Caribbean Theater

Cuba: right-wing terrorist Orlando Bosch dies in Miami

Far-right Cuban activist Orlando Bosch died in Miami on April 27 at the age of 84. He had "a long and painful illness," according to a statement by fellow right-winger Pedro Corzo. Although accused of involvement in a number of terrorist actions targeting Cuba's leftist government, Bosch was only convicted of one: a Sept. 16, 1968 rifle attack on a Polish freighter docked at the Port of Miami. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison but fled the US after getting parole. In 1976 Venezuelan prosecutors charged Bosch and longtime US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) asset Luis Posada Carriles in the 1976 bombing of a Cubana de Aviación jetliner; 73 people died in that attack. A Venezuelan military court acquitted Bosch and Posada in 1980, but they remained in prison pending a prosecution appeal to a civilian court. Posada escaped in 1985 and went on to work in US operations to supply the right-wing contra rebels in Nicaragua. The Venezuelan civilian court acquitted Bosch in 1987.

Haiti: election results challenged, media threatened

As of April 30 the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Organization of American States (OAS) and the US were all pressuring Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) to change 18 questionable decisions in the March 20 runoff races for Parliament. On April 20 the CEP announced final results for the long-delayed second round of the 2010 presidential and legislative elections. As expected, the CEP confirmed the victory of conservative presidential candidate Michel Martelly ("Sweet Micky"). However, the final results for legislative seats changed from the preliminary count in 19 cases, and critics questioned the decisions for 18 of them: 17 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and one in the Senate. All but two of the changes awarded the seats to candidates from the centrist Unity party of outgoing president René Préval. The CEP didn't offer any explanation for its decisions, which would give Unity a majority in the 99-member Chamber and a strong position relative to president-elect Martelly, since the party already had a majority in the Senate.

Haiti: workers strike at privatized phone company

Workers at Nationale Communication (Natcom), a Haitian telephone company, began striking in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area early in the week of April 11 to demand a full 36 months' salary in compensation for their impending layoffs. Dozens of workers occupied Natcom offices in Delmas in the north of the capital and in Pétionville, a wealthy suburb to the southeast.

Cuba: US loses Posada Carriles case —again

A federal jury in El Paso, Texas, acquitted Cuban-born former US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) "asset" Luis Posada Carriles of 11 counts of fraud and obstruction of justice on April 8, handing US prosecutors their latest defeat in a case that dates back to Posada's illegal entry into the US in 2005. The judge in the case, US district judge Kathleen Cardone, threw out one set of immigration fraud charges in 2007; two years later, US prosecutors filed the new set of charges based on Posada's allegedly lying to immigration officers about his terrorist activities in the past.

Haiti: "Sweet Micky" Martelly will be "new driver in same vehicle"

On April 5, five days late, Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) announced the preliminary results from the March 20 presidential and legislative runoff elections. According to the official count, popular singer Michel Martelly ("Sweet Micky," Peasant Response) defeated Mirlande Hyppolite Manigat (Coalition of National Progressive Democrats, RDNP) by 67.57% to 31.74% in the race for president. Turnout was reported at 23%, about the same as in the first round, on Nov. 28, although Martelly claims it was 30%. The CEP is to announce the final results on April 16, and the new president takes office on May 14.

Haiti: new sweatshop zone will displace farmers

Sae-A Trading Co. Ltd, South Korea's leading apparel manufacturer, is pushing ahead with plans to open a large garment assembly plant next March near the coastal village of Caracol in Haiti's Northeast department. The firm, which supplies garments to such major US retailers as Target, Wal-Mart, Kohl's and GAP, claims the factory will create 20,000 jobs paying at least four times the average Haitian's share of the annual gross domestic product (GDP)—which would work out to a wage of about $8 a day for the factory workers. The operation is to include the country's first facility for producing textiles, a knit and dyeing mill which will use some 6,000 tons of ground water a day.

Haiti: earthquake victims remain homeless

The number of displaced Haitians living in camps in the Port-au-Prince area after the destruction of their homes in a January 2010 earthquake has now fallen to about 680,000, according to estimates by the International Organization for Migration (IOM, or OIM in French). In July about 1.5 million people were living in 1,555 camps in the metropolitan area, the IOM reported; the number of camps has come down to 1,061. But a survey of 1,033 heads of households found that the people who left the camps haven't necessarily found better shelter: about 50% are still living in inadequate housing. Most are staying in tents in their old neighborhoods, while some are staying with relatives or friends. Others have gone back to their damaged homes, despite the risks involved. An IOM report found that while some people moved out of the camps because they managed to get transitional housing, many left because of forced expulsions, the deterioration of sanitary conditions, the high rate of crime in the camps or the reduction of services there.

Puerto Rico: ACLU calls on US to probe abuses

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a US civil and human rights organization, wrote the US Justice Department's Civil Rights Division on March 10 asking the agency to conclude an ongoing investigation of alleged abuses by the Puerto Rican police and to publish its findings. The ACLU said that its Puerto Rican branch has been reporting these allegations to the Justice Department since around May 2008. The letter, signed by ACLU executive director Anthony Romero and addressed to Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, follows through on the organization's decision in February to make the situation in Puerto Rico "a high priority."

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