A summary of overnight briefs from the Caribbean

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GUANTANAMO: State Department pressures Pentagon to move on long-detained terror prisoners WASHINGTON (AP) _ In a strongly worded letter, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has urged Pentagon officials to move faster in determining which prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay can be released, defense officials said.

Powell's April 14 letter to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld questioned the continued detention of some 660 prisoners from 42 countries who were captured during the war against al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations.

A Pentagon official, speaking Saturday on condition of anonymity, said the "strongly worded" letter made it clear that the secretary of state wanted the Defense Department to quickly determine which prisoners could be released.

Since the prison was opened in January 2002, only 22 people are known to have been released. They were all men, including one who was mentally ill and another reported to be in his 70s.

JAMAICA: Angered by police killing of 14-year-old, residents set fire to four buildings

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (AP) _ Enraged at the killing of a 14-year-old boy by police, residents set fire to four buildings Saturday as they took to the streets of a town in western Jamaica, police said.

The boy, Omari Wedderburn, was shot by police Friday night in Negril, which is fringed with some of the Caribbean country's premiere tourist resorts. The next day, more than 300 people gathered to protest, police said.

Some broke the windows of two banks and hurled firebombs into them, while others set afire two convenience stores, police said.

One bank and one store had major damage, while the other two had minor damage, police said. Firefighters were kept away for a time by the angry crowd. No one was arrested.

The circumstances of the 14-year-old's killing were in dispute.

CUBA: Venezuelan oil shipments back to normal after strike

HAVANA (AP) _ Venezuela's oil exports to Cuba have returned to normal after disruptions during a two-month strike in Venezuela, the Venezuelan ambassador here said.

"Exports of oil and derived products have been normal for two weeks," Julio Montes told reporters on Friday.

A general strike that collapsed in February paralyzed Venezuela's oil industry and brought exports to a near halt. Venezuela's government says output is now back to normal at more than 3 million barrels a day.

Venezuela has a pact to sell Cuba 53,000 barrels a day under preferential financial terms _ providing one-third of the island's oil imports. Montes said Cuba was making payments on its US$144 million debt in the deal. He added the debt was being refinanced but did not elaborate.

During his four years in office, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has forged strong ties with Fidel Castro's government. Under another cooperation deal, more than 3,600 Venezuelans have traveled to Cuba for free medical treatment since 2000, Montes said. He said Cuba has spent at least US$120 million treating the Venezuelans.

BARBADOS: Pepsi bottling plant announces relocation to Trinidad

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) _ The maker of Pepsi-Cola drink is closing its Barbados plant this month to relocate operations to Trinidad, the company announced.

Pepsi-Cola Barbados, which has operated at a loss since it opened 17 months ago, informed its 33 employees it would cease operations May 26, general manager Pierre Evans said Friday.

"The Barbados market did not expand as quickly as we anticipated, and we were sustaining severe losses," general manager Pierre Evans said, but would not give details.

The new plant in Trencity, Trinidad, will bottle drinks in both glass and plastic like the Barbados operation, Evans said. No further information was immediately available.

Pepsi-Cola Barbados is a subsidiary of PepsiAmericas, based in Rolling Meadows, Illinois.

PepsiAmericas, with $3.2 billion in revenue, runs several other bottling plants in the Caribbean, including in Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and Jamaica.

It is one of several bottlers and distributors of Pepsi soft drinks under PepsiCo Inc., which holds a 36.7 equity interest in PepsiAmericas.

CUBA: Government crackdown may not decrease U.S. farm trade

WASHINGTON (AP) _ U.S. companies sold food worth $138.6 million to Cuba in 2002 and are on track for a 19 percent increase in sales this year despite Fidel Castro's recent crackdown on dissidents.

The Castro government's behavior during the past month makes it unlikely that Congress will further relax the 42-year-old trade embargo against Cuba. It is equally unlikely that lawmakers will restrict sales of farm commodities to a nation that quickly has become a big customer of American wheat, corn, chicken, soybeans and rice.

Congress in 2000 allowed sales of U.S. farm commodities to Cuba but limited them to cash-only deals. That restriction actually has proved to be good for U.S. companies, said John Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council.

"Cuba is one of the safest export markets in the world for U.S. companies today, because the law requires cash-only transactions," Kavulich said. "So there is no risk to exporting products to Cuba. No other country in the world that trades to Cuba can say that."

SURINAME: Police shut down Ecstasy laboratory, detain six suspects

PARAMARIBO, Suriname (AP) _ Police raided a laboratory allegedly set up to make the Ecstasy and detained six suspects, police said.

The lab in Paramaribo, the capital, was the first found in Suriname for making the synthetic party drug. It had yet to begin production, but was capable of turning out 500,000 pills a day, police said Saturday in a statement.

Police dismantled and seized the lab equipment, along with several firearms, ammunition and hand grenades found at the scene.

Six suspects, including some Dutch citizens, were detained in the Saturday morning raid, police said, but would not say how exactly many were Dutch. The suspects have yet to be charged.

The raid followed a yearlong investigation by Suriname's anti-narcotics police and Dutch police.

Police said the lab equipment had been shipped from the Netherlands to this former Dutch colony in South America.

Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, is a mild hallucinogenic stimulant. Overdoses on the drug can cause hypothermia or excessive body heat and possibly death.

CUBA: Tourism industry bounces back in first four months of 2003

HAVANA (AP) _ Cuba's tourism industry bounced back this year from a deep slump, with the number of visitors up 19 percent during the first four months of this year, tourism ministry officials said.

Until the end of April, 770,000 people visited Cuba, 19 percent more than those who visited during the same four months in 2002 and 2 percent more than the same period in 2001, Tourism Vice Minister Marta Maiz Gomez said Saturday.

Maiz spoke at a news conference organized for an annual convention of international tourism operators opening Monday in the beach resort of Varadero, east of here. About 900 tour operators from 60 countries are expected to attend _ including 63 from the United States.

Tourism is this cash-starved island's most important source of hard currency, bringing in as much as US$2 billion annually. Cuba, like other Caribbean nations, suffered a serious slump in tourism last year after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorism attacks on the United States.

CRICKET: 2007 World Cup in Caribbean presents logistical challenges, cricket chief says

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) _ The head of cricket's world governing body said holding the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean would be difficult, but that organizers were "on track" in planning the event.

Because the region contains more than 10 cricket-playing countries, events will require extra attention to logistics, International Cricket Council chief Malcolm Speed said Friday after meeting with officials from the West Indies Cricket Board.

The two sides discussed progress and future plans in organizing the event, which is being held for the first time ever in the region, Speed said.

"There has been a good deal of planning. A great deal of strategic thought has gone into the process to date, and we were very pleased to sit in the meeting and come away confident that West Indies is on track," Speed said after the meeting in Barbados.

Holding the event in the Caribbean "will enable people to see different cultures in countries where we play, and gives cricket an opportunity to say to the world that we are prepared to tackle difficult projects like running the World Cup in a region such as the Caribbean," he said.

CRICKET: Gillespie leads attack as disciplined Australians take control

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (AP) _ Pacer Jason Gillespie grabbed three wickets as Australia's disciplined bowling attack kept the team in control of the third test against the West Indies on day three.

The home team, overnight 89 without loss, slumped to 291 for eight at the close on Saturday, still 314 behind Australia's mammoth first innings total of 605 for nine declared.

Chris Gayle topscored with 71, and fellow left-handed opener Devon Smith hit 59.

But once Gillespie removed both after their opening stand of 139, Australia was in command.

Gillespie took three for 31 off 21 overs. Leg-spinner Stuart MacGill supported well with two for 95 off 31.2 overs.

Andy Bichel claimed the prize of ill captain Brian Lara late in the day, while Brett Lee and Darren Lehmann also provided key breakthroughs.

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