Caribbean And Latin America News Round Up For Thursday Jan. 12, 2017

Nevis Premier Vance Amory raising the flag of St. Kitts/Nevis at Bowling Green prior to a wreath laying ceremony at the grave site of Alexander Hamilton at Trinity Church Yard. (Arthur Piccolo image/Bowling Green Association)

Compiled By NAN Staff Editor

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. Jan. 11, 2017: Here are the stories making news across the Caribbean, Latin America and its US Diaspora for today, Jan. 12, 2017:

US

Donald Trump’s controversial nominee for attorney general, Jeff Sessions, is standing by his hard-line stance on immigration.

As his senate hearing continues, Sessions openly said he will have “no objection” to Trump’s promised repeal of President Obama’s DACA executive order or the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the program that offered deportation relief for migrants who entered the country without legal status as minors.

He also rejected the idea of granting amnesty to undocumented immigrants currently insisting the move would undermine respect for the law and encourage more illegal immigration into America.

His comments came as Trump displayed the showmanship, combativeness and sensitivity to criticism that he exhibited throughout the 2016 presidential campaign during a press conference earlier today, his first in six months. Some moments bordered on bizarre and at one point he got into an angry verbal confrontation with a correspondent for CNN.

BRAZIL IMMIGRANT

Federal special agents in Massachusetts seized $19.4 million in cash and arrested a Brazilian national late Wednesday in connection with a money laundering conspiracy, which was part of the massive TelexFree pyramid scheme. Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha, 28, a Brazilian national living in Westborough, Massachusetts, was charged via criminal complaint with one count of conspiring to commit money laundering. Rocha was ordered detained following an appearance before U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Judith G. Dein.

EL SALVADOR IMMIGRANT

A man wanted in his home country of El Salvador for aggravated homicide and criminal association was removed from the U.S. Friday by officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO). Emilio Coreas-Avelar, 24, an alleged MS-13 gang member, was the subject of an Interpol Red Notice issued in May 2015. Coreas-Avelor illegally entered the United States at an unknown location and date.

NEVIS

Nevis Premier Vance Amory led a number of officials from his country today in a 260th anniversary tribute to the island’s most famous son – America’s greatest immigrant and founding father, Alexander Hamilton.

The event was held at the grave site of Hamilton at Trinity Church yard in lower Manhattan. It was preceded by the raising of the flag of St. Kitts/Nevis at Bowling Green by Premier Amory.

Hamilton was born on January 11, 1757 in Charlestown, the capital of the island of Nevis and went on to become was an American statesman and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He was an influential interpreter and promoter of the U.S. Constitution, as well as the founder of the nation’s financial system, the Federalist Party, the United States Coast Guard, and The New York Post newspaper.

GUATEMALA

Guatemala said on Wednesday it expected Taiwan to deepen economic ties with the region, as President Tsai Ing-wen is visiting Central America at a time when China suspects she is seeking formal independence from the mainland.

Tsai landed in Honduras and Nicaragua this week on a trip that will also take in El Salvador. She met with U.S. Republican lawmakers in a Houston stopover last weekend, angering China.

BELIZE

Belize has reportedly lost its US$19 million litigation battle with Belize Social Development Limited (BSDL)—an Ashcroft company which was created by the Belize Telemedia Limited (BTL) while under the control of Brutish billionaire Michael Ashcroft to receive the proceeds of an arbitration award handed down months before the nationalization by the Government of Belize. A report appearing in Law360, based in New York, reported that the US Supreme Court said “that it would not take up Belize’s challenge to enforce a 38 million Belize dollar ($19 million) arbitral award to a telecommunications company.”

CHILE

The parents of a missing Canadian are in to Peru to try to find their daughter, Kimberlee Suzanne Kasatkin, who went missing from Lima in late November. The 41-year-old mother was last heard from on Nov. 26, 2016, according to Abbotsford police. Kasatkin splits her time between Abbotsford, B.C., and a home in Peru that she shares with her two children and partner, who police describe as her common-law husband.

BRAZIL

The head of the Brazilian jail where 56 inmates were killed during a riot on New Year’s Day has been removed from office, state-run media agency Agencia Brasil reported.  Jose Carvalho da Silva, the interim director of the Anísio Jobim Penitentiary Complex, was removed Tuesday after corruption allegations by two inmates became public. Silva’s removal comes as the country is reeling from a bloody beginning to 2017, marked by four separate prison riots that left nearly 100 inmates dead. Agencia Brasil reports the two inmates alleged prison officials received money from criminal gangs to allow the entry of weapons, drugs and cell phones into the jail. The inmates also allege that administrators facilitated the escape of prisoners.

MARTINIQUE

Martinique has announced measures to crack down on illegal workers in the construction industry. According to Martinique 1ere, as early as June this year workers in the industry will be required to present an identity card. All workers will be required to have their professional cards on them on the job site. Although the measure will become mandatory from June 2017, for now it is in the test phase that began in December and will continue for a few more months.

SPORTS

A little over a month after being appointed head coach of Trinidad & Tobago, Tom Saintfiet resigned from his post on Tuesday. Saintfiet’s decision came after Trinidad & Tobago suffered a 4-3 loss to Haiti in extra time on Sunday that cost the Soca Warriors a spot in the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup. The Belgian manager, however, cited a lack of support as the reason for his departure in a statement he released.