A package of news briefs from the Caribbean

HAITI: Preval: U.S.-Haitian anti-drug operations to continue

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) _ President Rene Preval said Friday that Haiti and the United States will continue joint offensives against drug trafficking, which he described as the biggest threat to his impoverished Caribbean country.

Preval's comments were his first public remarks since U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Haitian authorities launched a forceful crackdown on suspected drug traffickers in two coastal towns earlier this week.

The agents arrested a Haitian businessman allegedly tied to cocaine traffickers but failed to capture their main target, former rebel leader and presidential candidate Guy Philippe, who is believed to be in hiding.

Preval said the operation resulted from meetings he held recently with DEA Administrator Karen Tandy, and said more actions are planned.

"These aren't operations we want to advertise. We're not going to say what the next step is but there will be other steps," Preval told reporters during a joint press conference with visiting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

He called drug traffickers "the single biggest destabilizing factor facing weak countries like Haiti," which has only a few thousand poorly paid police and a notoriously corrupt judicial system.

TURKS AND CAICOS: British territory considers opening casinos to locals, but only the wealthy

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos (AP) _ A measure before the Turks and Caicos Islands' legislature would allow residents to gamble in the British territory's two casinos for the first time _ if they have enough money to spend.

For now, islanders are barred from entering the casinos. The proposal scheduled for debate Monday in the House of Assembly would allow those earning more than US$50,000 (euro36,224) annually to bypass the restriction and apply for membership at the gambling halls.

The government of Premier Michael Misick, who backs the measure to boost tax revenue, has argued that allowing the vast majority who earn less than that amount would threaten the Caribbean territory's social fabric. The average annual income is roughly US$10,000 (euro7,245).

Religious groups opposed to allowing any locals to place wagers staged street protests this week, declaring the measure would ruin families by promoting vice in the archipelago of 22,000 people.

"We believe that by opening this door (it) would provide a temptation for persons to destroy their lives," said Pedro Williams, leader of the Providenciales Ministers' Fellowship.

Casinos that cater only to foreigners are found across Caribbean, where sectors of socially conservative island societies regard them as agents of moral corruption.

ANGUILLA: Caribbean island delays talks to seek more autonomy from Britain

THE VALLEY, Anguilla (AP) _ Anguilla's chief minister on Friday postponed talks aimed at seeking greater independence from Britain, saying the tiny island's inhabitants need more time to understand a constitutional reform process.

Osbourne Fleming's announcement came days before Anguilla's leaders were to negotiate with officials from the U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office to review the territory's status.

He said the island's 13,000 inhabitants need more time to learn about the constitutional reform process.

"There are serious implications for this move and we need to address them collectively before the British team arrives here," Fleming said. "The people have not been fully addressed."

He did not say when the negotiations would take place.

Earlier Friday, about 200 islanders marched to the office of the London-appointed governor to deliver a petition calling for a referendum on a new constitution.

Many Anguillans support constitutional and electoral reforms to give the island more autonomy.

U.K. officials have said Anguilla may propose any constitutional change, but Britain would retain the power to preserve good governance, judicial independence and ensure compliance with international obligations.

PUERTO RICO: US Caribbean territory reports 2 human cases of West Nile virus

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) _ Two human cases of West Nile virus have been confirmed in Puerto Rico, and one other probable case is awaiting final lab tests, health officials said Friday.

The West Nile virus, which was first reported in the U.S. Caribbean territory in 2004, was detected when the infected people donated blood, Health Secretary Rosa Perez Perdomo said. Since the virus can be spread through transfusions, blood banks screen for the mosquito-borne virus.

The two infected islanders, whose identities were not disclosed, were Puerto Rico's first human cases of West Nile this year.

Government epidemiologist Enid Garcia Rivera said the two people from an unspecified area on the Caribbean island's east coast, where several birds have recently tested positive for West Nile, have not shown any symptoms of the disease.

West Nile is transmitted through the bite of a mosquito that has picked up the virus by feeding on an infected bird.

Health officials say the virus typically causes symptoms such as fever, nausea, headache and muscle aches in about 15 percent of those infected, and that the large majority experience no symptoms.

Less than 1 percent of people infected develop serious neurological illnesses such as encephalitis and meningitis.

JAMAICA: Police recover Swiss professor's car in homicide investigation

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) _ A Swiss professor's sport-utility vehicle was recovered Friday by police investigating his possible slaying.

The body of Peter Vogel, a 60-year-old zoologist, was found Thursday gagged with his hands and feet bound inside his home on the University of the West Indies campus in Kingston.

Sgt. Radcliffe Levy said police recovered Vogel's Suzuki Vitara, which was missing from his home along with a computer and television.

The university said it has assigned additional guards to patrol the residential area of its Mona campus at night. It said a back door of the professor's home was open, but there was no sign of forced entry.

Vogel, who earned a doctorate in life sciences from the University of Basel and came to the University of West Indies in 1985, specialized in the study of birds and amphibians, including the Jamaican iguana.

CUBA: International Trade Commission says lifting finance rules could double US trade to Cuba

HAVANA (AP) _ America's trade with communist-run Cuba could double if the U.S. lifted limits on financing agricultural sales to the island, the U.S. International Trade Commission says in a report released this week.

"All agricultural commodity sectors would likely benefit from the lifting of the financing restriction," said the 180-page report released Thursday in Washington.

Under an exception to the 45-year-old U.S. embargo on Cuba, American producers can sell food and agricultural products to the Caribbean nation on a cash basis. A separate exception allows sales of U.S. medicines and medical supplies to the island.

American farm producers complain the transactions were slowed beginning in 2005 by new U.S. rules requiring them to receive payment from Havana before shipping their goods.

The commission's report was welcomed by the USA Rice Federation, which opposes the financing rules and supports legislation to lift U.S. trade and travel restrictions on Cuba.

"The United States was the principal supplier of rice to Cuba before sanctions were imposed, and will be again once they are removed," said Marvin Lehrer, USA Rice senior consultant for Cuba.

Havana says it has spent more than $2.2 billion (euro1.6 billion) on American farm products and related costs since 2001, when it began taking advantage of a U.S. law allowing the deals.

HAITI: Canadian prime minister lauds improved security in Caribbean nation

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) _ Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Friday praised Haiti's improved security climate but said people in the impoverished Caribbean nation still face "enormous challenges."

Wrapping up a weeklong tour of Latin America and the Caribbean, Harper toured the notorious Port-au-Prince slum of Cite Soleil, which had been controlled by armed gangs until U.N. peacekeepers launched a fierce crackdown earlier this year.

"It is apparent that the people who live there feel increasingly secure," Harper told reporters during a joint news conference with Haitian President Rene Preval.

Despite the improvements, Harper said "you see how difficult life is for most people" in Cite Soleil, considered the poorest neighborhood in the Americas and where people live in rows of dirt-floor, bullet-scarred hovels with no electricity or running water.

"There are enormous challenges that people face," said Harper, who was making his first visit to the country.

Haiti is still struggling to recover from a crippling 2004 revolt that toppled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and prompted the deployment of a 9,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force.

Preval thanked Harper for his government's assistance, noting that Haiti was the biggest recipient of Canadian aid after Afghanistan.

SOCCER: Clarence Seedorf returns to native Suriname with Champions League trophy

PARAMARIBO, Suriname (AP) _ AC Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf took the Champions League trophy to his native Suriname against the wishes of his club.

Milan had asked the 31-year-old Dutchman to take a replica instead on his trip that also included the Middle East and horn of Africa _ but he refused.

"I took the original cup earlier to Dubai and to Djibouti, so I told them that if they wouldn't allow me to bring it to Suriname then maybe it was time for me to look for another club," Seedorf said.

About 2,000 people turned out to catch a glimpse of Seedorf at a news conference late Thursday.

Milan won its sixth European Cup by beating Liverpool 2-1 in Athens, Greece,on May 23.

Seedorf is the only player to have won the Champions League with three different teams _ Ajax in 1995, Real Madrid in 1998 and Milan.

He said that his Milan-based charity_ Champions for Children _ will sponsor a minor soccer league in this former Dutch colony. The matches will take place in a stadium that he built and opened in 2002.

During his two-day visit, Seedorf also planned to hold a clinic for young players at his stadium and meet with President Ronald Venetiaan.