A package of news briefs from the Caribbean

CUBA: Vatican's No. 2 hopes visit to island gives 'new push' to government-church relations

HAVANA (AP) — The Vatican's No. 2 official said Thursday he hopes his visit to Cuba will give "a new push" to relations between the communist government and the island's Roman Catholic Church, which would like to reopen religious schools and increase its presence in state media.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state, is commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the first papal visit to Cuba. In an address to 15 Cuban bishops, he said current Pope Benedict XVI "knows the situation of the Cuban church well, carries it in his heart and has it very present in his prayers."

"I harbor the hope that this celebration of the anniversary of the visit by Pope John Paul II to this blessed land contributes to giving a new push to relations between the state and the Catholic Church of Cuba," Bertone said.

The meeting was closed to international reporters, but the Vatican's press office released the text of his speech.

Bertone also delivered a message to the Cuban bishops from Benedict in which the pope said that in Cuba, "at times, some Christian communities feel overwhelmed by difficulties, by the lack of resources, indifference and even distrust."

That was part of the reason why "the mission of the Catholic Church in Cuba favors the most needy with concrete works of service and attention to men and women of any condition who deserve to be supported not only in their material needs but also cared for with affection and compassion," the message from Benedict said.

Bertone's visit began a day after 81-year-old Fidel Castro announced he is permanently stepping down as president, clearing the way for the first new Cuban head-of-state in 49 years. His brother Raul Castro, 76, is expected to be chosen as the new president when the country's parliament meets on Sunday.

GUANTANAMO: Ex-chief prosecutor at Gitmo to testify for bin Laden's driver

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — In a stunning turnaround, the former chief military prosecutor at Guantanamo Bay said Thursday he would be a defense witness for the driver of Osama bin Laden.

Air Force Col. Morris Davis, who resigned in October over alleged political interference in the U.S. military tribunals, told The Associated Press he will appear at a hearing for Salim Ahmed Hamdan.

"I expect to be called as a witness ... I'm more than happy to testify," Davis said in a telephone interview from Washington. He called it "an opportunity to tell the truth."

At the April pretrial hearing inside the U.S. military base in southeast Cuba, Hamdan's defense team plans to argue that alleged political interference cited by Davis violates the Military Commissions Act, Hamdan's military lawyer, Navy Lt. Brian Mizer, told the AP.

Davis alleges, among other things, that Pentagon general counsel William Haynes said in August 2005 that any acquittals of terrorism suspects at Guantanamo would make the United States look bad, calling into question the fairness of the proceedings.

"He said 'We can't have acquittals, we've got to have convictions,'" Davis recalled.

A Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon, denied that Haynes made such a comment. Gordon also denied the former prosecutor's allegations of political interference, which he has repeated in newspaper opinion columns and in interviews in recent months.

If the judge rejects the motion to dismiss, Mizer said the defense will seek to remove two top officials in the military commissions system — legal adviser Air Force Brig. Gen. Thomas Hartmann and Convening Authority Susan Crawford — from Hamdan's case. This would likely result in further delays to a trial that has been stalled by legal challenges.

It is not clear whether the Pentagon — which defends the commission system as fair — will allow Davis to testify.

GUYANA: Teen charged with murder for alleged role in village massacre

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — A Guyanese teenager was charged with multiple counts of murder Thursday for his alleged role in one of two recent village massacres that have devastated the country.

James Hyles, 19, was also accused of belonging to an armed gang led by Guyana's most-wanted fugitive during his first court appearance.

Hyles maintained his innocence in the Jan. 26 rampage in the village of Lusignan, in which six adults and five children were killed. Several relatives protested outside the Georgetown court, arguing Hyles was home in neighboring Buxton Village.

Gang leader Rondell Rawlins, the country's most-wanted man, has claimed responsibility for the slayings. He threatened more assaults if his pregnant girlfriend, missing since Jan. 18, is not returned.

Last Sunday, gunmen attacked the mining town of Bartica, killing three police officers and nine civilians, including five villagers asleep in their hammocks.

No one has claimed responsibility for that massacre.

But President Bharrat Jagdeo on Tuesday accused Rawlins and his gang of meticulously planning both deadly assaults. They are also implicated in the 2006 assassination of Agriculture Minister Satyadeo Sawh.

Jagdeo's administration calls the gang domestic terrorists intent on creating mayhem in Guyana, which has struggled with violent crime fueled by drug trafficking.

The two deadly massacres have sparked citizen protests over the government's failure to protect them.

PUERTO RICO: Teachers strike begins with clashes between police and demonstrators

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Teachers walked off the job across this U.S. Caribbean territory on Thursday, staging protests that led to several arrests and scattered clashes between demonstrators and police assigned to keep schools open.

At least 10 people were detained island-wide, but government officials said most protests were peaceful and students generally arrived for classes without problems.

The teachers union called the walkout Wednesday after a breakdown in talks over a new contract for the island's 42,000 public school teachers, who are demanding higher salaries and improvements to school buildings.

In the capital of San Juan, one man was seen bleeding from the head after a clash between protesters and police at the entrance to the Gabriela Mistral school, which striking teachers had chained shut.

"They are going to have to kill us here if they think that they are going to frighten us," union worker Luis Angel Torres said outside the school.

Two police officers were also injured, officer Luis Marquez said.

The government urged teachers who do not support the strike to continue working. Some union members had expressed reluctance because strike participants could be fired under a Puerto Rican law forbidding the disruption of the public education system.

"The vast majority of schools are open," Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila said.

Union chief Rafael Feliciano said the turnout on picket lines was smaller than expected, but he declared the strike successful so far.

The government has vowed not to resume talks until the strike ends.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Doctors stage one-day strike over pay, conditions

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Thousands of doctors went on strike Thursday at public hospitals across the Dominican Republic to demand higher salaries and better working conditions.

Public hospitals in the capital were largely quiet, with doctors treating only emergency cases during the 24-hour work stoppage.

"At least they gave me an injection me for a pain that I have," said Juan Francisco Perez, 23, who sought care at a Santo Domingo hospital not knowing of the strike.

Waldo Ariel Suero, leader of the Dominican Medical College, said more than 10,000 doctors were participating in the strike and warned of a possible weeklong stoppage if the government does not meet their demands.

Doctors, who have frequently staged brief walkouts in recent years, are calling for their salaries to be roughly doubled to US$1,700 (euro1,153) a month. They are also demanding better conditions at public hospitals, which have deteriorated since a 2003 economic crisis.

Health Minister Bautista Rojas Gomez accused Suero of suspending contract talks and expressed willingness to head back to the bargaining table. He said doctors in administrative departments, who are not part of the union, were treating patients Thursday.

PUERTO RICO: Suspect's extradition ordered in 1983 Connecticut robbery

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A judge on Thursday ordered an alleged member of a militant Puerto Rican independence group extradited to the U.S. mainland to face charges in a 1983 robbery in Connecticut.

U.S. District Judge Marcos Lopez rejected a bail request by Avelino Gonzalez Claudio, saying he "represents both a flight risk and a risk to the community."

Gonzalez, 65, was arrested by the FBI two weeks ago in his native Puerto Rico, where he had been working as a teacher and living in the northern town of Manati under an assumed name.

The suspect's relatives and friends were stunned by the extradition order. His wife, Blanca Figueroa, wept in the courtroom as Gonzalez was led away by bailiffs.

Gonzalez is one of more than a dozen people indicted in the Sept. 12, 1983 robbery of about US$7 million (euro4.8 million) from a Wells Fargo armored car depot in West Hartford, Connecticut. He faces charges including robbery and transportation of stolen money.

His lawyer, Juan Ramon Acevedo, said it was not clear when Gonzalez will be extradited.

Prosecutors alleged that Gonzalez traveled abroad in the 1990s to countries including Mexico and Nicaragua using phony passports. They alleged that when police searched his home in Manati they found extremist literature, including a document advocating armed revolution.

Gonzalez is suspected of belonging to Los Macheteros, or the "machete wielders," a group that seeks Puerto Rico's independence from the United States and has claimed responsibility for a series of bombings and attacks in the 1970s and 1980s.

The FBI is still seeking two more fugitives in the robbery, including a brother of Gonzalez and the alleged mastermind, who is believed to be in Cuba.