WASHINGTON, CMC – The United Nations expert on torture has called on the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to investigate the practise of solitary confinement and its harmful effects in the Americas, including the Caribbean. Juan E. Méndez, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on torture, also called for stronger regulation on solitary confinement. “I am concerned about the general lack of official information and statistics on the use of solitary confinement,” Méndez told the Commission at its first-ever briefing on solitary confinement in the Americas.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC - The Police Service and Welfare Association will be holding candle light vigils as a form of protest against the proposed legislation to grant soldiers the power of arrest. President of the Association Anand Ramesar on Wednesday told reporters that the vigil would be headed by former president of the association, Emrol Bruce. "The theme of that (vigil) is 'Preserve the impartiality and the integrity of the Police Service' and, most of all, the independence of the Police Service. Police officers and their families will be in attendance," said Ramesar.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - GRENADA plans to commence talks with its creditors to restructure its EC$2.2- billion public debt. Rising interest payments in the face of falling revenue and a high wage bill has prompted the government to miss an interest payment due this month. It is the second time that it has been faced with an interest payment that it couldn't meet within the last six months, although back in September, when the Government felt it couldn't find the funds to pay the coupon on a US$193-million bond, due in 2025, it eventually paid the money before the grace period expired.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - The Caribbean is not expected to carve out a larger piece of the travel and tourism industry over the next 10 years.

Panama City -- When Ernesto Argüello, a Honduran civil engineer, was 12 years old, he worked for his father for a month and used all his earnings to buy a pair of fancy sneakers on a family vacation trip. He was surprised his money didn’t buy more, but his father told him that some of the people he worked with had to support their families on the same wage. For Argüello, it was a transformative experience.

WASHINGTON, CMC – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is providing Haiti with US$7.4 million after completing a review of the country’s performance under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF) earlier this month. The IMF said that the disbursement brings the total disbursements under the programme to date to US$54.1 million.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Some Bds$100 million will soon be made available to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean through an investment project funded by the European Union, in co-operation with a number of development banks. The Caribbean Investment Facility (CIF), which is due to be launched next week, will provide seed money to the Caribbean region of the ACP (Africa-Caribbean-Pacific) countries.

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves is calling on Caribbean countries to establish a regional reparations committee, pledging to spend the rest of his life seeking compensation from the British for land, genocide against the Garifuna, and slavery. Prime Minister Gonsalves said Cabinet will soon name its reparations committee “But we want to see not only a reparations committee for St. Vincent but we want to see a Caribbean wide reparations committee involving other Caribbean countries.

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands, CMC - Britain’s Foreign Secretary, William Hague has taken Dr.Rufus Ewing - the Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands to task following a recent speech to Caribbean Community (CARICOM) heads of government.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) It gives me great pleasure to make a few remarks on this occasion, as we witness the signing of the Contribution Agreement between the European Commission and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). This Agreement puts on stream the Caribbean component of the 10th European Development Fund – Intra-ACP Agriculture Policy Programme.