Caribbean Report 20-08-1993 - Ransome, Debbie (anchor); Delzin, Gregory (interviewee); Colombo, Dena (interviewee); Charles, Eugenia (interviewee); Norton, Michael (correspondent) (The British Broadcasting Corporation, 1993)
1. Headlines (00:00-00:27)
2. Fourteen years after the last man was hanged in Trinidad and Tobago, two condemned killers are to go to the gallows, next Tuesday. Death warrants were read on Thursday to Michael Bullock and Irvine Phillip. The two have exhausted their legal appeals with the local courts and the British Privy Council. The announcement has come as the country buried its Prison Commissioner, Michael Hercules. The Commissioner was gunned down by two bandits who demanded the keys to his car. Hercules refused and was shot three times in the chest at point blank range. Trinidadian lawyer, Gregory Delzin says despite his attempts to galvanize a defence team for the two prisoners, the timing of the planned execution leaves little room for hope of a reprieve. Delzin noted that it is more than coincidental that these two men have to be hanged on just around the occasion of the Commisioner’s funeral. Interviews with Gregory Delzin, Trinidad and Tobago’s attorney and [Dena Colombo], Researcher for the Eastern Speaking Caribbean, Amnesty International, London (00:28-08:22)
3. Costa Rica’s Foreign Minister, Bernd Niehaus plans to visit the Caribbean is an attempt to improve relations. This follows the controversy over a letter signed by Latin American ambassadors in Washington distancing themselves from plans by the Caribbean to improve relations with Cuba. Costa Rica said last week that it knew nothing of the letter and claimed its ambassador was acting on his own. Reports from San José indicate that one of the aim of Minister Niehaus’ visit is to seek Caribbean support for his candidacy for the post of Organization of American States (OAS), Secretary General. Interview with Eugenia Charles, Prime Minister of Dominica (08:23-12:16)
4. Robert Malval chosen by exiled President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide to head a new government in Haiti has yet to clear another obstacle today, as the lower House of Parliament validates his credentials. Malval must win the confidence of Parliament. Michael Norton reports (12:17-14:42)
Keywords: Capital punishment -- Trinidad and Tobago; Death row inmates -- Trinidad and Tobago; Human rights advocacy -- Trinidad and Tobago; Costa Rica -- Foreign relations -- Caribbean Area; Organization of American States; Malval, Robert, 1943-; Haiti -- Politics and government; Aristide, Jean-Bertrand; Deportation -- Canada; Deportees -- Jamaica; Bullock, Michael; Phillip, Irvine; Hercules, Michael; CARICOM-Cuba Commission; Niehaus, Bernd