Tightening anti-money laundering laws
The parliament of Antigua and Barbuda has been debating legislation aimed at strengthening local anti-money laundering laws.
The debate comes two days after the US State Department declared the country as one of six in the Caribbean that are among the world’s major money laundering centres.
Last month the Financial Action Task Force, a Paris-based watchdog, said Antigua had more work to do to meet international standards on financial regulation.
The opposition Antigua Labour Party walked out of the debate to protest against what a spokesman said was the rejection of a request for a postponement.
Extradition debate heats up
The Jamaican government’s decision to refuse a US request to extradite businessman Christopher Coke has been criticised by the island’s former national security minister Peter Phillips.
Mr Coke is wanted in the United States on gun and drug trafficking charges, and the US State Department in its latest narcotics report chided the Bruce Golding administration over its handling of the proposed extradition.
Prime Minister Golding told parliament on Tuesday that there were irregularities in the extradition request.
However Dr Peter Phillips says the government’s concerns about having unnamed persons listed in an indictment, is a matter that can be settled by the island’s courts, to help facilitate the extradition.
Hydro power plant project for Haiti
Brazil says it wants to jump start Haiti’s reconstruction effort by building a hydroelectric power plant in the quake-devastated nation.
The Brazilian government says it hopes to receive approval this week from President Rene Preval for the project.
The Brazilians say they’ll build a $150 million power plant to serve at least 600,000 Haitians living in two cities, including the capital Port au Prince.
Manning church controversy
A bitter quarrel between Prime Minister Patrick Manning and his critics has been raging in Trinidad and Tobago, over the extent of government aid to an evangelical Christian church with which Mr Manning has ties.
Also at issue is the links between Mr Manning, a born-again christian, and Juliana Penna, leader of the evangelical Lighthouse of the Lord Jesus Christ Church, who the local press has named as his spiritual adviser.
The church is said to be constructing a building in a rural area 25 miles east of the capital Port of Spain.
Prime Minister Manning has denied that it is being constructed with state funds, but he admitted that the church was granted three acres of land.
Another hunger striker
Cuban dissident Guillermo Farinas has vowed to go ahead with a hunger strike even if it kills him.
The 48-year-old launched his protest following the death last month of another dissident, Orlando Zapata, at a Havana hospital on the 85th day of a hunger strike.
Mr Farinas told Spanish newspaper El Pais that he was starting his own hunger strike to demand the release of sick political prisoners.
He said he was willing to starve himself to death to help the world realise that the Cuban Government was cruel.
Guillermo Farinas said his goal was to make the government pay a high political price for what he called Orlando Zapata’s assassination.
Mr Zapata had been refusing food in protest at jail conditions.
Status wrangling affecting economy
Puerto Ricans have told a White house task force that persistent wrangling over the island’s political status was affecting solutions to its worsening social and economic challenges.
The population appears evenly divided between those happy with the status quo as a commonwealth and those who want Puerto Rico to become the 51st US state.
Unemployment in the US Caribbean territory is now over 14% – caused by a four-year recession.
Economist Jose Villamil said the island’s present situation is much worse than a recession, as the economy has lost its capacity to generate growth.
