A package of news briefs from the Caribbean

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: South America moves away from talk of war with agreement, handshakes

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — South America moved away from talk of war as the presidents of Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador agreed to end a bitter dispute triggered by a Colombian cross-border raid with testy handshakes and an apology.

After intense regional diplomacy and an emotional debate laced with accusations and furious speeches, Latin American leaders on Friday approved a declaration resolving to work for a peaceful end to the crisis, which saw Venezuela and Ecuador send troops to their borders and Colombia accuse its neighbors of backing leftist rebels seeking to topple its government.

The leaders at the summit in the Dominican Republic wasted little time in reversing their steps toward conflict.

Colombia pledged not to follow through on its threat to seek genocide charges against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at an international court for allegedly supporting the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which finances its insurgency through kidnapping and the cocaine trade.

Nicaragua said it would restore diplomatic relations with Colombia, broken off only the day before. Chavez said trade with Colombia should "keep increasing," two days after saying he didn't want even "a grain of rice" from his neighbor.

The statement approved by the presidents notes that Colombian President Alvaro Uribe apologized for the March 1 raid inside Ecuadorean territory that killed 25 people including a senior rebel commander, and that he pledged not to violate another nation's sovereignty again.

DOMINICA: Opposition leader to appeal ruling over expulsion of legislators

ROSEAU, Dominica (AP) — Dominica's main opposition leader said Saturday he would appeal a court ruling in a feud that resulted in the expulsion of seven legislators from parliament last year.

Earl Williams, leader of the United Workers Party, rejected a judge's decision that found the courts of the tiny eastern Caribbean island have no jurisdiction over parliamentary affairs unless they are a constitutional matter. The judge also ordered Williams and the other defendants to pay US$91,000 (euro59,000) in court costs.

Last year, seven opposition legislators were ejected from parliament after protesting the distribution of goodwill ambassador posts. The conflict surfaced when they accused Cayman Islands resident Susan Oldie of receiving the title and passport after making an alleged US$400,000 (euro260,000) cash donation to the ruling Dominica Labor Party in 2005.

Williams and the other legislators filed a challenge that claimed the decision to expel them was unconstitutional. He said Saturday that they would soon file an appeal in the Eastern Caribbean Appeals Court.

CUBA: Chavez makes first visit since Raul Castro became president

HAVANA (AP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made his first visit to Cuba since the presidency passed from Fidel Castro to his younger brother Raul, state television reported Saturday.

Broadcast footage showed Raul greeting Chavez when he arrived in Havana on Friday night along with Yolanda Pulecio, the mother of French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt, and Colombian Senator Piedad Cordoba.

The two women have conducted an international campaign for the release of Betancourt, who is the highest-profile hostage held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the rebel group known as the FARC.

Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told reporters that Chavez had met with Raul Castro. But he did not mention that the women had accompanied the Venezuelan president to Cuba and it was unknown if they were at the meeting.

Cuba and Venezuela are key political and economic allies and Chavez is a close friend of the ailing 81-year-old Fidel Castro.

Chavez made the unannounced visit on his way home from a summit in the Dominican Republic, where he and the presidents of Colombia and Ecuador agreed to end a bitter dispute over a Colombian cross-border raid on rebels in Ecuadorean territory.

JAMAICA: Prime minister orders investigation into shooting of baby in police chase

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The shooting death in Jamaica of an 11-month-old in a police chase has prompted a review of the use of lethal force by law enforcement on that island, a government spokeswoman said Saturday.

Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding has ordered the island's police commissioner and attorney general to conduct the review after an infant was struck by a stray bullet on Thursday, said Leonie Hewitt of the state-owned Jamaica Information Service.

The infant was killed when police apparently shot into a taxi they were pursuing. Golding has apologized to the victim's family.

The prime minister also requested an update about the possible creation of an independent body to investigate alleged police abuses, Hewitt said.

The shooting led to protests in Spanish Town, where separately two people were shot to death at a health center by unidentified gunmen, she said.

More than 1,400 people were killed in Jamaica in 2007, including at least 19 police officers.

The island has a population of 2.8 million people.

CUBA: EU aid official hopes to persuade European countries to drop sanctions

HAVANA (AP) — The European Union's top development aid official said Saturday he would work to persuade EU members to drop remaining diplomatic sanctions against communist Cuba after he returns home from a visit with officials in President Raul Castro's new government.

During a visit that began Thursday, Louis Michel met with officials including Cabinet secretary Carlos Lage and parliament speaker Ricardo Alarcon.

Michel told reporters that the primary obstacle to warming relations between the EU and Cuba are the sanctions imposed after the island government rounded up 75 dissidents in a crackdown five years ago.

Sixteen of those arrested have since been released on medical parole and another four were freed into forced exile in Spain last month. But 55 are still serving long prison sentences.

The EU imposed the diplomatic sanctions after the crackdown in 2003 and temporarily suspended them two years later, restoring diplomatic relations and ending a ban on talks with Cuban officials.

Although suspended, the sanctions remained subject to reinstatement during periodic reviews. In the meantime, the EU asked Havana to release political prisoners and grant freedom of expression and information to its citizens.

Cuba insisted that the sanctions be eliminated completely, and said the unilateral action violated its national sovereignty.

TRINIDAD: Jury delivers wrong verdict in fatal accident

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — A truck driver in Trinidad got only 10 minutes to celebrate his not-guilty verdict.

Kaleel McFarlane had already left the courthouse on Friday when a juror alerted the judge that the foreman meant to say the jury had cleared him of manslaughter, but found him guilty of reckless driving.

The judge instructed police to return a puzzled McFarlane back to court, where he sentenced him to four-and-half months in prison. The decision sparked a revolt by McFarlane's relatives inside the courtroom.

The reversal would have been illegal had the jury already disbanded, Trinidad senior counsel Israel Khan told The Associated Press on Saturday.

McFarlane's attorneys said they will not challenge the decision because their client would serve the time before an appeal could be made.

McFarlane, 59, was driving a truck loaded with chicken crates when he slammed into a station wagon in December 1999. The driver was taken to the hospital, where he later died.

MONTSERRAT: Prince Charles plays dominoes, visits devastated areas

OLVESTON, Montserrat (AP) — Prince Charles played dominoes with senior citizens in the British territory of Montserrat on Saturday, and toured an area that was devastated by a volcanic eruption a decade ago.

Charles and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, are on a five-island Caribbean tour aboard a megayacht to promote environmental protection, sustainable development and youth opportunity.

The royal couple was briefed on plans for a city center that is expected to open in a couple of years in the new capital of Little Bay. The former capital, Plymouth, was destroyed when the Soufriere Hills volcano erupted in 1997, killing 19 people.

Charles also visited the Montserrat Volcano Observatory, which monitors the restless volcano and recommended evacuations last year when it shot a cloud of ash more than 5 miles (8 kilometers) high.

The volcano became active in 1995, and more than half the territory's 12,000 inhabitants have moved away.

Charles and Camilla were scheduled to leave Saturday night for Jamaica, the last stop of their tour.