Caribbean Report 16-05-1997

Abstract

There were further demonstrations in Haiti today which resulted in damage to property and vehicles. What began earlier this month as a strike by teachers soon escalated into protest against the government of Rene Preval. Next, Jamaica’s Constitutional Court rules against legalising the use of marijuana on religious grounds. The challenge to the substance as an illegal drug was brought by Dennis Forsythe. Next, the San Jose Mercy newspaper in the United States has had to back down on its claim of CIA involvement in spreading crack cocaine among urban blacks in Los Angeles. The claim led to heated protest by black politicians. President Clinton today tried to make amends for the Tuskegee experiment by apologising to the African American men involved. Next, the Cuban government says plans by anti-Castro exiles in Miami to stage a protest off the coast of Cuba constitute provocative action. The Cuban exiles hostile to the Castro government were today setting off by boat and plane from Florida to stage their protest on Saturday within sight of the Cuban coast. Also, regulating the participation of locals in the tourism industry has become a priority for the Cuban government. The authorities have brought out a new law governing the renting of private homes to tourist. Finally, after presenting his credentials as Bahamas Ambassador to Japan, Oscar Winning Actor, Sir Sidney Poitier is due to take up his official posting in the Bahamas as Nassau is not planning to set up an embassy in Tokyo.

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Table of Contents

1. Headlines (00:00-00:30)
2. Anti-government demonstrations in Haiti as supporters of former president said to be fuelling unrest. Michael Norton reports (00:31-04:34)
3. Jamaican court rules against lawyer seeking to legalise marijuana use on religious grounds (04:35-05:47)
4. President Bill Clinton apologises to the surviving African American men involved in the Tuskegee experiment and the CIA involvement in spreading crack cocaine among urban blacks in Los Angeles. Professor Basil Wilson of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York and Herman Shaw, a survivor of the Tuskegee experiment are interviewed. Garvin Esler reports (05:48-10:33)
5. Anti-Castro exiles in Miami to stage a protest off the coast of Cuba constitute provocative action and Cuban government have brought out a new law governing the renting of private homes to tourist. Andrew Bolton and Tom Gibb report (10:34-14:36)
6. Oscar Winning Actor, Sir Sidney Poitier is due to take up his official posting in the Bahamas next week (14:37-15:24)

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