Caribbean And Latin America News Round Up For Monday Jan. 9, 2017

A relative of an inmate of the Desembargador Raimundo Vidal Pessoa Public Jail kneels to give thanks after finding out her loved one is not among those killed during a riot on January 8, 2017 in Manaus, Amazonas state, Brazil. At least four inmates were killed in a facility in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, sending the number of violent prison fatalities to over 100 in just one week. Deadly prison riots have intensified in Brazil since a truce broke down in July between the country’s two largest drug gangs, the First Capital Command (PCC) and the Red Command (CV). / AFP / RAPHAEL ALVES (Photo credit: RAPHAEL ALVES/AFP/Getty Images)

Compiled By NAN Staff Editor

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Jan. 9, 2017: Here are the stories making news across the Caribbean, Latin America and its US Diaspora for today, Jan. 9, 2017:

US

The 260th anniversary celebration of Americas’ greatest immigrant and founding father, Alexander Hamilton, is set for Jan. 11th at Trinity Church’s gravesite in lower Manhattan. Premier Vance Amory of Nevis, Hamilton’s birthplace, will be in attendance along with Everson Hull, St. Kitts and Nevis ambassador to the Organization of American States; Evelyn Henville, a Hamilton scholar and former director of the Nevis Historical and Conservation Society, and Devon Liburd of the Nevis Tourism Authority and the Hamilton Museum. They will join members of the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society and the Bowling Green Association, sponsors of the event.

Jamaica

Fourteen women protested outside the Nazareth Moravian Church in Manchester, Jamaica Sunday amidst allegations that the 64-year-old Rupert Clarke had sex with a 15-year-old St Elizabeth girl and member of the congregation. Clarke has charged with having sex with a minor has been granted bail in the St Elizabeth Parish Court. The women, according to the Jamaica Gleaner, said some of them were also victims of sexual assault and expressed their anger at the church’s silence on the matter.

Brazil

A new prison uprising in Brazil on Sunday left four dead, adding to the chaos in the country’s penitentiary system that has killed nearly 100 inmates in the past week in a brutal gang war. The latest violence took place at the Desembargador Raimundo Vidal Pessoa jail in the centre of the jungle city of Manaus, according to a statement from the government penitentiary agency in Amazonas state, where the facility is located. Three of the dead were beheaded while one was strangled to death. It did not give a motive for the killings and it was not yet known if drug gangs were involved. In the last week, 64 inmates have been killed in prisons in or near Manaus. A prison uprising in the neighbouring state of Roraima left at least 33 dead.

Belize

Belizean law enforcement authorities have issued an all-points bulletin for 10 escapees from El Salvador, said to be connected with the notorious Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) gang, who were being held at San Francisco Gotera, the eastern department of Morazán, for homicide and narco-trafficking charges. Reports out of Honduras say that authorities from the neighboring countries of Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, dubbed the Northern Triangle, a classification highlighting problems with cross-border organized crime, were reportedly collaborating to secure the recapture of the fugitives. No mention was made of Belize.

Cuba

A Winnipeg, Canada family is mourning the loss of a couple killed in an ambulance crash while vacationing on the island of Cayo Coco, Cuba. Relatives have identified the victims as János Boda, 50, and Rózsa Boda, 51. The two were celebrating János 50th birthday. The family said Rózsa began having chest pain early Thursday morning. The crash occurred as she and János, who chose to ride along in the ambulance, were being driven to hospital.

Caribbean

Two Caribbean-born Miss Universe contenders were among the first two to arrive in the Philippines over the weekend. Miss US Virgin Islands Carolyn Carter was the first to arrive Saturday. Miss Guyana Soyini Fraser landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Sunday via a connecting flight from Taiwan after a trip of more than 18 hours. The MISS UNIVERSE Competition will air live on January 29th on FOX from The Philippines. Some 21 contestants’ form the Caribbean and Latin America are competing for the title of Miss Universe.

Haiti

Actor Sean Penn on Saturday night raised some US 37 million for his organization’s work in Haiti. Penn held the Haiti Rising Gala for the J/P Haitian Relief Organization, (J/P HRO), at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills. The J/P Haitian Relief Organization was founded by Penn in the wake of the 2010 earthquake that ravaged Haiti and has since worked to provide emergency medical care, food and shelter, and other essential aid to the Caribbean nation, which suffered another devastating blow in 2016 when Hurricane Matthew pummeled the southern half of the country. What began as 30 Americans has since grown to a full-time staff of 130 Haitians working tirelessly to restore what was ruined, as well as build toward a brighter, stronger tomorrow, which includes the implementation of a large-scale reforestation project.

Jamaica

United Kingdom-based teacher, Saffron Jackson, is making the doll industry even more inclusive with the world’s first Jamaican Patois-speaking doll line. Jackson told the Jamaica Star that she was inspired to create Zuree Dolls when she tried looking for black dolls that represented her culture for her first daughter. She came up empty-handed.

“All the black dolls I have seen were from America, and most of them were either ugly or not to my liking,” the Bog Walk, St. Catherine, Jamaica native said. “I thought, why not create my own doll?” The first doll in her Zuree line is Toya, a Jamaica Patois-speaking cutie with dark skin and curly hair. Toya greets you with a prideful: “Wah gwaan? Weh yaa seh?” when her torso is squeezed.

Venezuela

Venezuela’s socialist President Nicolas Maduro announced on Sunday a 50 percent hike in the minimum wage and pensions, the fifth increase over the last year, to help shield workers from the world’s highest inflation rate. The measure puts the minimum monthly salary at 40,683 bolivars – about $60 at the weakest exchange level under the state’s currency controls, or $12 at the black market rate.

Chile

A plane crash in southern Chile Sunday, killing four people, according to local officials. The accident occurred near the Laquecahue airfield in the Bio Bio region at approximately 1700 GMT. The aircraft, which was owned by a private company, was flying the Mocha Island-Tirua route about 720 kilometers (445 miles) south of Santiago, the official told a Chilean television network.

Mexico

A US consulate official in Guadalajara, Mexico, was shot Friday and an American has been arrested, authorities said Sunday. Details of the incident were not released, but the official was in stable condition, the Mexican Attorney General’s Office said Saturday. The suspect and official have not been identified and no motive has been revealed. The suspect will be extradited to the United States, according to a news release by the Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary and the Attorney General’s Office.

Guatemala

2016 saw the most cocaine seizures in the last decade for Guatemala, according to the country’s anti-drug prosecutor. Guatemalan authorities intercepted 27,397.3 pounds of cocaine last year, Aldo Chapas said, according to La Hora. The majority of the amount was seized at the port of San José, on the country’s Pacific coast, and at the port of Santo Tomás, on the country’s Caribbean coast.

Trinidad & Tobago

Trinidad & Tobago’s Soca Warriors were beaten by Haiti’s Les Grenadiers and knocked out of contention for the CONCACAF championship. Haiti’s topped Trinidad and Tobago 4-3 in extra time Sunday. The result sends Haiti through to the fifth-place playoff against Central America’s fifth place team. The Soca Warriors hosted the tournament, which put the three best second-place teams from the third round of Caribbean Cup qualifying in a round-robin. Suriname beat Trinidad and Tobago in extra time in the opening match, but Haiti easily handled Suriname, conceding two late but still winning 4-2.