Caribbean News Briefs

CUBA: Royal Caribbean ship rescues 23 Cuban migrants

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — A cruise ship departing from Jamaica has rescued 23 Cuban migrants after someone aboard spotted their small boat.

A spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. says officials on the Oasis of the Seas brought the Cubans aboard and provided them with food, water and medical treatment after alerting the U.S. Coast Guard.

Cynthia Martinez says the Cubans were turned over to Mexican authorities when the ship arrived in Cozumel on Thursday.

The regional Mexican newspaper Por Esto reports Friday that the Cubans told journalists in Cozumel they were from the areas of Manzanillo and Bayamo and that they had set to sea in a makeshift boat three weeks ago trying to reach Honduras.

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CUBA: Islanders mark Good Friday as official holiday

HAVANA (AP) — Good Friday was an official holiday in Cuba for the first time in a half century, but few Catholics on the island seemed to be using the day off to attend Mass.

Cuba’s Communist government declared the holiday to honor a request that Pope Benedict XVI made during last week’s visit. But journalists saw only a few more worshippers than usual were noted inside Havana’s Catholic churches on Friday.

Authorities were also allowing Cardinal Jaime Ortega’s to transmit a Good Friday message on state television.

Good Friday is the day Catholics commemorate the death of Christ, but it is not an official holiday in the United States, most of Europe or even Mexico, the most Catholic of the world’s Spanish-speaking countries.

Cuba removed references to atheism from its constitution in the 1990s, and relations have since warmed with the church. Still, less than 10 percent of islanders are practicing Catholics. The country has large numbers of adherents to Santeria and evangelical Christianity.

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GUYANA: Government to sell its shares in US telecommunications company to Chinese buyer

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Guyana says it will sell its 20 percent share in the U.S.-controlled Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Co. to an unidentified Chinese buyer.

Cabinet Secretary Roger Luncheon says the new minority owner will have two years to complete the $30 million purchase, paying $25 million up front.

GT&T director Yog Mahadeo said late Thursday that he has not been informed by local authorities or been contacted by the likely buyer.

The company has complained that the government is trying to set up a rival telecommunications enterprise.

Last year, legislators withdrew a bill that would have ended the company’s 20-year monopoly.

The Guyana Telephone & Telegraph Co. is controlled by Massachusetts-based Atlantic Tele-Network Inc.

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TRINIDAD: New chairman appointed to lead Caribbean Airlines

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) — A Trinidad economist and politician has been named the new chairman of Caribbean Airlines Limited.

Rabindra Moonan replaces George Nicholas III, who resigned this week after Trinidad’s transportation minister criticized the airline’s leadership. Cabinet approved his appointment late Thursday.

Moonan takes over the Trinidad-based carrier as it expands its service to London and possibly India and South America.

Caribbean Airlines serves the region and also flies to New York, Florida, Philadelphia and Canada.