Free Republic

Six Democratic members of Congress enjoyed a Caribbean junket sponsored by Citigroup after Congress had approved the $700 billion bailout of financial services firms in October. The National Legal and Policy Center, a watchdog group, has asked Neil Barofsky, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, for a formal review of the Citigroup’s sponsorship of the trip by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel and five others. The NLPC says the trip violated House rules. The purported purpose of the Nov. 6-9 junket was to attend the Caribbean Multi-Cultural Business Conference on the island of...

Sunday, August 16, 2009 The Government of the United Kingdom has assumed direct rule over the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean, after an enquiry discovered what it alleges to be corruption and "serious dishonesty" at the highest levels. The islands' administration and Premier have been suspended for up to two years and their powers transferred to the UK-appointed Governor. The British Government has taken the unusual step because it alleges that former Premier Michael Misick and members of his cabinet have enriched themselves through the selling of crown land and other corrupt practices, and that the limits to...

On July 27, 2009 Trinidadians marked the nineteenth anniversary of the failed attempt by the Jamaat al-Muslimeen (JAM - Muslim Association, known colloquially as “the Jamaat)” to overthrow the government in Trinidad and Tobago in a violent coup. Although JAM made international headlines in June 2007 when one of the suspects in an alleged plot to attack New York City’s John F. Kennedy International Airport was reported to have ties to the group, the enigmatic Caribbean militant group, composed mostly of Afro-Trinidadian converts to Islam, has received scant attention outside of Trinidad in recent years (see Terrorism Monitor, June 21,...

Note: The following text is a quote: THE BRIEFING ROOM THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary _______________________________________________ For Immediate Release June 2, 2009 NATIONAL CARIBBEAN-AMERICAN HERITAGE MONTH, 2009 - - - - - - - BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A PROCLAMATION Caribbean Americans have made lasting contributions to our Nation's culture and history, and the month of June has been set aside to honor their cultural, linguistic, ethnic, and social diversity. Generations of immigrants have preserved the traditions of their homelands, and these traditions have defined our Nation's identity. Caribbean Americans bring a...

MOSCOW, May 6 (RIA Novosti) - A Russian MP has proposed responding to NATO military exercises in Georgia by inviting Cuba and Venezuela to take part in full-scale drills in the Caribbean Sea. The Cooperative Longbow/Cooperative Lancer 2009 command-and-staff exercise, which Moscow has criticized as unhelpful in the wake of last summer's armed conflict between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia, starts on Wednesday and runs until June 1. Sergei Abeltsev from the Liberal Democratic Party proposed holding "large-scale drills" with the participation of the armed forces of Russia, Cuba and Venezuela in the Caribbean on July 2. "So that...

Britons flee French island of Guadeloupe as rioters turn on white families By Mail Foreign Service Last updated at 3:17 PM on 19th February 2009 Britons are among thousands of tourists fleeing Guadeloupe after full scale urban warfare erupted on the French Caribbean island. Trouble broke out on the island earlier last month after protesters began rioting over high prices and low wages. But the situation escalated this week after protesters began turning on rich white families as they demanded an end to colonial control of the economy. The troubles come at the height of the holiday season, with thousands...

One Caribbean nation wants to execute criminals who use weapons, even if they haven't killed anyone. Another is seeking the death penalty for murderous pirates. And a third, St. Kitts and Nevis, staged its first hanging in a decade Friday. A crime wave is fueling a thirst for executions across the English-speaking Caribbean, prompting concern among human rights groups who say better policing on the islands would do more to deter criminals.

A Britten-Norman Trislander, the kind of small aircraft that disappeared off the Dominican Republic Monday with 12 on board. A small Caribbean airplane that vanished into thin air Monday was allegedly stolen by a fired Dominican Navy cadet who may have been trying to carry illegal immigrants to America, the plane’s owner told FOXNews.com. Luis Perez, the Puerto Rico-based owner of the aircraft charter company, said his twin-engine plane was stolen by an unlicensed pilot named Adrian Jimenez. Authorities told him Jimenez was a student of the Dominican Republic Armed Forces and a former Navy cadet. “They took his pilot’s...

High-ranking members of Congress were flown to a lush Caribbean resort this month for a three-day conference planned and paid for by several of the country's most powerful corporations - a violation of federal ethics rules, critics say. Six members of the Congressional Black Caucus attended the 13th annual Caribbean Multi-National Business Conference in sun-drenched St. Maarten, including embattled Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel and New Jersey Rep. Donald Payne. Three New York City officials attended, including Comptroller William Thompson and Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr., as well as Gov. Paterson, who was the keynote speaker at a luncheon on...

At 0230 I typed the words THE END into my manuscript of UNCERTAIN PARADISE: 1973 ***The Latter Days***. It was electronically submitted to my publisher...the contract is signed. I told my wife I was within ten or so pages of finishing it yesterday morning. Her reaction: "Hmmmm." After nearly thirty years of marriage I was able to translate: wake me up when we're rich. She's got to be kidding. Barack Obama mentions a book and it's a best seller. He'll never read my stuff. Part One of Uncertain Paradise: 1973 deliberately left several threads unresolved. That is, after all, what...

PUNTA CANA, Dominican Republic-The ocean glows a milky turquoise. Tiny waves lap at the powder-beige sand, in no rush to reach the line of postcard-perfect palm trees. Hundreds of luxury villas are positioned to take in the view, but there are no guests. There are no roofs either; neatly tied bundles of red tiles are stacked outside. The wind slams doors and rustles the yellowed newspaper taped to the windows. The paralyzed work scene at the Cap Cana resort, a development including four luxury hotels, three golf courses and a mega-yacht marina, is a victim of the global financial crisis...

(11-11) 14:59 PST SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- Jamaican pastor Terrence Brown wants killers put to death — he's even offered to trade his collar for a hangman's hood to confront a crime wave that has been terrorizing his parishioners. "If the government doesn't carry out their responsibility, you're going to have jungle justice, and that is what is growing rapidly in Jamaica and across the Caribbean," said Brown, a preacher with the evangelical Holiness Christian Church in Jamaica's Spanish Town.

BULLETIN HURRICANE PALOMA INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 5A...CORRECTED NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL172008 700 PM EST THU NOV 06 2008 CORERCTED HEADER TITLE TO HURRICANE STATUS ...PALOMA RAPIDLY STRENGTHENS INTO A CATEGORY 1 HURRICANE... A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE CAYMAN ISLANDS. A HURRICANE WARNING MEANS THAT HURRICANE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED WITHIN THE WARNING AREA WITHIN THE NEXT 24 HOURS. PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION. INTERESTS IN CUBA AND JAMAICA SHOULD MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF PALOMA. FOR STORM INFORMATION SPECIFIC TO YOUR AREA...INCLUDING POSSIBLE INLAND WATCHES AND WARNINGS...PLEASE MONITOR PRODUCTS ISSUED...

It's kind of hard to justify using tax payer money, from the State of New York, on a trip to beautiful St. Maarten in the Caribbean. So N.Y. Gov. David Paterson has decided to use campaign cash to attend the Caribbean Multinational Business Conference. The conference takes place at the The Sonesta Maho Beach Resort & Casino, a "destinations within a destination," that just happens to feature the island's hottest nightclub, Q-Club; the world-class Good Life Spa, and the Vegas-style Casino Royale, where you can live out your James Bond fantasies. The casino has 300 slots and a panoply of...

Hess Corp. has begun preparatory work for the construction of a multibillion dollar refinery in St. Lucia, according to a senior government official. "Quite a substantial amount of money has been committed to the feasibility studies, and the studies undertaken so far conclude that there will be no problems putting in the refinery," said Guy Joseph, communications and works minister. "From all indications things look very good because I don't think Hess would spend this kind of money in feasibility studies and all that for nothing," Joseph told Caribbean Media Corp. (CMC). He said the refinery, expected to cost more...

SAN JUAN (Reuters) - Hurricane Omar strengthened on Wednesday as it bore down on Puerto Rico and the small islands of the northeastern Caribbean, and could be a "major" storm by the time it reaches them, U.S. forecasters said. The 15th tropical cyclone of a busy Atlantic hurricane season formed north of the Dutch island of Curacao on Tuesday, briefly preventing Venezuela from loading tankers with crude oil and knocking out power at the OPEC nation's 200,000 barrel-per-day Puerto La Cruz refinery. The U.S. National Hurricane Center predicted Omar would grow into a Category 2 storm on the five-step Saffir-Simpson...

Trinidadian Joseph Aboud, accompanied by a prominent lawyer, yesterday turned himself over to the police for questioning into the recent Regent Street arms bust, but the other two men wanted in connection with the discovery remained at large up to press time. Stabroek News understands that the 31-year-old contacted the lawyer early yesterday morning saying that he had just returned from the interior and wanted to turn himself in. Police last Friday issued wanted bulletins for Aboud, businessman Clayton Hutson and 23-year-old Frankie Ross for questioning with regard to the cache of high powered guns, a large quantity of ammunition...

Excerpt - The Northern Fleet heading to Venezuela Order warships Northern Fleet went to the ocean trip, which will take place ships in ports of entry of Venezuela. The military stressed that this action was not politically motivated Moscow. September 22. INTERFAX.RU - Russia is determined to step up military cooperation with Caracas: Monday detachment of Russian Northern Fleet warships went to the ocean trip, which will take place ships in ports of entry and Venezuela held in conjunction with a fleet of the country's teachings. "The squad is to ship nuclear missile cruiser" Pyotr Veliky ", a large anti-submarine...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will send a nuclear-powered battleship to the Caribbean for a joint naval exercise with Venezuela, Russia's Foreign Ministry said on Monday. The maneuvers later this year will be the first Russia has conducted in Washington's traditional sphere of influence since the end of the Cold War. Russia has heavily criticized the United States for sending a sophisticated command ship and two other naval vessels to Georgia, on its southern border, to deliver aid and show support for President Mikheil Saakashvili after Moscow sent troops into Georgia. Kremlin leader Dmitry Medvedev asked on Saturday how Washington would...

Several Russian ships and 1,000 soldiers will take part in joint naval maneuvers with Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea later this year, exercises likely to increase diplomatic tensions with Washington, a pro-government newspaper reported on Saturday. Quoting Venezuela's naval intelligence director, Salbarore Cammarata, the newspaper Vea said four Russian boats would visit Venezuelan waters from November 10 to 14.