit trafficking in small arms
of the Western Hemisphere and the illegal drugs trade.
because this thriving black 0


Geoffrey Edwidge Toni Nanette Jerry
Philp Danticat Simmons Orange Pinkney
0- rF -I


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CARIBBEAN TODAY

n e WS


LWW-crbbatoa.co


U.S. approves new passport card for travelers to the Caribbean


WASHINGTON The
United States Department of
State has approved a passport
card equipped with new fea-
tures to allow greater ease for
travelers to the Caribbean,
Canada and Mexico.
The department approved
the card on Dec. 31 that per-
mits information on it to be
read from a distance. But
critics say the new passport is
dangerous because it does not
do enough to protect personal
privacy.
Ann Barrett, deputy
assistant secretary for
passport services at the State
Department, said the cards
could be read from up to 20
feet away, and that processing
only takes one or two seconds.
"The card would not have
to be physically swiped
through a reader, as is the cur-
rent process with passports,"
she said in a statement.
Barrett said the chip on
the card will not contain biog-
raphical information, adding
that privacy protections will
be built into the card.
In 2004, the U.S.
Congress passed legislation
that called for a inTill r and
more convenient" passport
card for frequent border
crossers. Currently, immigra-
tion officers at ports of entry


swipe traditional passports,
for Americans re-entering the
country, through an electronic
reader.

'THREATS'
Critics have already
assailed the new technology
passport card, saying that it
does not sufficiently protect
nationals' privacy.
"(The technology is)
inherently insecure and poses
threats to personal privacy,
including identity theft,"
said Ari Schwartz, of the
Washington-based Center for
Democracy and Technology,
in a statement.
Schwartz said this specific
technology, known as "vicinity
read", is better capable of
tracking inventory rather than
people.
Effective Jan. 31,
American travelers returning
to the country from the
Caribbean, Bermuda, Canada
or Mexico will be permitted to
present a birth certificate and
driver's license instead of a
passport. Over the Christmas
holidays, the George W. Bush
administration delayed a
requirement that Americans
present passports when cross-
ing U.S. borders by land or sea.
Administration officials
said the measure requiring


passports will likely go into
effect at the end of next sum-
mer.
A provision of the
major end-of-year U.S.
Congressional budget bill


r n-mH^


Effective Jan. 31, American
travelers returning to the
country from the Caribbean,
Bermuda, Canada or Mexico
will be permitted to present
a birth certificate and dri-
ver's license instead of a
passport.

pushed back the plan by the
Department of Homeland
Security as a way of strength-
ening national security.

'NECESSARY STEP'
The Departments of State
and Homeland Security said
the change is a "necessary
step to prepare travelers and
ease the transition to the


future requirements of the
WHTI (Western Hemispheric
Travel Initiative).
"WHTI proposes to
establish documentation
requirements for travelers
entering the United States
who were previously exempt,
including citizens of the U.S.,
Canada, and Bermuda", they
said in a statement.
Currently, U.S. Customs
and Border Protection officers
may accept oral declarations
of citizenship from U.S. and
Canadian citizens seeking
entry into the U.S. through a
land or sea border. However,
the departments warned that,
as of Jan. 31, 2008, "oral dec-
larations of citizenship alone
will no longer be accepted.
"U.S. and Canadian citi-
zens, ages 19 and older will
need to present a government-
issued photo ID, such as a dri-
ver's licence, along with proof
of citizenship, such as a birth
certificate or naturalization
(L rilithdL_ the statement
said.
"Children, ages 18 and
under, will only be required to
present proof of citizenship,
such as a birth certificate", it
added.
0


Immigrants file

lawsuit to speed

up citizenship
SANTA ANA, California -
Even as Caribbean American
Congresswoman Yvette D.
Clarke has tabled a bill aimed at
reducing application backlogs
for immigrants seeking United
States citizenship, four immi-
grants have filed a federal law-
suit against delays in back-
ground checks performed by the
Federal Bureau of Investigations
(FBI).
The class action lawsuit was
filed last month in U.S. federal
court in Santa Ana, California,
by the National Immigration
Law Centre, a public interest law
group in Los Angeles, and the
American Civil Liberties Union.
It was filed on behalf of four
immigrants who have lived legal-
ly in the U.S. for many years and
are eager to become citizens.
The lawsuit seeks to
force U.S. Citizenship and
Immigration Services to
impose deadlines for complet-
ing all the checks and chal-
lenges the expanded searches.
By law, the agency is required
to decide on naturalization
petitions within 120 days after
the candidate passes that test.

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 6)


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January 2008





CARIBBEAN TODAY


KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC -
The Bruce Golding administra-
tion has appointed a former
Jamaica Labour Party senator
and Member of Parliament as
ambassador to the United
States.
Anthony Johnson, a sen-
ior lecturer in the Department
of Management Studies at the
University of the West Indies,
Mona campus, will succeed
Dr. Gordon Shirley, principal
of that campus, the govern-
ment announced last month.
Johnson, who holds a mas-
ter's degree in international
trade and finance and a bache-
lor's degree in economics from
the University of California, is
expected to assume the post
early in 2008.
Johnson was minister of


state in the 1980s in the
ministries of Industry and
Commerce, and Agriculture.
He was also Opposition
spokesman on a wide range of
areas, including education,
agriculture, mining, energy
and technology.
He served as senator for
several years, most notably as
minority leader of the Senate
during the past five years. From
1991 to 1995, Johnson served as
a member of the Electoral
Advisory Committee, the body
that sets election policy here.
He was also the executive
director of the Private Sector
Organization of Jamaica, as
well as an executive of a num-
ber of business concerns.
0


Immigrants file lawsuit to speed up citizenship


(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5)
DELAYS
After filing naturalization
petitions, each waited a year or
more without being approved
because the FBI has not com-
pleted the required criminal
record check, the suit said.
They have received no expla-
nation for the delays.
"I want to be assimilated
into the system here," said
Abbas Amirichimeh, a 41-year-
old immigrant from Iran, who
has been living legally in the
U.S. since 1994 and is a plain-
tiff in the suit. "I want to vote
for the president."
Prekash Khatri, the
ombudsman of the immigration
agency, said the FBI checks
"may be the single bi_.-_.-L,
obstacle to the timely and effi-
cient delivery of immigration
b ni I ii by the agency.
Congresswoman Clarke,
the daughter of Jamaican immi-
grants, who represents the pre-
dominantly Caribbean llth
Congressional District in
Brooklyn, New York, said her
bill in the U.S. House of
Representatives would address
the new bureaucratic backlogs
resulting from an unanticipated
flood of applications for citizen-
ship and "green cards" for
Caribbean and other immi-
grants. She told the Caribbean
Media Corporation recently
that it was important that immi-
gration authorities do all in
their power, as soon as possible,
to ease the huge backlog of
applications.
"Caribbean and other
immigrants are stuck in the
process of getting their status
adjusted because of this night-
mare," she said. "Their quality
of life is impacted significantly
because of this."

HEAVY WORKLOAD
Christopher Bentley, an


agency spokesman, acknowl-
edged a backlog but said the
cases were a relatively small
part of the overall workload of
background checks. Of more
than 1.5 million checks the
agency ordered from the FBI in
the year ending Sept. 30, 90 per-
cent cleared within six months,
he said. Of about 300,000 name
checks waiting to be completed,
Bentley said, about half have
been hung up in the system for
more than six months.
Bentley and FBI officials
declined to comment on the
lawsuit, saying it was pending
litigation.
Jim Moorhead, 56, another
plaintiff, is a British citizen who
said he had lived as a legal
immigrant in the U.S. for 30
years. In 1991, Moorhead was
named a citizen hero by Los
Angeles County when he cap-
tured an armed robber. A name
check delay has held up his citi-
zenship petition for two years.
"I've given 30 years of my
life to America," he said, "and
now I can't even do the right
thing by becoming a citizen."

CLEAN-UP
Clarke said her bill, the
Citizen and Immigrant Backlog
Immigrant Act, would clean up
the unnecessary bureaucratic
logjam.
"This legislation would put
the FBI, the Department of
Homeland Security, the
Immigration Service and other
agencies on the spot for erasing
the backlog within 18 months,"
she said.
The backlog could also
prevent Caribbean and other
nationals from voting in this
year's U.S. presidential elec-
tions. Immigrants must hold
U.S. citizenship in order to
vote in most elections, includ-
ing presidential elections.
0


MIAMI The United States
Coast Guard says it has repa-
triated over 200 Haitian
migrants to Port-au-Prince,
the Haitian capital.
Officials said in a state-
ment late last month that the
crew of the Coast Guard
Cutter Venturous repatriated
202 Haitian on Christmas Eve,
Dec. 24.
"Crew members from the
cutter Vigilant located a gross-
ly overloaded 40-foot sail
freighter approximately 33
miles south of Great Inagua,
Bahamas, (Dec. 22)", it said.
"Once located, the
Vigilant crew immediately
launched their small boat and
began taking the migrants off
the dangerous vessel".
The Coast Guard said 25
of the 227 migrants were
"uncooperative and refused to
disembark the sail freighter,
and the crew of the Vigilant
determined it was best to allow
the sail freighter to beach itself
on Isle de Tortue, Haiti".

ASSISTANCE
It said the crew of the
Venturous, while on a port call
in Dominican Republic, was
launched to assist and recover
the migrants from the Vigorous.
"A 40-foot boat over-


loaded, with 227 people, is a
disaster-at-sea waiting to hap-
pen," said Lieutenant
Commander Chris O'Neil,
public affairs officer for the
Seventh Coast Guard District,
based in Miami.
"Fortunately, the cutters
Vigilant and Venturous were
able to bring the migrants safely
aboard their decks," he added.
"The sea is an unforgiving
environment in the best condi-
tions, and setting to sea in a
grossly overloaded vessel is far
from the best conditions," he
continued.
He said once aboard
Coast Guard cutters, all
migrants are provided food,
water, shelter and any neces-
sary medical attention.

DISCRIMINATION CLAIM
Haitian immigration advo-
cates here say the U.S. discrim-
inates against their compatriots
by allowing Cubans, who reach
U.S. shores, to remain in the
country; while the same is not
done for Haitians. They said
The Cuban Migration Act of
1994 and 1995 have produced a
"Wet Foot, Dry Foot" policy.
This means the U.S. would
stop admitting Cubans inter-
cepted at sea, and Cubans
caught at sea, that is, with wet


feet, would summarily be sent
to Cuba. But those who reach
U.S. soil (dry feet) would be
permitted to remain in the
United States, and are eligible
to adjust their status to perma-
nent residence.
"This policy is in contra-
diction and violation of the
third provision of the Cuban
Migration Act of 1994, which
clearly states that, 'The United
States and Cuba agreed to
cooperate on the voluntary
return of Cubans who arrived
in the United States or were
intercepted at sea,'" said
Claude Louissaint, a human
services administrator for the
Broward County government
in Southern Florida.
"The unfair treatment of
Haitian migrants, in compari-
son to Cubans, leads one to
believe that many of the gains
ethnic minorities have made in
the areas of civil rights are
being reversed before our very
eyes," he added.
"The 'Anecdotal Wet Foot
Dry Foot' policy represents a
major deviation from the
American laws designed to
eradicate racial discrimination
and guarantee equal protection
under the law," he continued.
0


U.S. praises Guyana for fight against drug trade


GEORGETOWN, Guyana,
CMC After years of criti-
cism the United States govern-
ment says it can now laud
Guyana's fight against the
thriving illegal drug enterprise
and as a reward has tied the
level of future assistance to
commensurate improvements.
"I am very heartened to
see that Guyana has doubled
the number of interdictions in
the drug trade this year with
the security forces being more
aggressive," said United States
Ambassador to Guyana David
Robinson.
The U.S. envoy here said
U.S. government officials
"understand how tough it is to


extradite someone and we are
not at all disappointed with
the co-operation we are get-
ting from the
government of
Guyana."
Guyanese
authorities are
boasting of a
handful of drug
interdictions in
2007, which is
a major Robinson
improvement.
Scores of locals are currently
facing illegal drugs charges
overseas after passing frisking
by the police; sniffer dogs and
electronic surveillance at the
Cheddi Jagan International


Airport (CJIA) at Timehri,
south of the capital.

SATISFIED
The U.S. government, in
its annual reports the last two
years, has publicly cited
Guyana as a major trans-ship-
ment point in the multi-billion
dollar illegal drugs trade, and
criticized the government's
response. This time though
Robinson said Washington is
satisfied with the level of
cooperation his country is
receiving from Guyana in rela-
tion to the illicit trade and
extraditions.
0


The Law Offices of

Michael Shane P.A.
Immigration Attorney
NOW TWO CONVENIENT LOCATIONS
9100 S. Dadeland Blvd. Penthouse 2, Suite 1810
Miami, Florida 33156
Tel: (305) 671-8777
BROWARa/PALM Bn\CH ORICE:
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Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33309-2181
Tel: (954) 772-8782
Please call for an ,i/r/nineint
You may obtain free Written information regarding any lawyer or law firm by
calling or writing to the lawyer or law firm during regular business hours.
www.shanelaw.com
.=__ Know Your Rights and Fight


Ex-senator appointed Jamaica's

new ambassador to the U.S.


N eWS f l

Over 200 Haitians repatriated on


Christmas Eve U.S. Coast Guard


January 2008





CARIBBEAN TODAY


NEWS


U.S. Congress honors Haitians who fought in Revolutionary War


WASHINGTON The
United States Congress has
honored Haitian soldiers
who fought for America's
Independence during the
Revolutionary War.
Florida Democratic
Congressman Kendrick Meek,
of Miami, introduced a resolu-
tion in the U.S. House of
Representatives commemo-
rating the courage of Haitian
soldiers who fought on behalf
of the U.S. in the ,kgL of
Savannah" during the
American Revolutionary War.
Meek introduced the reso-
lution on Dec. 19, the same day
that Haitians marked their
Independence and the renunci-
ation of slavery. Haiti celebrates
its Independence as the first
free Black Republic on Jan. 1.

MONUMENT
In October, the Haitian
American Historical Society, a
Miami-based nonprofit organ-
ization, erected the Savannah
Monument Project in Franklin


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Square, in Savannah, an his-
toric city in Georgia. The soci-
ety raised more than $400,000
in private donations to fund
the monument, and worked
alongside Savannah leaders.
Meek, who represents one
of the largest constituencies of
Haitian American voters in
Miami, said that the heroism
displayed by Haitian soldiers
in Savannah, during the
American Revolutionary War,
is a m,,irt L of great inspira-
tion and pride for Haitians.
"Haitians bled for our
country, and the Savannah
Monument Project and this
congressional resolution help
honor the sacrifice of these
brave Haitians who played a
part in the founding of our
great democracy," he said.
"Thanks to the tireless
efforts of the Haitian
American Historical Society,
which initiated the effort to
build the monument, this
great achievement will be rec-
ognized by the U.S.


Caribbean votes against U.N.

moratorium on death penalty
QTED NATIONS The Massimo D'Alema, Italy's for-
ribbean community (CARI- eign minister, speaking on
)M) has registered its strong behalf of the E.U., an ardent
position to a United Nations proponent of the death penalty,
n-binding resolution calling dismissed the allegations.
a moratorium on the death "The resolution is not an
nalty. interference," he said.
Claiming that the General "But we call on each
sembly vote attempts to member state of the United
dermine its sovereignty, Nations to implement the reso-
LRICOM has strongly lution and also to open a
'tested the initiative, joining debate on the death penalty.
er 65 countries that either "The moratorium is an
posed or abstained from the important opportunity for inter-
e. national debate," he continued.
Some 104 countries sup- Twenty-seven E.U. mem-
rted the resolution, while ber-states voted for the mora-
voted against it, and 29 torium, along with over a
stained. dozen Latin American coun-
The resolution called for tries and eight African states.
moratorium on executions, The United States, Singapore,
h a view to abolishing the Egypt and Iran joined CARI-
ath penalty". COM in opposing the meas-
"Capital punishment ure.
nains legal under internation- Over 100 countries are
aw, and Barbados wishes to said to retain the death penalty
;rcise its sovereign right to on their statutes, while about
it as a deterrent to the 133 have either abolished it in
st serious crimes," said law or practice.
)hammed Degia, Barbados's Despite the controversy,
t secretary to the U.N., U.N. Secretary-General Ban
ose country was among vocif- Ki-moon welcomed the adop-
us opponents of the measure. tion of the resolution, stating
"Beyond all of this, is the that he was "heartened by
iple fact that the question of signs that capital punishment
death penalty is basically will eventually be abolished
e of criminal justice, as worldwide.
forced and upheld within "Today's vote represents a
ional legal systems," he bold step by the international
led. community," he said.
"I am particularly encour-
'CUSATION aged by the support expressed
CARICOM accused devel- for this initiative from many
ed countries, particularly diverse regions of the world.
)se in the European Union, "This is further evidence
attempting to impose their of a trend towards ultimately
1 on them and threatening to abolishing the death penalty."
hdraw aid if they voted 4
[inst the initiative. But


Monument in Savannah, Georgia honoring Haitians.


Congress," he added.

FIGHTERS
Meek said that on October
9, 1779, the soldiers of
Chasseurs-Volontaires de


Saint Domingue (Haiti) served
as the largest unit of soldiers of
African descent to fight in the
Siege of Savannah, alongside
American and French forces.
"The Savannah Monument


represents the free black men
of Haiti that helped America
win its Independence from
British rule," said Daniel Fils-
Aim6, chairman of the Haitian
American Historical Society.
"I am grateful to the city
of Savannah for this overdue
recognition."
The monument was
designed by Miami sculptor
James Mastin and consists of
four life-size figures in mili-
tary uniforms. One is wound-
ed, one is shooting, and anoth-
er is cocking his gun. The
fourth figure is a 12-year-old
drummer boy, a representa-
tion of Henri Christophe, who
later became Haiti's ruler after
freed slaves successfully
staged their own revolution
against France.
*


Judge grants bond to U.S. immigration agent

accused of raping Jamaican woman


MIAMI A United States
federal judge here has ruled
that an immigration agent
accused of raping a Jamaican
woman while she was being
held in detention can be
released on bond.
Judge Peter Palermo last
month granted a $50,000 bond
for Immigration and Customs
Enforcement agent Wilfredo
Vazquez, who allegedly raped
the 39-year-old Jamaican
woman while she was being
moved from a detention facili-
ty in Miami.
Assistant U.S. Attorney
Ben Greenberg, however,
argued that Vazquez, 35, is "a
danger to the community and
a risk of flight" and, therefore,
should be kept behind bars
until trial on sexual battery
charges.
But Vazquez's attorney
Howard Schumacher coun-
tered that Vazquez should be
released, noting he had 16
years of military service,
including being a decorated
veteran of the war in Iraq. He
served there between Dec.

f'-------


2002 and Feb. 2004, he said.
When Vazquez was arrest-
ed on Nov. 16, he was working
as an active Air Force military
police officer in Tampa,
Florida.

ACCUSATION
Court records indicate
that Vazquez allegedly drove
the Jamaican woman from a
Miami-Dade detention center
to one in Broward County
but, on the way, he took her to
his home and raped her.
The woman said she was
"afraid" of Vazquez, accord-
ing to the criminal complaint,
and "emphasized that
Vazquez was wearing his
firearm, at all times, and she
did not know what he was
capable of doing to her."
The woman was being
processed at Krome detention
center in Miami for transfer to
one in Pompano Beach,
Florida after being sentenced
to time served in connection
with a false claim to U.S. citi-
zenship. Immigration officials
said they plan to put her in


deportation proceedings. She
has lived in the U.S. for 12
years.




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Callers beware: pre-paid cards failing


to deliver on promises to consumers


TALLAHASSEE, Florida -
Callers to the Caribbean often
view pre-paid telephone cards
as a way to make talk cheaper.
But those phone cards may
not deliver services as
advertised to consumers,
according to Florida's Public
Service Commission (PSC).
Investigators from the
PSC recently conducted ran-
dom service quality checks on
calling cards issued by 10
firms in Florida, United
States. During these checks,
PSC investigators found sever-
al cards that did not function
as advertised.
According to PSC rules,
the card provider must be reg-
istered with the PSC if the
card can be used for intra-
state calls. The PSC must also
be notified of all charges, sur-
charges, and fees for the pre-
paid card, and this informa-
tion must also be disclosed to
the customer at the point of
purchase.

PROBLEMS


the card's network was contin-
uously busy;
* The card advertised no con-
nection fees, yet charged dis-
connection fees, misleading
consumers;
* The advertised per minute
rate on the card only applied
to one call. Additional calls
were charged at a much high-
er rate;
* The advertised rate only
applied to limited areas, which
was not disclosed; or
The card did not work
at all.


investigation of consumer
fraud is warranted.
If a consumer detects a
violation of a card's disclosed
fees or any additional prob-
lems, they should call the PSC
at 800-342-3552 to register a
complaint. The consumer
may also take the card back
to the point of purchase and
attempt to obtain a refund.
If consumers are consider-
ing using a pre-paid telephone
card, here are a few tips:
* Read the fine print before
buying a card;
* Be sure you understand
exactly what the calls will cost,
including the per minute
charge and any connection or
disconnection fees;
* Check the card's expiration
date;
* Look for a toll-free cus-
tomer contact service number
to call if you have problems
using the card; and
* Make sure the card can be
used to your calling destina-
tion. Fees may vary based on
calling destination.


Problems with the prepaid WARNING For more tips on using
cards included: If a violation is detected, pre-paid phone cards,
* The company was not regis- the PSC sends a letter to the brochures in English and
tered with the PSC; card issuer directing the com- Spanish are available on the
* The card was not charging pany to come into compliance PSC's website at www.flori-
for calls as expected; and notifying it that fines may dapsc.com. Consumers can
* The addition of unadver- be assessed. Inter-state and also call the PSC's consumer
tised surcharges and limita- international results from the line at 800-342-3552 (Spanish
tions was not disclosed; investigation are being shared agents available).
* The access number for with Florida's attorney general
to determine if any additional

MGIION Getting 'U' status in the United States

I I R T state, or local law enforcement try is justified on humanitarian
official that demonstrates the grounds to ensure continuation
P IC ORNER petitioner "has been helpful, is of a cohesive family
Ihina helnfnul or is likely to be Note that no fee will be


QUESTION: How does one
become eligible for 'U' nonim-
migrant status?

ANSWER: The Untied States.
Citizenship and Immigration
Services (USCIS) is publishing
an interim final rule that will
grant certain immigrant victims
of crimes who will assist govern-
ment and law enforcement offi-
cials in investigating or prosecut-
ing the criminal activity, a visa
called the "U" visa.
To be eligible, USCIS offi-
cials say the immigrant must have
suffered substantial physical or
mental abuse as a result of hav-
ing been a victim of a qualifying
criminal activity. Additionally, he
or she must have information
concerning that criminal activity;
be helpful in the investigation or
prosecution of the crime, which
must have violated the laws of
the U.S.
The petition for U nonimmi-
grant status must be filed by the
immigrant victim who must pro-
vide a U Nonimmigrant Status
Certification (Form 1-918,
Supplement B) from a federal,


helpful" in the investigation or
prosecution of the criminal activi-
ty Qualifying criminal activity
includes: Abduction, incest, rape,
sexual assault, torture, murder,
trafficking, false imprisonment,
perjury, female genital mutila-
tion, domestic abuse, blackmail,
abusive sexual contact, witness
tampering, prostitution, slave
trade, sexual exploitation and
involuntary servitude among
other related crimes.
Further, either the head of the
agency or a supervisor designated
with the authority to issue certifi-
cations on behalf of the agency
must sign the certification.

APPLICATION
Currently, USCIS has desig-
nated its Vermont Service
Center as the centralized loca-
tion to receive all U nonimmi-
grant petitions. USCIS can grant
up to 10,000 'U' visas each year
authorizing the holder to remain
in the U.S. for up to four years.
The immigrant can them apply
for permanent residency status,
but the agency will have to
determine that the individual's
continued presence in the coun-


charged for filing Form 1-918.
Petitioners must, however, pay
the established fee for finger-
printing services for each person
aged 14 to 79 included with each
petition. The biometric fee is
currently $80 per person.
"Many immigrant crime vic-
tims fear coming forward to
assist law enforcement because
they may not have legal status,"
explained USCIS Director
Emilio Gonzalez. "We're confi-
dent that we have developed a
rule that meets the spirit of the
Act; to help curtail criminal
activity, protect victims, and
encourage them to fully partici-
pate in proceedings that will aid
in bringing perpetrators to jus-
tice."

Compiled by Felicia Persaud.
Answers provided here are for
information purposes only, and
do not create an attorney-client
relationship; nor are they a sub-
stitute for "legal advice", which
can only be given by a compe-
tent attorney after reviewing all
the facts of the case.
0


Social Security's retirement

benefits at your fingertips

ALFREDO BROOKS


The following are questions
and answers relating to Social
Security issues in the United
States.

QUESTION: My parents have
been asking me to help them
with their retirement plans. I
know Social Security is closed
during holidays. Is there any
way I can help them out over a
holiday weekend?

ANSWER: Yes our website,
www.socialsecurity.gov/online-
services, is ready to assist you.
You can visit our online retire-
ment planners to help them find
out their full retirement ages
and information to help them
determine when the time is
right to apply for benefits. And
if that time is now, you can even
help them complete and submit
their application for retirement
benefits online. Visit
www.socialsecurity.gov/online-
services to get started.

Q: My wife worked for a num-
ber of years. We noticed in her
most recent Social Security
statement that she is only three
work credits shy of qualifying
for Social Security retirement
benefits. Can we voluntarily
contribute money directly to
Social Security so that she will
have retirement benefits cover-
age?

A: No. People cannot get addi-
tional Social Security credits by
voluntarily contributing money
directly to Social Security. They
can earn credits only by working
in a job or business covered
under Social Security. However,
even if your wife does not have
her own Social Security cover-
age she may be eligible to
receive Social Security benefits
based on your work record.

Q: What is the absolute earliest
age that a person can retire
under Social Security?

A: An eligible worker may
start receiving Social Security
retirement benefits as early as
age 62. However, if you start
your benefits early, they are
permanently reduced for each
month before your full retire-
ment age. For example, if your
full retirement age is 66 and
you sign up for Social Security
when you're age 62, you will
only receive 75 percent of your
full retirement benefit.
For more information
about the relationship between
age and benefit payment
amounts, you can visit the
Social Security website at
www.socialsecurity.gov/retire-
ment. Or you can call Social
Security's toll-free number at 1-
800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-325-
0778) and ask for the publica-


Social Security benefits can make
retirement enjoyable.
tion, "Retirement BLI n1 IN .

Alfredo Brooks is a Social
Security public affairs special-
ist based in Orlando, Florida.
,




Street Address:
9020 SW 152nd Street, Miami, FL 33157
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 6010
Miami, FL 33116-6010.
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E-mail: editor@caribbeantoday.com
Send ads to: ctads@bellsouth.net
Vol. 19, Number 2 JAN. 2008

PETER A WEBLEY
Publisher

GORDON WILLIAMS
Managing Editor

SABRINA FENNELL
Graphic Artist

DOROTHY CHIN
Account Executive
SUNDAY SELLERS
Account Executive

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Caribbean Media Source
Media Representatives
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Kingston 8, Jamaica
Opinions expressed by editors and
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Caribbean Today, an independent
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January 2008





CARIBBEAN TODAY


11 6 n t T 91


LWW-crbbatoa.co


Caribbean-born kids among those at risk for lead poisoning in N.Y.


NEW YORK Immigrant
children are five times as like-
ly as United States-born chil-
dren to suffer from lead poi-
soning in New York City,
according to a new Health
Department study. The risk is
highest among the most recent
immigrants.
The new study of children
tested for lead poisoning in


2002, published online in the
American Journal of Public
Health last month, found that
children who had lived abroad
within the previous six months
were 11 times as likely as
U.S.-born children to have
lead poisoning.
The most affected chil-
dren were from the
Dominican Republic, Haiti,


Mexico and Pakistan -
nations where lead may be
less tightly regulated than in
the United States. The study
is the first to look at lead poi-
soning in New York City's
immigrant children.
Lead-based paint is the
primary cause of lead poison-
ing for both U.S. and foreign-
born children in New York


Health screening tests everyone needs


The new year is here and
maintaining proper
health should be on
everyone's priority list.
For the following diseases,
the United States Preventive
Services Task Force states that
there are effective screening
tests and that people should
get them:

Cervical cancer The task
force strongly recom-
mends screening for
cervical cancer in
women who've been
sexually active and
have a cervix until the
age of 65. However,
the panel also points
out that there is no
direct evidence that \
annual screening *
achieves better health
outcomes than screen-
ing every three years.
Most medical organiza-
tions in the U.S. rec-
ommend that annual
Pap smears be per-
formed until two or 4
three in a row are nor-
mal; after that, the
interval between


screenings may be
lengthened.


Colorectal cancer Men and
women 50 years of age or older
should get screened for colorectal
cancer. According to the American
College of Gastroenterology, peo-
ple should get either a colonoscopy
every 10 years or a sigmoidoscopy
and a test to detect blood in the
stool every five years.
High blood pressure Adults


ages 18 and older should be
screened for high blood pres-
sure, but there's no agreed-
upon interval between tests.
One influential report recom-
mends screening every two
years for people who have
blood pressure lower than
130/85 and at more frequent
intervals for people with high-
er baseline readings.


Women ages 40 and over should get a mammogram
every one to two years.


Lipid disorders The task
force strongly recommends
cholesterol testing in men ages
35 years and older and women
ages 45 years and older who
have heart-disease risk factors
such as diabetes, hyperten-
sion, or a family history of car-
diovascular disease. The task
force makes no recommenda-


tion for healthy younger
adults in the absence of
known risk factors for
coronary heart disease.

Breast cancer Women ages
40 or older should get a mam-
mogram every one to two
years.

Osteoporosis Women ages
65 and older should be
screened routinely for osteo-
porosis. (Screening should
begin at age 60 for women
identified as being at
increased risk for fractures.)
The optimal interval for
repeat screening is not clear,
according to the task force.

Tobacco All adults should be
asked by their doctors
whether they use tobacco, and
smokers should receive an
intervention designed to end
their tobacco habit.

Alcohol All adults should
receive screening and behav-
ioral counseling interventions
to reduce alcohol misuse by
adults, including pregnant
women, in primary care set-
tings.

Obesity The task force rec-
ommends that clinicians
screen all adult patients for
obesity and offer intensive
counseling and behavioral
interventions to promote sus-
tained weight loss for obese
adults.
0


City, but immigrant children
may face additional lead
threats in their home coun-
tries, according to the study.
Of the 800 lead poisoned chil-
dren requiring home investi-
gations in 2006, Health
Department staff identified
lead paint hazards in 80 per-
cent of U.S.-born cases, but
only 65 per cent of foreign-
born cases.
While it is not possible to
document the exact sources of
lead exposure for these immi-
grant children, other research
has shown that pollution,
foods, herbal medicines, dish-
es, toys, jewelry, and cosmetics
are sources of lead in foreign
countries.
"This study 1u1I-,_'L"I that
immigrant children are being
exposed to lead in their home
countries before they arrive in


Leighton


New York City," said
Jessica Leighton, Deputy
Commissioner of
Environmental Health and
co-author of the study. "And
some immigrant families may
be bringing tainted products
with them to New York City.
We encourage all parents,
especially parents who are
recent immigrants, to be sure
their children are tested for
lead poisoning at ages one and
two, as required by law."
The Health Department's
most current statistics show
that while only 14 percent of
the city's children were born
outside the U.S., 18 percent of
lead poisoned children with
lead levels requiring home
investigation were foreign-
born.
0


A. Taylor, M.D.


Board Certified
Plastic Surgeon


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1-1-9


January 2008






CARIBBEAN TODAY


2007: A year when the Caribbean broke new ground in sports, trade


PETER RICHARDS

Intense political drama, high
profile legal battles, turbulence
in the regional air transport
sector and the signing of a new
comprehensive trade pact with
former colonial powers in
Europe dominated the land-
scape in the Cribbin, but
2007 will long be remembered
as the year in which the region
hosted a major global sporting
event.
For nearly two months of
an event-filled year, the
Caribbean
stepped on to
the world stage
to host the ..
Mar. 13 to
April 28
Cricket World
Cup, which was
played in nine
countries after Woolmer's death
the hosts met overshadowed
what many Cricket World Cup.
skeptics said
would have been an impossible
deadline to complete an
impressive list of new stadia
in the participating states.
Impressed with the working of
many of the systems during the
event, CARICOM leaders,
meeting two months after the
teams departed the region and
the spotlight had shifted, made
a decision to maintain many of
the structures set up for the
global event.

MARRED
The death of Pakistan
cricket coach Bob Woolmer,
however, overshadowed the
Cricket World Cup in the
region. Jamaican pathologist
Dr. Ere Seshiah kept to his
claim that the former England
cricketer had been strangled
even though other pathologists
found that Woolmer had died
of natural causes when he was
found in his hotel room on
Mar. 18. The inquest into his
death did not shed much light
on the situation.
The controversial
Economic Partnership
Agreement (EPA) signed with
the European Union just weeks
before the yearend deadline
might not have been the bigg.LI
headline grabber, but it may yet
be the 2007 event which most
defines the future of these
Caribbean states still proceed-
ing along an ambitious path to
merge their markets and
economies. While, as expected,
Caribbean governments lauded
the accord, there were others,
such as the Barbados-based
Caribbean Policy Development
Centre (CPDC), that argued
that the agreement fell short of
answering many of the critical
sustainable development chal-
lenges facing the region and has
little with which to move it
beyond a traditional Free Trade


Agreement (FTA).
The EPA, which Europe is
negotiating separately with the
79-member African, Caribbean
and Pacific (ACP) group of
states, replaces a special export
regime for cane sugar and
other economically critical
goods from these countries that
had been in place since the
mid-1970s. But supporters and
critics alike agree that the EPA
pact would strongly influence
how the region conducts future
trade and economic relations
and some prominent
Caribbean nationals, including
Professor Norman Girvan, the
former secretary general of the
Association of Caribbean
States (ACS), had called for a
postponement of the Dec. 31
deadline for signing the EPA.

ELECTIONS
General elections were
held in The Bahamas, Jamaica,
Trinidad and Tobago, Turks
and Caicos, the British Virgin
Islands and Bermuda in 2007.
Jamaicans swept aside their
first woman Prime Minister,
Portia Simpson Miller, in favor
of Bruce Golding, whose
Jamaica Labour (JLP) was able
to squeeze out a two-seat
majority in the 60-member
Parliament. The victory by the
JLP followed a similar pattern
in The Bahamas, where Prime
Minister Perry Christie and his
Progressive Liberal Party
(PLP) were replaced by Hubert
Ingraham's Free National
Movement (FNM), and in the
British Virgin Islands, where
the main Opposition Virgin
Islands Party (VIP) won 11
of the 15 seats in that British
Overseas Territory.
Patrick Manning stemmed
the hemorrhage of incumbent
parties falling out of grace with
the electorate and was sworn in
as prime minister of Trinidad
and Tobago for a fourth term,
one day after his People's
National Movement (PNM)
swept aside the United
National Congress (UNC) and
the Congress of the People
(COP) in the Nov. 5 general
elections.
By yearend, Premier Ewart
Brown followed Manning and
led his Progressive Labour
Party (PLP) to a third succes-
sive victory over the main
Opposition United Bermuda
Party (UBP) in Bermuda.
A new prime minister was
sworn into office in St. Lucia in
2007. Stephenson King took
over the reigns of government
nine months after the 82-year-
old Sir John Compton, who
had defied the odds, led the
United Workers Party (UWP)
to victory over the St. Lucia
Labour Party (SLP). Sir John,
who led the country for over 30
years as chief minister, premier
and prime minister at various


periods, died in September
after a protracted illness that
included a series of minor
strokes and pneumonia.
In Belize, where Prime
Minister Said Musa is gearing
for general elections in 2008,
two government ministers were
dismissed because they were
not present
when the
Opposition
sought to
move a vote of
no-confidence
in the Musa
administration.
The year
also ended King took over in
with much St. Lucia.
speculation
that Prime Minister Dr. Keith
Mitchell will call early general
elections in Grenada, particu-
larly after the latest opinion
polls had shown his ruling New
National Party (NNP) had
rebounded sufficiently to be
in a position to defeat the
National Democratic Congress
and the Grenada United
Labour Party (GULP).

U.S. LINK
In 2007, the Caribbean
sought to improve its relation-
ship with its most powerful
neighbor to the north the
United States. Regional leaders
traveled to Washington D.C. in


Golding


June for the inaugural
Conference on the Caribbean
that also included discussions
with President George W. Bush
and senior U.S. officials,
including influential lawmakers
in the Congress and Senate.
The communique issued after
the meeting with Bush noted
that the leaders pledged to
continue promoting the consol-
idation of democratic norms,
values, and institutions
throughout the hemisphere and
to enhance accountability and
respect for individual rights.
Not to be outdone, newly
elected Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper visit-
ed the Caribbean and outlined
a 10-year plan for a new eco-
nomic partnership with CARI-
COM that includes assistance
for member states as they
make the transition towards
the CSME.
But even as Washington


was outlining plans to help the
region deal with threats of
terrorism and crime, four
Caribbean nationals were
arrested in Trinidad and
Tobago and the U.S. on
charges of seeking to blow up
the John F Kennedy (JFK)
International Airport in New
York. A magistrate court in
Port of Spain ruled that a
prima facie case had been
made out against Trinidadian
Kareem Ibrahiim, 62, former
Opposition legislator in
Guyana Abdul Kadir, 55, and
another Guyanese national
Abdel Nur, 57, who were
arrested in June and charged
with conspiring to "cause
death, serious bodily injury and
extensive destruction" by blow-
ing up the fuel supply to the
airport. The men arrested in
Trinidad have since challenged
their extradition and by
yearend the matter was still
being heard in the courts in
Trinidad.
In Suriname, the highly
anticipated trial of 25 people
implicated in the Dec.1982
extra judicial killing of 15 politi-
cal opponents of the then mili-
tary regime of army command-
er Desi Bouterse began in
November. In Grenada, a rul-
ing by the London-based Privy
Council, the island's highest
court, paved the way for the
release of some of the men con-
victed for the 1983 murder of
then left-wing Prime Minister
Maurice Bishop and several
members of his Cabinet. The
Privy Council ruled that the
death sentence imposed on the
former Deputy Prime Minister
Bernard Coard and several oth-
ers was invalid and ordered
that the men be re-sentenced.
Trinidad and Tobago's
Chief Justice Satnarine Sharma
escaped impeachment after a
tribunal appointed to investi-
gate charges of judicial inter-
ference, in a case involving for-
mer Prime Minister Basdeo
Panday, found there was not
sufficient evidence to warrant
his removal from office.
Panday was subsequently sent
to jail for breaching the
Integrity Commission rules by
failing to declare millions of
dollars he had in banks in
London. He is out on bail
appealing that decision.
Even some of the region's
high profile entertainers went
before the courts in 2007. In
Jamaica, Moses "Beenie Man"
Davis was charged with tax
evasion amounting to J$30 mil-
lion ($400,000), while the
Trinidadian soca artiste Machal
Montano was released on
TT$50,000 ($8,300) bail as a
result of an altercation outside
a night club in Port of Spain.
Other artistes, including Kernel
Roberts, the son of the late
calypso legend "Lord


q


m


January 2008


Kitchener" (Alwyn Roberts)
have also been charged.

BORDER CLASH
A ruling by the Hague-
based Permanent Court of
Arbitration was interpreted by
both Guyana and Suriname as
a victory of sorts for each other
in their longstanding border
dispute. In its ruling, the
United Nations tribunal
slapped both Suriname and
Guyana for failing to do their
utmost to resolve the dispute
according to established inter-
national prac-
tices. By
yearend,
Guyana was
seeking an
explanation
from Venezuela
over a military
incursion into
its territory and Bouterse is on trial.
Suriname said
it wanted an amicable border
agreement with French
Guiana.
As the Caribbean states
sought to tighten their borders,
efforts to establish a single
Caribbean carrier were again a
dominant agenda item in 2007.
Caribbean Airlines, the new
Trinidad and Tobago-based car-
rier, which replaced BWIA,
took to the skies in January, but
Air Jamaica, the region's single
largest carrier, said it was not
prepared to participate in any
single regional airline, while
Guyana and a Canadian-based
firm have started talks to estab-
lish a national carrier by 2008.
High airfares, accompa-
nied the buy-out of Caribbean
Star by the regional airline
LIAT and the Antigua-based
airline defended the increase,
saying it was "appropriate and
1LjihnIk But by yearend,
some Caribbean governments
were complaining loudly of the
monopoly situation created by
the multi-million dollar pur-
chase of Caribbean Star assets.
While the region was
spared the annual onslaught by
hurricanes and other weather
patterns last year, Hurricane
Dean and tropical storms Felix
and Noel did much to cause
more than 60 deaths, mainly in
Haiti. The murder of police
officers in Jamaica, the death
of escaped prisoners in Guyana
as well as civilians at the hands
of Trinidad and Tobago police
underscored the ongoing crime
problem in the Caribbean.
The release of journalist
Mark Benschop in Guyana on
treason charges under a
Presidential Free Pardon masked
the relationship between the
media and Caribbean govern-
ments in 2007.

- CMC
0


I








Jar EnTE RT n i n m TOA


N.Y. City Council honors Irving Burgie Reggae gets international focus

~ Music composer with Caribbean ties gets Big Apple recognition at UWI confab in Jamaica, Feb. '08


NEW YORK New York City
Council has honored the com-
poser of Barbados's national
anthem and a host of Jamaican
and Caribbean folk songs.
Irving Burgie received
the council's proclamation on
Dec. 19 during an elaborate
Christmas celebration ceremo-
ny at New York City Hall
presided over by three
Caribbean Council members -
Leroy Comrie, of Jamaican
parentage; Vincentian Dr.
Kendall Stewart; and Haitian
Dr. Mathieu Eugene.
The council said Burgie,
also renowned as the composer
of "Jamaica Farewell" and
"Day-O", was awarded the
proclamation "in tribute to his
lifetime of musical and philan-
thropic contributions".
"The incomparable Irving
Burgie continues to serve as a
source of tremendous pride for
Caribbean nationals across the
diaspora," Comrie told those
attending the ceremony.
"He is a role model for
aspiring singers and composers
in our city and across the


world."
Burgie composed about 34
songs for singer Harry
Belafonte, of Jamaican parent-
age, between 1955 and 1960.


These included 11 songs on
the 1956 Belafonte album
"Calypso", which remained
number one on the Billboard
charts for 32 weeks and was
the first album of any kind to
sell over one million copies.
Burgie also composed other
songs for Belafonte, such as
"Island in the Sun", which was
the title of the 1957 hit movie.


In 1966, Burgie composed
the words for the national
anthem of the newly,
Independent nation of
Barbados. His songs have
sold over 100 million records
worldwide, and his music has
been performed by artistes
around the globe.


BelaTonte


Burgie has also penned
songs for the Kingston Trio
and many other groups. His
songs have been featured in
numerous films and music

(CONTINUED ON PAGE 12)


The worldwide impact of
Jamaica's reggae music
will be the focus of a
weeklong international con-
ference in the Caribbean
island next month.
The University of the
West Indies' Institute of
Caribbean Studies and the
Faculty of Social Sciences at
Mona will host "Global
Reggae: Jamaican Popular
Music A Yard and Abroad"
Feb. 18-24.
The conference, which
will feature attractions at
other venues in Jamaica as
well, is the third in a series
focusing on Caribbean cul-
ture. The first, held in 1996,
honored Professor Rex
Nettleford, UWI's vice-chan-
cellor emeritus. The second, in
2002, celebrated the work of
the Barbadian griot/historian,
Professor Kamau Brathwaite.
This third conference, to
be held in association with the
Recording Industry
Association of Jamaica
(RIAJam), the Jamaica
Cultural Development
Commission, the Bob Marley
Foundation, and the Jamaica
Tourist Board, will pay tribute
to the generation of musicians
who have created reggae -
Jamaica's distinctive contribu-
tion to world culture icons
such as Count Matchuki, Don
Drummond, Count Ossie,
Mrs. Pottinger, and Prince


Marley helped reggae captivate the
world.
Buster.

RATIONALE
The conference, coupled
with associated reggae con-
certs, will consolidate and dis-
seminate knowledge on the
global impact of Jamaica's dis-
tinctive musical contribution
to world culture. It hopes to
build on the foundation of the
1995 symposium that was held
at UWI, Mona, co-sponsored
by the Reggae Studies Unit
and the Bob Marley
Foundation, to celebrate the
50th anniversary of the birth
of Jamaica's premier cultural
ambassador Bob Marley.
The 2008 conference will
provide an opportunity for
musicians, scholars, cultural
practitioners and entrepre-
neurs from Jamaica and
around the world to reflect on
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 12)


S several major
cultural
events are
on tap in the
Caribbean this
winter season,
offering visitors
additional rea-
sons to journey
to the region.
Among them are
the following:
* The St. Barth's Hugh Masakela
Music Festivl Hugh Masakela
Music Festival, ing in the Carib
Jan. 11-13 -
Offers a variety of musical
styles, including jazz and clas-
sical. Check www.stbartsmu-


KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC -
International reggae and
dancehall artiste Moses
Davies, popularly known as
Bennie Man, is seeking to
make arrangements to clear
his multi-million dollar tax
debt, his lawyers have report-
ed.
The lawyers, in an
appearance before the Tax
Court last month, disclosed
that they are planning to meet
with the tax authorities
regarding the J$47 million
($661,000) in income tax
which the Tax Department
says it is owed.
The artiste is trying to
obtain documents from his


a will be among the international stars perform-
bean.
sicfestival.org for details.
Barbados Jazz Festival,
Jan. 14-20 The website,


Beenie Man


former management company,
Shocking Vibes, which will
assist him to make a case


www. barbadosjazzfestival. co
m, offers a listing of the
artistes scheduled to be on
show.
* The Air Jamaica Jazz and
Blues Festival, Jan. 24-26 -
Scheduled headliners include
Diana Ross, Anita Baker, Taj
Mahal, Jill Scott, Hugh
Masakela and Spyro Gyra.
Visit www.airjamaicajaz-
zandblues. com/08
* The St. John Blues Festival,
Mar 19-23 is slated for the
Virgin Islands. Visit
www.stjohnbluesfestival. com/
bf/blueshome.
0


before the Tax Department,
the lawyers said. They told the
presiding judge that once the
documents are obtained,
arrangements will be made to
settle the debt.
Beenie Man was taken
into custody in October after
he failed to appear before the
Tax Court to answer charges
of tax evasion. The entertain-
er has blamed his former man-
agement company, Shocking
Vibes, for his dilemma, claim-
ing the company was responsi-
ble for paying all his taxes.
He is scheduled to return
to court on Jan. 22.
0


* TITLE: CONNE
* AUTHOR: CLA
KING-WELCOME
* REVIEWED BY
GORDON WILL

When Carolyn Rob
cated to Watertown
fresh on her future,
n't possibly have er
signed the deep,
disturbing links to
her past that the
move would cause.
In
"Connections",
Jamaican-born,
Florida-based
author Claudette
King-Welcome
takes Carolyn
through a journey
that is deliciously
intriguing, if some-
what farfetched. It
one of broken fami
dreams, spiced with
redemption, and gl
er in the end by lov
It serves up a few s
well.


ECTIONS For those into romance
UDETTE novels, packaged with tissues
E for tears, "Connections" is a
r: nice pick-up.
AMS Carolyn, who tells the
story, is a single, career-orient-
)inson relo- ed, near-40, white woman who
i to start was raised by a single mom,
, she could- Elizabeth Robinson. She longs
ivi- for love and eventual-
.v findsit in Larry, an
,ambitious landscaper
.f, a, nd a black man with
A t M i wo grown children.
lie is also raised by
a lone woman,
Gracie Mae Tare.
At first Carolyn
wiggles to fit
uneasily into her
new community,


isU
lies and
h shots at
ued togeth-
'e and faith.
hockers as


B*which is balanced
unevenly on class
barriers and
racism, while
cementing a friendship with
her elderly neighbor Cassie
Brandon, a lonely widow.
The fairy tale tone of
"Connections" kicks into gear
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 12)


Music fests spice up Caribbean

destinations this winter season


A twisting tale of deception,

intrigue and true love


Beenie Man seeking to clear off tax debt


January 2008


CARIBBEAN TODAY








-us.


T&T's 'Queen


places fourth


ARTS & E nTERTAI n m ENT


i of the Caribbean' Miami-Dade releases

in 'Miss World' bid countywide art guide


PORT OF SAIN, Trinidad,
CMC Trinidad and Tobago's
Valene Maharaj was crowned
"Queen of the Caribbean"
and placed fourth in the 2007
"Miss World" competition in
Sanya, China last month.
Some 106 contestants par-
ticipated in the competition,
which was won by the
People's Republic of China's
Zhang Zilin. It is the first time
an East Asian has won the
contest.
Angola's Micaela Reis
took the first runner-up spot
with Mexico's Carolina Moran
Gordillo coming in as second


runner-up.
In an interview published
in the Trinidad Express last


month, an ecstatic Maharaj
said: "It's been a great experi-
ence. I enjoyed every minute
of it."
Maharaj's name was the
fourth to be called when the
finalists were announced. The
order was Angola, China,
Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago
then Sweden. Minutes earlier
she had made it to the top 16
finalists, which included
Maharaj, who is a runway
fashion model, has been in the
beauty industry since age 16.


A twisting tale of deception, intrigue and true love


(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11)
at a town ball when sparks
between Larry and Carolyn
first fly. The seemingly too-
good-to-be-true courtship
between the two sets a neat
base for the intrigue that is to
come later. The novel takes a
steady boil, but when it finally
does, the temperature becomes
almost irresistible. At first, only
the new couple seems in favor
of the relationship. Cassie and
Elizabeth both frown on it.
"Mama was not happy when I
told her about Larry being
black," said Carolyn. Gracie
Mae seemed more accommo-
dating, while Larry's daughters
eventually come around.
Brief forays into Carolyn's
working life by King-Welcome


help to diversify the plot, but
hardly disturbs the main
course. The plot takes a while
to develop and small pieces
knit together to form the big
picture. Eventually, it all
comes to a head in a near-sud-
den whoosh! Family lines are
crossed up. Sordid memories
surface or are forced out.
Bam! An elderly woman
bloodies another's nose. Old
time ,hi iUL and scandal in di
family" stirs up all kinds of
emotional turmoil.

TALENT
King-Welcome has sure-
fire talent as a storyteller. But
"Connections" somehow rings
with a "where have I heard
that before?" feel. It seems


drenched with that "Lifetime"
television channel flavor.
The editing could have
done far more justice to the
novel. A sprinkling of poorly
placed punctuation marks and
the occasional wrong use of
words show that someone took
their eyes off the ball while
working on a more-than-wor-
thy project.
Yet credit King-Welcome
for a bold try. The author of
"Paper Thoughts", a collection
of poems, clearly understands
how to pull the dots together to
make pleasing "Connections".

Gordon Williams is Caribbean
Today's managing editor.


N.Y. City Council honors Irving Burgie


(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11)
videos, with "Day-O" being
the "wake-up call" for the
astronauts on the space shuttle
Atlantis in 1997.

CARIBBEAN TIES
Burgie was born in
Brooklyn, New York, in 1924,
but his mother was Barbadian.
He grew up surrounded by
people from the Caribbean.
After serving in the United


States Army during World War
II, Burgie studied music at
Julliard School of Music in
New York, the University of
Arizona and the University of
Southern California. He was
influenced by folk music, and
began performing and writing
songs. In the early 1950s, he
began performing in C('li.g,
and New York, u <,llb,< ralini.
during this time, with Louise
"Miss Lou" Bennett, the late,


renowned Jamaican folklorist.
He also assumed the name
"Lord Burgess".
Last year, Burgie was
inducted into the Songwriters
Hall of Fame.
He is a frequent visitor to
Barbados, where he has estab-
lished the Irving Burgie Literary
and Creative Scholarship
Awards for the last 28 years.
0


MIAMI The Miami-Dade
County Department of
Cultural Affairs has produced
and released "Selections from
the Miami-Dade County Art
in Public Places Collection", a
new publication designed to
provide citizens and visitors
with a guide highlighting pub-
lic art works throughout the
county.
The 60-page booklet fea-
tures many of the program's
most prominent and popular
works of public art, including
pieces located at the Port of
Miami, Miami International
Airport, Carnival Center for

"This new publication is one
of many steps being taken
to demonstrate the impor-
tance of a public art pro-
gram"
Carlos Alvarez

the Performing Arts,
Downtown Miami and loca-
tions throughout Miami-Dade.
"Selections from the
Miami-Dade County Art in
Public Places Collection" fea-
tures locator maps and
addresses of public art proj-
ects, brief descriptions of the
works and full color images.
The brochure offers residents
and visitors the opportunity to
conduct self-guided tours of
the collection and to learn
more about our county-wide
inuim u m of art, created by


(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11)
and document the global
impact of reggae. Keynote
speakers from each continent
will share their perspectives
on the ways in which
Jamaican reggae has been
appropriated and adapted in a
variety of cultural contexts.
The conference will also
examine the local impact of
the reggae music industry in


St.



-



Alvarez
Miami-Dade-based artists and
others from all over the world.

COMMITTED
"We are committed to
making Miami-Dade County's
Art in Public Places program
a national model of opera-
tional efficiency, artistic quali-
ty and programmatic account-
ability," Miami-Dade County
Mayor Carlos Alvarez said in
a press released issued by the
county recently.
"This new publication is
one of many steps being taken
to demonstrate the impor-
tance of a public art program
and to emphasize the high
standards that we have set for
the future of the program."
To request a copy of
"Selections from the Miami-
Dade County Art in Public
Places Collection", call 305-
375-4634 or visit
culture@m iam idade.gov.
F


Jamaica and assess ways in
which the Jamaican economy
can benefit more directly from
the investments of intellectual
property in this vibrant multi-
national industry.
For more information,
call 876-977-1951 or e-mail
globalreggae2008@uwi-
mona.edu.jm
W


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8212 W. FLAGLER STREET
MIAMI, FL 33144

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for your FREE consultation about our services 16260 N.E. 13TH AVENUE
(305)444-7799NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FL 33162

(305)444-771


Reggae gets international focus

at UWI confab in Jamaica, Feb. '08


CARIBBEAN TODAY


January 2008





CARIBBEAN TODAY


...........


CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT
Your next hotel might
not be a hotel. It could
be a condo, a rental
apartment or a home.
And maybe it should be.
It isn't just that traditional
hotels, inns and resorts turn
off many travelers. There are


Linda Frappia, a healthcare
manager from Irvine,
California. She has rented
homes in Europe with two
bedrooms and kitchens for as
little as $500 a week during off-
season. That's about as much
as it costs for a comparable
suite in a nice hotel for one
night.


Sometimes a cozy bed and breakfast is better than staying at a hotel.


plenty of reasons to check out
of the lodge these days -
through-the-roof room rates,
being nickeled and dimed for
every little extra item and
the alternatives are often
roomier, less expensive and
more convenient.
No one is predicting the
demise of the hotel industry.
Not by a long shot, but when
it comes to overnight accom-
modations on your next trip,
you might consider an alter-
nate to a traditional hotel.
Here are five reasons why:

Lots and lots of room -
Renting a house or condo
almost always gives you more
room for less money. That's the
experience of travelers like


More privacy Hotels are, by
their very nature, public
places, from the lobby to the
exercise rooms. If you want to
go somewhere where you don't
have to rub shoulders with the
masses, you'll want to skip the
hotel. The solution was to rent
an apartment, which means,
"comfort without intrusion".
A better place Hotels are
expensive. Even cheap hotels
can be pricey, once you factor
in taxes, "resort" fees and
other surcharges. But that's
not necessarily the case with
one of the popular hotel alter-
natives.
You can go native Most
hotels are built in resort areas,
and it's difficult to get a feel for


what a place is really like when
you're miles away from any
residents. But rent a condo,
home or apartment, and
you're more likely to be right
in the middle of everything.

Extra flexibility Hotels have
rules. Some of them are very
strict. For example, say you
want to take the whole
family including grand-
ma and grandpa on your
next vacation. Don't try
squeezing everyone into a
hotel room, or even a
suite. But rent a home or
an apartment, and no one
is likely to tell you to cap
the number of guests, or
threaten you with a sur-
charge if there are too
many people in the place.

REALITY CHECK
This is not for every-
one. Some travelers will
still be more comfortable
in a traditional hotel. For
example, business travel-
ers who are in town for
just a few days will proba-
bly want to stay away
from a condo or a home
exchange. It's not worth it for
them. Darryl Cohen, an attor-
ney in Atlanta, explains his
preference for hotels as fol-
lows: "I'm well taken care of,
and if there is a problem, a
staff member is available to
remedy the situation."
But the longer I watch
these non-hotel alternatives
develop, the more convinced I
am that they represent the
future of lodging. In other
words, for a lot of travelers,
staying at the inn is out.

Edited from Christopher
Elliott's travel troubleshooter
column. Elliott is the
ombudsman for National
Geographic Traveler maga-
zine. 2007 Christopher
Elliott. Distributed by
Tribune Media Services, Inc.



Grenada not banning

gay cruises


ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada,
CMC The Grenada govern-
ment has announced that it
would not prevent several
cruise ships carrying gay pas-
sengers from docking at Port
St. George over the next few
months.
A statement from the
Ministry of Tourism last month
said there has been a negative
fallout as a result of reports in
the foreign press Mu--'lin,
that the country was moving to
ban gay cruises to the island.
Cruise liners, Queen Mary
2 and Legend of the Seas have
scheduled cruises with gay pas-
sengers to several Caribbean
countries, including Grenada in
December, January, February
and March. Officials were par-
ticularly upset about a headline
appearing in the online edition
of the Toronto Star newspaper,
which read "Grenada consider-
ing ban on gay i. ri,,I .
"The Ministry of Tourism
views with concern the recent
negative and adverse reactions
being promoted in some sec-
tions of the media on the per-
spective visit of homosexual
visitors to our island," said the
statement read by Permanent
Secretary Arlene Buckmire-
Outram last month, following
several days of consultations
on the matter involving
tourism officials and various
stakeholders.

CONCERN
"Equal of concern are the
negative reports which have
now appeared in the foreign
press stating that Grenada has
barred gay cruises from dock-
ing in our island," said
Buckmire-Outram following a
discussion with media repre-
sentatives and tourism stake-
holders.
Tourism Minister Dr.
Clarice Modeste Curwin also
complained that inaccurate
reports Lui--, lin, that


Grenada was planning to ban
gay cruises to the island have
led to a number of cancella-
tions at local hotels. Dr.
Modeste Curwin told
reporters that persons have
also protested by dispatching


Modeste Curwin


letters to the Canadian gov-
ernment asking that country
to cut aid to St. George's.
"As a result of this the
numbers of hotels have had
cancellations and this does not
augur well for our tourism
sector," the statement said.
"The ministry therefore
wishes to make it clear that the
cruise lines which regularly
visit Grenada and are sched-
uled to do so during the cruise
season are important to all of
us and as such we will continue
to welcome all visitors and we
will work along with our popu-
lation to ensure that their time
and ours will be enjoyable."
Cruise ships carrying gay
passengers have visited
Grenada many times before,
but the news that large num-
bers of them are scheduled to
visit over a four month period
has created a major stir here
and has sparked a raging
debate in the country. Sections
of the society, including reli-
gious organizations, have
voiced strong opposition to
the planned cruises.
0


CALL TODAY!!


305-308-8296

flreo.co@gmail.com
www.flreo.net


Peter Pestano


Inn is out: Five reasons to skip a hotel


E Katy Sorenson
Miami-Dade County I
Commissioner District 8 I


Mom and Pop Small Business Grant Program
for Miami-Dade County, District 8
Grant funds available to qualifying business owners
Up to $5,000 for commercial business or
Up to $2,000 for home-based business
Applications will be accepted January 14 to January 28,2008
Applications available for download at: www.miamidade.Qov/district08
Applications are also available at:
Chamber South, 6410 SW 80 Street, South Miami, FL 33143
Greater Homestead/Florida City Chamber of Commerce, 43 N. Krome Ave., Homestead, FL 33030
Economic Development Council of South Dade (EDC), 900 Perrine Ave.. Palmetto Bay, FL 33157
Unique Coalition of Minority Businesses (UCOMB), 17510 S. Dixie Highway, Miami, FL 33157
Team Metro Kendall, 11609 N. Kendall Drive, Miami, FL 33183
Team Metro South Dade, 20505 S. Dixie Highway, Ste. 1623, Miami FL 33189
Previous recipients are NOT eligible for funding. Applications must be mailed or hand delivered at any of the above
listed locations on or before January 28, 2008, by 5:00 PM
Any business that is awarded a grant must attend an informational workshop.
For more information, contact Alfie Sergio (Commissioner Sorenson's District office) at 305-378-6677 or
Ms. Lawanza Finney, Neighbors And Neighbors (NANA) at: 305-756-0605 from 10 a.m. 4 pm
All applications will be subject to selection committee review.


We are the authority on

Stopping Foreclosuresl


January 2008





CARIBBEAN TODAY


FOOD


*OV Vt,, -


January 2008


Ifr -
'-.. ~~E;>)
~ 4
-cc Oct -


I ww.caibeatoa.comI


B'dos Opposition backs regional food plan


BRIDGETOWN, Barbados,
CMC Opposition Leader
David Thompson believes it's
iunirLiik, for Barbados to
meet its own food require-
ments, but has expressed con-


fidence that a regional food
plan, which takes into account
the vast resources of Guyana
and Trinidad, could satisfy the
island's needs and that of its
neighbors.


"There are vast areas of
land in Guyana, there is vast
potential for agricultural pro-
duction in Trinidad, there is
vast potential for agricultural
production throughout the


Miami Dade College


region, not
only for
export, but to
help feed our
own people
within the
region,"
Thompson
told the Thompson
Caribbean
Media Corporation (CMC).
He was speaking ahead of
last month's special summit of
Caribbean community
(CARICOM) leaders in
Guyana called specifically to


discuss the high cost of living
in the region, which currently
imports about $3 billion a
year in food.
Agreeing that something
must be done urgently about
the problem, Thompson called
for a more large scale "region-
al cooperative venture" that
would allow Caribbean
nationals to source cheaper
items, including, but not limit-
ed to food stuff.
0


Each campus will award one scholarship for in-state tuition, fees and books for the
summer or fall term. Refreshments will be served. Win door prizes!


Who should attend?
* High school students, parents, high school personnel and anyone interested in starting a new career
* Currently enrolled students interested in a Medical Center Campus program
* Students interested in a bachelor's degree in Education. Public Safety Management or Nursing
You will have the opportunity to:
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film and video, health care and tourism.
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* Learn about student organizations and activities
* Attend sessions on financial aid, scholarships and admissions
* Tour the campus
Reserve your spot now!
To reserve your spot or get more information visit
www.mdc.edu/openhouse or call 305.237.8888
If you have special needs or questions concerning accessibility, call the campus you plan to visit at least three days
prior to the event.


Is canned fish good


for the heart?


DR. THOMAS LEE

Question: I know that eating
fish is good for the heart. But
fresh fish costs a lot and I
can't get to the grocery store
very often. Does eating
canned fish help?

Answer: Canned
salmon, tuna, sar-
dines, kippered her-
ring, and other types
of fish are pretty
much on a par with
fresh fish. They give
you as much heart-
healthy omega-3
fatty acids as fresh
fish, and sometimes
more. These essen-
tial oils help prevent
potentially deadly
heart rhythms. They
also work against
inflammation and
the formation of
blood clots inside Canned fish
arteries.
An Italian study published
in 2001 found that people who
ate fresh or canned fish at
least twice a week were 30
percent less likely to have had
heart attacks as those who ate
fish less than once a week.
Whenever possible,
choose fish packed in water.
Since water and oil don't mix,
omega-3 fats remain locked in
the fish. When fish is packed


in oil, some of the omega-3
fats intermingle with the pack-
ing oil and are lost when the
oil is drained.
About the only downside
of eating canned fish is the
extra sodium it contains. You
can get more than 300 mil-
ligrams of sodium one-sev-


enth of a healthy daily ration -
from three ounces of canned
salmon or tuna. Rinsing the
fish can help a bit.

Dr. Thomas Lee is editor in
chief Harvard Health Letter.
2007. President of Fellows
Harvard College. All rights
reserved. Distributed by
Tribune Media Services.
0


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CARIBBEAN TODAY


GORDON WILLIAMS
Fitzroy Salesman has
made history for a lot of
right reasons in the
United States. A Caribbean
American man who fashioned
himself into a popular South
Florida politician, he earned
himself a seat on Miramar's
City Commission.
A few years ago, Salesman
was part of a trio of Jamaican-
born men who held the major-
ity on the elected commission,
the first time English-speaking
Caribbean Americans had
achieved such a political feat
in the U.S.
But in recent times
Salesman has been making
history for the wrong reasons.
He has been involved in a few
skirmishes with the law, which
threatens his political legacy
and also the reputation of
Caribbean Americans every-
where.
In 2005 Salesman was
suspended from the city
commission by Florida's then
Governor Jeb Bush after
being charged with driving
under the influence of alcohol
and evading cops. His police
station mug shot showed a
man looking disoriented. The
outspoken politician seemed
to have taken a mighty fall.
But Salesman rebounded. Last
year he was cleared of those
charges and reinstated to his
$31,599-a-year job by current
Governor Charlie Crist. Lost
wages were reimbursed, legal
fees taken care of. Salesman
said he felt vindicated.
The whole thing had
blown over and Salesman was
once more in the clear. That
is, until the most recent inci-
dent. Salesman, 50, is facing
firearms-related charges based
on accusations that he alleged-
ly pulled a gun at a man while
at a South Florida store.
Again, Florida's governor has
suspended Salesman from
Miramar City Commission
duties. Again Salesman is get-
ting ready to face the court
system. Again his political
future and his freedom are
at stake.

DAMAGE
What is to be made of
this? In the U.S., a person is
supposed to be innocent until
proven guilty in a court of law.
But that has not stopped a few
things from happening in
Salesman's case. Although he
is an American citizen,
Salesman is repeatedly
referred to as the Jamaican-
born Miramar city commis-


sioner. He can't escape the tag
and that casts a shadow on the
Caribbean American commu-
nity as well. Also, Salesman's
connection to the Caribbean
only fuels the snickering from
some who believe that people
from the region who settle in
the U.S. are often unable to
handle the same success they
so desperately seek.
It is difficult to fully
understand the damage that
Salesman's latest legal woes
can cause to the Caribbean
American community. But
rest assured there will be
some damage. Miramar is a
fairly affluent community with
a huge Caribbean American
population. Many there are
eager to support their own,
especially in achieving politi-
cal office. But if Salesman's
mug shot continues to show
up on police blotters for all
the wrong reasons, will it be
fair to ask those same resi-
dents to stand behind him
when he again seeks their
support?
How long will it be before
Caribbean American voters
start thinking that maybe their
elected officials should be
spending more time serving
their community than fighting
personal legal battles?

NO RUSH
No one should rush to
judge Salesman. It does not
matter how many times he has
to face the court. The system
will be enough judge for him.
As far as we know, he is inno-
cent.
Yet maybe it is time that
Salesman does some reflection
into his own conduct. He
should be aware of the
Caribbean saying that "if it
nuh go suh, it go near", which
loosely indicates that even if
the charges do not stick, they
leave a mark.
Salesman, by virtue of his
popularity and clout, is capa-
ble of creating a hugely posi-
tive image of Caribbean peo-
ple in the U.S. He has lobbied
for Caribbean people in the
U.S. to be able to represent
the governments of the region
in matters relating to the U.S.
government. I suspect that he,
if he can only stay off the
police blotters, would value
himself as one who could do a
good job at that.
And make the right kind
of history.


Gordon Williams is Caribbean
Today's managing editor.
0


VI E W PO I N T


What's going on


Mr. Salesman?


Last month I touched on
the subject of husband
training by wives. The
indignity of it all, some men
say, as wives are so much trou-
ble.
Yet, some men marry not
only consecutively, but concur-
rently, having more than one
wife at the same time. Imagine,
the idea of men having more
than one wife, when in fact
they often complain how one
wife gives so much trouble.
The acquisition of multiple
wives is as old as time itself. It
has been practiced throughout
history by people of many
nations and religions, large and
small. It is recorded in the Bible.
The more the merrier, and if
kings David or Solomon could
speak right now, they'd both say,
"It's good to be the king."
In this modern day,
polygamy is still practiced by
some, even in the great U.S., as
many religious groups and sects
live the life they love, and love
the wives they live with. It is a
pure and honest expression of a
man's love for his wives.
Meanwhile, the rest of society
lives under the veil of hypocrisy,
as men take vows with one wife
but keep another on the side.
There is this television
series called "Big Love", that
explores this very same phe-
nomenon, that of a man with
his three wives and how they
interact and co-exist amicably
and civilized. It is almost every
man's dream, to be able to
have three wives out in the
open, with no jealousy or
problems.
-\ln, multiple wives
is the way to go, all of the
pleasure, none of the giutr,
that's civilised living."
In parts of Africa,
men are still allowed to
have many wives, as long
as they can afford them.
Each wife knows her place
and the pecking order is
maintained. In the West,
the principle remains the
same and the 'wives' are
as loyal and devoted to
their husbands as their
African counterparts.
They know where he is at
all times, as he is always at
the first, second or third
wife's house. How many
wives in our neck of the
woods can purport to
knowing where their hus-
bands are at any given
time?
In multiple marriages
there is no need for dis-
honesty, as all the parties
know what the deal is, and
they know exactly what
they were getting into.

BENEFITS
The benefits to multi-
ples are many, with the


mm www .caibeatoa.com*


man has a
choice of dif-
ferent wives
whenever he
pleases. All
the wives
know their
schedule and
fit right in, or
TONY if he wants to
ROBINSON keep it even
more sponta-
neous and
real, he has no schedule, but
just pops in and spends the
night with whichever wife who
strikes his fancy. A life of per-
manent booty calls. Because of
this heightened sexuality, the
marriages are kept fresh, alive,
spontaneous, and honest.


It is with pleasure that we pause from
our usual routine to say



for your friendship, goodwill and loyalty.
May the happiness and good cheer of the
Holiday Season be yours throughout the
New Year.


(6outecalf/ f/te Cwari6tean,


first being sex. Yes, sex, that all
important ingredient of any
successful marriage. In
monogamy, sex wanes, even
slightly, although many lie and
say that it isn't so, but in multi-
ples it is heightened, and here's
why: Whether you like to hear
it or not, people crave sexual
variety, and it's not gender
related either, as women also
fall into this category. Some are
shackled by so called morality
however, while others don't
venture because of fear.
But take those away and
we would all sleep with
whomever, whenever we want-
ed to. For this reason, people
have affairs, as the need for
sexual variety beckons.
With multiples, this hunger
and thirst are satisfied, as the


^^^^k^ -^^


Multiple wives, multiple crosses


January 2008





CARIBBEAN TODAY


-usw^caribbeantodj..c..


VIE U PO I n T


* "The backlog,
under the
requirements of
the Western
Hemisphere
Travel Initiative
(WHTI), is outra-
geous" -
Caribbean American
Congresswoman Yvette D.
Clarke calling for a moratorium
on all new passport rules in the
United States.

* "We, more than most, have
tasted God's goodness" Jessica
Odle, Barbados's New York con-
sul general, highlights the
Caribbean s blessings in her
( I. liia.,i message.

* "Haitians bled
for our country"
- Congressman
Kendrick Meek,
who last month
introduced legisla-
tion in the US.
House of
Representatives honoring the
c ',irribira 'ns of Haitians in
America's Revolutionary War.

* "We really feel like we have
the upper hand here" Mark
Mendel, a United States-based


lawyer, who is representing
Antigua and Barbuda, said the
twin-island state is looking for-
ward to receiving a huge com-
pensation from the US. in its
Internet gambling trade dispute
with Washington.

* "Because of a long-standing
attitude of that European coun-
try, which has always said that it
does not favor the involvement
of other cultural agencies and
entertainers in its market, it has
firm restrictions so Europe has
put up barriers to liberalizing
the market for our cultural
workers and entertainers" -
CARICOM ( I,.i, .-o, Owen
Arthur last month revealing that
one country (France) virtually
stood in the way of the
Caribbean completing the
Economic Partnership
Agreement with the European
Union.

* "Governments are designed to
create and follow rules and
because tourism involves cre-
ativity, thinking outside of the
box, the bureaucracy in govern-
ment can slow down progress" -
Caribb'ean Tourism Organization
(CTO) Secretary General
Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace last
month advising Caribbean gov-
ernments not to get too involved
in the day-to-day running of their
vital foreign exchange earning
tourism sectors.


* "Any first year
law student would
know that this
case was frivo-
lous, vexatious,
non meritorious
and designed to
harass a sitting
prime minister" Grenada's
Attorney General Elvin Nimrod
saying it is wrong for anyone to
object to Prime Minister Dr.
Keith Mitchell being granted
immunity from prosecution in a
United States court.

* "Normally, a grand jury will
indict anything or anyone,
including a ham sandwich" -
Anthony Capetola, a New York-
based attorney, explaining why
the murder case against his
Trinidadian-born client Kelly
Forbes, was not strong. Forbes
was arrested and charged with
manslaughter for killing her hus-
band of three months.

* "You can't look that far in
advance. Anything can happen.
I'm just taking it one day at a
time" Bahamian high jump
world champion Donald
Thomas last month playing
down focus on the Beipiag
Olympics next summer as he
looks to the start of 2008.

* "The situation at the WICB is
not conducive to productivity and
if there isn't a change the prob-
lem will continue to exist" -


Bruce Aanensen,
former chief exec-
utive officer of the
West Indies
Cricket Board,
expressing his
view last month
that the number of
directors on the WICB is too large
and causes problems to players
and management. He also feels
there is also too much interference
from the directors of the WICB.

* "When you add to that the
number of persons who are
coming back in our country who
may not have jobs, who are dis-
located from their family mem-
bers, who are angry at being
returned then we have another
social problem" Dr. Ann-Marie
Barnes, the technical director in
Jamaica's Ministry of National
Security, highlighting the strain
on regional local law enforcers
caused by the influx of deportees
to the Caribbean from developed
countries.

* "The passing of the generation
of charismatic leaders who com-
manded and expected loyalty
and the rise of a generation of
technocrats in their stead pro-
vides no easy answers" -
Professor Alan Cobley, a
University of the West Indies offi-
cial, lamenting the high level of
disenchantment among young
voters in the Caribb'ean, which he
said could cripple democracy in


the region.
* "It smacks of desperation. The
prime minister is clearly hoping
to hide behind the season" -
David Cr mi..i ng, leader of the
fledgling People's Empowerment
Party (PEP), criticizing the pre-
( I'iu;'h,i, announcement of gen-
eral elections in Barbados by
Prime Minister Owen Arthur as
a de'librart attempt by the gov-
ernment to '.., t ,. ,.. ,, 'public
debate leading up to the poll
scheduled for this month.

* "There is always the balloon
effect. Wherever you put pres-
sure, they go somewhere else" -
Vito S. Guarino, assistant special
agent in charge of the US. Drug
Enforcement Agency's (DEA)
Caribbean Division, said much
of Colombia's cocaine now
comes to the southern coast of
Hispaniola, via Venezuela.

* "Failure to stop these activities
is an offense under section 68(7)
of the Act and is punishable
upon conviction by a fine or
imprisonment or both" The
Fi,, io. i,d1 Service Commission in
Jamaica issuing an order last
month for the investment scheme
Cash Plus Limited to immediate-
ly cease and desist its securities
trading activities umnil the compa-
ny obtains the required license.

Compiled from CMC and other
sources.
0


Multiple wives, multiple crosses


(CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15)
With multiples there is no
need for dL.Lpiini no need for
lies, no need for n,1_,_ini Ah
nl_-ini_- the bane of marriages,
the weapon of wives, the alba-
tross of husbands. One would
think that with three or more
wives, the mathematical per-
mutation of ll'inll_ would
increase proportionally. But
not so, and that is the beauty of
multiples, for with multiple


wives, the very reason for nag-
ging is taken away. No more is
there a need to ask, "So where
yu was, who yu was with,
what's her name, are you sleep-
ing with her?" That is the
domain of the so called sole
wife, she who is insecure and
needs to have and to hold her
husband close to her bosom
when she feels like it.
There is sexual blackmail
that single wives are famous


for. With multiples, if, heaven
forbid, one wife decides to
withhold her sexual favours, all
the husband has to do is visit
any of the others. This leads to
a happy contented husband
who may even forgive that
errant wife her misdeeds. In
fact, she would think twice
before trying that stunt again,
as she knows that if he doesn't
eat at her home he always has
another home to eat from.


Just think of it, a world
with no mistresses, no guile, no
guilt, no lying about coming
home late, no tears. The
phrase, cheating husband
would be stricken from our
vocabulary. But there are also
negatives to multiples, a down-
side, although the pros may
very well outweigh the cons.

EXPENSIVE
First of all, it can be an
expensive undertaking, as each
wife and indeed each house-
hold will have to be maintained
equally. You very well can't
have one wife living in a decent
upscale apartment, while the
others exist in squalor.
Therefore, each house has
to be financed equally. That's
three more rents or mortgages
from one man, not an easy task.
That's why polygamy is usually
reserved for the privileged
among us, the kings of old, the
tribal chiefs, the affluent.
But at least it will be out in
the open, unlike the victims of
monogamy who have to hide
their financial statements as
they cloister away their mistress
in a hidden apartment, hoping
that the wife never finds out.
Also with multiple wives, the
man has to be virile, as each
wife is expecting her just
rewards.There can be no sexual
fatigue or inequality on his
part, or multiple love will


quickly turn to multiple crosses.
Imagine one wife getting more
than the others, or him not
being able to perform at all?
But truth be told, with the
variety offered up to him, just
like a boxer who gets many
prize fights, he will be kept in
peak condition, always sharp,
at the top of his game and
won't need much stimulation.
Then there will be children,
for each household will have
many, and he will have to be a
good father to them all, helping
with homework and stuff. But
come to think of it, that sce-
nario occurs in so called monog-
amous society, with men having
separate families, complete with
children, albeit squired away in
some secret suburb.
Still I say, big up multiples,
and even though many of you
ladies may be fuming as you
disagree with me, almost every
man I know would vote for it.
Plus if you really gave it serious
thought, you may even agree
for the above reasons no
lying, no deception no suspi-
cion. And you would always
know where he is.
Hail multiples, but don't
you ladies even dare think about
taking multiple husbands; it goes
against the laws of nature.

seidol @hotmail. com
0


Most of us try to attract other people by the friends
AN W E TA we keep and the way we carry ourselves. If you
SWare going to a party or a formal function, don't you
dress well? We all want to promote a favorable
impression of ourselves to other people we meet
S and talk to.

If we agree on that, then think of this. Why should it
be any different for your business? If you want to
project a favorable image of your company, in
order to win customers, you should keep your com-
pany with good friends and... dress your company
well in...


/l ll Carib~aIb" day
Peter A. Webley, C I .I
Publisher Consistently credible
For information, please call
305-238-2868, or fax 305-252-7843


January 2008






CARIBBEAN TODAY


Remittances to Caribbean slowing ~ World Bank


NELSON KING

WASHINGTON The World
Bank says that while the
Caribbean and Latin American
region remains the largest recipi-
ent of recorded remittances,
growth of remittances to the area
has slowed in recent months.
"Flows to Latin America
and the Caribbean slowed on
the back of a weakening U.S.
(United States) economy and
tighter enforcement of immigra-
tion laws", the bank explained
in a statement last month.
"Although remittances to
the Latin America and the
Caribbean region continued to
increase in 2007, including in
Mexico, their rate of growth
has slowed markedly, raising
concern over the long-term
sustainability of remittance
flows", it added.
Nevertheless, the World
Bank said the growth of remit-


A weakening U.S. economy has helped
slow remittances to the Caribbean.
tances to developing countries
remains robust because of strong
growth in Europe and Asia. It
said the remittance industry is
experiencing some po, i,\
structural changes"with the
advent of cell phone and
Internet-based remittance
instruments.
"The diffusion of these
changes, however, is slowed by
a lack of clarity on key regula-
otincm including thoPe relatin


tlILOU ggIILILILI. IILIILO, I aLIt Ilg,

Daughter of slain revolution

extends olive branch to fath


ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada,
CMC -The daughter of slain
former Grenada Prime Minister
Maurice Bishop has extended
an olive branch to her father's
killers.
Nadia Bishop called on
Grenadians to join her in for-
giving former Deputy Prime
Minister Bernard Coard, ex-
army strong man Hudson
Austin, and the other 15 people
convicted for the murder of
Bishop and several members of
his Cabinet in 1983.
Bishop, 39, said she was
speaking for herself and her
family and not on behalf of
other family members who lost
relatives during the political
unrest in Oct. 1983.
"This invitation is not
designed to provide a reason to
judge those who are not ready to
forgive or to reconcile. It has


taken me 24 years to get to his
point," said Bishop, a United
States-based lawyer.
"Everyone needs the time
that they need and no one should
be judge by anybody else's time-
line, especially not the family
members of those who were killed
on October 19."

TURNAROUND
Political observers say her
declaration is
of major signif-
icance and a
complete turn-
around from
the bitterness
and anger that
spurred many
families to
publicly cam- Maurice Bishop
paign for the
killers to
remain in jail for the rest of their


to money laundering and other
financial rii,, ', it stated.
"Remittance costs have
fallen, but not far enough,
especially in the South-South
corridors".

RISE
The World Bank said
remittance flows to developing
countries are expected to reach
US$318 billion in 2007. Of this
amount, remittances sent home
by migrants from developing
countries are expected to
exceed $240 billion in 2007, up
from $221 billion in 2006 and
more than double the level
reached in 2002, it said.
"This amount reflects only
officially recorded transfers-the
actual amount including
unrecorded flows through for-
mal and informal channels is
believed to be significantly
larger", the bank stated.



ary leader

er's killers
natural life.
"I am here today because I
have come to the conviction
that my father would be very
unhappy to know that 24 years
later that the people of
Grenada, whom he considered
his family, are still fighting and
having divisions amongst them-
selves in the name of Brother
Bishop," she said. "This is not
what he would have wanted."
The young Bishop was
joined by Marcel Belmar, whose
sister, Jema, was among those
killed during the palace coup in
1983. While Belmar, who has
been at the frontlines of protest
against the killer's freedom from
prison, has had a change of heart,
other family members were said
to be unhappy with the position
taken by the young Bishop.
0


PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad,
CMC An international tri-
bunal has found that the case
brought against Chief Justice
Satnarine Sharma over allega-
tions of judicial misconduct
was weak, clearing the way for
him to resume his duties.
Sharma, 64, was suspended
from office on June 13, 2007
allowing the tribunal to begin
its task of investigating a claim
made by Chief Magistrate
Sherman McNicolls that he
(Sharma) had attempted to
influence his decision in the
trial of former Prime Minister
Basdeo Panday.
The international tribu-


oriv Qamekunhs Mo.


nal, headed by retired Privy
Councillor Lord Michael
Mustill, and
A -*a included St.
Lucian jurist
Sir Vincent
Floissac Q.C.
and Jamaican
jurist Dennis
Morrison
Q.C., found
Sharma insufficient
evidence to
recommend to the president
that the question of Sharma's
removal be forwarded to the
Privy Council for final deter-
mination.
0


Olive Chung-James, M.D.

Board Certified Family
Physician
children adults *gynecology
weight management


A Dr. Chung-James, practicing in Miami since 1983,
well-known in the Caribbean community.
9275 SW 152 Street, Suite 204. Miami, Florida 33157
(Across from Jackson South ER.)
(305) 251-3975




Donovan D. Taylor, M.D.

Board Certified Family
Physician
children adults gynecology
*weight management
Donovan Taylor, M.D.
Please call for an appointment
(305) 655-0702
Graduate of UWI. Pr'tli. iihly practiced in Mandeville,
Residency at JMH.
NEW LOCATION
250 NW 183rd Street, Miami. Florida 33169
DIPLOMATE OF THE AMERICAN BOARD OF FAMILY PHYSICIANS


SMALL BUSINESS GRANT
APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE
January 7, 2008- January 18, 2008
Co'mmirssioncr Barbaru J. Jordlan haus mde $127.500 availabic through the Mnm und Pop
Small Buiness (irain Program lor FY 2007 2008 to be distributed to qualilled small
businesses located in Miami-Dade County District I area only. Maximum amount per
business is S5.000. Ilome Based businesses are welcome to apply. Businesses awarded
landing two consecutive years must sit out one year.


DistIrict I
('numn~i-s-cnner wharaJ. Jordan' s
2 780 N W l67 Street
Coruatf; Sh..ruvclu:dmcad
305-474-3011
NANA. I HO NW 62" Stree
Contact; Ms. La~vanza Finney
305-756-0605
Applications also available January, 7. 2008
download at www.miumi~dade.gov/disrinct 01
An informlartion khop is
scheduled for 6:30 p.m. 8N:00 p.m.
Tusdy.Janua.ry15. 2008 at FlU-I MU
Auditorium at Florida MemorialUn iversity.
located at 1 5800 NW 42 A~couc


Barbara. J. Jordamn
Commissioner District I


All application% nmusI he hand delivered and retrne~d by 5 pm.
Friday. January 18. 2008. at cipher location. For morc information.
contract Ms. La-anzA Finney at (303) 756-0605 rrom 10 azm. 4 p.m.


MIA/MasI IVl1URAMAK-DKUWAKRI
Wachovia Financial Center Huntington Square
200 South Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 2750 3350 S.W. 148th Avenue, Suite 110
Miami, Florida 33131 Miramar, FL 33027
Tel: 786-777-0184 Fax: 786-777-0174 Tel: 954*874* 1736 Fax: 954*430*9342
info@delancyhill.com www.delancyhill.com
Thi hnr, i .l1 a Ui..e an ini a unu l tk't .n rik .Alr ,hC.ulDl c. Nxi L lpl dii r 1,.'.lin11 o lre .ru 'l("i,7 pi,'i,,x ,r' u1r :'j ...,u I rrniN .IrllrciI .a ul ,',b i qlt lailr i.i.niv af in a nd n 'c n


Int'l tribunal clears

T&T's chief justice


January 2008





CARIBBEAN TODAY


-usw^caribbeantodj..c..


P 0 1 I T I C S


rt exchAGye

* ?


We can help!

Nothing takes the happy
out of the holidays more
than being unable to
return a gift. Miami-Dade
County Consumer Services
Department can help!

They make sure businesses
comply with return policies
and other consumer
protection laws so that
customers are treated fairly.
These laws make it easier
for consumers to return or
exchange holiday, birthday or
other kinds of gifts.

For more information, or to file
a complaint, call the Consumer
Services Mediation Center at
305-375-3677. Or go online at
www.miamidade.gov/csd,/



MIAMIlADE
ESSM y


Barbadian

new govt.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados,
CMC Barbadians will go to
the polls to elect a new gov-
ernment on Jan. 15, Prime
Minister Owen Arthur
revealed during last month's
pre-Christmas national
address to the nation.
Nomination Day was Dec.


Arthur, who is seeking an
unprecedented fourth succes-
sive term for his Barbados
Labour Party (BLP), ended
months of speculation when
he announced the date for the
much-anticipated poll during a
two-minute address, which
was broadcast live on radio
stations and the Caribbean
island's lone television station.
In the last general elec-
.. tions, which were held on May
21, 2003, Arthur's BLP won 23
seats in the 30-member House
of Assembly, with the remain-
ing seven going to the
Democratic Labour Party
(DLP).


DESPERATION?
Meanwhile, two


IVAN CLIFFORD

HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC
- The ruling Progressive
Labour Party (PLP) swept to
victory in last month's general
elections with a resounding
22-14 seat majority over the
main Opposition United
Bermuda Party (UBP),
according to preliminary
results.
Both parties had nominat-
ed candidates for all 36 seats
in this British Overseas
Territory, and the results were
a repeat of the 2003 election.
According to the preliminary
figures, the two main parties
traded two seats each. The
results also flew in the face of
opinion polls that the parties
were in a close contest.
Opposition Leader
Michael Dunkley, who gam-
bled on leaving a safe seat to
take on PLP incumbent Patrice
Minors, a former health minis-
ter, backfired when he was
beaten by 92 votes. Dunkley
made the switch in a do-or-die


attempt to take his party back
to power it last held nine years
ago.
Premier Ewart Brown,
whose job had appeared to be
on the line in a tight finish, or
even defeat, easily held his
Warwick South Central seat
while his close

comer Zane
DeSilva
caused an
upset by beat-
ing former
UBP tourism
Brown minister David
Dodwell by 48
votes in Southampton East
Central.
DeSilva became the first
white member of the PLP
since former tourism minister
David Allen, who died five
years ago.
Two independent candi-
dates collected just 67 votes
between them.
0


Guyana approves voters bill


GEORGETOWN, Guyana,
CMC Parliament has
approved legislation paving
the way for the Guyana
Elections Commission
(GECOM) to proceed with
house-to-house registration
despite reservations by the
opposition that the measures
may threaten the independ-


ence of the commission.
GECOM said it is ready
to begin the exercise that is
expected to end on July 4.
The house-to-house registra-
tion is expected to be done
before the local government
polls scheduled for this year.
0


PLP returned in Bermuda


e f


If you love them, tell them and
win great prizes too!

Caribbean Today's "Love Lines for Your Valentine" -
contest offers you a chance to thrill the one you love
with words.
Just write to us, in NO MORE THAN 100
WORDS, expressing the sweetest thoughts you can think
of for your special Valentine.
You could win a trip for two on Air Jamaica to anywhere that
they fly to in the Caribbean.
S< f Send entries via e-mail to:
ctik ds@bellsouth.net or address them to:
CARIBBEAN TODAY
N" f 9020 S.W. 152nd Street,
Miami, Florida, 33157, USA.
Entries must include the writer's full name, address and telephone number. Each writer is
allowed one entry. Look out for the name of the winner and the winning compusit ion.
which will be published in the March 2008 issue of Caribbean Today.

DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES IS FEB. 15, 2008


s vote for

3n Jan. 15
Opposition parties here
slammed Arthur for his pre-
Christmas announcement of
the Jan. 15 general elections,
while declaring their readiness
to contest the poll. Opposition
Leader David Thompson told
the Caribbean Media
Corporation (CMC) that
while his Democratic Labour
Party (DLP) is ready to con-
test the elections, he thought
the announcement just days
before Christmas Day was "an
unfortunate cut into the most
sacred event of the Christian
faith."
David Comissiong, leader
of the fledgling People's
Empowerment Party (PEP),
told CMC he believes the pre-
Christmas announcement was
a deliberate attempt on the
part of government to "short
circuit" public debate leading
up to the poll.
"It smacks of despera-
tion," Comissiong said. "The
prime minister is clearly hop-
ing to hide behind the season."
0


January 2008





CARIBBEAN TODAY


S P O RT


Haiti is Caribbean's 'Team of the Year'


PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad,
CMC The Caribbean
Football Union (CFU) has
named Haiti its "Team of the
Year" for 2007.
CFU President Jack
Warner made the announce-
ment last month.
Warner said the Haitians
were unquestionably the high-
est achievers in the region this
past year.
Haiti landed the 2007
Digicel Caribbean Cup for the
first time, qualified for the
2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup


Haitians celebrate their Digicel
Caribbean Cup triumph in Jan. 2007.
and the FIFA Under-17 World


Championship, and also
reached the final round of
qualification towards the 2008
Olympics.
"Not only can Haitians
take pride in those achieve-
ments but we, in both CON-
CACAF and the Caribbean
Football Union...also feel a
justifiable sense of pride,"
Warner stated. "Such accom-
plishments must be due to the
vibrant leadership of the
Federation Haitienne de
Football."
0


West Indies names rugby squad


for Sevens World Series in U.S.


PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad,
CMC Rugby West Indies
has announced a 12-member
squad for the International
Rugby Board's Sevens World
Series tournament next month
in the United States city of
San Diego, California.
The players were picked
following the NAWIRA
Sevens tournament, a mini
camp in Trinidad, and the


Trinidad and Tobago Sevens.
The squad includes
Claudius Butts, Kevin
McKenzie, Richard Staglon,
Theodore Henry, Albert La
Rose, Andre Carbrera, Kelson
Figaro, Bevon Armitage, Elroy
Graham, Donald Walters,
Jeremico Cooper and Kurt
Johnson.
0


...keeps top spot in regional ratings


PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad,
CMC Digicel Caribbean Cup
champions Haiti celebrated
2008 as the number one
Caribbean Football Union
(CFU) team despite slipping
three spots down the FIFA
Coca Cola Rankings.
After achieving an all-time
best 66th on the world soccer
list together with the CFU top
spot in November, the Haitians
dipped to 69th on FIFA's
December ratings list released
last month, but remain head of
the CFU rankings.
Cuba dipped one spot on
the FIFA list to number 71 and


retain the CFU second spot,
and Trinidad and Tobago
stepped closer to the CFU
front-runners by moving up two
places to 81st on FIFA's list as
the region's number three team.
Jamaica climbed two
places up the CFU list to
fourth with its number 97 rank-
ing, to displace St. Vincent and
the Grenadines (SVG) and
Guyana, which both suffered
huge slides on the world list.
SVG, the highest ranked
English-speaking Caribbean
team in November, tumbled 24
places down FIFA's list to 101st,
and is now fifth in the CFU.


Guyana plunged to 128th
spot, a whopping 35 places
down from its November world
rating of 93rd, and now shares
sixth in the CFU with
Barbados.
Bermuda, 147th on the
FIFA list, is eighth in the CFU,
while Antigua and Barbuda
(151) and Suriname (153) com-
plete the region's top 10.
There was no change
among the world's top teams,
with Argentina at number one,
stalked by Brazil and Italy, with
Spain fourth and Germany fifth.
0


GORDON WILLIAMS

MIAMI Despite plans for a
warm-up bout this month and a
crack at a world title fight in
April, Jamaican-born former
light heavyweight champion
Glen Johnson still harbors an
intense desire for a rematch
with his ring nemesis Clinton
Woods of Britain.
If familiarity breeds con-
tempt, Johnson has seen enough
of Woods to spawn a cauldron
of bordering on hatred. The for-
mer International Boxing
Federation king is vowing to
inflict so much punishment on
the current IBF titleholder he
has difficulty finding ways to
express it.
"I'm looking forward to
that fight where I can't even
put that in words," Johnson
said while working out recently
at the Warriors Boxing Gym in
Florida, United States where
he lives.
"I need to break about
four (of Woods's) ribs and a jaw
bone in that fight, because I
definitely want to hurt Clinton
Woods very, very, very badly."
Johnson, 38, scheduled to
fight Colombia's Hugo Pineda
this month in a warm-up bout,
has also been reported to be in
line to that on undefeated
American Chad Dawson in
April for the World Boxing


Council title. But it is Woods
who riles up Johnson the most.
The Jamaican has fought
Woods three times before, all
in Britain. The results have
been mixed, with each fighter
winning once and one draw.
However, Johnson has long
believed that the two fights he
did not win were hometown
decisions that favored Woods.
"I've beaten him three
times," said Johnson, who holds
a record of 46 wins, 11 losses and
two draws. "They took one.
Actually they took two.. .because
one of them was called a draw,
which I beat him. The other one
I win the decision and the other
one, they called a split decision,
went to him."

BITTER
The Jamaican is especially
bitter because he believes
Woods, 35, has delayed his
quest to be listed among the
sport's greatest and deprived
him of lucrative purses.
"Out of all the people that
I've fought, he's done the most
damage to my career," Johnson
said.
"So this man has set back
my career twice already and
there's nobody else in boxing
that has done that," said the
man called the "Road Warrior"
for his willingness to fight any-
where he's asked and who has
suffered several dubious ring


decisions in his long career.
"There are fighters who
have set my career back by rip-
off wins and stuff like that. But
they've done it once. This guy
(Woods) has done it twice. So I
am very, very angry when it
comes to Clinton Woods."
Johnson is the top ranked
challenger for the IBF crown
and could get a crack at that
title around mid-2008. If Woods
is still holding the belt, the two
will meet for a fourth time.
Johnson admits that
Woods is not to bear total
blame for what he considers
bad ring decisions in their pre-
vious fights, but he refuses to
play down his building animos-
ity towards the Englishman.
"Yeah, it's a personal thing,"
said the fighter who also goes by
the nickname "Gentleman
Glen". "It's a grudge match. I
know (Woods) is not the doer
himself, because I know that it's
his camp, you know, manage-
ment, promoters and stuff like
that. Those are the ones that do
the dirty deeds. It's not so much
the fighter.
"But he's the only one that
I can catch and the only one
that I can deal with. So, he's
the only one that has to pay."

Gordon Williams is Caribbean
Today's managing editor..
0


SPORT BRIEFS


* Haiti, Cuba in final round of
Olympic qualifying
Cuba and Haiti are among eight
teams contesting the final round of
CONCACAF's Under-23 men's soc-
cer qualification for the 2008
Olympic Games in March.
The qualification will take
place from Mar. 11-23 at three
venues in the United States. Cuba
is in Group A with the U.S.,
Honduras and Panama. Haiti is in
Group B alongside Canada,
Guatemala and Mexico. The top
two teams qualify for the Olympics.

* Kittitian Harris traded to
Chivas in MLS
The United States Major League
Soccer (MLS) club Real Salt Lake
(RSL) has traded St. Kitts and Nevis
international Atiba Harris to Chivas
USA.
The attacking midfielder has
been exchanged for the 2005
expansion partner's natural third
round selection (37th overall) in the
upcoming 2008 MLS SuperDraft.
Harris joined RSL after a successful
trial prior to the 2006 preseason,
and made 43 regular season
appearances with the club, scoring
four goals and adding a pair of
assists in two MLS seasons.

* J'can club faces D.C. United in
CONCACAF soccer
Jamaica and Caribbean champions
Harbour View will face D.C. United
of United States Major League
Soccer in the quarterfinals of the
CONCACAF Champions Cup in
March.
The first-leg encounter of the
quarterfinals will take place
between Mar. 11 and 13, with the
return-legs set for Mar. 18-20. The


Caribbean crown earned the
Jamaican club a berth to the
Champions' Cup quarterfinals.

* Campbell, Powell in 'Track and
Field News' top 10
Jamaican sprint stars Veronica
Campbell and Asafa Powell
secured top 10 positions as Tyson
Gay and Meseret Defar snatched
the number one spots in the Track
and Field News magazine's poll for
the top performers in 2007.
Campbell, the 100-meter gold
medalist at the Osaka World
Championships, took ninth spot in
the women's poll and Powell,
whose sizzling world-record equal-
ing run in Rieti was voted the top
performance at the IAAF awards, is
number five on the men's list.

* T&T ends losing hockey streak
to U.S.
Trinidad and Tobago's men's hock-
ey team ended its run of five
defeats against the United States
with a 2-2 draw last month in the
second match of five friendly inter-
nationals at the United States
Olympic Training Centre.

* Haitian retains world boxing
title
The unbeaten Haitian Joachim
Alcine retained his World Boxing
Association light middleweight title
with a 12th round technical knock-
out victory over Panama's Alfonso
Mosquera last month. The victory
improved Alcine's record to 30-0
with 19 knockouts.

Compiled from CMC and other
sources.
0


Call for Bids or Proposals
For a listing of available Broward Community College (BCC)
open procurement solicitations visit:
www.broward.edu/purchasing/bids
or contact
954-201-7455
BCC strongly encourages participation by minority and women-
owned business enterprises (MWBE firms)


Johnson may fight American for world boxing title,

but Jamaican desires revenge match against Brit


January 2008






CARIBBEAN TODAY


-usw^caribbeantodj..c..


SPORT


Cricket World Cup, Lara, track make global headlines in '07


KEVIN PILE

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados,
CMC Cricket World Cup
opened a new chapter in sports
for the Caribbean in 2007, but
the glittering fairytale that was
Brian Lara's career drew to a
close as the legend exited the
world stage he had long domi-
nated.
Hosted across nine nations
and costing regional govern-
ments hundreds of millions of
United States dollars, the tour-
nament ended in sore disap-
pointment for West Indies and
their fans and led to Lara's sud-
den retirement.
The World Cup, staged
from Mar. 13 to April 28,
unveiled history as the cricket-
mad region hosted international
cricket's showpiece for the first
time ever, and it virtually over-
shadowed several other accom-
plishments of which the
Caribbean could boast.
Jamaican Asafa Powell
rebounded from the huge disap-
pointment of a third place finish
at the World Championships of
Athletics in Osaka, Japan, to
set a new world record time of
9.74 seconds in the 100 meters
run at the IAAF Rieti Grand
Prix in Italy in September, while
Haiti crowned itself champion
of the Digicel Caribbean Cup,
the region's premier soccer
competition.
West Indies, seeking to
claim the prestigious tourna-
ment for the first time since its
back-to-back wins in 1975 and
1979, had its dreams of a win on
home soil shattered with anoth-
er of what has become its trade-
mark performance. Though it
progressed almost effortlessly
from the group stage with com-
fortable wins over Pakistan,
Zimbabwe and minnows
Ireland, it subsequently lost its
first four matches of the Super
Eight second round to eliminate
any chances of reaching the
semi-finals.
The team's World Cup
expedition was mired in rumors
of internal wrangling and dis-
unity among players. Lara's
sudden announcement, that he
would retire after the final
match against England, added
further fuel to the raging fires
of speculation.
West Indies' wretched cam-
paign also signaled the end of
the line for the team's under-fire
Australian coach Bennett King
as he also resigned. There was
no disappointment for two-time
defending World Champions
Australia, which played flawless
cricket throughout the tourna-
ment to capture an unprece-
dented third World Cup.
West Indies licked its
wounds, regrouped and took
aim at England during the sum-
mer, but could find no success
there either as the Caribbean
team was comprehensively
whipped 3-0 under the new


leadership of Guyanese
Ramnaresh Sarwan, who had
replaced Lara.
West Indies's gloom was
brightened only by Shivnarine
Chanderpaul's matchless form.
The indomitable Guyanese
scored heavily to compile 446
runs at an average of 148, with
two centuries, and assumed the
run-scoring mantle laid down
by Lara's absence. In the
process, he passed 7,000 runs in
Tests, joining the prestigious
club of great West Indies crick-


Laia illaue
cricket.


eters that included Brian
Lara, Sir Vivian Richards, Sir
Garfield Sobers, Desmond
Haynes, Gordon Greenidge and
Clive Lloyd.
In December, during the
five-match ODI series in
Zimbabwe, Chanderpaul also
eclipsed 7,000 runs in one-day
internationals, becoming only
the third West Indies batsman
to achieve the feat, after Lara
and legendary opener Haynes.

EARY EXIT
In September, the West
Indies's disappointing run con-
tinued at the inaugural ICC
Twenty20 World Cup in South
Africa where the regional team
exited in the first round.
Hammered by hosts South
Africa by eight wickets in the
opening match in Johannesburg,
despite a whirlwind century by
Gayle, West Indies slumped to
another loss in their second
match against Bangladesh to
bow meekly out of the tourna-
ment.
Administratively, the West
Indies Cricket Board (WICB)
continued its musical chairs. In
January, Dr. Roland Toppin, the
man identified to become the
WICB's chief executive officer,
said he was no longer available
to take up the position. In
February, the WICB announced
that former banker Bruce
Aanensen would take up the
vacant post from April, but the
Trinidadian's tenure was short-
lived. After several bruising bat-
tles with West Indies Players
Association President Dinanath
Ramnarine over players' con-


tracts, Aanensen announced his
resignation in August. His
move followed Julian Hunte's
appointment as WICB president
in July, the St. Lucian replacing
Ken Gordon in the top post in
regional cricket. He was elected
unopposed.
Australian John Dyson, a


former Test open
named coach of t
regional side.
At the region
Barbados capture
Beer Cup in Janu
ing unbeaten throw
competition. In C
Jamaica's long wa
limited-overs glory
- was ended when
the KFC Cup.
Earlier in Au
continued its imp
formance in the V
Under-19 tournai
won the three-da'
Kitts. Its hopes of
double were dash
however, which p
superb performance
day final to secur.
In October, t
ed Patterson Rep
released, detailin
commendations to
structure of
West Indies
cricket.
Commissioned
by the WICB
and prepared by
former Jamaica
Prime Minister
P.J. Patterson,
along with Sir
Alister
McIntyre and
Dr. Ian
McDonald, the
138-page docu-
ment recom-
mended a name
change for the
WICB and a
shake-up in the
structure of the
board.
According to the
WICB should be
Cricket West Indi
a Cricket West In
and a Cricket We
Board.

ATHLETICS
In athletics, I
ued to be the talk
for more than on(
Without a major
credit, he entered
Championships in
August as a favor
100 meters. But ii
was upset by Am
Gay. Bahamian D
finished with silver
onds. Powell earn
But the next mon
reminded the woi
lime talent by car
world record in th
earned him the I
Performance of tl
in November.
Bahamian D(


was good enough to capture gold
at the World Championships,
when he won the high jump with
a leap of 2.35 meters. Jamaican
Usain Bolt took silver in the 200
meters and shared in another sil-
ver performance in the 4x100
meters, while The Bahamas was
also runner-up in the 4x400


er, was then meters.
he embattled Jamaican Veronica
Campbell gave the region rea-
ial level, son to celebrate when she cap-
-d the Carib tured gold in a thrilling finish to
iary after play- the women's 100 meters. In one
)ughout the of the closest 100 meters races
)ctober, in recent history, it took the
lit for regional judges several minutes to deter-
ry since 1999 mine the winner. Campbell
i it captured edged out American Lauryn
Williams. It was Campbell's first
igust, Guyana World Championships sprint
ressive per- title and it followed her 200
West Indies meters Olympic title in Athens
ment when it three years before. Campbell
y title in St. was forced into second in the
f doing the 200 meters behind American
ied by Jamaica, Allyson Felix and picked up her
produced a third medal at the games when
nce in the one- Jamaica copped silver in the
e that title. 4x100 meters relay
he long await- In July, the Caribbean
ort was shone at the World Youth
g its many rec- Championships in Ostrava,
transform the Czech Republic with power-
house Jamaica giving a
strong account of itself.
Dexter Lee won the
boys 100 meters and
was followed home by
.. compatriot Nickel
Ashmeade for the sil-
ver, while Ramone
7 4McKenzie took the 200
meters gold with
Ashmeade taking
bronze.
Barbadian Shane
S -3 Brathwaite also stood
C l wout at the youth games
when he snared the
octathlon by tallying
6,261 points. In the
process, the 17-year-
Campbell won in a close finish. oldcreated history by


report, the
renamed
ies, comprising
dies Council
st Indies



Powell contin-
of the town
e reason.
medal to his
I the World
n Osaka in
rite to take the
n the final, he
erican Tyson
)errick Atkins
er in 9.91 sec-
ied bronze.
ith in Italy, he
rld of his sub-
ving out a new
he event. That
AAF
he Year Award

onald Thomas


first World Youth
champion and its first ever ath-
letics gold medal winner in a
global competition at any level.
There was also some suc-
cess for the region's girls as the
Jamaican trio of Latoya
McDermott (400 meters),
Shermaine Williams (100 hur-
dles) and Misha-Gaye DaCosta
(high jump) landed silver.
Bahamian Nivea Smith earned
bronze in the 200 meters.
In July, the Pan American
Games in Brazil also brought
success as Antiguan sprinter
Brendan Christian delivered his
country's two medals by win-
ning the 200 meters and taking
bronze in the 100 meters won
by the Netherland Antilles'
Churandy Martina. Bahamian
Chris Brown joined the fun
with gold in the 400 meters,
while Dominican Chris Lloyd
was good enough to claim
bronze in the same event.
Jamaican Maurice Smith
won the decathlon event and


The Bahamas powered its way
into winners' row in the men's
4x400 meters relay.
Jamaican Delloreen Ennis-
London sustained the success
for the Caribbean with a win in
the women's 100 meters hurdles
and her country's 4x100 meters
relay team followed that up
with another gold.

FOR KICKS
Soccer also grabbed the
headlines, with Haiti elevating
itself to the position of
Caribbean champions. In the
final of the Digicel Caribbean
Cup, Haiti upset favorites T&T
in the final.
The cream of T&T's
national players remained
locked in a dispute with the
local federation over bonus
monies owed them from their
appearance at the 2006 World
Cup in Germany. A ban was
imposed on
the players
in question,
leading to a
weakened
squad for
the Gold
Cup con-
tested in the
U.S. in
June, where
T&T failed
to win a sin- Thomas outjumped the
gle match, world.
In
November, there was a chang-
ing of the guard in Jamaica's
football as Captain Horace
Burrell, who oversaw Jamaica's
historic outing at the 1998
World Cup in France, took over
the reins of power from the
embattled Crenston Boxhill.
The change came against the
backdrop of the Reggae Boyz'
lowest ever position in the 14-
year history of the FIFA rank-
ings, as they slipped to 103rd in
October with Cuba, Haiti, St.
Vincent and the Grenadines,
T&T, Guyana and Barbados all
ranked higher. Technical
Director Bora Milutinovic was
fired after completing just one
year of his four-year contract
and was replaced by Ren6
Simoes, the Brazilian who had
guided the Reggae Boyz to the
World Cup finals in 1998.
The Caribbean shone inter-
nationally on the horseracing
circuit as Barbadian Patrick
Husbands captured the jockeys'
title in December at the
Woodbine Racetrack in Canada
and Jamaican apprentice
Jermaine Bridgmohan won at
the Tropical at Calder meet in
Florida in January.
In golf, T&T's Stephen
Ames reminded the world he
merited his place on the PGA
Tour with a win at the $4.6 mil-
lion Children's Miracle Network
Classic in November.

- CMC
0


January 2008

PAGE 1

PRESOR TED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID MIAMI, FL PERMIT NO. 7315 Vol.19 No.2 JANUARY 2008 Tel: (305 1-800-605-7516 editor@caribbeantoday.comct_ads@bellsouth.net Jamaica: 654-7282 W e cover your world INSIDEThe mayor of a souther n Florida city says a specialelection willbe held byMar ch to replace suspended Caribbean-bor n City Commissioner Fitzroy Salesman, who is facing agun-r elated charge, page 2. Ir ving Burgie, a music composer who wrote the Barbados nationalanthem and ahost ofJamaican andCaribbean folksongs, was r ecently honored for his work by the New YorkCity Council, page 11. The W orld Bank says that while the Caribbean and Latin American region remains thelar gest recipient of recorded r emittances, gr owth of r emit tances to the area has slowed in r ecent months. News....................................2 Local .................................... 8 Health..................................9 Ar ts/Enter tainment .......... 11 Viewpoint..........................15 Region ................................ 17 Politics..............................18 Spor t .................................. 19 THE MULTI AWARD-WINNING NEWS MAGAZINE CALL CARIBBEAN TODAY DIRECT FROM JAMAICA 654-7282 The United States Congress has honored Caribbean-born pilot Barrington Irving, a Miami resident who lastyear became the firstblack man and theyoungest ever to fly solo around the world, page 2. CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:28 PM Page 1

PAGE 2

FLORIDA The mayor of a souther n Florida city says a special election will be held byMar ch to replace suspended Jamaican-born Commissioner Fitzroy Salesman. According to the Charter for the City of Miramar, a special election must be held within 90 days upon receipt of a sus-pension or der to replace a commissioner. The commissioners were scheduled to meet on Jan.9 to set the election date. Mayor Lori Moseley said the election can’t be helduntil Mar ch, so the city can givecandidates an opportunity tocontest the poll. So far, one can-didate has emerged, butothers said theyar e contemplating r unning for the seat. Carl Lanke, 44, a school activist, who sits on the SouthBr oward Drainage District Boar d, said he initially planned to run in 2009. But he said he will now launch a campaignand r un in the Mar ch election. s time to move on and for new leadership to represent Miramar,” he said. SUSPENDED Last month, Florida Governor Charlie Crist sus-pended Salesman, 50, after hewas char ged with aggravated assault with a firearm, a felony. Pr osecutors said Salesman pulled a gun on fellow shopperLazavius Hudson, 18, at a Winn-Dixie Supermarket on Thanksgiving eve, Nov. 21. Authorities initially charged Salesman with a misdemeanor, but the Broward State Attorney’s Office upgrad-ed the char ge to a felony after interviewing more witnesses. Salesman, who posted a $5,000 bond and was released,holds a concealed weapons license and his attorney said he will plead not guilty. The gover nor issued an executive or der suspending Salesman on Dec. 21. Miramar City spokesman RomeoLavarias said once the city received a signed suspensionor der from the governor’s office Salesman’s annual$23,800 commission salar y and benefits would be fr ozen. This is Salesman’s second suspension in two years. In June 2005, three months afterSalesman was elected to a sec ond ter m, then-Gover nor Jeb Bush suspended him after authorities charged him withdriving under the influenceand eluding police. He was acquitted, and received $88,000 in back pay and allowances, city officials said. Salesman has been a commissioner in the south Br owar d County city of more than 100,000 people since 2001. W ASHINGTON – The United States Coast Guard says that illicit traf ficking in cocaine is seemingly shifting from the Caribbean to the Pacific, as it announced recordseizur es this year . e have forced them to adapt to routes that are dan-ger ous and ar e expensive,” said Coast Guar d Commander Bob Watts in announcing the r ecor d annual cocaine seizur es worth more than $4.7 billion. Watts said the Coast Guard captured 355,755 pounds ofcocaine in the past year , and that the lar gest seizure was 20 tons discovered aboard aPanamanian vessel in Mar ch. W atts said because of the Coast Guard’s increased surveillance in the Caribbean Sea, smugglers are turning to “riskier tactics” in trying to evade interdiction, including dissolv-ing cocaine in diesel fuel. ALTERNATIVES He said they have also been for ced to tur n to the more expensive and arduous Pacific Ocean r outes, includ ing via the Galapagos Islands, since most of the major routesvia the Caribbean Sea havebeen shut down. W atts said Africa is incr easingly being used as an alternative trans-shipment r oute to the dr ug market in Eur ope. e have forced them to adapt to r outes that ar e danger ous and are expensive,” he said. “Right now, we’re seeing guys get in go-fasts and running1,000 miles into the Pacific andr ounding the Galapagos Islands to come in,” he added. MIAMI – The United States Congress has honored a young Jamaican-born pilot whobecame the first black to fly solo around the world. Miami-based Barrington Ir ving, 23, was recognized by the U.S. House of Representativeswhen it unanimously passed a resolution honoring him last month. The bill, sponsored by Florida Democratic representa-tives Alcee Hastings and Kendrick Meek, encourages museums across the U.S. to also commemorate Ir ving’s accomplishment. “When the younger generation is looking for a role model and hero, they need to look no further than Barrington Irving,” Meek said in a statement. “This young pilot pr oved that when you dr eam big dr eams and work hard, the extraordinary is possible. “I am honored to call Barrington Irving a con-stituent,” he continued. ‘INSPIRATION’ Ir ving started his 26,000mile journey on his single-engine plane “Inspiration” in March. He had convinced friends, politicians and corporate sponsors to believe in his aviation dream. He had received recognitions from cities in southernFlorida and his native Jamaica after r eturning to Florida in June, touching down at Orlando’s Opalocka Executive Airport. s just so humbling to know that something that started so small is now being recognized across the nation,” Ir ving said. “But, no matter what, the gr eatest award will always be the impact that I’ve made on youth and teaching them theycan do or be anything.” Special election to fill seat of suspended Jamaican-born, Florida city commissionerCocaine traffickers shifting from Caribbean routes ~ U.S. U.S.Congress honors Jamaican pilot who flew solo around world NEW JERSEY New Jersey is expected this month to joinfour other states in America in apologizing for slavery. Under a measure to be considered by its legislators,New Jersey will join Alabama,Mar yland, Nor th Car olina and Virginia in issuing formal apologies for slavery. If itdoes, it will also be the first Northern state in the UnitedStates to do so. “This is not too much to ask of the state of New Jersey,” said Democratic Assemblyman William Payne, sponsor of the slaver y bill. “All that is being requested is to say three simple words: ‘We are sorry’. If for-mer Confederate states cantake action like this, why can’ t a Nor theast state like New Jersey?” he added. RESOLUTION The Caribbean diplomatic corps at the United Nationsended 2007 on a positive noteby getting the U.N. to pass a resolution by acclamation, designating Mar. 25 as “Inter national Day” in r ecog nition of the abolition of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The resolution also adopted by consensus a call by the Caribbean community (CARI-COM) for the er ection of a permanent memorial in the halls of the U.N. “in acknowl-edgement of the tragedy andin consideration of the legacy of slavery and the trans-Atlantic slave trade”. New Jersey to apologize for slavery 2 CARIBBEAN TODAYJanuary 2008 NEWS NEWS www.caribbeantoday.com Moseley Ir ving CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:28 PM Page 2

PAGE 3

NEW YORK – A Jamaican man was held without bail at a Detention Centre in Brooklynawaiting char ges for smuggling cocaine into the John F . Kennedy International Airportusing his pr osthetic legs. Dean Stewar t, 22, who uses a wheelchair , was detained shortly after arriving on an Air Jamaica flight from Kingston last month. According to an indictment filed in Brooklyn federal court, Stewart told custom of ficers that he could not walk and his pr osthetic legs could not be removed. However, inspectors became suspicious because Stewart’s airline tickethad been pur chased in cash thr ee days earlier and immigration records showed that hehad traveled to the U.S. thr ee times between June and August for brief visits. Stewart’s prosthetic legs were removed and X-rayed where agents found multiple packages of cocaine concealed inside the limbs, according tothe complaint. ORANJESTAD, CMC – A for mer suspect in the disap pearance in Aruba of American high school student, Natalee Holloway, says he regretted nothaving the matter go to trial so “everything could be out in theopen.” Joran van der Sloot, 20, was re-arrested in Aruba inNovember for a new inter r ogation about Holloway’s disappearance in 2005, but public prosecutors on the islandclosed their investigation Dec. 18, saying they believedHolloway was dead. They also said they did not have enough evidence to pros-ecute van derSloot or two other formersuspects,br others Deepak and SatishKalpoe, 20 and 21. The young men were charged in the disappearanceof Holloway , 18, on May 30, 2005. “I would have liked to have seen a trial, so that ever ything could be out in the open,” van der Sloot told reporters late last month, his first public remarks since beingr eleased on Dec. 7. All three suspects denied any involvement in Holloway’sdisappearance. V an der Sloot denied there was any new evidence to pr ompt his ar rest again last month, as prosecutors had asserted. “There was no new evidence at all,” he said. Jamaican charged with drug smuggling in prosthetic legsFormer suspect in case of missing American student regrets no trial NEWYORK, CMC – New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has par doned a 54-year -old Jamaican-born man convicted of r obber y 16 years ago, saying the pardon would spare the man fr om being depor ted to his native land. The man, Frederick Lake, entered the United States legally in 1987, but was facing depor ta tion under a federal statute that calls for the r emoval of a lawful alien who is convicted of an aggravated felony. Although convicted of robbery in 1991 and released from prison in 1997, Lake has long maintained his innocence, and a judicial inquiry suggested thathe might have been the victim of a miscarriage of justice. On Dec. 22 Spitzer said that he issued the par don, at least in part, so that Lake, who suffersfr om hear t disease and diabetes, could remain with his wife andtwo young sons in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, where he has lived since his release from prison 10 years ago. “Mr . Lake has fully ser ved the sentence imposed upon him for his r obber y conviction,” he said in a statement. “He had a per fect discipli nary record while in prison, he has had no other arrests or convictions during his lifetime, and he has been living safely and without incident in the commu nity for the last 10 years,” headded. ‘NO PURPOSE’ “No purpose would be ser ved by separating Mr. Lake from his many family members who are United States citizens,”the gover nor continued. Lake was arrested and charged with robbing a payroll company in Inwood, on Long Island, a New York City suburb, in 1989. At his trial in 1991, three people testified that Lake had committed the crime, even though the suspect was initially described as short and stocky and wearing an ear ring. Lake was nearly six feet tall and did not have a pierced ear. He also pr oduced airline tickets and pas senger manifests that showed he had flown to Jamaica several days before the robbery and returned months later. “Lawyers dream about cases like this,” said John Lewis, one of Lake’s attorneys. “And it’s just an enormous priv-ilege to be able to be ther e. “I think that Governor Spitzer has a lot of courage doing this,” he continued. “It would be hard to find a more wor thy subject than Fr ederick Lake for this distinction.” New York governor pardons Jamaican man, sparing him deportation despite prison time NEW YORK – A heartbroken Haitian mother in Brooklyn istr ying desperately to stop a local hospital from pulling the plug on her brain-dead three-yearold daughter. Marie Joseph, 35, said on Dec. 29 she needs more time tocome to grips with the awful reality. Only six days after Br ookdale University Medical Centr e in Brooklyn declared Patricia Joseph brain-dead, doc tors told her mother that they were going to pull the plug prompting her to get an emer-gency cour t or der. “All I’m saying is that I want my daughter to be able togo on her own,” said a tear ful Joseph. “I just want my daughter to live for a few more days, because when she is gone, she is gone forever , and I’m never going to see her again,” she added. New York State law allows hospitals to declar e people dead when they meet medical stan dar ds for brain death, but requires hospitals to have a plan for “reasonable accommodation” to the next of kin’ s r eli gious or moral objections. In a similar case in 1989, a hospital was found to have the authority to take an infant of f life suppor t over the par ents’ objections. COMA Joseph said she took Patricia to Jamaica Hospital inQueens on Dec. 16 to get herchecked for leg pains. But shesaid doctors ther e transfer r ed the girl, who suffers from sicklecell anemia, to Brookdale University Medical Centre,wher e she was given morphine and a blood transfusion. The next day, Joseph said Patriciawent into a coma-like state afterdoctors believed she had a stroke. On Dec. 18, doctors placed her on a ventilator. Four days before Christmas, Joseph said Brookdale University Medical Centredeclar ed Patricia brain-dead, drew up a death certificate and gave Joseph the bad news. “They came to me every day ,” Joseph said. “They told me that they did not need my permission, and that they were just letting me know ,” she added. “It was thanks to one of the doctors that they gave me a few days.” PANIC Panicking, Joseph said she immediately contacted lawyerKeith Sullivan, who got a tempo rar y restraining order discussions with the hospital br oke down. He was back in a Br ooklyn court on the afternoon of Dec. 28 asking that the order be extended. “Their conduct, on its best day, is heartlessly callous,” Sullivan told Justice LawrenceKnipel. “On its worst day , it’s evil.” Knipel hear d testimony from a doctor, Mayank Shukla, who conceded that Joseph never gave the gr een light. “She never said ‘O.K.’,” Shukla said. “But she understood the pr ocess,” she added. “She want ed mor e time, and we wer e giv ing her more time.” Knipel adjourned proceedings until the new year , keeping the existing stay in ef fect until then. Michael Hinck, a spokesman for Brookdale University MedicalCentr e, said the hospital had made every effort to come to an agreement with Joseph during the six days after the girl wasdeclar ed brain dead. He said that staff had even facilitated an inroom baptism. “The hospital is trying to be as sympathetic as possible,” hesaid. UNITED NA TIONS – United Nations Secr etary General Ban Ki-moon has joined the Caribbean community (CARI-COM) in calling for an end to “modern day” slavery. In a message commemorating Inter national Day for the Abolition of Slavery lastmonth, Ban described asshameful contemporar y forms of slavery, stating that such practices “sanctioned, supported or ignored by thosewith the power and the responsibility to end themshould lead us to outrage.” He said millions continue to live as “contemporaryslaves, victims of abominable practices, like human trafficking, forced labor and sexualexploitation.” Ban said “countless” chil dr en are forced to become soldiers, work in sweat shops or are sold by “desperate” families, and that “women are brutalized and traded like com-modities. “Entir e households and villages labor under debtbondage,” he said. “The fact that these atr ocities take place in today’s worldshould fill us all with shame,” the U.N. secretary generaladded. ‘CRIMES’ He said it is up to ever yone to raise his or her voice against “crimes that deprive countless victims of their liberty, dignity and human rights. e have to work together to r ealize the equal rights promised to all by the UnitedNations Char ter,” he continued. “And we must collectively give meaning to the words ofthe Universal Declaration ofHuman Rights that ‘no oneshall be held in slaver y or servitude’,” he said. Stating that many of the post-slaver y dependency arrangements still persist today, CARICOM recently called fortheir immediate end. Speakingon behalf of CARICOM, Dominica’s U.N. AmbassadorCrispin Gr egoire told the U.N. Four th Committee that it is time for ending the “anachronism of new millennium colonialism in our part of theAfrican diaspora.” Haitian mother tries to stop N.Y.hospital from pulling plug on her brain-dead daughterU.N.secretary general joins Caribbean in calling for end to ‘modern day’ slavery January 2008CARIBBEAN TODAY 3 NEWS NEWS www .caribbeantoday.com Holloway Spitzer CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:28 PM Page 3

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ST . GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC A district judge in theUnited States says that Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell could be brought back to face charges if he loses the next general elections in Grenada. District judge Leo Glasser issued the r uling in dismissing a case br ought against the Grenadian leader and his wife Marietta Mitchell by Bostonbusinessman Charles Howland, on the grounds that Mitchellwas subjected to immunity from prosecution given his status as head of government. Mitchell’s New National Par ty (NNP written to the George W. Bush administration in Washington seeking immunity from prosecution on the grounds of head-of-gover nment status. In his ruling, Judge Glasser pointed to the case involving Ferdinand Marcos, a former president of the Philippines now deceased, and his wife Imelda. They were hounded down in theU.S. cour t and had to seek immunity from prosecution, which was later waived by the Philippine government. “It would follow , ther e fore, that a similar waiver asserted by the government of Gr enada depriving Dr. Mitchell of the immunity he might other wise enjoy after leaving office would permit Mr. Howland to pursue hisclaims in this action,” JudgeGlasser explained. o be clear, this court cannot hold that head of stateimmunity does or does not apply to for mer heads ofstate becausethat issue isnot yet ripe; if the plaintiff renews hisclaim againstthe Mitchellsat a point in the future when Dr. Mitchell is no longer the prime minister of Grenada, the issue will thenbe ripe.” LAWSUIT Howling is suing Prime Minister Mitchell and his wife, along with his former Ambassador Eric Resteiner, the imprisoned international fraudster, in connection with amulti-million dollar mail and wire fraud in which the businessman lost thousands of dol lars. Howland is alleging that Mitchell and his wife benefited financially from theResteiner scheme. The Grenada prime minister has publicly admitted receiving “approximately US$15,000” from Resteiner, but Timothy Bass, the formerchief of security for the impris oned conman alleged that he videotaped Mitchell in June2000 collecting $500,000.00 in a briefcase from Resteiner. The money was allegedly given in the form of a bribefor Resteiner to obtain adiplomatic posting, but PrimeMinister Mitchell has consis tently denied the claim. BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC The United States has announced that it will be pro-viding assistance to Caribbeancommunity (CARICOMstates to help them battle the illicit trafficking in small armsand light weapons in ther egion. U.S. State Depar tment Spokesman Sean McCor mack said under the CARICOMU.S. Initiative to CombatIllicit T raf ficking In Small Arms and Light Weapons, W ashington will be assisting par ticipating member states to address the problem. CARICOM states have often complained that they cannot fight the problem on their own. “Illicit trafficking in small arms and light weapons poses a serious thr eat to the security of the W ester n Hemisphere because this thriving black market provides weapons to terrorist groups, drug traffick-ers, gangs, and other criminalor ganizations,” McCor mack said in a statement released by the U.S. Embassy here lastmonth. He said under the agreement, which came out of lastMar ch’ s meeting between CARICOM for eign ministers and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, concr ete and practical measur es will be undertaken to address illicit trafficking in small ar ms and light weapons thr oughout the r egion. Recently, Barbados Foreign Minister Dame Billie Miller called on the United Nations and the international community to offer the region more assistance in fighting illicit traf ficking in small ar ms and the illegal dr ugs trade. GORDON WILLIAMS Caribbean leaders have reacted with shock and horror at the assassination of Pakistan OppositionLeader Benazir Bhutto, whowas cut down in her homecountr y late last month. Several condemned the killing of the 54-year-old leader of the Pakistan People’s Party and some indicated her death could lead to significantupheaval in that country, while otherswar ned people in the region not tolet politicalpassions lead them to vio-lence. Bhutto, a for-mer prime minister , died after attending a political rally onDec. 27 in her homeland. Theexact cause of her death wasstill being hotly debated up to press time. One explanationwas that a gunman shot her and then set off an explosionwhich killed him and at least15 others near the scene. Yet Bhutto’s death also ignitedan emotional bombshell in the Caribbean, with leaders directing outage at the terror-ist act. “The gover nment of the Republic of T rinidad and T obago strongly condemns this act and reaffirms its unwavering commitment to international efforts to eradicate terrorism”, read a statement issued by Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. “The gover nment and people of the Republic of T rinidad and T obago express the deepest sympathy to the government and people of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and family members of former PrimeMinister Ms. Benazir AliBhutto, political leader of thePakistan People’ s Party, on the tragic incident which r esulted in her untimely demise andthat of innocent civilians”. CONFLICT Caribbean leaders claimed that the political uncertainty inPakistan, which up to pr ess time was still scheduled to hold general elections thismonth, had been of seriousconcer n to the r egion and was even discussed at November’s Commonwealth Heads ofGover nment meeting in Kampala, Uganda. The Commonwealth had recentlysuspended Pakistan, claimingthe Islamic state needed tomove towar ds restoring democracy . Pakistan is ruled by ex-Army head President Pervez Musharaf, who hadbeen expected to opposeBhutto in the elections. “The assassination of such a prominent political figure asMrs. Bhutto has pushed thecountr y (Pakistan ther conflict, violence and uncertainty,” said Jamaica’sPrime Minister Br uce Golding in a statement. Meanwhile, at least one Caribbean politician issued a warning to people in ther egion not to allow their political loyalties to get out of con trol and lead to violence simi-lar to that in Pakistan. “One would never want any such incidents to happen in the Caribbean,” former St.Lucia Prime Minister KennyAnthony was quoted as saying. Gordon Williams is Caribbean Today’s managingeditor . CMC re ports con tributed to this story. Grenada’s P.M.could face charges in U.S.~ judge U.S.to help CARICOM fight region’ s drug trade Bhutto’s death shocks Caribbean leaders 4 CARIBBEAN TODAYJanuary 2008 NEWS NEWS www.caribbeantoday.com Bhutto Mitchell CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:28 PM Page 4

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SANTA ANA, California – Even as Caribbean AmericanCongr esswoman Yvette D. Clarke has tabled a bill aimed at r educing application backlogs for immigrants seeking United States citizenship, four immigrants have filed a federal lawsuit against delays in back gr ound checks performed by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI The class action lawsuit was filed last month in U.S. federalcour t in Santa Ana, California, by the National Immigration Law Centre, a public interest law group in Los Angeles, and theAmerican Civil Liber ties Union. It was filed on behalf of four immigrants who have lived legal ly in the U.S. for many years and ar e eager to become citizens. The lawsuit seeks to for ce U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Ser vices to impose deadlines for complet ing all the checks and challenges the expanded searches. By law, the agency is requiredto decide on naturalization petitions within 120 days after the candidate passes that test.WASHINGTON – The United States Department of State has approved a passport card equipped with new fea-tur es to allow greater ease for travelers to the Caribbean,Canada and Mexico. The department approved the card on Dec. 31 that permits information on it to be read from a distance. But critics say the new passport isdanger ous because it does not do enough to pr otect personal privacy. Ann Barrett, deputy assistant secretary for passport services at the StateDepar tment, said the cards could be read from up to 20feet away , and that processing only takes one or two seconds. “The car d would not have to be physically swiped thr ough a r eader, as is the current process with passports,” she said in a statement. Bar rett said the chip on the card will not contain biog-raphical infor mation, adding that privacy pr otections will be built into the car d. In 2004, the U.S. Congress passed legislationthat called for a “smaller andmor e convenient” passpor t card for frequent border crossers. Currently, immigration officers at ports of entry swipe traditional passports, for Americans re-entering the country, through an electronic reader. ‘THREA TS’ Critics have alr eady assailed the new technology passport card, saying that it does not sufficiently protect nationals’ privacy. “(The technology is inher ently insecure and poses thr eats to personal privacy, including identity theft,” said Ari Schwartz, of the Washington-based Center for Democracy and Technology, in a statement. Schwartz said this specific technology , known as “vicinity r ead”, is better capable of tracking inventor y rather than people. Ef fective Jan. 31, American travelers returning to the country from theCaribbean, Ber muda, Canada or Mexico will be permitted topr esent a birth certificate and driver s license instead of a passpor t. Over the Christmas holidays, the George W. Bush administration delayed a requirement that Americanspr esent passpor ts when cr oss ing U.S. borders by land or sea. Administration officials said the measure requiring passports will likely go into effect at the end of next summer. A provision of the major end-of-year U.S.Congr essional budget bill pushed back the plan by the Depar tment of Homeland Security as a way of str engthening national security . ‘NECESSARY STEP’ The Departments of State and Homeland Security said the change is a “necessary step to prepare travelers andease the transition to the future requirements of the WHTI (Western Hemispheric Travel Initiative). “WHTI proposes to establish documentationr equirements for travelers entering the United States who were previously exempt,including citizens of the U.S., Canada, and Bermuda”, they said in a statement. Currently, U.S. Customs and Bor der Protection officers may accept oral declarations of citizenship from U.S. andCanadian citizens seeking entry into the U.S. through a land or sea border. However,the depar tments warned that, as of Jan. 31, 2008, “oral dec-larations of citizenship alonewill no longer be accepted. “U.S. and Canadian citi zens, ages 19 and older will need to pr esent a gover nmentissued photo ID, such as a driver’s licence, along with proofof citizenship, such as a bir th certificate or naturalizationcer tificate”, the statement said. “Childr en, ages 18 and under, will only be required to present proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate”, itadded. Immigrants file lawsuit to speed up citizenshipU.S.approves new passport card for travelers to the Caribbean January 2008CARIBBEAN TODAY 5 NEWS NEWS www .caribbeantoday.com Effective Jan. 31,American travelers returning to the country from the Caribbean,Bermuda, Canada or Mexico will be permitted to present a birth certificate and dri ver’s license instead of apassport. (CONTINUED ON PAGE 6) CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:28 PM Page 5

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DELAYS After filing naturalization petitions, each waited a year or more without being approved because the FBI has not completed the required criminal record check, the suit said. They have received no explanation for the delays. “I want to be assimilated into the system here,” said Abbas Amirichimeh, a 41-year old immigrant from Iran, who has been living legally in the U.S. since 1994 and is a plaintiff in the suit. “I want to vote for the president.” Prekash Khatri, the ombudsman of the immigration agency, said the FBI checks“may be the single biggest obstacle to the timely and efficient delivery of immigration benefits” by the agency. Congresswoman Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who represents the predominantly Caribbean 11th Congressional District in Brooklyn, New York, said her bill in the U.S. House of Representatives would address the new bureaucratic backlogs resulting from an unanticipated flood of applications for citizenship and “gr een car ds” for Caribbean and other immi grants. She told the Caribbean Media Corporation recently that it was impor tant that immi gration authorities do all in their power , as soon as possible, to ease the huge backlog of applications. “Caribbean and other immigrants ar e stuck in the pr ocess of getting their status adjusted because of this nightmare,” she said. “Their qualityof life is impacted significantly because of this.” HEA VY WORKLOAD Christopher Bentley, an agency spokesman, acknowl edged a backlog but said the cases were a relatively small part of the overall workload of background checks. Of morethan 1.5 million checks the agency ordered from the FBI in the year ending Sept. 30, 90 percent cleared within six months, he said. Of about 300,000 name checks waiting to be completed, Bentley said, about half havebeen hung up in the system formor e than six months. Bentley and FBI of ficials declined to comment on the lawsuit, saying it was pending litigation. Jim Moor head, 56, another plaintif f, is a British citizen who said he had lived as a legalimmigrant in the U.S. for 30 years. In 1991, Moor head was named a citizen her o by Los Angeles County when he cap tured an armed robber. A name check delay has held up his citi-zenship petition for two years. “I’ve given 30 years of my life to America,” he said, “and now I can’t even do the right thing by becoming a citizen.” CLEAN-UP Clarke said her bill, the Citizen and Immigrant Backlog Immigrant Act, would clean up the unnecessar y bureaucratic logjam. “This legislation would put the FBI, the Department ofHomeland Security , the Immigration Ser vice and other agencies on the spot for erasingthe backlog within 18 months,” she said. The backlog could also prevent Caribbean and other nationals from voting in this year’s U.S. presidential elec-tions. Immigrants must hold U.S. citizenship in order to vote in most elections, includ-ing pr esidential elections. KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Bruce Golding administra-tion has appointed a for mer Jamaica Labour Par ty senator and Member of Parliament asambassador to the UnitedStates. Anthony Johnson, a senior lecturer in the Departmentof Management Studies at theUniversity of the W est Indies, Mona campus, will succeed Dr. Gordon Shirley, principal of that campus, the govern-ment announced last month. Johnson, who holds a master’s degree in international trade and finance and a bache-lor s degree in economics from the University of California, is expected to assume the postearly in 2008. Johnson was minister of state in the 1980s in the ministries of Industry andCommer ce, and Agriculture. He was also Oppositionspokesman on a wide range ofar eas, including education, agriculture, mining, energy and technology. He served as senator for several years, most notably asminority leader of the Senateduring the past five years. Fr om 1991 to 1995, Johnson served as a member of the Electoral Advisory Committee, the body that sets election policy here. He was also the executive director of the Private SectorOr ganization of Jamaica, as well as an executive of a number of business concerns. MIAMI The United States Coast Guard says it has repatriated over 200 Haitian migrants to Port-au-Prince,the Haitian capital. Officials said in a statement late last month that thecr ew of the Coast Guard Cutter V enturous repatriated 202 Haitian on Christmas Eve,Dec. 24. “Crew members from the cutter Vigilant located a gross-ly overloaded 40-foot sail fr eighter approximately 33 miles south of Great Inagua, Bahamas, (Dec. 22 “Once located, the Vigilant crew immediatelylaunched their small boat andbegan taking the migrants of f the dangerous vessel”. The Coast Guard said 25 of the 227 migrants were “uncooperative and refused todisembark the sail fr eighter, and the crew of the Vigilant deter mined it was best to allow the sail freighter to beach itselfon Isle de T or tue, Haiti”. ASSIST ANCE It said the crew of the Venturous, while on a port call in Dominican Republic, was launched to assist and r ecover the migrants from the Vigorous. “A 40-foot boat overloaded, with 227 people, is a disaster-at-sea waiting to happen,” said LieutenantCommander Chris O’Neil,public af fairs officer for the Seventh Coast Guard District, based in Miami. “For tunately, the cutters V igilant and Venturous were able to bring the migrants safelyaboar d their decks,” he added. “The sea is an unforgiving environment in the best condi-tions, and setting to sea in a gr ossly overloaded vessel is far from the best conditions,” he continued. He said once aboard Coast Guard cutters, all migrants are provided food,water , shelter and any necessary medical attention. DISCRIMINATION CLAIM Haitian immigration advocates her e say the U.S. discriminates against their compatriots by allowing Cubans, who r each U.S. shores, to remain in thecountr y; while the same is not done for Haitians. They said The Cuban Migration Act of 1994 and 1995 have produced a et Foot, Dry Foot” policy. This means the U.S. would stop admitting Cubans inter cepted at sea, and Cubans caught at sea, that is, with wet feet, would summarily be sent to Cuba. But those who reach U.S. soil (dry feet permitted to remain in theUnited States, and ar e eligible to adjust their status to permanent r esidence. “This policy is in contra diction and violation of the thir d provision of the Cuban Migration Act of 1994, which clearly states that, ‘The United States and Cuba agreed to cooperate on the voluntary r eturn of Cubans who arrived in the United States or were intercepted at sea,’” said Claude Louissaint, a human services administrator for the Broward County governmentin Souther n Florida. “The unfair treatment of Haitian migrants, in compari-son to Cubans, leads one tobelieve that many of the gainsethnic minorities have made in the areas of civil rights are being r eversed before our very eyes,” he added. “The ‘Anecdotal W et Foot Dry Foot’ policy represents amajor deviation fr om the American laws designed to eradicate racial discrimination and guarantee equal pr otection under the law ,” he continued. GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – After years of criticism the United States govern-ment says it can now laud Guyana’s fight against thethriving illegal dr ug enterprise and as a reward has tied the level of future assistance to commensurate improvements. “I am ver y hear tened to see that Guyana has doubled the number of interdictions inthe dr ug trade this year with the security for ces being mor e aggr essive,” said United States Ambassador to Guyana DavidRobinson. The U.S. envoy here said U.S. gover nment of ficials “understand how tough it is to extradite someone and we ar e not at all disappointed with the co-operation we are get-ting fr om the government of Guyana.” Guyanese authorities areboasting of ahandful of dr ug interdictions in 2007, which isa majorimpr ovement. Scor es of locals ar e currently facing illegal drugs charges overseas after passing frisking by the police; sniffer dogs andelectr onic sur veillance at the Cheddi Jagan Inter national Airpor t (CJIA imehri, south of the capital. SA TISFIED The U.S. government, in its annual r epor ts the last two years, has publicly cited Guyana as a major trans-ship-ment point in the multi-billiondollar illegal dr ugs trade, and criticized the government’s response. This time thoughRobinson said W ashington is satisfied with the level ofcooperation his countr y is receiving from Guyana in rela-tion to the illicit trade and extraditions. Immigrants file lawsuit to speed up citizenshipEx-senator appointed Jamaica’s new ambassador to the U.S.Over 200 Haitians repatriated on Christmas Eve ~ U.S.Coast Guard U.S.praises Guyana for fight against drug trade 6 CARIBBEAN TODAYJanuary 2008 NEWS NEWS www.caribbeantoday.com (CONTINUED FROM P AGE 5) Robinson CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:28 PM Page 6

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WASHINGTON – The United States Congr ess has honored Haitian soldiers who fought for America’sIndependence during the Revolutionar y War. Florida Democratic Congressman Kendrick Meek,of Miami, intr oduced a resolution in the U.S. House of Representatives commemo-rating the courage of Haitiansoldiers who fought on behalfof the U.S. in the “Siege ofSavannah” during the American Revolutionary War. Meek introduced the resolution on Dec. 19, the same daythat Haitians marked their Independence and the renunciation of slavery. Haiti celebratesits Independence as the first free Black Republic on Jan. 1. MONUMENT In October, the Haitian American Historical Society , a Miami-based nonprofit organ-ization, er ected the Savannah Monument Project in Franklin Square, in Savannah, an historic city in Geor gia. The society raised more than $400,000in private donations to fundthe monument, and worked alongside Savannah leaders. Meek, who represents one of the largest constituencies ofHaitian American voters in Miami, said that the heroismdisplayed by Haitian soldiersin Savannah, during the American Revolutionary War, is a “source of great inspira-tion and pride for Haitians. “Haitians bled for our country, and the Savannah Monument Project and thiscongr essional resolution help honor the sacrifice of thesebrave Haitians who played apar t in the founding of our great democracy,” he said. “Thanks to the tireless ef forts of the Haitian American Historical Society,which initiated the ef fort to build the monument, thisgr eat achievement will be recognized by the U.S. Congress,” he added. FIGHTERS Meek said that on October 9, 1779, the soldiers of Chasseurs-V olontaires de Saint Domingue (Haiti as the lar gest unit of soldiers of African descent to fight in the Siege of Savannah, alongsideAmerican and Fr ench forces. “The Savannah Monument represents the free black men of Haiti that helped America win its Independence from British rule,” said Daniel Fils-Aim, chair man of the Haitian American Historical Society . “I am grateful to the city of Savannah for this overduer ecognition.” The monument was designed by Miami sculptorJames Mastin and consists of four life-size figures in military uniforms. One is wound-ed, one is shooting, and anoth er is cocking his gun. The fourth figure is a 12-year-old drummer boy, a representa-tion of Henri Christophe, who later became Haiti’s ruler after freed slaves successfullystaged their own r evolution against France. Judge grants bond to U.S.immigration agent accused of raping Jamaican woman UNITED NATIONS – The Caribbean community (CARICOM) has registered its strong opposition to a United Nations non-binding resolution calling for a moratorium on the death penalty . Claiming that the General Assembly vote attempts tounder mine its sover eignty , CARICOM has strongly protested the initiative, joiningover 65 countries that either opposed or abstained from thevote. Some 104 countries supported the resolution, while 54 voted against it, and 29abstained. The r esolution called for “a moratorium on executions, with a view to abolishing the death penalty”. “Capital punishment remains legal under internation-al law , and Barbados wishes to exer cise its sover eign right to use it as a deter r ent to the most serious crimes,” said Mohammed Degia, Barbados’ s first secretary to the U.N., whose country was among vociferous opponents of the measure. “Beyond all of this, is the simple fact that the question ofthe death penalty is basicallyone of criminal justice, as enforced and upheld within national legal systems,” he added. ACCUSATION CARICOM accused developed countries, particularlythose in the Eur opean Union, of attempting to impose their will on them and threatening to withdraw aid if they voted against the initiative. But Massimo D’Alema, Italy’s foreign minister, speaking on behalf of the E.U., an ardent proponent of the death penalty, dismissed the allegations. “The resolution is not an inter fer ence,” he said. “But we call on each member state of the UnitedNations to implement the r eso lution and also to open a debate on the death penalty. “The moratorium is an important opportunity for inter-national debate,” he continued. Twenty-seven E.U. member-states voted for the mora-torium, along with over adozen Latin American coun tries and eight African states. The United States, Singapore, Egypt and Iran joined CARICOM in opposing the measure. Over 100 countries are said to r etain the death penalty on their statutes, while about133 have either abolished it inlaw or practice. Despite the contr oversy , U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the adoption of the resolution, stating that he was “heartened bysigns that capital punishmentwill eventually be abolishedworldwide. oday’s vote represents a bold step by the international community ,” he said. “I am par ticularly encouraged by the support expressed for this initiative from many diverse regions of the world. “This is fur ther evidence of a trend towards ultimately abolishing the death penalty Caribbean votes against U.N. moratorium on death penaltyU.S.Congress honors Haitians who fought in Revolutionary War January 2008CARIBBEAN TODAY 7 NEWS NEWS www .caribbeantoday.com Monument in Sa vannah,Georgia honoring Haitians. MIAMI – A United States federal judge her e has r uled that an immigration agent accused of raping a Jamaicanwoman while she was beingheld in detention can ber eleased on bond. Judge Peter Palermo last month granted a $50,000 bondfor Immigration and CustomsEnfor cement agent W ilfr edo Vazquez, who allegedly raped the 39-year-old Jamaicanwoman while she was being moved from a detention facili-ty in Miami. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ben Greenberg, however, argued that Vazquez, 35, is “adanger to the community and a risk of flight” and, therefore,should be kept behind barsuntil trial on sexual batter y charges. But V azquez’ s attorney Howar d Schumacher coun tered that Vazquez should be released, noting he had 16years of militar y ser vice, including being a decorated veteran of the war in Iraq. He served there between Dec. 2002 and Feb. 2004, he said. When V azquez was ar r est ed on Nov. 16, he was working as an active Air Force militarypolice of ficer in T ampa, Florida. ACCUSATION Court records indicate that Vazquez allegedly drovethe Jamaican woman fr om a Miami-Dade detention center to one in Broward Countybut, on the way , he took her to his home and raped her. The woman said she was “afraid” of Vazquez, accord-ing to the criminal complaint,and “emphasized thatV azquez was wearing his firearm, at all times, and she did not know what he wascapable of doing to her The woman was being pr ocessed at Kr ome detention center in Miami for transfer to one in Pompano Beach,Florida after being sentencedto time ser ved in connection with a false claim to U.S. citizenship. Immigration officialssaid they plan to put her in deportation proceedings. She has lived in the U.S. for 12 years. CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:28 PM Page 7

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ALFREDO BROOKS T he following are questions and answer s relating to Social Security issues in the United States. QUESTION:My parents have been asking me to help them with their retirement plans.Ikno w Social Security is closed during holida ys.Is there any way I can help them out over a holiday weekend? ANSWER: Yes our website, www.socialsecurity.gov/onlineservices , is ready to assist you. You can visit our online retire-ment planners to help them find out their full retirement agesand infor mation to help them deter mine when the time is right to apply for benefits. Andif that time is now , you can even help them complete and submit their application for retirement benefits online. Visit www .socialsecurity.gov/onlineser vices to get star ted. Q:My wife worked for a number of y ears.We noticed in her most recent Social Security statement that she is only three work credits shy of qualifying for Social Security r etir ement benefits.Can we voluntarily contribute money directly toSocial Security so that she will have retirement benefits cover-age? A: No. People cannot get additional Social Security credits by voluntarily contributing money directly to Social Security. Theycan ear n cr edits only by working in a job or business covered under Social Security. However,even if your wife does not have her own Social Security coverage she may be eligible tor eceive Social Security benefits based on your work r ecord. Q:What is the absolute earliest age that a person can retireunder Social Security? A: An eligible worker may start receiving Social Securityr etir ement benefits as early as age 62. However, if you start your benefits early , they ar e permanently reduced for each month before your full retirement age. For example, if your full retirement age is 66 and you sign up for Social Security when you’r e age 62, you will only receive 75 percent of your full retirement benefit. For mor e information about the r elationship between age and benefit payment amounts, you can visit theSocial Security website at www.socialsecurity.gov/retirement . Or you can call Social Security’ s toll-free number at 1800-772-1213 (TTY 1-800-3250778 ) and ask for the publication, “Retir ement Benefits”. Alfredo Brooks is a Social Security public af fairs specialist based in Orlando,Florida. TALLAHASSEE, Florida Callers to the Caribbean often view pre-paid telephone cards as a way to make talk cheaper. But those phone cards maynot deliver ser vices as advertised to consumers, accor ding to Florida’s Public Service Commission (PSC Investigators from the PSC recently conducted random service quality checks on calling cards issued by 10 firms in Florida, UnitedStates. During these checks, PSC investigators found several cards that did not function as advertised. Accor ding to PSC rules, the card provider must be registered with the PSC if thecar d can be used for intrastate calls. The PSC must also be notified of all charges, surcharges, and fees for the prepaid card, and this informa-tion must also be disclosed tothe customer at the point of purchase. PROBLEMS Problems with the prepaid car ds included: The company was not registered with the PSC; The card was not charging for calls as expected; The addition of unadver tised sur char ges and limita tions was not disclosed; The access number for the card’s network was continuously busy; The card advertised no con-nection fees, yet char ged disconnection fees, misleadingconsumers; The advertised per minute rate on the card only appliedto one call. Additional calls were charged at a much high-er rate; The advertised rate onlyapplied to limited ar eas, which was not disclosed; or The card did not work at all. WARNING If a violation is detected, the PSC sends a letter to thecar d issuer dir ecting the com pany to come into compliance and notifying it that fines may be assessed. Inter-state and international results from the investigation ar e being shared with Florida’s attorney general to determine if any additional investigation of consumer fraud is warranted. If a consumer detects a violation of a card’s disclosed fees or any additional problems, they should call the PSC at 800-342-3552 to register a complaint. The consumer may also take the card back to the point of purchase and attempt to obtain a refund. If consumers are considering using a pre-paid telephone card, here are a few tips: Read the fine print before buying a card; Be sure you understandexactly what the calls will cost,including the per minute charge and any connection ordisconnection fees; Check the card’s expiration date; Look for a toll-free customer contact service number to call if you have problems using the card; and Make sure the card can be used to your calling destination. Fees may vary based on calling destination. For more tips on using pr e-paid phone car ds, brochures in English and Spanish are available on thePSC’ s website at www .floridapsc.com . Consumers can also call the PSC’ s consumer line at 800-342-3552 (Spanish agents available). QUESTION:How does one become eligible for ‘U’ nonimmigrant status? ANSWER: The Untied States. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS an interim final rule that will grant certain immigrant victims of crimes who will assist government and law enfor cement of fi cials in investigating or prosecuting the criminal activity , a visa called the “U” visa. T o be eligible, USCIS of fi cials say the immigrant must have suf fered substantial physical or mental abuse as a result of having been a victim of a qualifying criminal activity . Additionally , he or she must have information concer ning that criminal activity; be helpful in the investigation or pr osecution of the crime, which must have violated the laws of the U.S. The petition for U nonimmigrant status must be filed by the immigrant victim who must provide a U Nonimmigrant StatusCer tification (For m I-918, Supplement B) from a federal, state, or local law enfor cement of ficial that demonstrates the petitioner “has been helpful, is being helpful, or is likely to be helpful” in the investigation or pr osecution of the criminal activi ty. Qualifying criminal activity includes: Abduction, incest, rape, sexual assault, tor tur e, mur der , trafficking, false imprisonment, perjur y , female genital mutila tion, domestic abuse, blackmail, abusive sexual contact, witness tampering, prostitution, slave trade, sexual exploitation and involuntary servitude among other related crimes. Further, either the head of the agency or a super visor designated with the authority to issue certifications on behalf of the agency must sign the certification. APPLICATION Cur r ently , USCIS has desig nated its Vermont Service Center as the centralized location to r eceive all U nonimmigrant petitions. USCIS can grant up to 10,000 ‘U’ visas each yearauthorizing the holder to r emain in the U.S. for up to four years. The immigrant can them apply for permanent residency status, but the agency will have to determine that the individual’s continued presence in the countr y is justified on humanitarian gr ounds to ensur e continuation of a cohesive family. Note that no fee will be charged for filing Form I-918. Petitioners must, however , pay the established fee for fingerprinting services for each person aged 14 to 79 included with each petition. The biometric fee is cur r ently $80 per person. “Many immigrant crime victims fear coming for ward to assist law enforcement because they may not have legal status,” explained USCIS Director Emilio Gonzalez. “We’re confi-dent that we have developed ar ule that meets the spirit of the Act; to help curtail criminal activity , pr otect victims, and encourage them to fully participate in pr oceedings that will aid in bringing perpetrators to justice.” Compiled by Felicia Persaud. Answer s provided here are for information pur poses only , and do not create an attorney-client relationship; nor are they a sub stitute for “legal advice”,which can only be given by a competent attorney after reviewing all the f acts of the case . Social Security’s retirement benefits at your fingertipsGetting ‘U’ status in the United States 8 CARIBBEAN TODAYJanuary 2008 LOCAL LOCAL www.caribbeantoday.com Street Address: 9020 SW 152nd Street, Miami, FL 33157 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 6010 Miami,FL33116-6010. Telephone: (305 (305305 Toll-Free Fax: 1-866-290-4550 1-800-605-7516 Jamaica: 654-7282 E-mail: editor@caribbeantoday .com Send ads to: ct_ads@bellsouth.net V ol. 19, Number 2 JAN. 2008 PETER AWEBLEY Publisher GORDON WILLIAMS Managing Editor SABRINA FENNELL Graphic Artist DOROTHYCHIN Account Executive SUNDA YSELLERS Account Executive JULISSA RAMOS Accounting ManagerCaribbean Media Source Media Representatives T OM JONAS 353 St. Nicolas Street, Suite 200 Montreal, Quebec, Canada H2Y 2P1 Tel: (514514 E-mail: tom@cmsworldmedia.com Jamaica Bureau MARIE GREGORY (876 P .O. Box 127, Constant Spring Kingston 8, JamaicaOpinions expressed by editors and writers are not necessarily those of the publisher . Caribbean Today , an independent news magazine, is published every month by Caribbean Publishing & Services, Inc. Subscription rates are: US$20 per year (Bulk. Caribbean Today is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or photos. To guarantee return, please include a selfaddressed stamped envelope. Articles appearing in Caribbean T oday may not be reproduced without written permission of the editor . Callers beware: pre-paid cards failing to deliver on promises to consumers Social Security benefits can make retirement enjo yable. CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:28 PM Page 8

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NEW YORK – Immigrant children are five times as likely as United States-born children to suffer from lead poi-soning in New Y ork City, accor ding to a new Health Department study. The risk is highest among the most recentimmigrants. The new study of children tested for lead poisoning in 2002, published online in the American Journal of Public Health last month, found that children who had lived abroadwithin the pr evious six months wer e 11 times as likely as U.S.-born children to have lead poisoning. The most affected children were from theDominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico and Pakistan nations where lead may be less tightly regulated than inthe United States. The studyis the first to look at lead poi soning in New Y ork City’s immigrant children. Lead-based paint is the primary cause of lead poisoning for both U.S. and foreignborn children in New York City, but immigrant children may face additional lead threats in their home countries, according to the study.Of the 800 lead poisoned chil dr en requiring home investigations in 2006, Health Department staff identified lead paint hazards in 80 percent of U.S.-born cases, but only 65 per cent of foreignborn cases. While it is not possible to document the exact sour ces of lead exposur e for these immigrant children, other research has shown that pollution, foods, herbal medicines, dishes, toys, jewelry, and cosmeticsar e sources of lead in foreign countries. “This study suggests that immigrant childr en are being exposed to lead in their home countries before they arrive in New York City,” said Jessica Leighton, DeputyCommissioner of Environmental Health and co-author of the study . “And some immigrant families may be bringing tainted products with them to New York City. We encourage all parents, especially parents who are recent immigrants, to be sure their children are tested forlead poisoning at ages one andtwo, as r equired by law The Health Depar tment’s most current statistics show that while only 14 per cent of the city’s children were born outside the U.S., 18 percent oflead poisoned childr en with lead levels requiring homeinvestigation wer e foreignbor n. Health screening tests everyone needsCaribbean-born kids among those at risk for lead poisoning in N.Y. January 2008CARIBBEAN TODAY 9 HEALTH HEALTH www .caribbeantoday.com The new year is here and maintaining properhealth should be on everyone’s priority list. For the following diseases, the United States PreventiveSer vices Task Force states that there are effective screening tests and that people shouldget them: Cervical cancer The task force strongly recom-mends scr eening for cer vical cancer in women who’ve beensexually active and have a cervix until theage of 65. However , the panel also points out that there is no direct evidence thatannual scr eening achieves better health outcomes than screening every three years. Most medical organizations in the U.S. rec-ommend that annual Pap smears be performed until two orthr ee in a r ow are normal; after that, the inter val between screenings may be lengthened. Color ectal cancer Men and women 50 years of age or older should get screened for colorectalcancer . According to the American College of Gastroenterology, people should get either a colonoscopy every 10 years or a sigmoidoscopy and a test to detect blood in the stool every five years. High blood pr essur e Adults ages 18 and older should be scr eened for high blood pressure, but there’s no agreedupon inter val between tests. One influential report recommends screening every twoyears for people who have blood pressure lower than130/85 and at mor e frequent inter vals for people with higher baseline readings. Lipid disorders The task force strongly recommendscholester ol testing in men ages 35 years and older and women ages 45 years and older whohave hear t-disease risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, or a family history of car-diovascular disease. The task force makes no recommendation for healthy younger adults in the absence ofknown risk factors for cor onar y heart disease. Breast cancer Women ages 40 or older should get a mammogram every one to twoyears. Osteoporosis Women ages 65 and older should bescr eened routinely for osteoporosis. (Screening shouldbegin at age 60 for womenidentified as being at increased risk for fractures.)The optimal inter val for repeat screening is not clear, according to the task force. Tobacco All adults should be asked by their doctorswhether they use tobacco, andsmokers should r eceive an intervention designed to end their tobacco habit. Alcohol All adults should receive screening and behav-ioral counseling inter ventions to reduce alcohol misuse by adults, including pr egnant women, in primary care settings. Obesity The task for ce r ec ommends that clinicians screen all adult patients forobesity and of fer intensive counseling and behavioral inter ventions to pr omote sus tained weight loss for obese adults. Women ages 40 and over should get a mammogram every one to two years. CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:28 PM Page 9

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2007: A year when the Caribbean broke new ground in sports,trade 10 CARIBBEAN TODAYJanuary 2008 FEATURE FEATURE www.caribbeantoday.com PETER RICHARDS Intense political drama, high profile legal battles, turbulence in the regional air transportsector and the signing of a newcompr ehensive trade pact with for mer colonial powers in Europe dominated the landscape in the Caribbean, but 2007 will long be remembered as the year in which the regionhosted a major global spor ting event. For nearly two months of an event-filled year , the Caribbeanstepped on tothe world stageto host the Mar. 13 toApril 28 Cricket WorldCup, which wasplayed in ninecountries afterthe hosts metwhat manyskeptics saidwould have been an impossibledeadline to complete an impressive list of new stadia in the par ticipating states. Impressed with the working ofmany of the systems during theevent, CARICOM leaders,meeting two months after the teams departed the region and the spotlight had shifted, made a decision to maintain many ofthe str uctur es set up for the global event. MARRED The death of Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer,however , overshadowed the Cricket World Cup in the region. Jamaican pathologistDr . Er e Seshiah kept to his claim that the for mer England cricketer had been strangled even though other pathologistsfound that W oolmer had died of natural causes when he was found in his hotel r oom on Mar. 18. The inquest into hisdeath did not shed much lighton the situation. The contr oversial Economic Par tnership Agreement (EPA) signed withthe Eur opean Union just weeks before the yearend deadline might not have been the biggest headline grabber, but it may yetbe the 2007 event which most defines the future of theseCaribbean states still pr oceed ing along an ambitious path to merge their markets andeconomies. While, as expected, Caribbean governments lauded the accord, there were others,such as the Barbados-basedCaribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC that the agreement fell short of answering many of the critical sustainable development chal lenges facing the r egion and has little with which to move it beyond a traditional Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The EPA, which Europe is negotiating separately with the79-member African, Caribbeanand Pacific (ACP oup of states, r eplaces a special export r egime for cane sugar and other economically critical goods from these countries thathad been in place since the mid-1970s. But supporters and critics alike agree that the EPA pact would strongly influencehow the r egion conducts future trade and economic relationsand some pr ominent Caribbean nationals, including Professor Norman Girvan, the former secretary general of theAssociation of Caribbean States (ACS postponement of the Dec. 31deadline for signing the EP A. ELECTIONS General elections were held in The Bahamas, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda in 2007. Jamaicans swept aside their first woman Prime Minister, Portia Simpson Miller, in favor of Bruce Golding, whoseJamaica Labour (JLPto squeeze out a two-seatmajority in the 60-memberParliament. The victor y by the JLP followed a similar pattern in The Bahamas, where PrimeMinister Per ry Christie and his Progressive Liberal Party (PLP e r eplaced by Hubert Ingraham’s Free National Movement (FNM British Virgin Islands, wherethe main Opposition V ir gin Islands Party (VIPof the 15 seats in that British Overseas Territory. Patrick Manning stemmed the hemor rhage of incumbent parties falling out of grace with the electorate and was swor n in as prime minister of Trinidad and T obago for a four th ter m, one day after his People’ s National Movement (PNM swept aside the UnitedNational Congr ess (UNC the Congress of the People (COP. 5 generalelections. By yearend, Premier Ewart Br own followed Manning and led his Pr ogr essive Labour Party (PLP sive victory over the mainOpposition United Ber muda Party (UBP A new prime minister was sworn into office in St. Lucia in2007. Stephenson King tookover the r eigns of government nine months after the 82-yearold Sir John Compton, who had defied the odds, led the United Workers Party (UWP to victory over the St. Lucia Labour Par ty (SLP who led the countr y for over 30 years as chief minister, premier and prime minister at various periods, died in September after a protracted illness thatincluded a series of minor strokes and pneumonia. In Belize, wher e Prime Minister Said Musa is gearingfor general elections in 2008, two government ministers were dismissed because they were not presentwhen the Opposition sought tomove a vote of no-confidence in the Musaadministration. The year also endedwith much speculation that Prime Minister Dr. KeithMitchell will call early general elections in Grenada, particularly after the latest opinion polls had shown his ruling New National Party (NNP rebounded sufficiently to be in a position to defeat the National Democratic Congress and the Grenada United Labour Party (GULP U.S.LINK In 2007, the Caribbean sought to improve its relationship with its most powerfulneighbor to the nor th – the United States. Regional leaders traveled to Washington D.C. in June for the inaugural Conference on the Caribbeanthat also included discussionswith Pr esident Geor ge W . Bush and senior U.S. officials, including influential lawmakersin the Congr ess and Senate. The communiqu issued after the meeting with Bush notedthat the leaders pledged to continue promoting the consolidation of democratic norms,values, and institutions throughout the hemisphere andto enhance accountability and respect for individual rights. Not to be outdone, newly elected Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper visit-ed the Caribbean and outlined a 10-year plan for a new economic partnership with CARI-COM that includes assistance for member states as they make the transition towar ds the CSME. But even as Washington was outlining plans to help the region deal with threats of terrorism and crime, four Caribbean nationals werear rested in Trinidad and T obago and the U.S. on char ges of seeking to blow up the John F. Kennedy (JFK International Airport in New York. A magistrate court in Port of Spain ruled that a prima facie case had been made out against TrinidadianKar eem Ibrahiim, 62, former Opposition legislator inGuyana Abdul Kadir , 55, and another Guyanese national Abdel Nur, 57, who were arrested in June and chargedwith conspiring to “cause death, serious bodily injury and extensive destruction” by blow-ing up the fuel supply to the airport. The men arrested in Trinidad have since challengedtheir extradition and by yearend the matter was still being heard in the courts in Trinidad. In Suriname, the highly anticipated trial of 25 peopleimplicated in the Dec.1982 extra judicial killing of 15 political opponents of the then military regime of army commander Desi Bouterse began in November. In Grenada, a rul-ing by the London-based Privy Council, the island’s highest court, paved the way for ther elease of some of the men convicted for the 1983 murder of then left-wing Prime MinisterMaurice Bishop and severalmembers of his Cabinet. The Privy Council ruled that thedeath sentence imposed on the former Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard and several others was invalid and orderedthat the men be r e-sentenced. T rinidad and Tobago’s Chief Justice Satnarine Sharma escaped impeachment after a tribunal appointed to investi-gate char ges of judicial inter fer ence, in a case involving for mer Prime Minister Basdeo Panday, found there was notsuf ficient evidence to war rant his removal from office. Panday was subsequently sentto jail for br eaching the Integrity Commission rules by failing to declar e millions of dollars he had in banks inLondon. He is out on bailappealing that decision. Even some of the r egion’ s high profile entertainers went befor e the cour ts in 2007. In Jamaica, Moses “Beenie Man” Davis was char ged with tax evasion amounting to J$30 mil lion ($400,000 Trinidadian soca artiste Machal Montano was released on TT$50,000 ($8,300 result of an altercation outside a night club in Por t of Spain. Other ar tistes, including Ker nel Roberts, the son of the late calypso legend “Lord Kitchener” (Alwyn Roberts have also been charged. BORDER CLASH A r uling by the Haguebased Per manent Court of Arbitration was interpr eted by both Guyana and Suriname as a victory of sorts for each other in their longstanding border dispute. In its ruling, the United Nations tribunal slapped both Suriname andGuyana for failing to do their utmost to resolve the dispute accor ding to established international practices. By yearend,Guyana was seeking an explanationfr om Venezuela over a militaryincursion into its territory and Suriname said it wanted an amicable border agreement with French Guiana. As the Caribbean states sought to tighten their borders, efforts to establish a single Caribbean carrier were again adominant agenda item in 2007.Caribbean Airlines, the new Trinidad and Tobago-based car-rier , which r eplaced BWIA, took to the skies in January, but Air Jamaica, the region’s singlelar gest carrier, said it was not prepared to participate in any single r egional airline, while Guyana and a Canadian-basedfir m have star ted talks to estab lish a national carrier by 2008. High air far es, accompa nied the buy-out of Caribbean Star by the regional airline LIAT and the Antigua-basedairline defended the incr ease, saying it was “appr opriate and realistic”. But by yearend,some Caribbean gover nments were complaining loudly of the monopoly situation cr eated by the multi-million dollar pur chase of Caribbean Star assets. While the region was spar ed the annual onslaught by hurricanes and other weather patterns last year, HurricaneDean and tr opical storms Felix and Noel did much to cause mor e than 60 deaths, mainly in Haiti. The mur der of police officers in Jamaica, the death of escaped prisoners in Guyanaas well as civilians at the hands of Trinidad and Tobago policeunderscor ed the ongoing crime problem in the Caribbean. The r elease of journalist Mark Benschop in Guyana on treason charges under a Presidential Free Pardon masked the relationship between the media and Caribbean govern-ments in 2007. CMC Woolmer’s death overshado wed Cricket World Cup. King took over in St. Lucia. Bouterse is on trial. Golding CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:28 PM Page 10

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The worldwide impact of Jamaica’ s reggae music will be the focus of a weeklong international conference in the Caribbeanisland next month. The University of the W est Indies’ Institute of Caribbean Studies and the Faculty of Social Sciences atMona will host “GlobalReggae: Jamaican PopularMusic A Y ard and Abroad” F eb.18-24. The confer ence, which will feature attractions at other venues in Jamaica as well, is the thir d in a series focusing on Caribbean culture. The first, held in 1996,honor ed Professor Rex Nettleford, UWI’s vice-chan-cellor emeritus. The second, in 2002, celebrated the work of the Barbadian griot/historian, Professor Kamau Brathwaite. This thir d conference, to be held in association with the Recording IndustryAssociation of Jamaica(RIAJamCultural DevelopmentCommission, the Bob Marley Foundation, and the Jamaica Tourist Board, will pay tributeto the generation of musicians who have created reggae – Jamaica’s distinctive contribution to world culture iconssuch as Count Matchuki, Don Drummond, Count Ossie,Mrs. Pottinger , and Prince Buster. RATIONALE The confer ence, coupled with associated reggae concerts, will consolidate and dis-seminate knowledge on the global impact of Jamaica’s dis-tinctive musical contribution to world culture. It hopes to build on the foundation of the 1995 symposium that was heldat UWI, Mona, co-sponsor ed by the Reggae Studies Unit and the Bob MarleyFoundation, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the birth of Jamaica’s premier cultural ambassador Bob Marley. The 2008 conference will provide an opportunity formusicians, scholars, cultural practitioners and entrepre-neurs fr om Jamaica and ar ound the world to r eflect on TITLE: CONNECTIONS AUTHOR: CLAUDETTE KING-WELCOME REVIEWED BY : GORDON WILLIAMS When Car olyn Robinson r elocated to Watertown to start fr esh on her futur e, she could t possibly have envi sioned the deep, disturbing links toher past that themove would cause. In “Connections”, Jamaican-born,Florida-basedauthor Claudette King-Welcome takes Carolynthr ough a jour ney that is deliciously intriguing, if some what farfetched. It is one of br oken families and dreams, spiced with shots at redemption, and glued together in the end by love and faith. It serves up a few shockers aswell. For those into r omance novels, packaged with tissues for tears, “Connections” is anice pick-up. Carolyn, who tells the stor y , is a single, car eer -orient ed, near-40, white woman who was raised by a single mom,Elizabeth Robinson. She longs for love and eventual ly finds it in Larry, an ambitious landscaper and a black man with two grown children. He is also raised by a lone woman, Gracie Mae Tate. At first Carolyn wiggles to fit uneasily into her new community, which is balanced unevenly on class barriers and racism, while cementing a friendship with her elderly neighbor Cassie Brandon, a lonely widow. The fairy tale tone of “Connections” kicks into gearNEW YORK – New York City Council has honored the composer of Barbados’s nationalanthem and a host of Jamaicanand Caribbean folk songs. Irving Burgie received the council’ s proclamation on Dec. 19 during an elaborateChristmas celebration cer emony at New York City Hall presided over by threeCaribbean Council members – Leroy Comrie, of Jamaicanpar entage; Vincentian Dr. Kendall Stewart; and HaitianDr . Mathieu Eugene. The council said Bur gie, also r enowned as the composer of “Jamaica Farewell” and “Day-O”, was awarded the proclamation “in tribute to his lifetime of musical and philanthropic contributions”. “The incomparable Irving Burgie continues to serve as asour ce of tr emendous pride for Caribbean nationals across the diaspora,” Comrie told thoseattending the cer emony . “He is a r ole model for aspiring singers and composers in our city and across the world.” Burgie composed about 34 songs for singer Harry Belafonte, of Jamaican parent-age, between 1955 and 1960. These included 11 songs on the 1956 Belafonte album “Calypso”, which remained number one on the Billboardchar ts for 32 weeks and was the first album of any kind tosell over one million copies.Bur gie also composed other songs for Belafonte, such as“Island in the Sun”, which wasthe title of the 1957 hit movie. In 1966, Burgie composed the words for the national anthem of the newly,Independent nation ofBarbados. His songs have sold over 100 million recordsworldwide, and his music hasbeen per formed by artistes ar ound the globe. Bur gie has also penned songs for the Kingston Trio and many other groups. Hissongs have been featur ed in numer ous films and musicSeveral major cultural events are on tap in theCaribbean thiswinter season, offering visitors additional rea-sons to jour ney to the region. Among them arethe following: The St.Barth’s Music Festival,J an. 11-13 Offers a variety of musical styles, including jazz and clas-sical. Check www .stbartsmusicfesti val.org for details. Barbados Jazz Festival, J an. 14-20 – The website, www.barbadosjazzfestival.co m , offers a listing of the artistes scheduled to be onshow . The Air J amaica J azz and Blues Festival,Jan.24-26 Scheduled headliners includeDiana Ross, Anita Baker , T aj Mahal, Jill Scott, Hugh Masakela and Spyr o Gyra. Visit www.airjamaicajazzandblues.com/08 The St.John Blues Festival, Mar . 19-23 is slated for the Virgin Islands. Visit www.stjohnbluesfestival.com/ bf/blueshome . KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC Inter national r eggae and dancehall artiste Moses Davies, popularly known asBennie Man, is seeking to make arrangements to clearhis multi-million dollar taxdebt, his lawyers have r epor t ed. The lawyers, in an appearance befor e the T ax Court last month, disclosed that they ar e planning to meet with the tax authorities r egar ding the J$47 million ($661,000 which the Tax Department says it is owed. The artiste is trying to obtain documents from his former management company, Shocking Vibes, which willassist him to make a case before the Tax Department, the lawyers said. They told the presiding judge that once thedocuments ar e obtained, arrangements will be made to settle the debt. Beenie Man was taken into custody in October after he failed to appear before theT ax Court to answer charges of tax evasion. The enter tain er has blamed his former management company , Shocking Vibes, for his dilemma, claiming the company was r esponsi ble for paying all his taxes. He is scheduled to return to court on Jan. 22. Reggae gets international focus at UWI confab in Jamaica,Feb.A twisting tale of deception, intrigue and true loveN.Y.City Council honors Irving Burgie ~ Music composer with Caribbean ties gets Big Apple recognition Beenie Man seeking to clear off tax debt January 2008CARIBBEAN TODAY 11 ARTS ARTS & & ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT www .caribbeantoday.com (CONTINUED ON P AGE 12) (CONTINUED ON PAGE 12) (CONTINUED ON P AGE 12) Marley helped reggae ca ptivate the world. Burgie Belafonte Beenie Man Hugh Masakela will be among the international stars performing in the Caribbean. Music fests spice up Caribbean destinations this winter season CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:28 PM Page 11

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PORT OF SAIN, Trinidad, CMC Trinidad and Tobago’sV alene Maharaj was crowned “Queen of the Caribbean”and placed four th in the 2007 “Miss World” competition in Sanya, China last month. Some 106 contestants participated in the competition, which was won by the People’s Republic of China’sZhang Zilin. It is the first time an East Asian has won the contest. Angola’s Micaela Reis took the first runner-up spot with Mexico’s Carolina Moran Gordillo coming in as second r unner-up. In an inter view published in the T rinidad Express last month, an ecstatic Maharaj said: “It’s been a great experi-ence. I enjoyed ever y minute of it.” Maharaj’ s name was the fourth to be called when the finalists were announced. The order was Angola, China, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago then Sweden. Minutes earlier she had made it to the top 16finalists, which included Maharaj, who is a r unway fashion model, has been in the beauty industry since age 16. at a town ball when sparks between Larry and Carolyn first fly. The seemingly toogood-to-be-true courtshipbetween the two sets a neatbase for the intrigue that is to come later. The novel takes asteady boil, but when it finally does, the temperature becomes almost irresistible. At first, onlythe new couple seems in favor of the relationship. Cassie and Elizabeth both frown on it.“Mama was not happy when I told her about Larry beingblack,” said Car olyn. Gracie Mae seemed mor e accommo dating, while Larry’s daughters eventually come around. Brief forays into Car olyn’ s working life by King-Welcome help to diversify the plot, but hardly disturbs the maincourse. The plot takes a whileto develop and small pieces knit together to form the big picture. Eventually, it all comes to a head in a near-sudden whoosh! Family lines are crossed up. Sordid memories surface – or are forced out.Bam! An elderly woman bloodies another’s nose. Oldtime “shame and scandal in difamily” stirs up all kinds of emotional turmoil. T ALENT King-Welcome has surefire talent as a storyteller. But“Connections” somehow rings with a “where have I heard that before?” feel. It seems dr enched with that “Lifetime” television channel flavor. The editing could have done far more justice to thenovel. A sprinkling of poorlyplaced punctuation marks and the occasional wrong use of words show that someone took their eyes off the ball while working on a more-than-worthy project. Yet credit King-Welcome for a bold try. The author of“Paper Thoughts”, a collectionof poems, clearly understandshow to pull the dots together tomake pleasing “Connections”. Gordon Williams is Caribbean Today’s managing editor. videos, with “Day-O” being the “wake-up call” for the astronauts on the space shuttleAtlantis in 1997. CARIBBEAN TIES Bur gie was bor n in Brooklyn, New York, in 1924, but his mother was Barbadian.He gr ew up sur rounded by people fr om the Caribbean. After serving in the United States Army during World War II, Burgie studied music at Julliard School of Music in New York, the University ofArizona and the University ofSouther n Califor nia. He was influenced by folk music, and began performing and writingsongs. In the early 1950s, he began performing in Chicagoand New Y ork, collaborating, during this time, with Louise“Miss Lou” Bennett, the late, renowned Jamaican folklorist. He also assumed the name “Lord Burgess”. Last year, Burgie was inducted into the SongwritersHall of Fame. He is a frequent visitor to Barbados, where he has estab-lished the Ir ving Bur gie Literar y and Creative Scholarship A war ds for the last 28 years. Miami-Dade releases countywide art guideReggae gets international focus at UWI confab in Jamaica,Feb.T&T’s ‘Queen of the Caribbean’ places fourth in ‘Miss World’ bidA twisting tale of deception,intrigue and true love 12 CARIBBEAN TODAYJanuary 2008 ARTS ARTS & & ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT www.caribbeantoday.com MIAMI – The Miami-Dade County Depar tment of Cultural Affairs has produced and released “Selections from the Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places Collection”, anew publication designed to provide citizens and visitors with a guide highlighting public art works throughout thecounty . The 60-page booklet featur es many of the program’s most pr ominent and popular works of public art, including pieces located at the Port of Miami, Miami InternationalAirpor t, Carnival Center for the Performing Arts, Downtown Miami and loca tions thr oughout Miami-Dade. “Selections from the Miami-Dade County Art in Public Places Collection” fea tur es locator maps and addresses of public art projects, brief descriptions of theworks and full color images. The br ochur e offers residents and visitors the opportunity to conduct self-guided tours of the collection and to learnmor e about our county-wide “museum” of ar t, cr eated by Miami-Dade-based ar tists and others fr om all over the world. COMMITTED e are committed to making Miami-Dade County’s Art in Public Places programa national model of opera tional efficiency, artistic quality and programmatic accountability,” Miami-Dade CountyMayor Carlos Alvar ez said in a press released issued by the county recently. “This new publication is one of many steps being taken to demonstrate the importance of a public art program and to emphasize the high standards that we have set for the future of the program.” To request a copy of “Selections from the MiamiDade County Art in Public Places Collection”, call 305375-4634 or visit culture@miamidade.gov. and document the global impact of reggae. Keynote speakers from each continentwill shar e their perspectives on the ways in which Jamaican r eggae has been appr opriated and adapted in a variety of cultural contexts. The conference will also examine the local impact of the r eggae music industry in Jamaica and assess ways in which the Jamaican economy can benefit more directly fromthe investments of intellectual property in this vibrant multinational industry. For more information, call 876-977-1951 or e-mail globalreggae2008@uwimona.edu.jm (CONTINUED FROM P AGE 1 1) (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11) (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11) Maharaj “This new publication is one of many steps being taken to demonstrate the importance of a public art pro-gram” – Carlos Alvarez Alvarez N.Y.City Council honors Irving Burgie CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:28 PM Page 12

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CHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT Your next hotel might not be a hotel. It could be a condo, a rental apartment or a home. And maybe it should be. It isn’t just that traditional hotels, inns and resorts turn off many travelers. There are plenty of r easons to check out of the lodge these days through-the-roof room rates,being nickeled and dimed forever y little extra item and the alter natives are often roomier, less expensive and more convenient. No one is predicting the demise of the hotel industr y. Not by a long shot, but when it comes to overnight accom-modations on your next trip,you might consider an alter nate to a traditional hotel. Here are five reasons why: Lots and lots of room Renting a house or condo almost always gives you morer oom for less money. That’s the experience of travelers like Linda Frappia, a healthcar e manager fr om Irvine, California. She has rented homes in Europe with two bedrooms and kitchens for as little as $500 a week during offseason. That’s about as muchas it costs for a comparablesuite in a nice hotel for onenight. More privacy Hotels are, by their very nature, public places, from the lobby to theexer cise r ooms. If you want to go somewher e where you don’t have to rub shoulders with the masses, you’ll want to skip the hotel. The solution was to rentan apar tment, which means, “comfort without intrusion”. A better place Hotels are expensive. Even cheap hotelscan be pricey , once you factor in taxes, “resort” fees and other surcharges. But that’snot necessarily the case with one of the popular hotel alter-natives. You can go native Most hotels are built in resort areas, and it’s difficult to get a feel for what a place is r eally like when you’r e miles away from any residents. But rent a condo, home or apartment, and you’re more likely to be right in the middle of everything. Extra fle xibility Hotels have r ules. Some of them are very strict. For example, say you want to take the whole family including grandma and grandpa on your next vacation. Don’t trysqueezing ever yone into a hotel room, or even asuite. But r ent a home or an apartment, and no one is likely to tell you to cap the number of guests, orthr eaten you with a surcharge if there are toomany people in the place. REALITY CHECK This is not for ever yone. Some travelers will still be more comfortablein a traditional hotel. For example, business travelers who are in town for just a few days will probably want to stay away fr om a condo or a home exchange. It’s not worth it for them. Darryl Cohen, an attorney in Atlanta, explains hispr efer ence for hotels as fol lows: “I’m well taken car e of, and if there is a problem, a staff member is available to remedy the situation.” But the longer I watch these non-hotel alternatives develop, the more convinced I am that they represent thefutur e of lodging. In other words, for a lot of travelers, staying at the inn is out. Edited from Christopher Elliott’s travel troubleshooter column.Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler maga-zine . 2007 Christopher Elliott. Distrib uted b y Tribune Media Services,Inc. ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC The Grenada govern-ment has announced that itwould not pr event several cruise ships carrying gay passengers from docking at Port St. George over the next fewmonths. A statement from the Ministr y of T ourism last month said ther e has been a negative fallout as a result of reports in the foreign press suggesting that the country was moving to ban gay cruises to the island. Cruise liners, Queen Mary 2 and Legend of the Seas havescheduled cr uises with gay passengers to several Caribbeancountries, including Gr enada in December, January, February and Mar ch. Officials were particularly upset about a headline appearing in the online edition of the Toronto Star newspaper, which read “Grenada consider-ing ban on gay cr uises”. “The Ministry of Tourism views with concern the recent negative and adverse reactionsbeing pr omoted in some sections of the media on the per spective visit of homosexual visitors to our island,” said thestatement r ead by Per manent Secretary Arlene BuckmireOutram last month, followingseveral days of consultationson the matter involving tourism officials and variousstakeholders. CONCERN “Equal of concer n ar e the negative reports which have now appear ed in the for eign press stating that Grenada has barred gay cruises from dock-ing in our island,” saidBuckmir e-Outram following a discussion with media representatives and tourism stake-holders. Tourism Minister Dr. Clarice Modeste Cur win also complained that inaccurate reports suggesting that Grenada was planning to ban gay cruises to the island haveled to a number of cancella tions at local hotels. Dr . Modeste Curwin told reporters that persons have also protested by dispatching letters to the Canadian government asking that country to cut aid to St. George’s. “As a r esult of this the numbers of hotels have hadcancellations and this does notaugur well for our tourismsector ,” the statement said. “The ministr y ther efor e wishes to make it clear that the cruise lines which regularlyvisit Gr enada and ar e sched uled to do so during the cruise season are important to all ofus and as such we will continueto welcome all visitors and we will work along with our popu-lation to ensur e that their time and ours will be enjoyable.” Cruise ships carrying gay passengers have visited Grenada many times before,but the news that lar ge num bers of them are scheduled to visit over a four month period has created a major stir hereand has sparked a raging debate in the country. Sections of the society, including reli-gious or ganizations, have voiced strong opposition to the planned cr uises. Grenada not banning gay cruisesInn is out: Five reasons to skip a hotel January 2008CARIBBEAN TODAY 13 TOURISM TOURISM / / TRAVEL TRAVEL www .caribbeantoday.com Sometimes a cozy bed and breakfast is better than staying a t a hotel. Modeste Curwin CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:28 PM Page 13

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14 CARIBBEAN TODAYJanuary 2008 BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Opposition Leader David Thompson believes it’s“unr ealistic” for Barbados to meet its own food requirements, but has expressed confidence that a regional food plan, which takes into account the vast resources of Guyanaand T rinidad, could satisfy the island’s needs and that of its neighbors. “There are vast areas of land in Guyana, there is vast potential for agricultural pro-duction in T rinidad, there is vast potential for agricultural production throughout the region, not only for export, but tohelp feed ourown peoplewithin the region,”Thompsontold the Caribbean Media Cor poration (CMC He was speaking ahead of last month’ s special summit of Caribbean community (CARICOMGuyana called specifically to discuss the high cost of living in the region, which currently imports about $3 billion ayear in food. Agreeing that something must be done urgently about the problem, Thompson called for a more large scale “regional cooperative venture” thatwould allow Caribbeannationals to sour ce cheaper items, including, but not limit ed to food stuf f. DR. THOMAS LEE Question:I know that eating fish is good for the heart.Butfr esh fish costs a lot and I can’t get to the grocery store very often.Does eating canned fish help? Answer: Canned salmon, tuna, sardines, kippered her-ring, and other typesof fish ar e pr etty much on a par with fresh fish. They give you as much heart-healthy omega-3fatty acids as fr esh fish, and sometimesmor e. These essen tial oils help prevent potentially deadly heart rhythms. Theyalso work againstinflammation andthe for mation of blood clots inside arteries. An Italian study published in 2001 found that people whoate fr esh or canned fish at least twice a week wer e 30 percent less likely to have had heart attacks as those who atefish less than once a week. Whenever possible, choose fish packed in water.Since water and oil don’ t mix, omega-3 fats remain locked in the fish. When fish is packed in oil, some of the omega-3 fats intermingle with the packing oil and are lost when theoil is drained. About the only downside of eating canned fish is the extra sodium it contains. You can get more than 300 milligrams of sodium one-seventh of a healthy daily ration from three ounces of cannedsalmon or tuna. Rinsing thefish can help a bit. Dr.Thomas Lee is editor in c hief, Har vard Health Letter. 2007.President of Fellows Har vard Colle g e .All rights reserved.Distributed by Tribune Media Services. Bdos Opposition backs regional food planIs canned fish good for the heart? FOOD FOOD www.caribbeantoday.com Thompson Canned fish CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:28 PM Page 14

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Last month I touched on the subject of husbandtraining by wives. The indignity of it all, some men say, as wives are so much trou-ble. Y et, some men marry not only consecutively , but concurr ently, having more than one wife at the same time. Imagine, the idea of men having morethan one wife, when in factthey often complain how onewife gives so much tr ouble. The acquisition of multiple wives is as old as time itself. Ithas been practiced thr oughout histor y by people of many nations and religions, large and small. It is recorded in the Bible. The more the merrier, and ifkings David or Solomon could speak right now, they’d both say, s good to be the king.” In this moder n day, polygamy is still practiced by some, even in the great U.S., as many religious groups and sectslive the life they love, and lovethe wives they live with. It is a pure and honest expression of a man’s love for his wives. Meanwhile, the rest of society lives under the veil of hypocrisy,as men take vows with one wifebut keep another on the side. Ther e is this television series called “Big Love”, that explores this very same phe-nomenon, that of a man withhis thr ee wives and how they interact and co-exist amicablyand civilized. It is almost ever y man’s dream, to be able to have thr ee wives out in the open, with no jealousy or problems. “Man,multiple wives is the wa y to go , all of the pleasure,none of the guilt, that’s civilised living. In par ts of Africa, men are still allowed to have many wives, as longas they can af for d them. Each wife knows her place and the pecking order ismaintained. In the W est, the principle remains the same and the ‘wives’ areas loyal and devoted totheir husbands as theirAfrican counterpar ts. They know wher e he is at all times, as he is always at the first, second or thirdwife’ s house. How many wives in our neck of the woods can purpor t to knowing where their husbands are at any given time? In multiple marriages there is no need for dis-honesty , as all the parties know what the deal is, and they know exactly what they were getting into. BENEFITS The benefits to multi ples are many, with the first being sex. Y es, sex, that all important ingredient of any successful marriage. In monogamy, sex wanes, even slightly, although many lie andsay that it isn’ t so, but in multiples it is heightened, and here’swhy: Whether you like to hearit or not, people crave sexual variety, and it’s not gender related either, as women alsofall into this categor y . Some ar e shackled by so called morality however, while others don’tventur e because of fear . But take those away and we would all sleep with whomever, whenever we wanted to. For this reason, people have affairs, as the need forsexual variety beckons. With multiples, this hunger and thirst are satisfied, as the man has a choice of different wiveswhenever hepleases. Allthe wivesknow theirschedule and fit right in, orif he wants tokeep it evenmor e sponta neous and real, he has no schedule, butjust pops in and spends thenight with whichever wife whostrikes his fancy . A life of per manent booty calls. Because of this heightened sexuality, the marriages are kept fresh, alive,spontaneous, and honest. What’s going on Mr.Salesman? Multiple wives,multiple crosses January 2008CARIBBEAN TODAY 15 VIEWPOINT VIEWPOINT www .caribbeantoday.com GORDON WILLIAMS Fitzr oy Salesman has made histor y for a lot of right r easons in the United States. A Caribbean American man who fashioned himself into a popular South Florida politician, he earnedhimself a seat on Miramar City Commission. A few years ago, Salesman was par t of a trio of Jamaicanborn men who held the majority on the elected commission,the first time English-speaking Caribbean Americans had achieved such a political featin the U.S. But in recent times Salesman has been making history for the wrong reasons.He has been involved in a few skirmishes with the law, which threatens his political legacy and also the reputation of Caribbean Americans everywher e. In 2005 Salesman was suspended from the city commission by Florida’ s then Governor Jeb Bush after being charged with drivingunder the influence of alcohol and evading cops. His police station mug shot showed a man looking disoriented. Theoutspoken politician seemed to have taken a mighty fall.But Salesman r ebounded. Last year he was clear ed of those charges and reinstated to his $31,599-a-year job by current Governor Charlie Crist. Lost wages were reimbursed, legal fees taken care of. Salesman said he felt vindicated. The whole thing had blown over and Salesman was once mor e in the clear . That is, until the most recent incident. Salesman, 50, is facing fir ear ms-related charges based on accusations that he allegedly pulled a gun at a man while at a South Florida store. Again, Florida’ s gover nor has suspended Salesman from Miramar City Commission duties. Again Salesman is get ting ready to face the courtsystem. Again his politicalfutur e and his fr eedom ar e at stake. DAMAGE What is to be made of this? In the U.S., a person is supposed to be innocent until pr oven guilty in a court of law. But that has not stopped a few things from happening in Salesman’s case. Although he is an American citizen, Salesman is r epeatedly referred to as the Jamaicanborn Miramar city commissioner. He can’t escape the tag and that casts a shadow on the Caribbean American community as well. Also, Salesman’sconnection to the Caribbean only fuels the snickering fr om some who believe that people from the region who settle in the U.S. ar e often unable to handle the same success they so desperately seek. It is dif ficult to fully understand the damage that Salesman’s latest legal woescan cause to the Caribbean American community. But r est assur ed there will be some damage. Miramar is a fairly affluent community witha huge Caribbean American population. Many there are eager to support their own, especially in achieving political office. But if Salesman’smug shot continues to showup on police blotters for all the wrong reasons, will it be fair to ask those same residents to stand behind him when he – again seeks their suppor t? How long will it be before Caribbean American voters star t thinking that maybe their elected officials should be spending more time servingtheir community than fighting personal legal battles? NO RUSH No one should r ush to judge Salesman. It does not matter how many times he has to face the cour t. The system will be enough judge for him. As far as we know, he is inno-cent. Yet maybe it is time that Salesman does some reflectioninto his own conduct. He should be aware of theCaribbean saying that “if itnuh go suh, it go near”, whichloosely indicates that even if the charges do not stick, they leave a mark. Salesman, by vir tue of his popularity and clout, is capable of creating a hugely posi-tive image of Caribbean peo ple in the U.S. He has lobbiedfor Caribbean people in the U.S. to be able to r epr esent the governments of the region in matters r elating to the U.S. gover nment. I suspect that he, if he can only stay off the police blotters, would value himself as one who could do a good job at that. And make the right kind of history. Gordon Williams is Caribbean Today’s managing editor. TONY ROBINSON (CONTINUED ON PAGE 16) CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:28 PM Page 15

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With multiples there is no need for deception, no need forlies, no need for nagging. Ah nagging, the bane of marriages, the weapon of wives, the alba-tr oss of husbands. One would think that with three or more wives, the mathematical per mutation of nagging would increase proportionally. Butnot so, and that is the beauty ofmultiples, for with multiple wives, the very reason for nagging is taken away. No more is there a need to ask, “So whereyu was, who yu was with,what’ s her name, ar e you sleep ing with her?” That is the domain of the so called solewife, she who is insecur e and needs to have and to hold her husband close to her bosomwhen she feels like it. There is sexual blackmail that single wives are famous for. With multiples, if, heaven forbid, one wife decides towithhold her sexual favours, allthe husband has to do is visitany of the others. This leads toa happy contented husband who may even forgive thater rant wife her misdeeds. In fact, she would think twice befor e tr ying that stunt again, as she knows that if he doesn’t eat at her home he always has another home to eat from. Just think of it, a world with no mistresses, no guile, noguilt, no lying about cominghome late, no tears. Thephrase, cheating husband would be stricken from our vocabulary. But there are alsonegatives to multiples, a down side, although the pros may ver y well outweigh the cons. EXPENSIVE First of all, it can be an expensive under taking, as each wife and indeed each house-hold will have to be maintained equally. You very well can’thave one wife living in a decentupscale apar tment, while the others exist in squalor. Ther efor e, each house has to be financed equally. That’s thr ee mor e r ents or mor tgages fr om one man, not an easy task. That’s why polygamy is usually reserved for the privilegedamong us, the kings of old, the tribal chiefs, the affluent. But at least it will be out in the open, unlike the victims ofmonogamy who have to hidetheir financial statements as they cloister away their mistressin a hidden apar tment, hoping that the wife never finds out. Also with multiple wives, the man has to be virile, as each wife is expecting her just rewards.There can be no sexual fatigue or inequality on his part, or multiple love will quickly turn to multiple crosses. Imagine one wife getting morethan the others, or him not being able to perform at all? But tr uth be told, with the variety offered up to him, just like a boxer who gets manyprize fights, he will be kept inpeak condition, always sharp,at the top of his game and won’t need much stimulation. Then there will be children, for each household will havemany , and he will have to be a good father to them all, helping with homework and stuff. But come to think of it, that sce-nario occurs in so called monog amous society , with men having separate families, complete withchildr en, albeit squir ed away in some secret suburb. Still I say , big up multiples, and even though many of youladies may be fuming as you disagree with me, almost everyman I know would vote for it. Plus if you really gave it serious thought, you may even agreefor the above r easons no lying, no deception no suspi cion. And you would always know where he is. Hail multiples, but don’ t you ladies even dar e think about taking multiple husbands; it goes against the laws of nature. seido1@hotmail.com 16 CARIBBEAN TODAYJanuary 2008 www.caribbeantoday.com VIEWPOINT VIEWPOINT (CONTINUED FROM PAGE 15) “The backlog, under the requirements of the WesternHemispher e T ravel Initiative (WHTIis outrageous” Caribbean American Congresswoman Yvette D.Clarke calling for a moratoriumon all new passport rules in the United States. e,more than most,have tasted God’s goodness” Jessica Odle ,Barbados’s New York consul general, highlights the Carib bean’s blessings in her Christmas message . “Haitians bled for our country” – Congressman K endrick Meek, who last month introduced legislation in the U.S.House ofRepresentatives honoring thecontributions of Haitians in America’s Revolutionary War. e r eally feel like we have the upper hand here” Mark Mendel, a United States-based lawyer,who is representing Antigua and Barbuda,said the twin-island state is looking forward to receiving a huge com-pensation from the U .S.in its Internet gambling trade dispute with Washington. “Because of a long-standing attitude of that European coun-try ,which has always said that it does not favor the involvement of other cultural agencies and entertainers in its mark et,it has firm restrictions so Europe has put up barriers to liberalizing the market for our cultural workers and entertainers” C ARICOM Chairman Owen Arthur last month revealing that one country (France) virtually stood in the way of the Caribbean completing the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union. “Governments are designed to create and follow rules and because tourism involves creativity,thinking outside of the box,the bureaucracy in govern-ment can slo w down progress” Caribbean Tourism Organization(CT O) Secretary General Vincent Vanderpool-Wallace last month advising Carib bean go vernments not to get too involved in the day-to-day running of their vital foreign exchange earning tourism sectors. Any first year law student would know that this case was frivo-lous ,vexatious, non meritoriousand designed toharass a sittingprime minister” Grenada’s Attorney General Elvin Nimrodsa ying it is wrong for anyone to object to Prime Minister Dr. K eith Mitchell being granted immunity from prosecution in aUnited States court. “Normally,a grand jury will indict anything or anyone,including a ham sandwich” Anthony Capetola,a New Yorkbased attorney,explaining why the murder case against his Trinidadian-born client Kelly Forbes,was not strong.Forbes was arrested and charged with manslaughter for killing her husband of three months. ou can’t look that far in advance.Anything can happen. I’m just taking it one day at a time” Bahamian high jump world c hampion Donald Thomas last month playing do wn focus on the Beijing Olympics next summer as he looks to the start of 2008. “The situation at the WICB is not conducive to productivity and if there isn’t a change the problem will continue to exist” Bruce Aanensen, former chief exec-utive officer of the West IndiesCric ket Board, expressing hisview last monththat the number of directors on the WICB is too large and causes problems to playersand management. He also feels there is also too much interference from the directors of the WICB. “When you add to that the number of persons who arecoming back in our country who may not have jobs,who are dis-located from their family mem bers,who are angry at being returned then we have anothersocial problem” Dr.Ann-Marie Barnes,the technical director in Jamaica’s Ministry of National Security,highlighting the strain on regional local law enforcers caused by the influx of deportees to the Caribbean from developed countries. “The passing of the generation of charismatic leaders who com-manded and e xpected loyalty and the rise of a generation of technocrats in their stead pro vides no easy answers” Professor Alan Cobley ,a University of the W est Indies offi cial,lamenting the high level of disenchantment among young voters in the Caribbean,which hesaid could cripple democracy in the region. “It smacks of desperation. The prime minister is clearly hopingto hide behind the season” David Comissiong ,leader of the fledgling P eople’s Empowerment Party (PEPcriticizing the preChristmas announcement of general elections in Barbados by Prime Minister Owen Arthur asa deliberate attempt b y the government to “short circuit”public debate leading up to the poll sc heduled for this month. “There is always the balloon effect.Wherever you put pressure,they go somewhere else” V ito S.Guarino,assistant special agent in charge of the U.S.Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA Caribbean Division,said much of Colombia’s cocaine nowcomes to the southern coast of Hispaniola,via Venezuela. ailure to stop these activities is an offense under section 68(7 of the Act and is punishable upon conviction by a fine or imprisonment or both” The Financial Service Commission inJ amaica issuing an order last month for the investment scheme Cash Plus Limited to immediate ly cease and desist its securities trading activities until the compa ny obtains the required license . 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NELSON KING WASHINGTON The World Bank says that while theCaribbean and Latin Americanr egion remains the largest recipient of recorded remittances, growth of remittances to the area has slowed in recent months. “Flows to Latin America and the Caribbean slowed onthe back of a weakening U.S.(United Statestighter enfor cement of immigration laws”, the bank explained in a statement last month. “Although remittances to the Latin America and the Caribbean region continued to increase in 2007, including inMexico, their rate of gr owth has slowed markedly , raising concer n over the long-term sustainability of remittance flows”, it added. Nevertheless, the World Bank said the growth of remittances to developing countries r emains robust because of strong gr owth in Europe and Asia. It said the remittance industry is experiencing some “positive structural changes”with theadvent of cell phone and Internet-based remittance instruments. “The dif fusion of these changes, however , is slowed by a lack of clarity on key regulations, including those relating to money laundering and other financial crimes”, it stated. “Remittance costs have fallen, but not far enough,especially in the South-Southcor ridors”. RISE The World Bank said remittance flows to developingcountries ar e expected to reach US$318 billion in 2007. Of thisamount, r emittances sent home by migrants fr om developing countries ar e expected to exceed $240 billion in 2007, up from $221 billion in 2006 and more than double the level reached in 2002, it said. “This amount reflects only officially recorded transfers-theactual amount includingunr ecorded flows through formal and infor mal channels is believed to be significantly larger”, the bank stated. PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – An international tri-bunal has found that the case brought against Chief JusticeSatnarine Shar ma over allegations of judicial misconductwas weak, clearing the way for him to resume his duties. Shar ma, 64, was suspended from office on June 13, 2007allowing the tribunal to beginits task of investigating a claimmade by Chief MagistrateSher man McNicolls that he (Shar ma) had attempted to influence his decision in the trial of former Prime MinisterBasdeo Panday . The international tribunal, headed by retired Privy Councillor Lord Michael Mustill, andincluded St.Lucian juristSir V incent Floissac Q.C.and Jamaicanjurist Dennis Morrison Q.C., found insufficientevidence to r ecommend to the president that the question of Shar ma’s r emoval be forwarded to the Privy Council for final determination. Remittances to Caribbean slowing ~ World Bank Int’l tribunal clears T&T’s chief justice ST . GEORGE’S, Gr enada, CMC -The daughter of slain former Grenada Prime Minister Maurice Bishop has extended an olive branch to her father’s killers. Nadia Bishop called on Grenadians to join her in forgiving former Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard, exarmy strong man Hudson Austin, and the other 15 people convicted for the murder of Bishop and several members of his Cabinet in 1983. Bishop, 39, said she was speaking for herself and her family and not on behalf of other family members who lost relatives during the political unrest in Oct. l983. “This invitation is not designed to provide a reason to judge those who are not ready to forgive or to reconcile. It has taken me 24 years to get to his point,” said Bishop, a United States-based lawyer. “Everyone needs the time that they need and no one should be judge by anybody else’ s time line, especially not the family members of those who were killedon October 19.” TURNAROUND Political observers say her declaration is of major significance and a complete turnaround from the bitterness and anger that spurred many families to publicly cam-paign for thekillers to remain in jail for the rest of their natural life. “I am her e today because I have come to the conviction that my father would be veryunhappy to know that 24 years later that the people of Grenada, whom he considered his family, are still fighting and having divisions amongst themselves in the name of Brother Bishop,” she said. “This is not what he would have wanted.” The young Bishop was joined by Marcel Belmar, whose sister , Jema, was among those killed during the palace coup in 1983. While Belmar, who has been at the frontlines of protest against the killer’s freedom from prison, has had a change of heart, other family members were saidto be unhappy with the positiontaken by the young Bishop. Daughter of slain revolutionary leader extends olive branch to father’s killers January 2008CARIBBEAN TODAY 17 REGION REGION www .caribbeantoday.com Maurice Bishop Sharma A weakening U.S.economy has helped slow remittances to the Caribbean. CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:29 PM Page 17

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BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC Barbadians will go tothe polls to elect a new gov er nment on Jan. 15, Prime Minister Owen Ar thur revealed during last month’s pre-Christmas national address to the nation. Nomination Day was Dec. 31. Arthur, who is seeking an unpr ecedented fourth successive ter m for his Barbados Labour Party (BLPmonths of speculation whenhe announced the date for themuch-anticipated poll during a two-minute address, whichwas br oadcast live on radio stations and the Caribbean island’s lone television station. In the last general elec tions, which were held on May 21, 2003, Arthur’s BLP won 23seats in the 30-member House of Assembly, with the remain-ing seven going to theDemocratic Labour Par ty (DLP DESPERATION? Meanwhile, two Opposition parties here slammed Arthur for his pre-Christmas announcement ofthe Jan. 15 general elections,while declaring their r eadiness to contest the poll. Opposition Leader David Thompson toldthe Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC that while his Democratic Labour Party (DLPtest the elections, he thoughtthe announcement just days before Christmas Day was “an unfortunate cut into the most sacred event of the Christianfaith.” David Comissiong, leader of the fledgling People’ s Empower ment Party (PEP told CMC he believes the preChristmas announcement wasa deliberate attempt on the part of government to “short circuit” public debate leadingup to the poll. “It smacks of despera tion,” Comissiong said. “Theprime minister is clearly hop ing to hide behind the season.” IV AN CLIFFORD HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC The ruling Progressive Labour Party (PLPvictor y in last month’ s general elections with a resounding22-14 seat majority over the main Opposition UnitedBer muda Par ty (UBP according to preliminary results. Both par ties had nominat ed candidates for all 36 seats in this British Overseas Territory, and the results were a repeat of the 2003 election. According to the preliminaryfigur es, the two main par ties traded two seats each. The results also flew in the face ofopinion polls that the par ties were in a close contest. Opposition Leader Michael Dunkley, who gambled onleaving a safe seat totake on PLP incumbent PatriceMinors, a for mer health minis ter ,backfired when he was beaten by 92 votes. Dunkley made the switch in a do-or -die attempt to take his party back to power it last held nine yearsago. Premier Ewart Brown, whose job had appeared to beon the line in a tight finish, oreven defeat, easily held his Warwick South Central seat while his closefriend andpolitical new comer ZaneDeSilvacaused anupset by beat ing formerUBP tourismminister DavidDodwell by 48 votes in Southampton EastCentral. DeSilva became the first white member of the PLPsince for mer tourism minister David Allen, who died fiveyears ago. Two independent candidates collected just 67 votesbetween them. GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Parliament hasappr oved legislation paving the way for the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM house-to-house registration despite reservations by the opposition that the measur es may threaten the independence of the commission. GECOM said it is ready to begin the exer cise that is expected to end on July 4. The house-to-house registration is expected to be done before the local government polls scheduled for this year. Barbadians vote for new govt.on Jan.15PLP returned in BermudaGuy ana appro ves voters bill 18 CARIBBEAN TODAYJanuary 2008 POLITICS POLITICS www.caribbeantoday.com Brown CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:29 PM Page 18

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PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Digicel Caribbean Cupchampions Haiti celebrated2008 as the number oneCaribbean Football Union(CFUthr ee spots down the FIFA Coca Cola Rankings. After achieving an all-time best 66th on the world soccerlist together with the CFU top spot in November, the Haitians dipped to 69th on FIFAsDecember ratings list r eleased last month, but remain head of the CFU rankings. Cuba dipped one spot on the FIFA list to number 71 and retain the CFU second spot, and Trinidad and Tobagostepped closer to the CFU front-runners by moving up two places to 81st on FIFAs list as the region’s number three team. Jamaica climbed two places up the CFU list to fourth with its number 97 ranking, to displace St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG Guyana, which both sufferedhuge slides on the world list. SVG, the highest ranked English-speaking Caribbean team in November, tumbled 24places down FIF A s list to 101st, and is now fifth in the CFU. Guyana plunged to 128th spot, a whopping 35 places down from its November world rating of 93rd, and now sharessixth in the CFU withBarbados. Ber muda, 147th on the FIFA list, is eighth in the CFU, while Antigua and Barbuda (151153 plete the region’s top 10. There was no change among the world’s top teams,with Ar gentina at number one, stalked by Brazil and Italy, with Spain fourth and Germany fifth. keeps top spot in regional ratings GORDON WILLIAMS MIAMI Despite plans for a warm-up bout this month and a crack at a world title fight in April, Jamaican-born formerlight heavyweight championGlen Johnson still harbors anintense desir e for a rematch with his ring nemesis ClintonW oods of Britain. If familiarity br eeds con tempt, Johnson has seen enough of Woods to spawn a cauldronof bor dering on hatred. The former International Boxing Federation king is vowing toinflict so much punishment on the current IBF titleholder he has difficulty finding ways to express it. “I’m looking for war d to that fight wher e I can’ t even put that in words,” Johnson said while working out recently at the Warriors Boxing Gym in Florida, United States wherehe lives. “I need to br eak about four (of W oods’s) ribs and a jaw bone in that fight, because I definitely want to hurt Clinton Woods very, very, very badly Johnson, 38, scheduled to fight Colombia’ s Hugo Pineda this month in a warm-up bout, has also been r epor ted to be in line to that on undefeated American Chad Dawson in April for the World Boxing Council title. But it is W oods who riles up Johnson the most. The Jamaican has fought Woods three times before, all in Britain. The results havebeen mixed, with each fighter winning once and one draw. However, Johnson has longbelieved that the two fights he did not win were hometown decisions that favored Woods. “I’ve beaten him thr ee times,” said Johnson, who holdsa r ecor d of 46 wins, 11 losses and two draws. “They took one. Actually they took twobecause one of them was called a draw,which I beat him. The other oneI win the decision and the otherone, they called a split decision,went to him.” BITTER The Jamaican is especially bitter because he believes Woods, 35, has delayed hisquest to be listed among the sport’s greatest and deprivedhim of lucrative purses. “Out of all the people that I’ve fought, he’s done the mostdamage to my car eer,” Johnson said. “So this man has set back my career twice already and there’s nobody else in boxing that has done that,” said the man called the “Road Warrior” for his willingness to fight anywhere he’s asked and who has suf fer ed several dubious ring decisions in his long car eer . “Ther e ar e fighters who have set my car eer back by ripoff wins and stuff like that. But they’ve done it once. This guy (Woods) has done it twice. So I am very, very angry when it comes to Clinton Woods.” Johnson is the top ranked challenger for the IBF crownand could get a crack at thattitle ar ound mid-2008. If W oods is still holding the belt, the twowill meet for a four th time. Johnson admits that Woods is not to bear totalblame for what he considersbad ring decisions in their pr evious fights, but he r efuses to play down his building animos ity towar ds the Englishman. eah, it’s a personal thing,” said the fighter who also goes bythe nickname “Gentleman Glen”. “It’s a grudge match. I know (Woods) is not the doer himself, because I know that it’s his camp, you know, management, promoters and stuff like that. Those ar e the ones that do the dirty deeds. It’s not so much the fighter . “But he’s the only one that I can catch and the only one that I can deal with. So, he’s the only one that has to pay Gordon Williams is Caribbean Today’s managing editor.. Johnson may fight American for world boxing title, but Jamaican desires revenge match against Brit PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Rugby West Indieshas announced a 12-membersquad for the Inter national Rugby Board’s Sevens WorldSeries tour nament next month in the United States city of San Diego, California. The players were picked following the NAWIRA Sevens tournament, a mini camp in Trinidad, and the Trinidad and Tobago Sevens. The squad includes Claudius Butts, KevinMcKenzie, Richar d Staglon, Theodore Henry, Albert LaRose, Andr e Carbrera, Kelson Figaro, Bevon Armitage, Elroy Graham, Donald Walters, Jeremico Cooper and KurtJohnson. POR T OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC The CaribbeanFootball Union (CFU named Haiti its “Team of the Year” for 2007. CFU President Jack Warner made the announce-ment last month. Warner said the Haitians wer e unquestionably the highest achievers in the r egion this past year . Haiti landed the 2007 Digicel Caribbean Cup for thefirst time, qualified for the2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the FIFA Under-17 World Championship, and also r eached the final round of qualification towar ds the 2008 Olympics. “Not only can Haitians take pride in those achievements but we, in both CON-CACAF and the CaribbeanFootball Unionalso feel ajustifiable sense of pride,”W arner stated. “Such accomplishments must be due to thevibrant leadership of theFederation Haitienne deFootball.” West Indies names rugby squad for Sevens World Series in U.S.Haiti is Caribbean’s eam of the Year’ January 2008CARIBBEAN TODAY 19 SPORT SPORT www .caribbeantoday.com SPORT BRIEFS Haiti, Cuba in final round of Olympic qualifying Cuba and Haiti are among eight teams contesting the final round ofCONCACAF’ s Under-23 men’s soccer qualification for the 2008 Olympic Games in March. The qualification will take place from Mar.11-23 at three venues in the United States.Cuba is in Group A with the U.S., Honduras and P anama. Haiti is in Group B alongside Canada, Gua temala and Mexico. The top two teams qualify for the Olympics. Kittitian Harris traded to Chivas in MLS The United States Major League Soccer (MLSlub Real Salt Lake (RSLKitts and Nevis international Atiba Harris to Chivas USA. The a ttacking midfielder has been exchanged for the 2005 expansion partner’s natural third round selection (37th overall upcoming 2008 MLS SuperDraft.Harris joined RSL after a successfultrial prior to the 2006 preseason,and made 43 regular season appearances with the club,scoringfour goals and adding a pair ofassists in two MLS seasons. J’can c lub f aces D .C.United in CONC AC AF soccer Jamaica and Caribbean champions Harbour View will face D.C.United of United States Major League Soccer in the quarterfinals of theCONCACAF Champions Cup in March. The first-leg encounter of the quarterfinals will take place between Mar . 11 and 13 , with the return-legs set for Mar.18-20 .The Caribbean cro wn earned the Jamaican club a berth to the Champions’ Cup quarterfinals. Campbell, Powell in rack and Field News’ top 10 Jamaican sprint stars Veronica Campbell and Asafa Powell secured top 10 positions as Tyson Gay and Meseret Defar snatched the number one spots in the Track and F ield News ma gazine’ s poll for the top performers in 2007. Campbell, the 100-meter gold medalist a t the Osaka World Championships,took ninth spot in the women’ s poll and Powell, whose sizzling world-record equaling run in Rieti was voted the top performance at the IAAF awards,is number five on the men’s list. T&T ends losing hockey streak to U.S. Trinidad and Tobago’s men’s hockey team ended its run of five defea ts against the United States with a 2-2 draw last month in the second match of five friendly internationals at the United StatesOlympic T raining Centre. Haitian retains world boxing title The unbeaten Haitian Joachim Alcine retained his W orld Boxing Associa tion light middleweight title with a 12th round technical knockout victor y over Panama’s Alfonso Mosquera last month.The victory improved Alcine’s record to 30-0with 19 knockouts. Compiled from CMC and other sources. Haitians celebrate their Digicel Caribbean Cup triumph in Jan. 2007. CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:29 PM Page 19

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Cricket World Cup,Lara,track make global headlines in 20 CARIBBEAN TODAYJanuary 2008 SPORT SPORT www.caribbeantoday.com KEVIN PILE BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Cricket World Cupopened a new chapter in spor ts for the Caribbean in 2007, but the glittering fairytale that wasBrian Lara’ s career drew to a close as the legend exited theworld stage he had long domi nated. Hosted acr oss nine nations and costing r egional governments hundreds of millions of United States dollars, the tour nament ended in sore disappointment for W est Indies and their fans and led to Lara’ s sud den r etir ement. The World Cup, staged fr om Mar. 13 to April 28, unveiled histor y as the cricketmad region hosted international cricket’ s showpiece for the first time ever, and it virtually overshadowed several other accomplishments of which theCaribbean could boast. Jamaican Asafa Powell rebounded from the huge disappointment of a third place finish at the World Championships of Athletics in Osaka, Japan, to set a new world record time of 9.74 seconds in the 100 meters run at the IAAF Rieti Grand Prix in Italy in September, while Haiti crowned itself champion of the Digicel Caribbean Cup, the region’s premier soccer competition. West Indies, seeking to claim the prestigious tournament for the first time since its back-to-back wins in 1975 and 1979, had its dreams of a win on home soil shattered with another of what has become its trademark performance. Though it progressed almost effortlessly from the group stage with comfortable wins over Pakistan,Zimbabwe and minnows Ireland, it subsequently lost itsfirst four matches of the SuperEight second r ound to eliminate any chances of reaching the semi-finals. The team’ s W orld Cup expedition was mir ed in r umors of internal wrangling and disunity among players. Lara’ s sudden announcement, that he would r etir e after the final match against England, added further fuel to the raging fires of speculation. W est Indies’ wr etched cam paign also signaled the end of the line for the team’s under-fireAustralian coach Bennett King as he also r esigned. Ther e was no disappointment for two-time defending World ChampionsAustralia, which played flawless cricket thr oughout the tournament to capture an unprecedented third World Cup. West Indies licked its wounds, regrouped and took aim at England during the summer, but could find no success ther e either as the Caribbean team was comprehensively whipped 3-0 under the new leadership of Guyanese Ramnar esh Sarwan, who had r eplaced Lara. West Indies’s gloom was brightened only by ShivnarineChanderpaul’ s matchless form. The indomitable Guyanese scored heavily to compile 446 runs at an average of 148, with two centuries, and assumed ther un-scoring mantle laid down by Lara’s absence. In the process, he passed 7,000 runs inT ests, joining the prestigious club of great West Indies cricketers that included Brian Lara, Sir Vivian Richards, Sir Garfield Sobers, Desmond Haynes, Gordon Greenidge and Clive Lloyd. In December, during the five-match ODI series in Zimbabwe, Chanderpaul also eclipsed 7,000 runs in one-day internationals, becoming only the third West Indies batsmanto achieve the feat, after Lara and legendary opener Haynes. EARY EXIT In September, the West Indies’s disappointing run continued at the inaugural ICC Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa wher e the r egional team exited in the first r ound. Hammer ed by hosts South Africa by eight wickets in the opening match in Johannesbur g, despite a whirlwind centur y by Gayle, W est Indies slumped to another loss in their second match against Bangladesh to bow meekly out of the tour na ment. Administratively , the W est Indies Cricket Board (WICB continued its musical chairs. InJanuar y , Dr . Roland T oppin, the man identified to become the WICB’s chief executive officer, said he was no longer availableto take up the position. In February, the WICB announced that former banker BruceAanensen would take up the vacant post from April, but the Trinidadian’s tenure was short-lived. After several br uising battles with West Indies Players Association President Dinanath Ramnarine over players’ contracts, Aanensen announced his r esignation in August. His move followed Julian Hunte’ s appointment as WICB president in July , the St. Lucian replacing Ken Gor don in the top post in regional cricket. He was elected unopposed. Australian John Dyson, a for mer Test opener, was then named coach of the embattled regional side. At the regional level, Barbados captur ed the Carib Beer Cup in January after playing unbeaten throughout the competition. In October, Jamaica’ s long wait for regional limited-overs glor y – since 1999 was ended when it captured the KFC Cup. Earlier in August, Guyana continued its impressive performance in the West IndiesUnder -19 tournament when it won the thr ee-day title in St. Kitts. Its hopes of doing the double were dashed by Jamaica, however, which produced a superb performance in the oneday final to secure that title. In October , the long awaited Patterson Report was r eleased, detailing its many r ecommendations to transform the structure of West Indies cricket.Commissionedby the WICB and prepared by former Jamaica Prime Minister P.J. Patterson,along with Sir Alister McIntyre and Dr. Ian McDonald, the 138-page document recommended a name change for the WICB and ashake-up in the structure of the board. Accor ding to the r epor t, the WICB should be r enamed Cricket W est Indies, comprising a Cricket West Indies Council and a Cricket W est Indies Boar d. A THLETICS In athletics, Powell continued to be the talk of the townfor mor e than one r eason. W ithout a major medal to his credit, he entered the World Championships in Osaka inAugust as a favorite to take the100 meters. But in the final, he was upset by American Tyson Gay. Bahamian Derrick Atkins finished with silver in 9.91 seconds. Powell earned bronze. But the next month in Italy, he reminded the world of his sublime talent by carving out a new world record in the event. Thatear ned him the IAAF Performance of the Year Award in November. Bahamian Donald Thomas was good enough to capture gold at the W orld Championships, when he won the high jump with a leap of 2.35 meters. JamaicanUsain Bolt took silver in the 200meters and shar ed in another silver performance in the 4x100 meters, while The Bahamas was also runner-up in the 4x400 meters. Jamaican V eronica Campbell gave the region reason to celebrate when she cap-tur ed gold in a thrilling finish to the women’s 100 meters. In one of the closest 100 meters races in recent history, it took the judges several minutes to deter mine the winner . Campbell edged out American Lauryn Williams. It was Campbell’s firstW orld Championships sprint title and it followed her 200 meters Olympic title in Athensthr ee years before. Campbell was for ced into second in the 200 meters behind AmericanAllyson Felix and picked up her third medal at the games when Jamaica copped silver in the 4x100 meters relay. In July , the Caribbean shone at the World Youth Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic with powerhouse Jamaica giving a strong account of itself.Dexter Lee won theboys 100 meters andwas followed home bycompatriot Nickel Ashmeade for the silver, while Ramone McKenzie took the 200 meters gold withAshmeade taking bronze. Barbadian Shane Brathwaite also stoodout at the youth games when he snared the octathlon by tallying 6,261 points. In the process, the 17-yearoldcreated history by becoming his country’s first World Youth champion and its first ever ath letics gold medal winner in a global competition at any level. There was also some success for the r egion’ s girls as the Jamaican trio of LatoyaMcDer mott (400 meters Sher maine W illiams (100 hur dles) and Misha-Gaye DaCosta (high jump . Bahamian Nivea Smith ear ned br onze in the 200 meters. In July, the Pan American Games in Brazil also broughtsuccess as Antiguan sprinterBr endan Christian deliver ed his country’s two medals by winning the 200 meters and taking bronze in the 100 meters won by the Netherland Antilles’ Churandy Martina. Bahamian Chris Brown joined the funwith gold in the 400 meters,while Dominican Chris Lloydwas good enough to claim bronze in the same event. Jamaican Maurice Smith won the decathlon event and The Bahamas powered its way into winners’ r ow in the men’s 4x400 meters r elay. Jamaican Delloreen EnnisLondon sustained the successfor the Caribbean with a win in the women’s 100 meters hurdles and her country’s 4x100 meters relay team followed that up with another gold. FOR KICKS Soccer also grabbed the headlines, with Haiti elevatingitself to the position ofCaribbean champions. In the final of the Digicel Caribbean Cup, Haiti upset favorites T&Tin the final. The cream of T&T’s national players remainedlocked in a dispute with thelocal federation over bonus monies owed them from theirappearance at the 2006 W orld Cup in Ger many. A ban was imposed onthe players in question, leading to a weakened squad for the Gold Cup con tested in the U.S. in June, whereT&T failedto win a sin gle match. In November, there was a changing of the guard in Jamaica’s football as Captain Horace Burrell, who oversaw Jamaica’shistoric outing at the 1998 World Cup in France, took over the reins of power from the embattled Crenston Boxhill.The change came against the backdrop of the Reggae Boyz’ lowest ever position in the 14year history of the FIFA rankings, as they slipped to 103rd inOctober with Cuba, Haiti, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, T&T, Guyana and Barbados all ranked higher . T echnical Dir ector Bora Milutinovic was fir ed after completing just one year of his four-year contract and was r eplaced by Ren Simoes, the Brazilian who hadguided the Reggae Boyz to the W orld Cup finals in 1998. The Caribbean shone internationally on the horseracingcir cuit as Barbadian Patrick Husbands captur ed the jockeys’ title in December at the Woodbine Racetrack in Canadaand Jamaican appr entice Jer maine Bridgmohan won at the Tropical at Calder meet in Florida in January. In golf, T&T’s Stephen Ames reminded the world hemerited his place on the PGA Tour with a win at the $4.6 million Children’s Miracle Network Classic in November. CMC Lara made his exit from interna tional cricket. Campbell won in a close finish. Thomas outjumped the world. CTJan2007.qxd 1/7/08 5:29 PM Page 20