A package of news briefs from the Caribbean

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Legislator seeks bikini ban on local television

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — A Dominican legislator wants to ban the bikini — on television at least.

Opposition congressman Nestor Julio Cruz Pichardo said the skimpy swimsuits are contrary to the tropical Caribbean country's traditions and harm impressionable youngsters.

Yet Dominican resorts commonly lure visitors to the Caribbean's top vacation destination with advertisements portraying bikini-clad women on white-sand beaches fringed with palms.

Bikinis also have become an increasingly common sight on Dominican television, whether in news shots of tourists sunning on the beach, daytime fashion shows or in soap operas.

The bill would set fines of up to US$15,000 (euro10,085) in penalties for broadcasters who violate the ban.

Cruz said Monday that images of women in revealing swimsuits "are limiting the intellect and deforming the vocational interests" of children in the Dominican Republic.

It was not clear if Cruz had significant support from other lawmakers.

PUERTO RICO: Grand jury indicts alleged traffickers of Chinese immigrants

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Suspected members of a human trafficking ring were indicted for the alleged smuggling of Chinese immigrants from the Dominican Republic into Puerto Rico, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

A grand jury indicted 15 people of Chinese ancestry — most of them legal residents of Puerto Rico — on charges of sneaking an unspecified number of illegal migrants into the U.S. Caribbean territory between October 2005 and July 2006, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Puerto Rico announced in a statement.

Two suspects — Xirong Feng and Hongwei He — remain at large. The rest were arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in six Puerto Rican cities on Nov. 15, U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodriguez said.

"The arrests are the results of the intense teamwork coordinated by federal law enforcement agencies," she said.

The suspects, now being held in a detention center outside San Juan, face a maximum prison term of 10 years with fines up to US$250,000 (euro168,000) if convicted.

Jail officials told reporters it wasn't possible to contact them, and it was not clear whether they had attorneys.

GUYANA: Power company blames blackouts on port obstacles for fuel tankers

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Guyana's state-run power company said Tuesday that silt clogging the port of Georgetown has blocked fuel tankers from entering, leading to rolling blackouts in the tiny South American country.

The port, which can still accommodate smaller ships, will soon be dredged, said Marjorie Chester, a spokeswoman for Guyana Power & Light Inc.

President Bharrat Jagdeo recently fired the chairman of the power company's board over the blackouts, which typically last from 15 minutes to two hours across the former Dutch and British colony.

The impoverished country also has struggled to pay Trinidad oil suppliers for their shipments, officials said.

SURINAME: Private bus operators strike to demand fare increase

PARAMARIBO, Suriname (AP) — Bus operators paralyzed Suriname's public transportation system Tuesday with a strike to demand the government nearly double fares.

Suriname has told the union, which comprises a large majority of the country's bus operators, it will authorize only a 10 percent increase — far short of the 40 percent rise they are seeking.

Top union leader Elio Vanier said the strike will continue until the government approves a suitable fare increase, which he said is needed to counter rising fuel prices.

A 40 percent hike is "the minimal amount we need to keep our heads above water," Vanier told reporters Tuesday.

Government transportation officials were not immediately available for comment.

The strike stranded many workers in the capital of Paramaribo.

"I had no choice but to take a taxi, which is way too expensive," said Helen Terbeek, a cook.

CUBA: Official says economy will stay strong, grow 10 percent in 2007

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba's economy should grow by 10 percent in 2007, the third straight year of double-digit expansion, despite slips in the tourism sector, according to Economy Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez.

Speaking at a meeting of economists, Rodriguez said gross domestic product on the communist-run island would rise by 10 percent this year, reiterating a prediction he made in February.

The event Monday was closed to international media, but Rodriguez's comments were reported Tuesday by the official National Information Agency.

The report provided few details about what is fueling growth, citing only general increases in industrial and agricultural production. Cuba includes state spending on social and health care programs to calculate growth, a methodology that makes its figures difficult to compare with those of other countries.

Cuba has transformed its economy since the collapse of the Soviet Union, once its chief supporter and trade partner, at the start of the 1990s.

Aided by high prices for the copper, nickel and cobalt its mines produce, the island's government reported economic growth of 12.5 percent in 2006 and 11 percent in 2005.

Tourism is the chief source of revenue, but the number of overseas visitors declined through June of this year as compared to 2006 — a year that saw a slight slip from the 2.2 million visitors in 2005.

BASEBALL: Indians pitcher remains in critical condition with head, spine injuries

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Doctors examining Cleveland Indians reliever Juan Lara discovered that he suffered a spinal fracture as well as severe brain trauma in a weekend car accident, a hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Lara, who had been diagnosed previously with two fractured ribs, has been hospitalized in critical condition since the sports utility vehicle he was driving was hit by a motorcycle on Saturday night.

"Juan's condition is very fragile. In the last medical report we found that he has a severe brain trauma, and we also found a fracture in the spinal column, with the D2 (second vertebra) in an unstable condition," spokeswoman Dashira Martinez told The Associated Press.

Martinez said doctors have not determined whether Lara, 26, will suffer any paralysis from the spinal injury.

Lara, who pitched in one game for Cleveland last season, was returning from a winter league game in San Pedro de Macoris at the time of the accident. He was stopped at an intersection when he was struck on the driver's side and pinned inside the vehicle.

The motorcycle's rider and passenger were killed. Lara's girlfriend, who was with him at the time, was also taken to the hospital but her injuries are not as serious as Lara's.

Lara, originally signed by the Indians in 1999, spent most of last season with Triple-A Buffalo. He was recalled from the minors on Sept. 4 and made his only appearance for the Indians two days later, working 1 1-3 innings against the Los Angeles Angels.

CRICKET: Parchment named in Windies tour of South Africa; squad led by Gayle

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) — Jamaican batsman Brenton Parchment was the only player without test experience named in the 15-man West Indies squad for three tests and five one-day internationals in South Africa next month.

A slim right-handed opener, Parchment is a former West Indies Under-19 captain and A team representative. He is on his first senior assignment with West Indies in Zimbabwe for a five one-dayers preceding the South African tour.

Fellow Jamaican Chris Gayle was retained as captain on Tuesday with Ramnaresh Sarwan, who led the team on last summer's tour of England, still sidelined by a foot injury.

Pedro Collins, a left-arm fast bowler, makes another comeback despite having signed a Kolpak deal to play with English county side Surrey in 2008.

At 31, he is the most experienced of a four-man pace contingent that also includes his half-brother Fidel Edwards and Jamaican pair Daren Powell and Jerome Taylor.

Dwayne Bravo and Darren Sammy are two seam bowling allrounders. Bravo, just three and a half years into his international career, serves as vice captain to Gayle.

The selectors included Rawl Lewis, a 33-year-old who boasts the most expensive average in test history, as the only specialist spinner. The legspinner, who toured South Africa in 1998-99, has taken one wicket for 388 in four tests since 1997.

The tour of South Africa begins on Dec. 14 and concludes on Feb. 3.