Accredited Third States

Hugo Chávez’s folksy charm and forceful personality made him an extraordinary politician. His enviable ability to win a mass following allowed him to build a powerful political machine that kept him in office from February of 1999 until his death on Tuesday. But as a national leader, he was an abject failure who plunged Venezuela into a political and economic abyss.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s health has taken a turn for the worse as he battles a “new and severe” lung infection in the wake of a trouble-plagued cancer surgery, the government said Monday. In a televised announcement, Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said Chávez’s respiratory problems had grown more severe since the chemotherapy he is receiving in Caracas has left his immune system compromised. “The president’s condition continues to be very delicate,” Villegas read from a prepared statement.

WASHINGTON, DC, USA (CMC) — A new World Bank study says a rise in sea levels by a metre from climate change could destroy more than 60 per cent of the Caribbean and the developing world's coastal wetlands currently found at one metre or less elevation.
The study says this could lead to economic losses of about US$630 million annually.
The World Bank analysis considered a variety of types of coastal wetlands at risk in 76 countries and territories, using a number of databases and satellite maps.

NEW YORK, USA (CMC) — The Council of the City of New York has passed a bill that will prohibit the New York Police Department (NYPD) from turning over Caribbean and other immigrants charged with low-level crimes to US federal authorities.
"When your fingerprints are taken at arrest, you're charged. You're not guilty," said Council Speaker Christine Quinn, following the passage of the bill by a vote of 40-7.

HAVANA, Cuba, CMC - At least five Caribbean Students studying in Cuba are dead and others were hospitalized after a truck slammed into the bus in which they were traveling.
According to media reports the students were returning home from a night of partying when crash took place.
The nationalities of the students are not yet known.
Hundreds of Caribbean nationals are pursuing university education in Cuba as a result of an agreement between several CARICOM member states and the Cuba Government. (Full article)

WASHINGTON, CMC - A new World Bank study says a rise in sea levels by a meter from climate change could destroy more than 60 per cent of the Caribbean and the developing world’s coastal wetlands currently found at one meter or less elevation.
The study says this will lead to economic losses of about US$630 million annually.
The World Bank analysis considers a variety of types of coastal wetlands at risk in 76 countries and territories, using a number of databases and satellite maps.

ON, England (AFP) — EU president Herman van Rompuy warned yesterday that Britain will struggle to win support for its plans to renegotiate its membership of the European Union, and said that trying to exit the bloc could prove costly.
In a speech in London, Van Rompuy urged Britain to stay inside the 27-member group, saying it had a role to play in reforming the union and would have a stronger voice in world affairs than if it went it alone.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's vice-president said yesterday that Hugo Chavez is still fighting for his life.
Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's self-appointed successor, said on television that his boss "is battling there for his health, for his life, and we're accompanying him".
The vice-president had characterised Chavez's condition similarly on December 20, saying the president "is fighting a great battle... for his life, for his health".

WASHINGTON, CMC – A top United States Department of Homeland Security official in charge of deportations has stepped down in the aftermath of a flap over the release of Caribbean and other detainees.
Gary Mead’s departure comes after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency on Monday released hundreds of immigrants from jails and detention centers across the country.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Decorated Vietnam veteran Chuck Hagel was sworn in as U.S. defense secretary yesterday after a bruising Senate confirmation battle, promising to renew old U.S. alliances and forge new ones without attempting to “dictate” to the world. Addressing Pentagon employees shortly after a small, closed-door swearing-in ceremony, Hagel spoke optimistically, if vaguely, about global challenges ahead and the importance of American leadership abroad. “We can’t dictate to the world. But we must engage the world.