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guyanatimesgy.com
saturday, march 1, 2014
Regional
U.S. urges Venezuela dialogue More aid for St Lucia es.
Some of the deaths have been attributed to violent clashes with police, but other victims have been shot by unidentified gunmen. The government has denied all links to such killings, reported the AFP news agency. Friday’s main protest was organised by the Venezuelan Penal Forum, which said it had identified cases of human rights abuses as of Wednesday. At noon local time, demonstrators began to gather in the neighbourhood of Mercedes, in eastern Caracas. Anti-government protests have quickly become a feature of daily life in some parts of Caracas (BBC News)
U
.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has urged Venezuela’s government to hold talks with student protesters, as the death toll from nationwide demonstrations hit 17 and new marches were planned in Caracas. “They need to reach out and have a dialogue, and bring people together and resolve their problems,” Kerry told reporters in Washington on Friday, renewing his criticism of Maduro’s government for its heavy-handed response. “We need a dialogue within Venezuela, not arrests and violence in the streets,” said Kerry, adding that the U.S. was working with Colombia and other countries to bolster mediation efforts. “They need to sit down
and come together and talk about the future of Venezuela and how they can best affect that future in a peaceful and responsible way,” he said.
U.S., Colombian allies
Reporting from the industrial city of Valencia, Al Jazeera’s Chris Arsenault said: “Calls from the U.S. for dialogue probably won’t do a lot of good, as the government believes Washington and its Colombian allies are backing the protests.” “Uruguay’s President Jose Mujica has offered to mediate, if he is invited by both sides, and this seems like someone who has more trust. "Brazil also has the credibility to help bring the parties together, but so far they haven’t made a public offer,”
our correspondent said. With no sign of a breakthrough after three weeks of escalating street rallies, students and dissidents assembled in the capital on Friday to denounce human rights violations allegedly committed by police. Some students are still setting up roadblocks and clashing with police in Caracas and the western state of Tachira. But the number of protesters has dropped, and many Venezuelans have begun heading for the beach to enjoy a long weekend for Carnival celebrations, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, the Venezuelan government announced a rise in fatalities linked to the protests and said it was investigating 27 cases of human rights abus-
Plotting a coup
Maduro, who accuses protesters of plotting a coup with support from the U.S., met on Wednesday with business and church leaders, intellectuals, journalists and politicians at his presidential palace in what was dubbed a national peace conference. But the main umbrella opposition group, known as MUD, stayed away. Beyond speeches by the president and other participants, no dialogue took place and no action was taken. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua, speaking in Brasilia on Friday, said the government had Brazil’s support for a meeting of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), to discuss the protests, which he dubbed an “attack on democracy in Venezuela”. (Al Jazeera)
Prime Minister, Dr Kenny Anthony
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wo months after the devastating Christmas Eve Trough, St Lucia continues to receive financial and technical support from allies and humanitarian organisations worldwide. India is the latest financial contributor to St Lucia’s rehabilitation efforts, with a donation of US$500,000. On Thursday, Prime Minister, Dr Kenny Anthony expressed thanks for such a generous donation on behalf of the Government and people of St Lucia. “I am deeply heartened by the response of the international community. I continue to use every occasion to seek assistance for St Lucia, as there is still work to be done in some areas.
“India’s contribution of US$500,000 is very timely. I wish to publicly thank the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh and the people of India for responding to St Lucia’s plea for assistance,” he said. Earlier this week, Anthony also received a monetary donation from Chile. Meanwhile, restoration of damaged infrastructure continues around the island, which is costing the country in excess of US$100 million. Construction is currently ongoing to repair the section of the four lane highway in the southern town of Vieux-Fort that collapsed as a result of the trough. (Nationnews)
Bahamas: Billionaire claims Chilean indigenous leader jailed in high-profile murder case he is getting younger
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billionaire fashion designer says scientists have found a way to reverse his ageing process, it seems. Bahamas resident Peter Nygard says he is receiving stem cell therapy and that a study from the University of Miami suggests he is getting younger, the Bahamas Tribune reports. “They are looking at me, and my markers have shown exactly that I have been actually reversing my ageing and getting younger,” the 70-year-old says. He adds: “I am taking per-
haps more stem cell treatment than anybody else in the world. "I have been doing it for four years now, so I am sort of a testimonial that this stem cell really works.” Nygard has reportedly been advocating for stem cell research in The Bahamas. A recent change in the law would allow medical centres to open there, though the country’s attorney general denies Nygard was involved in the drafting of the legislation, The Bahamas Weekly reported. (Excerpt from BBC News)
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court on Friday sentenced a Mapuche indigenous leader to 18 years in prison for his participation in the killing of a couple during an arson attack last year in a high-profile case that rekindled divisions over land rights in Chile. A Temuco criminal tribunal found Celestino Cordova, a 27-yearold traditional healer, guilty of taking part in the deadly attack on the elderly Luchsinger landowners on their estate in the southern Araucania region. The case has become emblematic of a century-old, escalating conflict
that pits the indigenous Mapuche people fighting for what they deem their ancestral land against wealthy landowners and the booming wood pulp industry. Many Mapuche, famous for their fierce resistance to the Spanish conquest, say they were robbed by the Chilean government’s often brutal colonisation policy in the 19th century. That has bred deep-seated Mapuche resentment against the descendants of immigrants such as the Luchsingers, whose ancestors reportedly arrived in Southern Chile
in 1883. Chile’s largest indigenous group remains clustered in one of the poorest areas of what is otherwise one of Latin America’s wealthiest countries. Some Mapuche advocate violence as a means to recoup land, arguing the government is illegitimate and that their claims will never make headway in courts or the political arena. Many others in polarised Araucania want peace and argue that century-old wrongs should be put to rest. (Excerpt from Reuters)
Cuban agent released from U.S. prison gets hero’s welcome
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uban President Raul Castro and top leaders of the Cuban government and Communist Party greeted a Cuban intelligence agent with a hero’s welcome upon his return to Havana on Friday, a day after his release from a U.S. prison. Fernando Gonzalez, 50, had served more than 15 years for spying on CubanAmerican exile groups in Miami and is one of the “Cuban Five” whose detentions have complicated the
already tense relations between the United States and Cuba. The U.S. deported him on Friday, and he told reporters he was still in handcuffs until the plane touched down at the Havana airport. Three of the original five remain in prison in the U.S., and all are treated as heroes in Cuba, where their cases are considered emblematic of U.S. hostility toward its neighbour 90 miles away.
Cuba has suggested it would like to swap its agents for U.S. contractor Alan Gross, an American sentenced to 15 years in Cuba for setting up an illegal communications network. So far, the U.S. has refused to make such a trade. Cuban state television showed Castro, dressed in his trademark military fatigues, embracing Gonzalez inside the Havana airport. (Excerpt from Reuters)
Men hold a Cuban flag during an event in support of the five Cuban agents, prisoners in U.S. jails, in Havana on February 27