ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – MONDAY SEPTEMBER 21, 2015 High of 91 Low of 81 Slight with wave heights of 1 to 3 feet. ABCDE NATIONAL WEEKLY THE WEEK OF SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2015. IN COLLABORATION WITH The Francis Factor The pope, who visits theUnited States this week, ispopular and has made waves, but he’s still a bit ofa mystery. SPECIAL COVERAGE BEGINS ON PAGE 20 THE WASHINGTON POST The Francis factor EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 LAWS WITHOUT ENFORCEMENT LEAD TO INJUSTICE SEVEN MILE BEACH WATERFRONT WALKERS ROAD TOWN CENTRE PLAZA NEW Police investigate UK national’s death BRENT FULLER AND JAMES WHITTAKER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com; jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service confi rmed Friday that U.K. national Kate Clayton’s death following a Jan. 11 car crash on Grand Cayman is now the subject of a po- lice investigation. Ms. Clayton, 30, died in February following the one-car collision in North Side district. However, a U.K. coroner later ruled that the in- juries from the car crash were not the primary factor in her demise. “We are investigating the circumstances surrounding her death,” a statement released by the RCIPS Friday afternoon indicated. “[The] investigation will determine whether any offences have been committed.” Kate’s mother, Jo Clayton, said she had been informed by her local police force in Southampton earlier this month that a prelim- inary investigation had been initiated by the Cayman Islands police. Jo Clayton said she was glad that someone was reviewing the cir- cumstances of her daughter’s death. “I am delighted that this is being looked into at last,” she said. “It did feel like [Kate] had been forgotten, but we are relieved to hear that is not the case. “There isn’t a moment that has gone by where we don’t think of Kate. Nothing can bring her back, but if there is something that can be done that prevents another family going through what we have been through, then we welcome that.” A U.K. coroner who reviewed Ms. Clayton’s death in March noted three factors led to the dive industry worker’s death. The fi rst cause was listed as “hypoxic brain injury,” the sec- ondary cause as a “failed percutaneous trache- ostomy” and the tertiary cause was “multiple injuries from road traffi c collision.” POLICE PATROL BOATS IDLED FOR YEARS Repair bill: $590,000 BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Three police marine unit patrol boats were effectively taken out of service for more than two and a half years and another craft was decommissioned after the government spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to repair it, records obtained by the Cayman Compass have revealed. The details of the marine unit patrol craft idle time and repair costs, which ap- proached $600,000 between January 2011 and February 2014, were released to the Compass last week about 19 months after the news- paper fi led a formal open records request for the information. The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service initially said the records sought had been cor- rupted in numerous hard drive crashes at the Citrus Grove building where they were stored. The government was forced to restore more than 1 terabyte of data from the drives in order to recover the information. The records request sought to determine which Joint Marine Unit patrol craft had been damaged between Jan. 1, 2011 and the date of the Freedom of Information request, Feb. 19, 2014, what was paid to repair those damages and how long the boats were out of service while repairs were made. The RCIPS response indicated the vessels Tornado, Cayman Defender, Cayman Guardian and Cayman Protector all required repairs for which they were sidelined at various times during the period. Protector, once the crown jewel of the RCIPS patrol fl eet, was taken out of ser- vice in 2011 and had about $90,000 worth of School illness report inconclusive BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Chemical contamination of food from a kitchen ice machine is the “more likely” cause of an illness that sickened more than 100 Red Bay Primary School students and staff Sept. 2, ac- cording to a fi nal report on the incident from Cayman’s envi- ronmental health and public heath departments. However, that fi nding is seemingly contradicted by state- ments from the technicians who repaired the machine and is not listed as the certain cause of the illness. Other potential causes identifi ed by the depart- ment included potential food poisoning through a toxin and the existence of “some other” environmental contaminant in the school. “It is not uncommon that in- vestigations into the outbreak of illness such as this cannot al- ways determine the exact cause of the outbreak,” the report, re- leased late Friday, stated. “It is deemed more likely that the cause of the illness was linked to the chemical contamination from the ice machine.” Pope Francis in Cuba Pope Francis holds his pastoral staff as he arrives to celebrate Mass at Revolution Plaza in Havana, Cuba, on Sunday, where a sculpture of revolutionary hero Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara and a Cuban fl ag decorate a nearby government building. Pope Francis opened his fi rst full day in Cuba on Sunday with what normally would be the culminating highlight of a papal visit: Mass before hundreds of thousands of people in Havana’s Revolution Plaza. For more, see page 9. - PHOTO: AP PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 8 »2 LOCAL NEWS Monday SepteMber 21, 2015 • Cayman Compass www. REGmovies.com SATURDAY NIGHT: For your viewing pleasure, minors under the age of 18 will not be admitted to any lm starting after 6pm, unless accompanied by their parent. *Additional charges will apply per 3D ticket requested. - MONDAY - $8.00 BLACK MASS (R) 1:10 I 4:00 I 6:50 I 9:45 THE PERFECT GUY (PG13) 1:20 I 3:45 I 7:00 I 9:35 THE VISIT (PG13) 1:10 I 3:30 I 7:10 I 10:00 MAZE RUNNER 2 3D (PG13) 12:40 I 3:40 2D I 6:40 I 9:40 2D MISSION IMPOSSIBLE (PG13) 6:45 I 9:50 THE TRANSPORTER (PG13) 1:00 I 4:15 I 7:30 I 10:05 SHAUN THE SHEEP (PG) 12:45 I 3:00 Driver arrested in Jessie Perry crash James Whittaker jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The driver involved in the crash which left 21-year-old Jessie Perry in critical condi- tion with extensive burn inju- ries has been arrested. The 32-year-old, who was also injured in the crash and remains in hospital, was ar- rested and bailed on suspi- cion of dangerous driving, police confirmed Saturday. Ms. Perry was still in a critical but stable condi- tion on Sunday morning, according to family mem- bers, after being flown to the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica on Thursday night. She suffered burns over 80 percent of her body when the car she was traveling in crashed into a curb on West Bay Road, flipped over and caught fire, in the early hours on Monday. Police said the vehicle’s fuel line ruptured and the car ignited. The driver suffered 20 percent burns in the accident. His injuries were not life threatening, police said. Ms. Perry’s aunt, Jacqueline Ebanks, said she was relieved her niece had been able to fly to Jamaica for treatment just before mid- night on Thursday, after days of negotiations to find a hos- pital that could take her. “She flew out successfully and is as stable as can be for now,” Ms. Ebanks said. “I am here praying and keeping my fingers crossed, waiting for news. “When she comes through the critical part, that is just the beginning. It’s a long road.” Money has been flooding in from the community to help fund the med- ical costs, which are likely to be extensive. “People have been very generous,” Ms. Ebanks said. “I’ve had people calling me from the churches, from charities and businesses and people on the road just giving me $10, $15, $25, even $100.” Several big businesses have offered to contribute funds and the family have been given permission to collect donations outside Foster’s Food Fair. An account had been set up with First Caribbean Bank in the name of Save Jessie Emergency Fund, with the account number 1045-9786. Anyone who wishes to help can contact Ms. Ebanks on 322-5673. Burglar caught with goods pleads guilty Sentencing adjourned for social inquiry report Carol Winker cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A man arrested on sus- picion of burglary following a tip from a member of the public pleaded guilty in Grand Court on Friday. Shane Edward Connor, 38, was chased down and caught by plain clothes officers on Sept. 7 after a resident re- ported a burglary in progress at Sterling Estates in George Town. Connor was found to have items from the resi- dence on his person. He appeared in Summary Court two days later, at which time the Crown elected to have the matter dealt with in Grand Court. On Friday, Connor pleaded guilty to entering an apart- ment as a trespasser and stealing three laptop com- puters, an iPad, two tablets and four chargers for the electronic equipment. Total value was $1,860. He also pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted burglary at another apart- ment in the same complex on that same day. Defense attorney Amelia Fosuhene asked Justice Charles Quin to order a social inquiry report before sentencing. The judge agreed and set the matter for Oct. 29. Connor was remanded in custody until then. Ms. Perry Grand Court jurors who are in the July 1–Oct. 6 session should now report on Monday, Sept. 28 at 9:45 a.m. Call the Jury Information Line at 945-5072 for the most-up-to- date information. Grand Court jurors date ChanGed Police have issued 69 speeding tickets during weekend operations this month in North Side. Since Aug. 31 and up to early last week, as well as the speeding tickets, police have also issued 57 tickets for offenses including failing to wear seat belts, expired registration and/ or no insurance and ar- rested three motorists on suspicion of driving under the influence. Police officers said that since the clampdown in the district had begun, they have been seeing a change in motorists’ behavior at weekends. According to Inspector Dwayne Jones, “we’re seeing less of the reckless behavior we encountered in early August.” During a series of com- munity clinics the police held earlier this year, po- lice heard from members of the public that they wanted to see increased traffic en- forcement in the eastern districts, and in North Side specifically. “The RCIPS has re- sponded with increased traffic operations over the summer and will begin other initiatives this fall,” police spokeswoman Jacqueline Carpenter said. PoliCe ClamP down on north side sPeeders Fidelity Bank hacked and blackmailed miChael klein mklein@pinnaclemedialtd.com A group of hackers that calls itself “Hack for Trump” has hacked the website of Fidelity Group and threatened it would make the stolen data public unless Fidelity pays $30,000. Fidelity has advised cus- tomers that it has tempo- rarily taken its website of- fline. In an email sent to the Cayman Compass, the group said it hacked the website of Fidelity Group and detailed informa- tion on what kind of data was obtained. “We did not get access to their customers’ finan- cial data, but we managed to dump three databases serving their main website. This data contains various confidential details about the bank, as well as hun- dreds of emails sent by prospective and existing customers, both local and foreign ones,” the hacking group’s email said. Fidelity said in a press statement Thursday that the bank’s websites are hosted by a third party vendor and only used for marketing and general cus- tomer inquiries. The bank said the poten- tial exposure is very minor. “Fidelity has analyzed the websites that were re- portedly hacked and they hold minimal client in- formation,” the bank said. “While the bank under- stands that there is the po- tential that a very small number of customers may have emailed the bank via the website, as mentioned above, given that the server accessed was the bank’s vendor’s server the poten- tial exposure is very minor.” According to Fidelity, only the webserver at one of its vendor’s locations was compromised and none of the secure servers that host client and banking infor- mation were impacted by the hack. Customer logins or other security details had also not been affected. Fidelity said it had not accepted the blackmail de- mand, reported the matter to the police and taken during the past week “all reasonable steps to ensure that client data has not been compromised.” “We will continue to monitor our own servers and will continue to ensure that appropriate Internet security measures are in place. In the meantime, we urge our customers to be extra vigilant and to call our customer service de- partment in case of doubt.” In its email to the Compass the hackers said, “We demanded $30K from Fidelity Group, payable be- fore Friday Sept. 18 in ex- change for not posting their databases on the Internet.” “If Fidelity does pay us, we plan on using those funds to help Donald Trump get elected to the White House, as he is the only candidate who can re- store America to its former glory,” the message stated. The content of the email, which contained three screenshots, was posted on the website Pastebin on Thursday. The screenshots showed the names of the four website databases, the structure of a table within one database and two anon- ymized customer email en- quiries about the possibili- ties to open an account by a Florida resident and the process for moving a pen- sion account by a customer leaving the island. No data has yet been published. PC Harvel Grant issues a ticket during a traffic stop on Rum Point Road. - Photo: rCiPs Fidelity said in a press statement Thursday that the bank’s websites are hosted by a third party vendor and only used for marketing and general customer inquiries. The bank said the potential exposure is very minor.The islands’ most-trusted news source 3 Cayman Compass • Monday SepteMber 21, 2015 The islands’ most-trusted news source 4 – EDITORIAL – Opinion&Letters The Cayman Compass welcomes comments, opinions and viewpoints from readers. Letters to the editor can be emailed to editor@pinnaclemedialtd.com, submitted via www.caymancompass.com, sent by post or hand-delivered to the Compass office. Printed and Published by: Caymanian Compass Limited (a subsidiary of Pinnacle Media Ltd) Compass Centre Shedden Road, George Town send us yOur VieWs Or neWs: P.O. Box 1365 Grand Cayman KY1-1108, Cayman Islands Telephone: (345) 815-0095 Email: newsdesk@pinnaclemedialtd.com adVertise With us: Telephone: (345) 949-5111 Email: sales@pinnaclemedialtd.com Website: www.caymancompass.com PUBLISHERS daVid r. legge and Vicki l. legge EdITOR-In-CHIEf daVid r. legge A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will findtheirownway” BloomBerg View editorial Board Pope Francis’s critics are right: This weekend’s papal visit will not bring an end, or even much of a pause, to the paranoid repression that marks the Castro regime. That does not mean it’s not worth- while, however – far from it. Over the last few decades, the Catholic Church has be- come one of the most re- spected institutions in Cuba. Emerging from the shadows of state repression, it now provides meals and care for the poor, education, training for entrepreneurs, and li- braries with access to for- eign books and magazines. Catholic lay organizations have opened a space for a cautious political dialogue, and church leaders have played a key role in getting some dissidents released. President Barack Obama’s diplomatic opening would not have succeeded without the involvement of Francis and his advisers. Yet for all that, Cuba re- mains a country where the state brooks little dissent and routinely does bad things to good people. Last year, for in- stance, Cuba subjected nearly 8,900 people to short-term, and often violent, detentions to prevent independent political activity or free assembly. A ri- diculous “potential dangerous- ness” law allows up to a four- year detention of individuals before they commit a crime. Such continuing abuses and restrictions have cast the pope’s outreach to Cuba in a darker light in the eyes of some dissidents, who warn that the church is in danger of colluding with the regime. It’s worth noting then that the church’s mission is to spread the gospel, not topple despots. Sometimes, of course, the one leads to the other. The task before those who want to promote freedom in Cuba is to encourage that bottom-up process, which is already forcing change vis- ible in the growing freedoms Cubans have to run busi- nesses or travel abroad. By normalizing ties and loosening restrictions, the U.S. has already weakened the Castros’ claim to revo- lutionary legitimacy while strengthening its own hand. And the U.S. is not the only power with leverage: Cuba is engaged in its first human rights dialogues with the European Union as well as the U.S. That’s a division of labor that both partners should seek to strengthen. It’s also one very much in keeping with the pope’s mis- sion to Cuba this weekend. © 2015, Bloomberg View “There oughta be a law …” Often, that is the reflexive response spoken by the proverbial man on the street, whenever there’s news of injustice or unfairness. And so the sharp-eared politicians, sensitive to such tides of public opinion, go and pass a law. And then come the regulations, by the ream. (We ask our readers, how many of you have actually read an entire law and the regulations that derive from it? It’s not something we necessarily rec- ommend, but if you ever do it, you are not going to believe how complex, convoluted and minutiae-ori- ented these things can be.) Governments, of course, issue regulations all day long. They are the work product of the bureaucracy. For any perceived problem, government has at least one solution for it, on paper. Of course, there is a dif- ference between paper solutions and real solutions. In the Cayman Islands, more often than not, the government has close to zero ability to enforce the laws or regulations it has already passed, not to mention a never-ending plethora of new ones. Take, for example, our top headline from the front page of Friday’s newspaper: “Licensing enforcement worries businesses.” Here’s the first sentence from the story: “Cayman Islands business owners are not particularly concerned about complying with a new Trade and Business Licensing Law, but they say they are worried about a lack of enforcement against those who do not follow the rules.” With a few deft keystrokes, we could tweak the above headline and sentence to apply to any number of laws and derivative regulations, such as the Labour Bill, liquor licensing, gambling, environmental conser- vation, private pensions, customs collection, “pro- hibited publications,” local film ratings, planning and building codes, marine parks, work permits, trash col- lection fees, or (our favorite example) tinted windows on motor vehicles. Passing laws and regulations to address per- ceived problems – in the absence of universal, con- sistent enforcement – does not bring the country any nearer to solutions for those problems. What it does do is create a dangerous system of poorly understood parent laws, and even more obscure and obfuscatory regulations, that together present an infinite number of opportunities for the victimization of people who do not belong to a favored class, or who are disliked by someone with power, such as a politician, civil servant or influencer. Take, for example, the devious devices – such as near-impossible “literacy tests” and burdensome “poll taxes” – which elections officials in the American South employed at their discretion to prevent black people from voting during the Jim Crow era. Think it cannot happen here? The conditions for abuse of human rights certainly exist: Recall last month’s court judgment from Chief Justice Anthony Smellie, who skewered “irrational” decisions by our Immigration Appeals Tribunal, which he deemed to have “impeded the course of justice” in its mishan- dling, and subsequent rejection, of two applications for permanent residency. Throughout the ages, selective enforcement of lab- yrinthine laws has been a tool of tyrants. So the next time you learn of something that perhaps should not have happened as it did, and you hear yourself muttering, “There oughta be a law …” – check yourself for a moment, and ponder the possible unintended consequences. Maybe, on balance, there really oughtn’t. Laws without enforcement lead to injustice Monday SepTeMber 21, 2015 • Cayman COmpass law Society on ‘Caymanian hiring’ We write in response to the article, “MLA: Lawyers law must address Caymanian hiring,” published in the Sept. 14 edition of the Cayman Compass as we wish to re- spond to Mr. Winston Connolly’s call for a commit- ment by Cayman Islands law firms to hire, retain and pro- mote Caymanian lawyers to full participation in firms in Cayman and those practicing Cayman Islands law overseas. The Cayman Islands Law Society is the professional as- sociation that represents the entire private sector legal profession of the Cayman Islands. Membership is open to those who are admitted as Cayman Islands attorneys-at- law and the society currently has over 400 members. The society wholeheart- edly supports the underlying principles of Mr. Connolly’s “Statement of Goals” which we note broadly reflect the terms of a commitment paper sponsored by the Cayman Islands Law Society and vol- untarily adopted by all of the larger law firms in 2012. We believe the profes- sion does have a strong com- mitment to attracting tal- ented Caymanians at an early stage and to retaining them throughout their career. In fact the statistics show the Cayman Islands doubled the annual number of articled clerkships between 2008 and 2014 despite a global reces- sion. This is in stark con- trast to countries such as the U.K., Ireland and Canada where training opportunities dropped substantially over the same period. Nearly 100 Caymanians have been ad- mitted as attorneys-at-law since 2008, the vast majority trained by the larger firms. Firms already provide scholarships and internships as well as the mentoring and training measures which will be needed for new law- yers to develop the skills re- quired to make it to the top of what is an incredibly de- manding profession. The draft Legal Practitioners Bill which is being worked on currently will provide a framework for the regulation of the profession inside and out- side of the jurisdiction. Mr. Connolly should be pleased to see that the ethos of the Legal Practitioners Bill is also aligned with his Statement of Goals in that it will encapsulate guidelines for Cayman-based law firms in providing Caymanians access to the legal profes- sion, the training and devel- opment of Caymanian attor- neys and the opportunities for career progression for Caymanian lawyers. The Cayman Islands Law Society looks forward to con- tinuing working with govern- ment and the Caymanian Bar Association in further formal- izing these policies through the Legal Practitioners Bill. alasdair Robertson president, Cayman Islands Law society Francis visits Cuba: What it means5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • MONDAY SEPTEMBER 21, 2015 MARK PHILIPPOU SSIS JIM COU RIER ASHLEY HARKLER OAD ANDY R ODDICK ANNA KOURNIKOVA MANSOUR BAHR AMI 5-6 FE B RUAR Y 20 16 P l ay ers su bj ec t t o ch an g e Department of Environment director speaks out on cruise port project Mitigation expensive and likely ineffective, warns DoE director JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The environmental conse- quences of proceeding with the cruise berthing project will still be “extremely dire” even if mitigation measures are deployed, the director of the Cayman Islands Department of Environment has warned. Gina Ebanks-Petrie cau- tioned that too much em- phasis was being put on the potential for mitigation op- tions to reduce the damage to coral reef habitat as out- lined in an environmental impact assessment. “The pro-port side seems to take comfort from these mitigation options, but what is being missed, or glossed over, is that the environmental study also assesses the effect of those measures and the consultants judge that they will have little or no effect on reducing the severity of the impacts,” she said. She warned that the mea- sures proposed, including the use of silt screens and the re- location of some coral reefs, would come with a “signifi- cant price tag” and would not make a substantial differ- ence, according to the consul- tant’s report. “The public and decision makers need to remember that ‘mitigation’ of an impact does not equal complete re- moval of the impact, and they should focus on the severity of the predicted residual im- pact,” she said. Her comments, in an in- terview with a public rela- tions company working on behalf of the Save Cayman anti-port campaign group, immediately drew criticism from pro-port advocates. Chris Kirkconnell, one of the key figures in the Cayman’s Port, Cayman’s Future cam- paign group, said it was in- appropriate for Ms. Ebanks- Petrie, as a public servant, to make comments through a firm hired or organized by a private lobby group. He said she had been in- volved with the entire process as chair of the Environmental Assessment Board and a member of the National Conservation Council and had plenty of opportunity to comment through those fo- rums. He suggested the di- rector had shown a lack of objectivity in the press re- lease and in relation to the port project in general. Ms. Ebanks-Petrie said she had simply responded to an interview request. She con- firmed she was quoted accu- rately in the release and said she, and the Department of Environment, had been open and transparent throughout the whole process. “Part of my job is to advo- cate for the protection of the environment. I am not making anything up, I’m speaking about the results of the en- vironmental impact assess- ment,” she told the Compass. She said her concerns were directly focused on the find- ings of the environmental im- pact assessment in relation to the removal of reefs and the residual impact of the project on adjacent reefs and water quality in the harbor. “I am, and remain, ex- tremely concerned that cer- tain groups appear to be latching on to the idea of mit- igation as if somehow that will mean there is not going to be a significant impact from this project,” she said. She added that she was concerned that the findings of the report itself risked being lost amid the commentary of rival campaign groups. She said the consultant’s scoring system, in the en- vironmental impact assess- ment, showed serious re- sidual impacts would remain, even after costly mitigation measurers were put in place. “For example, the con- sultants score the impact of dredging on water quality in George Town harbor as a Significant Negative Impact (-D) and this remains a Significant Negative impact (-D) after the application of the recommended mitigation measure – the installation of silt curtains,” she said in the original press release. She added that the consul- tants classify the destruction of coral reef during dredging in the highest tier of negative impacts – a Major Negative Impact (-E). Following imple- mentation of the recommended mitigation measure – the coral relocation program – it is still classified as a Significant Negative Impact (-D). “The resulting situation is still extremely dire, and this seems to be lost in the sound bites being heard in the news,” she said. She added that the Department of Environment was conscious of the contri- bution of cruise tourism to the economy and the need to improve the experience of visitors. “However, after careful consideration of the environ- mental losses and the risk to the overall tourism product associated with berthing fa- cilities, our view is that a scheme of appropriate land side enhancements would offer the best solution.” Ms. Ebanks-Petrie told the public relations company that, given the projected cost of the project, it is critical that the predicted economic benefits of the berthing fa- cility are based on real data and factual information and that the economic business case does not rely on as- sumptions, speculation and the opinions of those di- rectly involved in the cruise tourism industry. She added, “From where I sit, the economic business case does not appear to have been held to the same stan- dard of actual data collection and robust analysis and scru- tiny as the environmental im- pact assessment. I see this as a significant problem for decision-makers.” Ms. Ebanks-Petrie6 LOCAL NEWS Monday SepteMber 21, 2015 • Cayman Compass Cut $250* from your motor premium with BritCay home insurance! Call 949-8699 www.britcay.ky BRITISH CAYMANIAN INSURANCE COMPANY LTD. BritCay House, 236 Eastern Avenue, George Town, P.O. Box 74, Grand Cayman KY1-1102 Tel. 949-8699 www.britcay.ky 12 Kirkconnell St. Stake Bay, P.O. Box 254 SPO, Cayman Brac KY2-2101 Tel.948-1760 A member of Colonial Group International: insurance, health, pensions, life $250* CERTIFICATE WITH BUILDINGS INSURANCE *Each new buildings insurance policy with BritCay comes with a $250 gift certificate which you can use with BritCay Motor Insurance. *conditions apply cgigrp Crowds turn out for cancer fair Jewel levy jlevy@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Cayman Islands Society hosted a Conquering Cancer health fair Saturday to help raise awareness of the dis- ease and encourage the public to take proactive measures to combat it. Hundreds of people passed through the doors of the Grand Cayman Marriott Beach Resort Orchid Ballroom to enjoy a day with a serious pur- pose, that still included fun and entertainment. The health fair drew local practitioners, nutritionists and cancer spe- cialists from Cayman, as well as professionals from nine overseas medical institutions, including Johns Hopkins and Holy Cross Hospital. More than 170 people signed up to get screened for diabetes and cholesterol, Dr. Sook Yin, Medical Director of the Cayman Islands Cancer Society said. She said such screenings were extremely necessary in Cayman. “This is the biggest [Conquering Cancer event] one so far,” she said. “The turnout has really bumped up a lot from when we first started the fair. The people are not turning up just for free screen- ings, they are hungry for knowl- edge about cancer and … other health issues.” This is the fourth time the event has been held. “We have overseas specialists and local practitioners giving lectures on how to prevent cancer, what to do in certain types of cancer, and also there [is new research] that can [tell] how cancer can develop,” Dr. Yin added. She also highlighted that cancer fairs like this enable medical practitioners to meet members of the public, in- cluding those who may not have the chance to see a doctor, might not have insurance or are simply too scared of what they might find out. The public took advantage of the opportunity to meet specialists so they could find out more about the risks of cancer, as well as proactive ways to avoid the disease. A wide range of cancers were covered at the event, in- cluding colon, ovarian, gy- necological, breast, bladder, prostate, lung, and head an neck cancers. Attendees could speak with doctors one-on- one, and for the first time, vis- itors got the opportunity to sign up to a bone marrow reg- ister for the Caribbean. To add to the day of aware- ness and education, visitors also visited nutritionist stalls to be educated on healthy foods to eat. Making her way around the room with other doctors, Dr. Yin asked visitors about various ailments, got feed- back and directed them to sta- tions to be checked. “The fair provided a social surrounding of nonthreatening ways to get screened, that you don’t have to go to [a] clinic to sit and wait,” she said. Reef restoration in home stretch but volunteers still needed Norma CoNNolly nconnolly@pinnaclemedialtd.com It’s been a long, hard road, but organizers and volun- teers of the “Magic Reef” res- toration say their work on repairing the coral reef dam- aged by a cruise ship anchor drop more than a year ago is paying off. At an information ses- sion held at Cayman Cabana in George Town on Friday, Joe Avary, who has been in- volved in the restoration project from the beginning, briefed the audience on the work that had been carried out over the past 13 months. Despite the devasta- tion done to the reef, Mr. Avary said the incident had “spurred a lot of positivity,” with divers offering their time and expertise to help re- build the reef and the com- munity coming together to raise more than $28,000 at a fundraiser in February. He pointed out that since the Carnival Magic cruise ship dropped its anchor on the reef, outside the desig- nated anchoring area on Aug. 27, 2014, no one had been held accountable for the incident. The ship was guided by Port Authority-licensed Bodden Shipping Agency pilot boats to drop its anchor outside of the designated anchorage zone, in front of Don Foster’s Dive Centre in George Town, severely dam- aging thousands of square feet of the coral reef. Mr. Avary said when the damage was first discovered and the extent of it was as- sessed by the Department of Environment, it was not clear what could be done to remedy it, but “Lois Hatcher had a plan for what to do to make it all better.” Ms. Hatcher has spearheaded the project, coming up with a plan of action and organizing teams to carry out the work. Since the work began, divers have put in more than 1,000 man hours and shifted 10 tons of rubble. Teams are now concentrating on at- taching surviving salvaged coral to the reef, which Mr. Avary described as “under- water landscaping.” Although the work is in the home stretch, organizers are still looking for volun- teers to help with the work. “If you know divers who want to come out and help, this is their chance to get involved,” Mr. Avary said. Initially teams of divers were either transported to the site on dive boats run by local dive operations that do- nated their boats and their crews’ time to the restora- tion efforts, or they swam from Don Foster’s dock to the reef. Later, the reef restoration team purchased a boat, called the Honey Badger, from funds raised in February and from a $100,000 donation given by Carnival shortly afterward. The strenuous work of moving rubble from the dam- aged site to another location in the sand flat is complete so the team is now rebuilding the reef itself, taking the coral that somehow survived the anchor and massive chain scraping along the reef wall, and ce- menting it to the reef. “We’re building it back up right now,” Mr. Avary said. “Now, it’s starting to look like a real coral reef; we have sponges that were displaced that are now back in there,” he said, pointing to some before and after images of the reef. Many of the milk crates, donated by Foster’s Food Fair, that had been holding the sal- vaged sponges and other coral are now back on land as divers empty them and the coral is placed in its new, and the vol- unteers hope, permanent home on the reef. To volunteer or to get more information, visit the Cayman Magic Reef Recovery Project Facebook page. Since the work began, divers have put in more than 1,000 man hours and shifted 10 tons of rubble. Joe Avary shows a video highlighting the work that has been done to restore the ‘Magic Reef’ at Cayman Cabana on Friday night. – PHOTO: NORMA CONNOLLY Katie Russell gives a swab for the bone marrow data bank. Ludlow Buckeridge gets valuable tips from nutritionist Kristin Lamos. From left, Brennita Palmer, Samantha Rea and Dr. Sook Yin highlight the dangers of too much sugar at the Conquering Cancer health fair at the Marriott Beach Resort on Saturday. – PHOTOs: JeweL LevY7 LOCAL NEWS Cayman Compass • Monday SepteMber 21, 2015 YOU TALKED, VACATION CANCELLED WE LISTENED. IS STAYING OPEN! WILL BE CLOSING From August 31st Reopening October 9th Turtle hatchlings killed in beach bonfire James WhiTTaker jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Volunteers made the heartbreaking discovery of the charred remains of dozens of tiny turtle hatchlings on a Grand Cayman beach. The disorientated turtles had apparently stumbled into the still-burning em- bers of a beach bonfire in South Sound on Wednesday. Now environmental watchdogs are warning people they need to en- sure they have a permit and to take precautions when building fires on the beach. Janice Blumenthal, a re- search officer with the Department of Environment, said the turtles had likely become disorientated and walked into the fire. “When they emerge from their nests, hatchling turtles move in the direction of the brightest light they can see,” she said. “If this is not the moon and stars reflecting off the ocean’s surface, they often crawl in the wrong di- rection, away from the sea. “In this case, the tur- tles were most likely ini- tially misoriented by resi- dential lights on the beach and then by the glowing em- bers of a bonfire. They ap- pear to have been killed by the heat of the fire.” Bonfires require approval from the Department of Environmental Health. The fire involved in the current inci- dent had not received a permit, according to Ms. Blumenthal. She urged anyone holding bonfires on the beach to get a permit, to never leave a fire unattended and to en- sure the fires are fully extin- guished before leaving. Monitoring of turtle nesting across the Cayman Islands has shown that popu- lations are steadily increasing, though numbers remain crit- ically low and threats from poachers and development are a constant menace. Hatchlings run a gauntlet of risks, both natural and man-made, that means only an estimated one in every 1,000 baby turtles survives to adulthood. An adult fe- male turtle lays around 100 eggs each time it nests. Anyone who wants a bonfire permit can call the Department of Environmental Health at 949-6696. Information on turtle nesting or turtle friendly lighting is available from the Department of Environment at 949-8469 or on the DoE’s Sea Turtle Hotline at 938-NEST (938-6378). Woman guilty of trying to bribe civil servant with $100 Carol Winker cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A Cuban national ap- plying for naturalization was found guilty of fraud on the government by offering a bribe to a civil servant. Justice Charles Quin said the case of Paula Yates- Rivers was in many respects tragic, but he was satisfied beyond all reasonable doubt that she was guilty. He noted that the defen- dant and her Caymanian husband had been in a traffic accident in 2010. When her husband needed treatment in the U.S., Yates-Rivers ap- plied for naturalization, so that she could go with him as she could not travel to the U.S. on her Cuban passport. The Crown’s main wit- ness was an administra- tive secretary in the Office of the Deputy Governor. Her job included receiving ap- plications for naturaliza- tion and generating invoices so applicants could pay the prescribed fees to the trea- sury department. The witness told the court that when Yates-Rivers came to her booth, she handed her a plain white envelope along with her documents and said, “This is yours.” The secretary said she could not take it, but the defendant tried to give it to her at least three times, saying, “No, it’s yours. It’s for you.” Eventually the secre- tary left it and went to pho- tocopy the documents and get the invoice. When Yates-Rivers went to the treasury, the secretary looked in the envelope and saw the $100. When Yates- Rivers returned, the secre- tary put the envelope with the money in the woman’s Cuban passport and handed it back to her. The secretary reported the incident to the deputy governor and to her imme- diate superior. The next day, Yates-Rivers called her to ask her to come to her work place, saying, “I have a gift for you.” The sec- retary again told Yates-Rivers she could not accept it. All of the conversa- tions were in English and the secretary said she had no trouble understanding Yates-Rivers. Defense attorney Laurence Aiolfi suggested that “gift” was the witness’s word, but what had been said was “present.” Yates-Rivers, giving evi- dence in Spanish through an interpreter, agreed she gave the secretary an envelope with $100, but said it was for her passport and the secre- tary did not understand her. She said she had called the secretary to come to her workplace “so she could see my presence … so she could see I am a hard-working in- dividual.” Yates-Rivers told the court, “That’s how we do it in Cuba.” Justice Quin noted that six months has passed be- fore the matter was reported to police. He said he found that the defendant was under no mis- understanding about what she was doing, pointing out that the envelope containing the $100 was separate from everything else that was handed in. She knew she would not get a passport at that time, so why would she pay $100 for something she did not receive, he asked. He ordered a so- cial inquiry report be- fore sentencing and con- tinued the defendant’s bail until Nov. 12. Newly hatched baby turtles head for the sea, usually guided by the light of the moon reflecting on the water’s surface. - PHOTO: DeParTmenT Of envirOnmenT armeD POlice arresT TwO aT GOvernOrs square Both men later released Armed police arrested two men during an opera- tion at Governors Square on Thursday, but later released both without charge. Police described the in- cident as “an armed tactical vehicle stop.” Officers from the Uniformed Support Group surrounded the black Honda Civic at the en- trance of Governors Square parking lot in which the pair were traveling around 4:45 p.m. on Thursday and arrested the two men, ages 42 and 31. Police said the men were “detained relative to suspi- cious activity on their part.” Police did not elaborate on what the “suspicious ac- tivity” was. The car was later re- moved from the scene on the back of a flat-bed truck. Armed officers making arrests at Governors Square on Thursday afternoon. - PHOTO: TaneOs ramsaYThe islands’ most-trusted news source 8 MONDAY SEPTEMBER 21, 2015 • CAYMAN COMPASS INTE RACTIVE TRADE SHO W SEE OUR CIRCULAR IN THE FRI, SEP 25, EDITION OF THE CAYMAN COMPASS AND AT ALTHOMPSON.COM SEP 25 & 26 Central Hampshire Assistant Coroner Sarah Whitby, who signed the March 25 autopsy, noted the following in her report: “The deceased Kate Laura Louise Clayton was seriously injured in a road traffic accident on the Grand Cayman Island. Miss Clayton was treated at the Cayman Islands Hospital for spinal fractures, pelvic and bowel injuries and in the course of treatment had a failed tracheostomy proce- dure where the procedure and its management prevented ox- ygen reaching Miss Clayton’s brain for a period of at least eight minutes resulting in hy- poxic brain injury. “Miss Clayton’s subse- quent death on Feb. 18, 2015 having been transferred to Southampton General Hospital was as a direct re- sult of the failed tracheos- tomy which evidence in- dicates was inadequately carried out.” According to several re- ports in the U.K. following the inquest in March, Jo Clayton told the Central Hampshire coroner that her daughter’s condition had been improving after the accident, prior to the tra- cheostomy. These accounts were confirmed during a Cayman Compass inter- view with Jo Clayton who told the newspaper her daughter was partially par- alyzed in the initial crash, but had been conscious and was communicating prior to the tracheostomy. The Cayman Islands Health Services Authority has repeatedly declined to dis- cuss specific details of Kate Clayton’s case, citing patient confidentiality requirements. The RCIPS did not ini- tially report details of the crash until Jan. 23 – nearly two weeks after it happened. According to a police statement regarding the in- cident at the time: “A Jeep Wrangler driven by a 30-year- old female resident of East End was traveling on Old Robin Road headed in the di- rection of Queens Highway when it veered off the road before negotiating a sharp right bend corner and col- lided into large trees. The driver sustained serious head and back injuries. She was transported to the George Town Hospital where she is still admitted.” Police investigate UK national’s death repairs made to it. However, a decision was then taken in 2012 to decommission the vessel, after it was de- termined more extensive re- pairs would be needed on the aging craft. “It was a situation where [the government] may have to spend more on it than the remaining life-span of the vessel is worth,” Marine Unit Inspector Ian Yearwood said. Protector was never re- placed in the marine unit fleet, which expanded signif- icantly between 2008-2009. Tornado was out of ser- vice for a year between 2013 and 2014, records show. More than $110,000 was spent during the period on repairs. Cayman Defender was out between Feb. 11, 2012 and August 2013, a pe- riod of about 18 months. Its repairs during the period also cost about $110,000. Cayman Guardian was out for one month in 2011 and cost about $138,000 to fix. Additional repairs were made to two other patrol craft, Niven D and Typhoon, during the same period. That work cost more than $140,000, but neither boat had to be taken out of ser- vice, police said. Repairs totaling less than $3,000 were made to several Wave Runners used by the marine unit. Missing data The difficulties regarding the response to the Compass Freedom of Information re- quest became a news story on its own last year. RCIPS representatives, responding to the open records request several months late, revealed the hard drive crashes had oc- curred when information re- lated to the request about Marine Unit patrol boats could not be located. The original request for information sought: “All of the watercraft used as part of the Joint Marine Unit’s operations by name of the boat. How many times each of those watercraft have a) broken down, have been damaged or were otherwise found to be deficient and have required repairs or re- placement; b) the period of time they were out of ser- vice; c) the cost of making the repairs; d) when they were returned to service; e) if they were not returned to service, what happened to the watercraft.” The eventual response by the police did not provide information regarding how many times the various wa- tercraft had broken down during the relevant period. Some of the repair cost information has been pro- vided as part of the request last year, but police said data related to the time the vessels were out of service was on the government hard drives that had crashed sev- eral times. The last recorded hard drive crash at the Citrus Grove building oc- curred in March 2014. Since November 2014, the Information Commissioner’s Office has been attempting to follow up with the RCIPS to retrieve the relevant files. The RCIPS initially blamed the government Computer Services Department over the issue and then stopped responding to the commissioner’s office requests altogether. Over a period of months, the Computer Services Department worked to re- store the corrupted data, and by August 2014 reported that all but 10.6 mega- bytes had been retrieved. The Compass then renewed its open records request for the Marine Unit information. The open records request for the Marine Unit information was partially answered on Thursday of last week. Police patrol boats idled for years The reason that cause is considered more likely is largely because the food served at Red Bay Primary that day was also served by the same catering company at the Lighthouse School, which shares the Mary Miller Hall with Red Bay, and at the George Town Primary School with no illnesses reported. On the day the illnesses occurred, sending 23 people from Red Bay Primary to hos- pital to seek medical care, school caterer Mise en Place reported that there had been an “incident” with the ice ma- chine in the school’s cafeteria kitchen and servery. A technician from Island Supply examined the kitchen ice machine around 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 2 and found that there was no refrigerant gas in the machine. The techni- cian also discovered a leak, which was repaired, and later added refrigerant. Between 11:30 a.m. and noon of the same day, Mise en Place staff reported there was a “loud bang” from the ice machine, shortly after which a “vapor cloud filled the kitchen.” This occurred while food was being served to the students and caused some in- dividuals who inhaled fumes from the “vapor cloud” to be- come sick, the government re- port stated. The report states that Mise en Place staff members were instructed to thoroughly dis- infect the kitchen area, remove the ice from the machine and shut it down until the matter could be investigated. The re- port states this disinfection occurred between Sept. 3 and Sept. 4. It is understood by the Cayman Compass that food service to the schoolchildren continued on Sept. 2 following this “vapor cloud” incident. The technician who ser- viced the ice machine was in- terviewed as part of the gov- ernment’s review. He told officials there was “no loud bang” from the machine and that he left all in good working order when he departed the school around 12:20 p.m. on Sept. 2. He said there was a small emission of refrigerant gas during the service when the hose to the machine was unplugged, but said “this was normal” when servicing this kind of machine. Polar Bear Air Conditioning company was called in to examine the ice machine. According to the company’s response to the report, it was “highly unlikely” that the ice machine caused any illness due to a refrigerant leak. “Illness from refrigerant would not likely occur unless there was a high concentra- tion for a sustained period,” Polar Bear service manager Mark Veilleux stated. “These conditions did not appear to exist.” The company said un- sanitary ice machines can cause illness, but noted that was impossible for its techni- cian to determine in this case. The technician who examined the ice machine did state it was “not clean.” Other explanations Toxic food poisoning through a bacterial infection known as Staphylococcus au- reus or S. aureus was con- sidered as a possibility by reviewers, and could not be en- tirely ruled out, officials said. The danger with this partic- ular bacteria is that it cannot be killed even by thoroughly cooking the affected food, Department of Environmental Health Officials said. Tests of food samples from Red Bay Primary did not show S. aureus bacteria present. “However, it must be noted that whilst the Department of Environmental Health labo- ratory can test for the pres- ence of S. aureus bacteria, it does not have the capacity to test for the presence of toxin,” the government report stated. “This test is not avail- able on island.” Results of tests screening Red Bay Primary employees for S. aureus infection were negative and, in any case, in- cident reviewers pointed out no similar sickness at the Lighthouse School or George Town Primary on Sept. 2, de- spite the same caterer serving the same food. Tests for “other environ- mental contaminants” around the school were done. However, they were not performed in the kitchen area until Sept. 4 – one day after a thorough disinfection of that area had already begun. Nine environmental “swabs” were conducted in the kitchen and nine others were done in other areas around the school. According to the report, all tests were “satisfactory” ex- cept for two locations – both water fountains that school of- ficials said were “not in wide- spread usage for children.” The school principal, Vickie Fredericks, was instructed to ensure the two water foun- tains were fully cleaned and disinfected. “There is insuf- ficient evidence to conclude that the cause was a general outbreak of infectious disease, given the type and timing of the symptoms,” the environ- mental health review stated. RECOMMENDATIONS The following recommendations were made by the Department of Environmental Health fol- lowing the Sept. 2 incident: ■■ Requirements to increase the food sampling at the primary school kitchen for 30 days after it is re-opened ■■ The ice machine from the kitchen must be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected, if it is to be used again. Re- placement with an “environ- mentally friendly” unit could be considered ■■ The door between the kitchen and servery, which does not close properly, should be repaired ■■ The kitchens hot “holding cabinets” must be repaired and its hot food serving area should be repositioned ■■ Consideration should be given to allow for local testing of the S. aureus toxin in food. Otherwise, off island arrangements for that testing should be made. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 School illness report inconclusive CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 A number of RCIPS marine unit craft have spent significant time in the repair dock over the past several years. - PHOTO: BRENT FULLER CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1The islands’ most-trusted news source 9 Three hurt in Alabama church shooting An Alabama prosecutor says a suspect has been charged with three counts of attempted murder after allegedly shooting a woman, an infant and a pastor inside a church in Alabama. 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Lombardi said that out of respect for the family and the informality of the en- counter, no photographs would be released. He said that the decision to not re- lease any images had been taken during the discussions with Cuban authorities to set up the meeting. Hours before the meeting, believers and non-be- lievers alike streamed into the square before dawn for Francis’ Mass, and they erupted in cheers when his- tory’s first Latin American pope spun through the crowd in his open-sided popemo- bile. Francis did not dis- appoint, winding his way slowly through the masses and stopping to kiss children held up to him. While most Cubans are nominally Catholic, fewer than 10 percent practice their faith. The crowd was not as big as when St. John Paul II became the first pope to visit the island in 1998, but it drew people who seemed to gen- uinely want to be there and listen to Francis’ message. “This is very important for us,” said Mauren Gomez, 40, who traveled some 155 miles from Villa Clara to Havana by bus, spending her time re- citing the Rosary. In his homily delivered under the gaze of the pla- za’s iconic metal portrait of Che Guevara, Francis urged Cubans to care for one an- other out of a sense of service, not ideology. He encouraged them to refrain from judging one another by “looking to one side or the other to see what our neighbor is doing or not doing.” “Whoever wishes to be great must serve others, not be served by others,” he said, explaining that, “Service is never ideological, for we do not serve ideas, we serve people.” Francis exhorted the faithful “to learn to see Jesus in every person bent low on the path of life, in all our brothers and sisters who hunger or thirst, who are naked or in prison or sick.” Many Cubans complain about the rigidity of Cuba’s system in which nearly every aspect of life is controlled by the government, from cul- tural institutions to block- level neighborhood watch committees. Cubans can be excluded or lose benefits if they are perceived as being disloyal or unfaithful to the principles of the revolution. Many Cubans are also in- creasingly concerned about a growing inequality in the communist island, in which those with access to for- eign capital live lives of rela- tive luxury while others can barely feed themselves, gen- erating jealousy and divi- sion within families and so- ciety at large. “Being a Christian en- tails promoting the dignity of our brothers and sisters, fighting for it, living for it,” Francis told the crowd. “That is why Christians are con- stantly called to set aside their own wishes and desires, their pursuit of power, and to look instead to those who are most vulnerable.” Maria Regla González, a 57-year-old teacher, said she appreciated Francis’ mes- sage of reconciliation and unity for all Cubans, and said Francis was particularly able to convey it given he is Latin American and speaks their language. “This is a crucial moment, and the pope’s support for us is very important,” she said. “He made a call for unity, and that’s what we want.” Francis was finishing the day with an evening vespers service in the San Cristobal cathedral and a meeting with Cuban young people. In an important aside, Francis ended the Mass with an appeal for Colombia’s government and rebels, who have been holding peace talks in Havana for over two years, to put an end to South America’s longest-running armed conflict. “Please, we do not have the right to allow ourselves yet another failure on this path of peace and reconcilia- tion,” he said. The appeal followed the historic call he issued to Presidents Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro to end their half- century of estrangement that resulted in the restora- tion of diplomatic relations this summer. Since then, the two leaders have reopened embassies in each other’s countries, held a personal meeting, had at least two phone calls and launched a process aimed at normal- izing ties in fields ranging from trade to tourism to telecommunications. Jose Rafael Velazquez, a 54-year-old worker, arrived with his wife at the plaza three hours before Mass began. He said he is not re- ligious, but came more out of curiosity to witness a his- toric event. “We also are very hopeful for this visit, because the pope was key in the deal with the United States,” he said. “Ever since the announcement, there have been changes and this visit gives me more hope that it’ll get better.” The Vatican has long op- posed the U.S. trade embargo on the grounds that it hurts ordinary Cubans most, and is clearly hopeful that de- tente will eventually lead to a lifting of sanctions. Pope Francis celebrates Mass before an enormous crowd in Havana’s Revolution Plaza, encouraging the faithful to care for each other out of a sense of service, rather than ideology. – Photo: AP PoPe in CubA begs ColombiA, rebels to end ConfliCt HAVANA (AP) – Pope Francis begged the Colombian government and rebels on Sunday to end South America’s longest-running conflict, saying they simply cannot allow ongoing peace talks to fail. Fresh off his personal ap- peal to the U.S. and Cuban leaders to end their half-cen- tury of estrangement, Francis issued his plea to Colombia’s warring factions from Revolution Plaza at the end of his Sunday Mass. Cuba has hosted peace talks for more than two years between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and rep- resentatives of Bogota. Francis said the talks face a “crucial” moment. “May the blood shed by thousands of innocent people during long decades of armed conflict” sustain efforts to find a definitive peace, he said. “Please, we do not have the right to allow ourselves yet another failure on this path of peace and reconciliation.” Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who has pushed the talks, issued a tweet in response to thank the pope “for your perma- nent prayers. We will con- tinue on the road of peace and reconciliation.” In his remarks, Francie added on a word of gratitude to President Raul Castro for his efforts to assist the nego- tiations; the appeal was fol- lowed by a round of applause from the crowd. In more than two years of negotiations, rebel and gov- ernment negotiators have reached tentative agreements on land reform, how to jointly combat drug trafficking and the future role in politics for guerrillas that lay down their weapons. The rebel move- ment, known as the FARC, in recent months also has largely adhered to a unilateral cease-fire, prompting the gov- ernment to suspend the aerial bombing of guerrilla camps. But despite the advances, a number of obstacles re- main to ending the half-cen- tury conflict, chief among them the thorny issue of whether rebel commanders behind scores of human rights abuses will be pun- ished with prison time. Polls indicate most Colombians support a nego- tiated settlement but have increasingly little faith the FARC will deliver on its promises. The FARC leader known by his alias Ivan Marquez said in August that the rebels wanted to meet with the pope during his visit to Cuba, saying it would help reinforce the efforts of mil- lions of Colombians. But the Vatican made clear no such meeting would take place, given Francis wanted his visit to focus on Cuba. His appeal Sunday appeared to be a way to address the conflict without derailing his overall Cuban focus.Next >