A package of news briefs from the Caribbean

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Health officials concerned about increase in leptospirosis deaths

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — An outbreak of the waterborne disease leptospirosis has killed 19 people and sickened more than 130 others in communities flooded by Tropical Storm Noel, the Dominican health minister said Saturday.

Bautista Rojas Gomez said dozens of people remain in hospitals with symptoms related to leptospirosis, which spreads through exposure to water contaminated with the urine of infected animals.

"The situation is serious but you can't call it an epidemic, rather an outbreak," he told The Associated Press as he visited hospitals in the capital.

Health officials fear an increase in cases because rains keep pounding the country one month after Noel killed 87 people and displaced about 70,000 here.

Rojas urged people with symptoms including fever, headaches and severe muscle pain to seek help immediately.

Leptospirosis is mainly carried by rats, but also can be found in cats, dogs and cows. The infectious disease is usually contracted through cuts in the skin.

JAMAICA: Legislators consider resuming hangings

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaican lawmakers are considering resuming hangings in response to rising violent crime, almost two decades since the last person was executed by the noose in this Caribbean nation.

Jamaicans have pushed for the measure, Karl Samuda, general secretary of Prime Minister Bruce Golding's ruling party, said Saturday.

"Based on our observation, there is a strong sentiment in the country for hanging to resume," Samuda said. "We want to make sure the people get their wish."

The last hanging occurred in 1988, and five years later, Britain's Privy Council — the highest court of appeal for many former colonies — ruled that inmates who spend more than five years on death row should receive life sentences.

The ruling, coupled with international pressure to eliminate the death penalty, has led to a reluctance among Jamaican authorities to order hangings. No other type of capital punishment has since been used.

No date has been set for the vote, although Junior Security Minister Arthur Williams has said he expects parliament to take up the issue "very shortly."

About 45 inmates are on death row in Jamaica, which reported a record 1,671 homicides in 2005 and is considered one of the most violent countries in the world.

BAHAMAS: Dean at College of the Bahamas beaten to death, police say

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) — Authorities are investigating the killing of a college dean who relatives believe was beaten to death with an iron.

The body of Thaddeus McDonald, dean of social and educational studies at The College of the Bahamas, was discovered Friday afternoon after school officials called relatives to ask why he had not shown up for work, said Madison McDonald, the dean's brother.

The 59-year-old dean, who lived behind the U.S. embassy in the island's capital, was found on his bed with an iron nearby, McDonald said.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Leon Bethel declined to comment on a possible motive and said the investigation is ongoing.

Thaddeus McDonald had worked at the college for 20 years and is credited with creating the school's law program, college president Janyne Hodder said.

The College of the Bahamas was founded in 1974 and serves almost 5,000 students across the archipelago.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Country seeks to buy Shell's share of jointly run oil refinery

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — The Dominican Republic is seeking to acquire full control of an oil refinery jointly owned with Royal Dutch Shell PLC in a bid to stabilize domestic fuel prices.

President Leonel Fernandez said Thursday that the treasury minister has been authorized to begin negotiations for the company's 50 percent stake in the Refidomsa refinery, which produces 30,000 barrels of fuel per day, just under a fifth of the Caribbean country's daily consumption.

Shell officials said they would sell for US$183 million (euro125 million), an amount they had agreed to in prior negotiations with a private company that were never completed, Dominican Treasury Minister Vicente Bengoa said.

The government would end up paying US$106 million (euro72 million) because Shell — which already owes US$36 million (euro25 million) in utilities for the past two years — would also have to pay US$41 million (euro28 million) in capital gains taxes if the sale was approved, Bengoa said.

The remaining amount would be paid through a long-term loan financed by Shell, he said.

Shell officials have not responded to a request for comment.

In a broadcast speech largely devoted to a new energy conservation program, Fernandez said the joint-ownership arrangement has prevented the Dominican Republic from expanding the refinery. An expansion would allow it import its full fuel quota under Petrocaribe, a Venezuelan program that provides oil to Caribbean nations under preferential terms.

CUBA: Fidel and Raul Castro honor late revolutionary comrade Gen. Sergio del Valle

HAVANA (AP) — The Castro brothers paid homage to fallen revolutionary comrade Sergio del Valle Jimenez on Saturday, with Fidel recalling his help during the Bay of Pigs invasion and Raul attending his military funeral.

Raul, Cuba's defense minister and interim leader since his brother stepped aside because of illness in mid-2006, attended Gen. Del Valle's interment at Havana's Colon Cemetery.

Del Valle Jimenez died Thursday of undisclosed causes. State media did not say how old he was, but he was at least in his 70s.

Del Valle joined Castro's revolution against dictator Fulgencio Batista through a Havana underground movement in the mid 1950s, and entered the rebel army as a physician and soldier fighting against Batista's troops in eastern Cuba in 1957.

After Batista fled and the rebels took control of the island on Jan. 1, 1959, Del Valle held various positions in Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.

He was army chief of staff when a U.S.-backed exile army tried unsuccessfully to invade the Bay of Pigs in 1961, as well as the following year when the U.S. discovery of Soviet missiles on the island pushed the world to the brink of nuclear war. The Soviets eventually removed the missiles.

Del Valle was also interior minister in the late 1960s and health minister from 1979 to 1986.