KINGSTON, Jamaica - WITH SPECULATIONS rife over whether Venezuela would continue the PetroCaribe arrangement if Hugo Chávez is replaced as president, Jamaica's energy minister says willpower such as the ailing leader's is a necessary ingredient to the survival of the deal.
"I think there is commitment on the part of the administration (to continue it), but because there was opposition domestically. It does require a strength of character that President Chávez has to see it through, cause it what it will," Energy Minister Phillip Paulwell told The Gleaner yesterday.

Haitian ex-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide answered prosecutors' questions Wednesday in a landmark investigation for the country over charges he used homeless children to get donations.
Thousands of Aristide supporters gathered outside a courthouse and poured into the streets to protest what they denounced as political persecution.
Among various accusations of corruption, a group of people has filed a complaint claiming they were among street children rescued by La Fanmi se la vi (Family is Life), a charity Aristide created in the 1990s.

PROVIDENCIALS, Turks and Caicos Islands, CMC -The United Kingdom has made a request for the extradition of former Turks and Caicos Premier Michael Misick who is being held in a Brazilian jail following after his December arrest in the South American nation on an international warrant.
Under an agreement with Brazil,  the British authorities have 60 days from the date of arrest to formally request his extradition said the Turks and Caicos Islands’ (TCI) Attorney General’s office said in a statement Wednesday.

CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony is heading a two-member delegation to Venezuela for a meeting of PetroCaribe, an initiative of Caracas allowing many Caribbean countries to purchase oil on conditions of preferential payment.
St. Lucia has not joined the alliance that was launched in 2005, but a government statement said that attending the meeting would allow Castries to have an updated assessment of the initiative.

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – The main opposition New National Party (NNP) predicting that a general election will be held this year is urging citizens to unite and help lay the foundation of a long overdue Grenadian renaissance.
Opposition Leader Dr. Keith Mitchell, whose government was defeated by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in 2008 after 13 years in power, said 2013 promises to be a “defining moment in our history.

Coverage of Haiti’s 2010 earthquake disaster may have dwindled in the news, but rebuilding efforts are still slowly continuing, running the gamut from shelters made from tires, shipping containers and recycled plastic bottles – each with their advantages and disadvantages.

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC – Prime Minister Tillman Thomas Wednesday night announced that he had asked Governor General Sir Caryle Glean to dissolve Parliament paving the way for a general election in Grenada within 90 days.
In a brief radio and television address, Thomas did not name the date for the general election that was constitutionally due by October this year, but widely expected before that month.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - At last some sense has emerged between the leaders of Sudan and South Sudan who have agreed to a set of proposals outlined by former South African President Thabo Mbeki and envoy of the African Union (AU) to bring about a settlement to their dispute.
Relations between these two neighbours have also been tense since the independence of the South in July 2012. Nonetheless, it is a good development that both the flanks of Sudan have responded to diplomacy.

CARACAS -- Of all the people flocking here Thursday to mark President Hugo Chávez’s new six-year term, the man of the hour, the ailing Comandante, will not be among them.
On Tuesday, National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello announced that Chávez will miss the event, as he remains in Cuba where he is recovering from complicated cancer surgery that has kept him incommunicado for a month.

SAO PAULO -- A top Brazilian newspaper is reporting that popular former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will be investigated for allegations that he knew about a massive cash-for-votes scheme, the nation's biggest corruption scandal.
The Estado de S. Paulo newspaper reports Wednesday that the attorney general has ordered the formal investigation. It cited no sources.
Before hours call to the attorney general's office weren't answered.