Tag Archives: caribbean

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US CG Returns 40 Migrant Boat People to Cuba

MIAMI—The U.S. Coast Guard said it has returned 40 people to Cuba after intercepting two vessels near Florida while two people were being investigated for human smuggling.

The vessels were spotted near the Florida Keys on Jan. 23 and on Jan. 25. Two suspected smugglers were transferred to Homeland Security Investigations, a Coast Guard statement said.

“People illegally entering the U.S. using smugglers put their lives in the hands of criminals,” said Coast Guard Lieutenant Commander Mark Cobb. “Migrant smugglers are ruthless criminals who only care about profit.”

U.S. sanctions and the COVID-19 pandemic, which has reduced international tourism, have hurt Cuba’s economy. The Coast Guard said that its crews have interdicted 690 Cubans since Oct. 1, compared with 838 in the 12 months ending on Sept. 30.

Haitian boat migration is on the rise due to an economic downturn and a spike in gang-related kidnappings that have worsened since the July assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

The Coast Guard on Thursday said it had intercepted a sailing vessel carrying 191 Haitians.

It also called off its search for 34 people who disappeared after a boat carrying 40 people capsized off Florida’s coast. U.S. authorities have not released the nationalities of those on board.

Five bodies were recovered, and there was one survivor. Colombia’s foreign ministry on Friday said it would assist that survivor, a citizen identified as Juan Montoya, who was transferred to a Miami hospital in the custody of immigration authorities. His sister, Maria Montoya, died in the accident.

The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Argentine Truckers Stranded at Chilean Border by Slow COVID Testing, Canada Vax Protests, World Covid Stats

wwW
 
Parked trucks are pictured during a protest against new Chilean entry protocols to the country, that demand all drivers test negative for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Argentine border with Chile, in Uspallata, Mendoza, Argentina January 28, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Maximiliano Rios

Parked trucks are pictured during a protest against new Chilean entry protocols to the country, that demand all drivers test negative for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Argentine border with Chile, in Uspallata, Mendoza, Argentina January 28, 2022. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Maximiliano Rios

Jan 29 (Reuters) – Thousands of truck drivers from Argentina were stuck at the Chilean border on Saturday due to slow COVID-19 testing, as Chile faced its second transport delay crisis.

Since Jan. 21, more than 3,000 trucks have been stranded at the customs checkpoint of Cristo Redentor in Mendoza, according to the Argentinean Federation of Business Entities for Cargo Transport (FADEEAC).

The long wait has put both drivers and some of the trucks to the test, as trucks with refrigerator units must stay running at all times to keep the cargos at cold temperatures.

“This is becoming a real problem,” said Brazilian truck driver Junior Cesar, whose truck is parked in Uspallata, Argentina, near the Chilean border. “The engines are running day and night and they’re starting to fail and affect the cargo.”

Frustrated drivers waited by their trucks, cooking and sharing whatever food they could buy. They showered using buckets of water or a bathroom nearby that charges 300 Argentine pesos ($3) per use.

“I’ve been here for two weeks,” said Ruben Soza, a truck driver from Mendoza. “I have a refrigeration unit as you can see, with garlic, and the gasoline is not enough to run the refrigeration unit.”

A similar problem has occurred at Chile’s northern border in the Tambo Quemado mountain pass, where drivers from Bolivia too face long waits in line for COVID-19 testing.

The FADEEAC has asked Argentina’s foreign ministry to intervene and try to prevent further delays and minimize the economic losses, which according to FADEEAC estimates add up to $700 a day.

On Friday, Chile’s health ministry reported 26,727 new COVID-19 cases. Argentina reported 63,884.

Reporting by Juan Bustamante; writing by Diane Craft; editing by Grant McCool
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Canada rally against vaccine mandates blocks Ottawa as Trump praises protest

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OTTAWA, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Dozens of trucks and other vehicles blocked the downtown area of Ottawa for a second day after thousands descended on Canada’s capital city on Saturday to protest against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Trucks remained parked on the streets near parliament on Sunday, a day before lawmakers are due to resume work after the holiday break. Hundreds of protesters were out on Sunday, too. Some truckers said they will not leave until the mandate is overturned.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaking at a rally in Texas on Saturday, praised the Canadian protesters for “resisting bravely these lawless mandates”, in a sign the politicization of the pandemic seen mostly south of the border has spread north.

In solidarity with the Ottawa rally, truckers and protesters have blocked a Canada-U.S. border crossing in southern Alberta, police said on Twitter.

In Ottawa, thousands gathered peacefully on Saturday and there were no arrests, though several incidents are now being investigated by police.

“Several criminal investigations are underway,” Ottawa police said on Twitter, including for the “desecration of the National War Memorial” and “threatening/illegal/intimidating behaviour to police/city workers and other individuals”.

One protester was filmed dancing on the war memorial – the tomb of the unknown soldier – and flags bearing swastikas were seen in the crowd. A downtown mall shut down because protesters refused to wear masks.

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WORLD COVID STATS

375,569,894

Deaths:

5,682,934

Recovered:

296,720,469
Highlighted in green
= all cases have recovered from the infection
Highlighted in grey
= all cases have had an outcome (there are no active cases)

 

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Heavy Rains Cause Landslides, Flooding in São Paulo, Killing 19

BRASILIA, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Landslides and flooding from heavy rains in Sao Paulo state have killed at least 19 people since Friday, including seven children, public safety officials said on Sunday.

According to São Paulo state authorities, nine other people were injured in the rains and four more were missing, while some 500 families were left homeless across the state.

Sao Paulo Governor João Doria flew over the flooded areas on Sunday and said he had authorized 15 million reais ($2.79 million) of emergency aid for the affected cities.

A bulldozer carries people across a flooded street after heavy rains in Caieiras, Brazil January 30, 2022. REUTERS/Carla Carniel

The federal government said in a statement from the Ministry of Regional Development that it is monitoring the situation.

The hardest-hit municipalities around greater São Paulo included Aruja, Francisco Morato, Embu das Artes and Franco da Rocha.

The storms also caused damages upstate in Varzea Paulista, Campo Limpo Paulista, Jau, Capivari, Montemor and Rafard, state officials said.

Since December, heavy rains have triggered deadly floods in northeast Brazil, threatened to delay harvests in the midwest and briefly forced the suspension of mining operations in the state of Minas Gerais.

Reporting by Marcela Ayres; Editing by Sandra Maler

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Thirteen People Die in Mexico Highway Accident

An emergency crew members, including a forensic worker and a firefighter, work next to a damaged vehicle at the site of an accident after a van overturned and flipped into a ditch on a highway in central Mexico, near the city of Lagos de Moreno, Mexico January 29, 2022. REUTERS/Liberto Urena

MEXICO CITY, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Thirteen people were killed when their van overturned and flipped into a ditch on a highway in central Mexico, leaving another 10 people injured, officials said on Saturday.

Seven of the victims who died were initially trapped inside the car, the emergency services agency from Jalisco state said on Twitter.

The accident occurred near the city of Lagos de Moreno, on a highway that links the central states of Guanajuato and Jalisco, during a season in which Catholic pilgrims often visit a shrine in the nearby town of San Juan de los Lagos.

Photos from the emergency services agency show a large black van toppled onto its side in a deep rut along the highway, with what appears to be a shattered windshield.

The agency said 12 people lost their lives at the scene of the accident, including two children, and another person later died in hospital.

Reporting by Daina Beth Solomon; Editing by Diane Craft and Daniel Wallis

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Chile Anti-Migrant Protesters Destroy Camps in Tense North

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SANTIAGO, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Chilean protesters marched against immigration and crime in the Andean country’s far north on Sunday, with some violent factions destroying belongings from migrant camps in the streets amid growing tension in the region over border controls.

Photos showed protesters, many carrying Chilean flags, breaking up tent structures and bedding in the northern city of Iquique and putting it into a big pile, an echo of angry protests in September last year when camps were burned.

Despite pandemic restrictions in recent years, many migrants from Venezuela and elsewhere have kept trying to reach Chile, one of the wealthiest countries in the region, which has been rocked in recent years by protests over entrenched inequality.

“This can’t go on,” read one protest banner from Sunday’s march in the coastal city by several thousand people, who were complaining about what they called a spike in illegal immigration and an increase in crime.

Local media reported that a group of protesters had attacked one migrant man. Videos on social networks showed the man lying on the ground surrounded by police officers while protesters, waving Chilean flags and holding saucepans, shouted at him.

The call to protest came after a group of Venezuelan migrants recently attacked police officers at a checkpoint, for which they were detained. Protesters on social media also called for strike action in the city over the situation.

Migration and crime were a big voter concern in presidential elections late last year, which were won by Gabriel Boric, 35, a leftist lawmaker and former student protest leader who comes into office in March.

Reporting by Fabian Cambero; Writing Adam Jourdan; Editing by Sandra Maler

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DR Congo Issues Death Sentences for 2017 Murder of UN Investigators

BBC- Dozens of militia members have been sentenced to death in the Democratic Republic of Congo for their involvement in the murder of two UN investigative experts.

Swedish-Chilean Zaida Catalan and American Michael Sharp were abducted and killed in the Kasai region in 2017.

They were investigating alleged mass graves after fighting broke out between government forces and a militia group.

Their interpreter, Betu Tshintela, was also killed. Their bodies were found 16 days after being kidnapped.

Catalan had been beheaded.

The UN was shocked by the murders and at the time, and Secretary General António Guterres said the organisation “would do everything possible to ensure that justice is done”.

Hundreds of people died in the conflict in Kasai which ended in 2017. Over a million people were displaced by the fighting, which began after a traditional leader, Kamwina Sapu, was killed in August 2016.

The guilty verdicts were handed down by a military court at the end of a four-year trial.

Out of the dozens of defendants, 51, almost all militia members, were sentenced to death. But as DR Congo has declared a moratorium on executions, the sentences are likely to end up being life imprisonment.

They had faced a variety of charges, from terrorism and murder to the act of a war crime through mutilation, the AFP news agency reports.

Col Jean de Dieu Mambweni, who received the 10-year sentence, was accused of violating orders. Two others – a journalist and a police officer – were acquitted.

However, Human Rights Watch says this trial has not uncovered what really happened. It wants another investigation to find out if the orders to kill the UN investigators came from higher up the military chain of command.

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Peru Oil Spill After Tonga Eruption Bigger than Peviously Thought

An oil spill off the Peruvian coast earlier this month was twice as big as previously reported, according to the country’s government.

Environment Minister Ruben Ramirez said Friday that almost 12,000 barrels of oil leaked into the sea on 15 January.

Officials described the spill as an “ecological disaster” to blame for the deaths of local fish and seabirds.

It happened when tanker at the La Pampilla refinery was hit by waves linked to a volcanic eruption on Tonga.

The site, about 30km (19 miles) north of Lima, is owned by Spanish oil company Repsol.

Peru has demanded compensation and prosecutors have opened an investigation into Repsol’s role in the incident.

A judge granted a request on Friday to bar four executives from the firm leaving the country for 18 months amid the ongoing probe.

In a statement to the AFP news agency, Repsol said it would “fully cooperate with any criminal investigation” and said it was already aiding in the preliminary stages.

“Our main concern is cleaning up the environment. Repsol is putting all its efforts into cleaning up as quickly as possible,” the company added.

Repsol said it had calculated the oil spilled to be equivalent to 10,396 barrels, after a revised government estimate that put the number at 11,900 – up from the 6,000 previously reported.

In an update on Friday, the environment ministry said a third of the spilled oil has been recovered from the ocean and across 20 beaches.

Some local fisherman have staged protests because they are unable to go out to sea and work because of the disaster.

Repsol previously blamed the leak on unusual waves triggered by a massive volcanic eruption in Tonga, more than 10,000km away.

The Mare Doricum, the Italian-flagged tanker involved in the spill, has also been banned from setting sail.

La Pampilla is built just off the town of Ventanilla in the Lima region and is Peru’s largest refinery. It provides for more than half of the local fuel market.

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For Some Cubans, Haitians The Bahamas is a Stepping Stone to the Promised Land

AP-  A capsized boat likely came from the Bahamas, but Cubans and Haitians often are the ones fleeing to America.

Little is known about the 40 people believed to have been aboard a boat that capsized and was found this week near Florida’s coast with just one survivor. But they were on a route often traveled by migrants trying to enter the U.S. clandestinely, and authorities suspect the trip was organized by smugglers.

Apprehensions of migrants in the Florida-Caribbean region appear to be on pace to surpass numbers from last year, with more Cubans and Haitians taking to sea despite the dangers and stricter U.S. refugee policies.

The sole survivor told a good Samaritan and authorities that the boat capsized late Saturday after he and 39 others had set out for Florida from Bimini, a chain of islands in the Bahamas about 55 miles east of Miami.

Officials say the Bahamas is a common route for smuggling migrants. Both the Coast Guard and Homeland Security say they are treating this as a human smuggling case.

Why the Bahamas?

The Bahamas is seen as a steppingstone to reach Florida and the United States.

For the most part, the migrants are from Haiti and Cuba, but the Royal Bahamas Defense Force has reported apprehending migrants from other parts of the world, including from Colombia and Ecuador.

Refugee aid groups say some migrants opt for the longer route to avoid the increasing law enforcement along the Florida Straits. “They may island hop,” said Randy McGrorty, executive director of Catholic Legal Services.

The defense force said that last Friday it rescued 31 migrants who were on another overcrowded boat that also capsized. Those migrants had also departed from Bimini.

The Bahamas and nearby Turks and Caicos Islands have stepped up their anti-smuggling enforcement efforts in cooperation with the Coast Guard in recent years.

How many are making the journey?

From Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30 of last year, the Coast Guard says that in the region that includes Florida and the Caribbean its crews apprehended 838 Cubans; 1,527 Haitians; and 742 Dominicans.

In less than four months since last October, crews have apprehended 686 Cubans; 802 Haitians and 685 Dominicans.

In May, a Canadian man was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison in U.S. federal court for his role in an operation that smuggled people from Sri Lanka by plane to Haiti, then by boat to the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas to South Florida.

The total number of people making the journey is impossible to know as many try to arrive undetected and thousands have died over the years.

Why are they coming?

Reasons vary, with some migrants seeking better economic opportunity and some escaping political turbulence or violence.

Cuba is facing an economic crisis that has been exacerbated by the pandemic, increased U.S. sanctions and cutbacks in aid from Venezuela. The crisis has led to shortages in many goods and a series of protests that shook the island on July 11.

Legal ways to leave Cuba were strained by former President Donald Trump’s near-closure of the U.S. Embassy in 2017. The United States had been providing 22,000 visas a year to Cuba for two decades until 2017. And President Joe Biden has not resumed dialogue with the communist nation.

McGrorty, of Catholic Legal Services, says his office is seeing “very meritorious asylum claims.”

In Haiti, violence has spiked since the July assassination of President Jovenel Moise. The political instability and a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in August have deepened a growing humanitarian crisis in the impoverished Caribbean nation.

Can they stay?

The U.S. Coast Guard often repatriates people found at sea; it did so earlier this month when it sent back 119 Cuban migrants.

At the beginning of 2017, President Barack Obama eliminated a policy known as “wet foot-dry foot” that allowed Cubans who reached U.S. shores to remain, usually as refugees, while those caught at sea were sent back.

Typically Cubans would obtain parole cards that allowed them to apply for residency a year afterward. But right now the system is in disarray, with lawsuits challenging how the government treats Cuban asylum seekers. A 56-year-old law has given Cubans a virtually guaranteed path to legal residency and eventual citizenship.

Thousands of Cubans are subject of deportation, but Immigration and Customs Enforcement still lists the communist nation as uncooperative or “recalcitrant” in accepting deportees.

The U.S. government has been called out for expelling thousands of Haitians. A U.N. report estimated about 9,000 Haitians were expelled between Sept. 19, 2021, and late November. Most had arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border in September.

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Jamaican to Relax Curfew and Other COVID Measures in Coming Months

Sheri-Kae McLeod

CNW

Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness has signaled his intention to further relax the island’s curfew and other COVID-19 measures in the coming months.

For the last few months, Holness has been urging Jamaicans to take personal responsibility to protect themselves from the virus by getting vaccinated, wearing a mask in public spaces, and staying home if sick. He has also been adamant that the government will not be reverting to lockdowns as it looks to return the country to normality.

While addressing business leaders at the Jamaica Stock Exchange Conference on January 25, the Prime Minister again called on Jamaicans to accept that the country, like the rest of the world, must learn to live with the coronavirus.

“Our society must adapt to living with COVID-19. Almost two years into the pandemic, we have both the knowledge and the means to protect ourselves. Citizens have access to enough reliable information and resources to access their health and risks as well as their economic circumstances and make their own decisions,” Holness said.

The Prime Minister also put the country on notice that some of the existing COVID-19 measures will soon end, barring any extreme spike in cases. He stated that at this stage in the pandemic, the government could not afford the restrictions to impede economic recovery.

“It is no longer appropriate or necessary for the government to use crude, blanket measures such as lockdowns to shield the population from the virus. These restrictions are designed to restrict movement but ultimately put a stranglehold on economic and social activity. They keep our children out of school. They have a devastating impact on livelihoods and have severe psycho-social impacts. Therefore, barring any extreme change in circumstances, our approach will be to gradually scale back the measures once we get out of the fourth wave that we are now experiencing. We will not keep the measures longer than is necessary,” Holness explained.

The island currently has a 10:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. curfew in place. Spectators have been prohibited from attending various sporting events, and other major social events, like concerts, are also banned.

Albeit the restrictions, Jamaica is still in the midst of a massive fourth wave of COVID-19, which saw a one-day record of 1,968 new cases at its peak on January 16.

The country also has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the Caribbean, with just 22 percent of the population fully vaccinated. When the Ministry of Health and Wellness launched the vaccination campaign in 2021, the goal was to have 65 percent of the population immunized by March 2022.

While the target is unlikely to be met, Prime Minister Holness said the government is still planning to move forward.

“If it is that our vaccination rates don’t rise to the level where we can be guaranteed herd immunity, then the government can only help our citizens by providing information and encouraging them to get vaccinated. But we cannot keep our economy under restrictions. I’m saying this to prepare both the business community and society generally that in the coming months, we will have to take down more of the restrictions that are in place,” he stated.

Prime Minister Holness said Jamaicans should start visualizing the end of the Disaster Risk Management Act and the various COVID-19 protocols and restrictions that it underpins.

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