High of 85 Low of 74 Moderate with wave heights of 3 to 5 feet. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 HURRICANE SEASON: PLAN EARLY TO ENSURE SAFETY LOCAL | PAGE 5 BRAC HOSTS FIRST RUN OF THE DG’S 5K CHALLENGE ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2018 188009-Ad-Strip-6colx1*5-UEFA-2018.indd 13/20/18 3:52 PM Bloodline’s Albert McLean and Roger Wood, right, caught a 23.9-pound mahi-mahi on Sunday, the only weighable catch of the day. - PHOTO: KEN SILVA Proposed laws would reform divorce, maintenance rules Government is seeking public input on proposed reforms that would make divorces and finan- cial relief stemming from divorces easier to obtain. The Law Reform Commission re- leased a summary of the proposed changes, as well as three draft bills: the Matrimonial Causes Bill 2018, the Maintenance Bill 2018, and the Family Property (Rights of Spouses) Bill 2018. The laws cover a wide range of public reforms. The Matrimonial Causes Bill would replace legislation originally enacted in 1976. Among the pro- posed changes would be creating no-fault divorces, recognizing pre- nuptial agreements, and creating the power for Cayman courts to order financial relief after separations and divorces in other jurisdictions. The Maintenance Bill would in- troduce equality for maintenance of spouses (men would be able to apply for maintenance), repeal ref- erences to “illegitimacy,” and widens the penalty for non-payment of maintenance. The new bill would also no longer deal with the main- tenance of children since that issue has been covered since 2012 by the Children Law. Finally, the Family Property (Rights of Spouses) Bill establishes rules relating to the division of property between spouses upon the breakdown of a marriage or cohabitation. These rules set out the matters that the court must consider in an application for di- vision of property, including the age of each spouse, the duration 10 CENT HIKE NOTED IN LOCAL GAS PRICES BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com A one-week average hike of about 10 cents per gallon for unleaded gasoline was re- ported in the first week of April by Cayman’s utilities and commodities regulator. OfReg, which has taken over the weekly monitoring of petroleum prices from the former Petroleum Inspectorate, reported the average price hike of 9 cents per gallon of regular unleaded and 10 cents per imperial gallon for premium. The prices for regular gasoline rose from an average of $4.43 as of March 31 to $4.52 by April 7. Diesel prices increased, but not as much, during the same period, going up by an av- erage of 3 cents per gallon, OfReg reported. Petrol prices have held largely steady since the beginning of 2018, with most local gas stations keeping roughly the same prices since Jan. 2, according to OfReg data. As of April 10, increases at Grand Cayman petrol stations varied, with four Esso sta- tions in George Town reporting a 20 cent per gallon price hike since April 3, while other stations had not increased their prices at all from week to week. For Rubis, six patrol stations in George Town and Savannah reported price increases of between 10 to 15 cents a gallon for reg- ular and premium gas. Some of the Rubis stations did not report a price increase for April 10 either. Cayman has yet to see a return to more than $5-per-gallon pump prices that were recorded in mid-to-late 2014, when average prices for regular, unleaded gasoline reached $5.59 per gallon. Prices then plummeted to below $4 per gallon at some stations in early 2015 as world oil prices declined. A political dispute over high petrol prices during late 2014 and 2015 led to whole- sale changes in how the Cayman fuel market is governed, including the introduction of PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » Anglers struggle to find big fish at 8th Kirk Slam KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com In past years, winners of the annual Kirk Slam Dolphin Tour- nament have brought in hauls of 100 pounds or more in dol- phinfish, known commonly as mahi-mahi. On Saturday and Sunday, however, the big fish were not biting as much as in years past. The winning boat, About Time, caught two eligible dol- phinfish – they have to be more than 15 pounds to count for the tournament – that weighed a combined 47.8 pounds. The About Time team won $5,000 for scoring the biggest overall haul. Happy Days caught one 33.9-pound dolphinfish, win- ning $2,000 for the second-big- gest haul and $1,000 for the biggest catch. Only one boat, Bloodline, caught a weighable dolphinfish on Sunday, the second day of the tournament. “I guess we had a plan from morning on what we were going to do,” Bloodline crew- member Roger Wood said as to why his team caught Sunday’s biggest dolphinfish. “We went around the island yesterday and figured out that most of the fish were at South Sound.” The anglers gave different reasons for why this was one of the slower years in the tournament’s history, now in its eighth year. Some thought that the bigger fish may have al- ready passed through Grand Cayman’s waters. “There’s a lot of big fish, but maybe it’s the timing of the tournament,” guessed Mr. Wood. PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 »2 LOCAL&REGIONAL TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS • Matinees Daily (matinee price before 6pm) • Seniors $8.00, Mon-Fri Before 6pm • Additional charges apply per 3D/VIP tickets Cayman Cinema@cbcinema6cbcinema6 SATURDAY NIGHT: For your viewing pleasure, minors under the age of 18 will not be admitted to any film starting after 6pm, unless accompanied by their parent. - TUESDAY - 640-FILM (640-3456) BLOCKERS (R) 2:35 I 3:45 I 7:35 I 9:50 WRINKLE IN TIME 3D (PG) 1:10 I 4:05 2D I 6:40 2D I 9:35 BLACK PANTHER (PG13) 1:00 I 9:40 PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING (PG13) 5:00 I 7:15 I 10:00 RAMPAGE 3D (PG13) 1:10 2D I 4:00 2D VIP I 6:45 2D I 9:15 READY PLAYER ONE 3D (PG13) 12:40 2D VIP I 4:10 I 6:30 2D I 9:35 2D VIP PETER RABBIT (PG) 12:15 CLASSICS @ THE CINEMA: TOP GUN (PG) 7:00 VIP BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com Susan Simoy Sum- alapao spent about eight years working as a nanny in Cayman before her life ended suddenly Thursday morning on the Esterley Tib- betts Highway. Ms. Sumalapao, 56, a mother of three children in the Philippines, was ap- parently trying to cross two lanes of the highway just north of the Kimpton Seafire hotel during rush hour traffic when she was struck and killed. On Monday morning, a wreath of flowers and two bouquets adorned the side of the highway near where she was struck Thursday. As of Monday press time, the Royal Cayman Islands Police had not made any ar- rests in connection with the auto-pedestrian accident and were looking for the driver of a vehicle officers believed may have witnessed the crash. Police were searching for the occupants of a dark- colored Chevrolet Avalanche that “passed the area at the exact time of the collision.” While police investigate the deadly crash, Ms. Sum- alapao’s family members here in Cayman are left trying to communicate with everyone back home and trying to un- derstand what happened. Ms. Sumalapao’s cousin Lemuel Sobrejuanite and his wife, Alma, have been fielding 2 a.m. phone calls from the Philippines from Ms. Sumalapao’s two daugh- ters and her son. “They’re asking when they’re going to have the body [sent home] … but we couldn’t tell them,” Mrs. So- brejuanite said Monday af- ternoon. “They’re really wor- ried about what’s happening.” Ms. Sumalapao was helping to support her chil- dren in the Philippines with earnings here in Cayman and her death will also have a fi- nancial, as well as an emo- tional, impact, her family members said. She was remembered as a happy and energetic lady who was always on the go and who seemed to enjoy her life here, despite having to work so far away from home. “She’s more energetic than me and she’s older than me,” Mrs. Sobrejuanite re- marked. “She’s a happy lady, she’s always just smiling with everybody.” Traffic safety A gold Ford Escape trav- eling southbound toward George Town was involved in the crash with Ms. Sum- alapao just before 8 a.m. Thursday, according to the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service. Less than an hour after the crash, a video circu- lated around the islands on social media showing the immediate aftermath of the accident scene where a weeping man sitting along- side the road states that the victim “tried to run across” the road. It was believed that Ms. Sumalapao was walking across the busy road to get to her employer’s house at Vista Del Mar, just west of where the accident occurred. The Philippines Hon- orary Consul in Cayman, Ar- turo Ursua, said he had not been briefed on the full de- tails of the accident, but he said Monday that he was generally concerned about the safety of pedestrians along the four-lane highway through the area. “There’s two bus stops, one on either side of the street. Where are pedestrians supposed to go?” he asked. National Roads Authority officials indicated they were looking into traffic safety is- sues in the area, but said they did not wish to make any comments about the re- view immediately. Accident victim mourned in Cayman, Philippines Flowers were left by the roadside along the Esterley Tibbetts Highway Monday in memory of Thursday’s accident victim, Susan Sumalapao. - PHOTO: TANEOS RAMSAY Susan Simoy Sumalapao Guatemalans approve effort to end territorial dispute with Belize GUATEMALA CITY (AP) – Gua- temalans have moved a step closer to resolving a long- standing territorial dis- pute with neighboring Be- lize, voting to send the issue to the International Court of Justice. Vote counts show that a plebiscite on the question passed overwhelmingly on Sunday, winning about 95 percent of the vote, though abstention was high. However, Belize has yet to hold its own referendum as stipulated under a 2008 agreement with Guatemala, under which both countries would ask the court to take up the matter. Guatemala claims some 4,200 square miles of terrain administered by Belize – es- sentially the country’s entire southern half. The area is home to a number of nature reserves and is sparsely populated for the most part, with scattered farming villages, fishing towns and some Caribbean beach tourism destinations. The origin of the dispute dates back over 200 years to when Guatemala and Belize were Spanish and British col- onies, respectively. Guatemala became inde- pendent in 1821 and argues that it inherited Spain’s orig- inal claim on the territory. Belize considers Guate- mala’s claim unfounded and says the borders were defined by an 1859 boundary con- vention between the United Kingdom and Guatemala, ac- cording to the website of the governmental Belize Refer- endum Commission. Amid violence and crime by Guatemalan country dwellers in the disputed re- gion, at least 10 of them have been killed by Belizean civil- ians or soldiers on patrol. Diplomatic relations and even air travel between the two countries have also suf- fered at times as a result of the dispute. Casting his vote Sunday, Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales said his country and Belize currently have cordial relations and the aim of the referendum is to ultimately resolve the conflict. An indigenous woman casts her vote during a plebiscite concerning a border dispute with Belize, in San Pedro Sacatepequez, Guatemala, Sunday. - PHOTO: AP RARE TRIAL OF BORDER AGENT ACCUSED OF KILLING IS WRAPPING UP TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) – Closing arguments began Monday in the second-de- gree murder trial of a U.S. Border Patrol agent ac- cused of shooting across the border into Mexico and killing a teenager five years ago. The agent, Lonnie Swartz, is accused of killing 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez in a rare Justice Department prose- cution of a federal agent in a fatal cross-border shooting. Since the nearly one- month trial began March 20, prosecutors have ac- knowledged that the teen was throwing rocks from Nogales, in the Mexican state of Sonora, across the border during a drug smuggling attempt. But they have said Elena Rodriguez did not deserve to die for rock throwing and argued that Swartz used an unreason- able amount of force. Defense attorneys say Swartz fired to pro- tect himself, other border agents and police officers on the U.S. side in Nogales, Arizona. They have said the agent was justified in using lethal force. An autopsy showed the unarmed teen was shot 10 times, eight times in the back and twice in the head. The trial in U.S. Dis- trict Court in Tucson comes as President Donald Trump has called for Na- tional Guard troops to head to the border to free up Border Patrol agents to concentrate on stopping drugs and people from il- legally coming into the United States. Trump’s crackdown on immigra- tion and his pledge to build a “big, beautiful wall” along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico boundary have been a cornerstone of his presidency. The 2012 killing was felt deeply in the twin communities of Nogales, with about 20,000 people living on the Arizona side and about 300,000 on the Mexico side. The commu- nities are linked by family members, trade and cul- ture and have long been referred to locally as “Ambos Nogales” – “Both Nogales” in Spanish. Swartz opened fire late on Oct. 10, 2012, through the metal poles of a 20- foot (6-meter) fence that sits on a 25-foot (about 7.6-meter) embankment above Mexico’s Calle In- ternacional, a street lined with homes and small businesses. During the trial, jurors quietly visited at night under a request by de- fense attorneys that they have the opportunity to experience the area after dark to get a better idea of what Swartz was facing. The agent, who is on ad- ministrative leave pending the trial’s outcome, took the stand but testified that he remembered little of what happened.3 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2018 187912_PRINT-Ad-YMOY-JrPg-2018.pPage 1 4/13/18 4:22:33 PM Husband remanded for firearm, wife bailed Pistol recovered from home with 59 rounds of ammunition CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com A husband and wife in custody since last Wednesday appeared in Summary Court Monday, when the woman was granted bail on firearm charges and the man was re- manded in custody. Elton David Webster, 31, and Eliza Eunice Webster, 28, were arrested and charged jointly with possession of an unlicensed Glock 17 semi- automatic pistol loaded with nine rounds of nine-milli- meter ammunition, plus a box with 50 more bullets of the same caliber, Crown counsel Toyin Salako said. She objected to bail on the basis of the nature and seriousness of the charge, noting the quantity of ammu- nition and the model of gun, a type police had not recov- ered here before. Ms. Salako told Magis- trate Adam Roberts that po- lice executed a search war- rant at the Websters’ home in Savannah on April 11. In the kitchen, behind a microwave oven, officers found a plastic bag. Inside the bag was a towel, in which the gun was wrapped. The box of bullets was in the same area. A photo showed the mi- crowave oven removed from a built-in cabinet, with a ledge in the wall. When the items were found, Mrs. Webster denied any knowledge of them, Ms. Salako related. She said Mr. Webster told officers words to the effect, “I will take it all.” He suggested that someone had planted the items in the house. The Websters had pur- chased the house two years ago and had not changed any of the appliances. The magistrate asked if anyone else lived at the ad- dress. He was told just the family’s children. A helper who came daily did not live at the premises. She was arrested, but sub- sequently granted bail by po- lice and she did not appear in court. A police press re- lease about the incident de- scribed the woman as being 50 years old and of a George Town address. Defense attorney Lee Hal- liday-Davis advised the court that both Mr. and Mrs. Web- ster were employed full time and neither had any pre- vious conviction. Mrs. Web- ster had denied knowledge of the firearm from the very be- ginning and Mr. Webster also denied knowledge. The attorney said she un- derstood there was no fo- rensic evidence to attach ei- ther defendant to the gun. The gun was found in a con- cealed area, she pointed out. Mrs. Webster’s mother was prepared to put up a surety for both defendants, the attorney advised. She suggested $10,000 each. Ms. Salako said that was not enough. She pointed out that the gun was in good con- dition and it was not reason- able to suggest it had been planted two years ago. Ms. Halliday-Davis asked permission to speak to Mrs. Webster’s mother, who was at the back of the court. She returned and said the woman had confidence that her daughter and son-in-law would appear in court as di- rected, and she would put up any amount of the value of her own home for their bail. The magistrate inquired about forensic evidence and was told that an ex- pert would be traveling to Cayman to examine the items for DNA and fingerprints. Ms. Salako thought there might be preliminary results before the end of next week. The magistrate noted that a gun of this description had not been found on the streets of Cayman before. He said he could dis- tinguish between Mr. and Mrs. Webster insofar as Mr. Webster had made what could be construed as a par- tial admission in exoner- ating his wife. He granted bail to Mrs. Webster with conditions that included a surety in the sum of $30,000; a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6:30 a.m.; and daily reporting to police. He remanded Mr. Web- ster in custody and set the next mention date for Thursday, April 26. POLICE: JAMAICAN RETURNS AFTER PRISON SENTENCE BRENT FULLER bfuller@pinnaclemedialtd.com A man who pleaded guilty in 2016 to his part in a conspiracy to import 194 pounds of ganja to Cayman is believed to have illegally returned to the islands, Royal Cayman Islands Po- lice said Monday. Marlon Crowe, 36, of Ja- maica – not to be confused with the Caymanian man of the same name – was de- ported from Cayman last Oc- tober, according to police. “[He] is believed to have re- turned to the islands illegally,” an RCIPS statement issued Monday read. “Anyone who sees Mr. Crowe should exercise caution as he could be poten- tially dangerous.” Mr. Crowe pleaded guilty, along with two Caymanians, in 2016 to con- spiracy to import ganja. The three were found not guilty of possessing an illegal firearm. The three were found on Feb. 4, 2016 adrift some 20 miles off the coast of East End, Grand Cayman, according to court records. Police found 16 packages of ganja that also con- tained a firearm and 64 rounds of ammunition aboard the boat after it was towed to shore. All three men told the court they had no knowledge of the firearm and ammo and the trial judge found there was no forensic evidence linking any of the men to the gun. Royal Cayman Islands Po- lice officers said they could not publicly give reasons for why they believed Mr. Crowe to be “potentially dangerous” without compromising on- going investigations, but noted he had come here illegally and has a previous criminal record. RCIPS also noted there is no information available to suggest Mr. Crowe is wanted in his home country. Defense attorney Crister Brady advised the court at the time that Mr. Crowe had no previous conviction in Cayman or in Jamaica at the time. “He considered the trip to be a one-off to make some money,” the attorney said. Trial Judge Charles Quin said he did not doubt other people were involved in the drug shipment both in Jamaica and Cayman. Justice Quin said because the three men pleaded guilty, they would get some ad- ditional time off their sentences. Mr. Crowe was sentenced to two years, 10 months in prison in October 2016. Marlon CroweThe 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 EXECUTIVE EDITOR PATRICK BRENDEL A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will findtheirownway” Buckle up, Cayman: We could be in for a bumpy ride during this hurricane season. According to the Cayman Islands National Weather Service, experts predict the Atlantic Ocean basin will be socked by 14 named storms, 7 hurricanes and 3 major hurricanes. They calculate a 52 percent chance one of those major storms will make landfall in the Caribbean. That would make the 2018 season (which officially starts on June 1) only slightly less active than last year, when our region endured 17 named storms, 10 hurricanes and 6 major hurricanes – making it the most active season since 2005, and the seventh most active since 1851. There is no way of predicting if, where or when severe weather will strike Cayman, but forewarned is forearmed. Our low-lying islands are particularly vulnerable to severe flooding, storm surge and dangerous waves. Severe weather is an ever-looming existential threat to our three little islands, as we well know from Hurricane Ivan in 2004 and Hurricane Paloma in 2008. For a more recent reminder of the destructive potential each season brings, one need only look at the ongoing recovery efforts of our Caribbean neighbors who were walloped by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria last year – some of them slammed by not one, but two catastrophic events. “We prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” Danielle Coleman, deputy director of preparedness and planning at Hazard Management Cayman Islands told the Compass. “Predictions are just that, predictions, and they frequently change during the season.” That is why it is important to start early prepara- tions now, even before the official start of the season. It might be a bit early to start stocking up on bottled water and emergency food supplies, but this month is the ideal time to take advance precautions – purchasing necessary equipment and supplies to protect homes and property against strong winds and heavy rains. It is not too early to survey your surroundings, par- ticularly if you are in a new residence, to plan for shelter and make sure home and property insurance are up-to- date. Take photos of personal property and store them in a safe place. Collect official documents, cash and emer- gency contact information – and make copies. Pay attention to advisories as they are announced, including last week’s recommendation from the Passport and Corporate Services Office, urging all residents to make sure personal official and travel documents are up- to-date, collected in a safe, watertight space that is easy to access in an emergency. That includes passports, birth, marriage, naturaliza- tion, registration certificates and Caymanian Status and Permanent Residence documents. Further, the agency advised all residents to familiarize themselves with any visas or authorizations necessary to travel, should evacu- ation to other countries be required. The Department of Children and Family Services and Hazard Management Cayman Islands are asking for people to register and train as hurricane shelter volunteers for the 2018 hurricane season. Mandatory training sessions will be May 8 and 9, from 6-8:30 p.m. For more information and to register, call the Department of Children and Family Services on 949-0290 or email dcfs.smt@gov.ky. Cayman may not experience the traditional four seasons of winter, spring, summer and autumn, but we have our own: Christmas, Easter and Hurricane Season. Unfortunately, severe weather cannot be tied to a calendar date. Prepare early to be safe. For more information about preparedness, visit www.caymanprepared.ky, and refer to the Compass’s comprehensive hurricane preparedness guide when it is published in late May. Hurricane season: Plan early to ensure safety TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS South Dakota asks high court to circumvent the market WASHINGTON – South Da- kota has become what South Carolina once was – stubborn, pugnacious and wrong. In 1860, South Car- olina became the first state to vote to secede. In 2016, South Dakota’s legislature picked a fight in the hope that the U.S. Supreme Court would reverse a prior de- cision, thereby handing the state a policy victory it failed to win in Congress. South Dakota has en- acted a law contradicting a 26-year-old court deci- sion concerning interstate commerce, and a law Con- gress passed and extended ten times. The state wants to tax purchases that are made online from vendors that have no physical pres- ence in the state. South Da- kota wants to increase its revenue and mollify its Main Street merchants. This week, the court will hear oral arguments for and against South Dakota’s re- sponse to the greatest dis- ruption of retailing since the Sears, Roebuck catalog, more about which anon. In 1992, in the inter- net’s infancy, the court held that retailers are re- quired to collect a state’s sales taxes only when the retailers have a “substan- tial nexus” – basically, a physical, brick-and-mortar presence – in the state where the item sold is pur- chased. Such a nexus would mean that the retailer ben- efits from, and should pay for, local government ser- vices. Absent such a nexus, however, states’ taxation of sales would violate the Con- stitution, which vests in Congress alone the power to impose such burdens on interstate commerce. Fur- thermore, Richard A. Ep- stein of the University of Chicago and New York Uni- versity law school, says the 14th Amendment’s due pro- cess clause (“no state shall … deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law”) is a guarantee of funda- mental fairness “powerful enough to shield any party from taxation by a juris- diction with which it does not interact.” Internet commerce has burgeoned partly because many online retailers, by not collecting sales taxes, enjoy price advantages. This, however, is less valu- able to them than their other advantages of con- venience (no need to drive somewhere to shop) and choices (almost everything saleable is sold online). Such commerce could not have flourished if vendors bore the burden of deci- phering and complying with the tax policies of 12,000 state and local taxing ju- risdictions, with different goods exempted from tax- ation. So, in 1998 Congress enacted the internet Tax Freedom Act (it was made permanent in 2016). This expresses Congress’ policy choice to prohibit state and local governments from im- posing unique tax rules for Internet transactions. The ITFA, an exercise of Congress’ enumerated power to regulate inter- state commerce, is intended to shield small internet sellers from discriminatory taxes and compliance bur- dens. (Amazon pays sales taxes in all the 45 states that have them.) In 1998, the ITFA passed the House by unanimous consent and the Senate 96-2. For rev- enue reasons, only four gov- ernors endorsed it. Now South Dakota is seeking the court’s permission for its extraterritorial grasping. It wants the court to overrule this congressional policy calculation: The social ben- efits of dynamic internet commerce, with small com- panies enabled to com- pete with large ones, ex- ceed the costs to traditional retailers, such as Sears, which once upon a time was a problem for then-tra- ditional retailers. Late in the 19th cen- tury, the Sears, Roebuck catalog was a retailing re- sponse to what government had directly (the Homestead Act) and indirectly (gov- ernment-subsidized rail- roads) created – vast, thinly populated swaths of rural America where farm fam- ilies had few if any shop- ping opportunities. By 1898, the catalog had 583 pages. In 1907, when the nation’s population was 87 million, Sears mailed out 3 million catalog. In 1927, the nation of 119 million received 75 million Sears catalogs and other mailings, helped by another government pro- gram – rural free delivery. Some traditional down- town retailers were an- noyed, not for the last time: Walmart and other “big box” stores were coming to the edge of town. South Dakota’s imperti- nent law reflects this fact: Governments often are re- flexively reactionary when new technologies discom- fort established interests with which the political class has comfortable rela- tions of mutual support. The state’s sales tax revenues have grown faster than the state’s economy even as in- ternet retailing has grown. Its brick-and-mortar re- tailing survived Sears, Roe- buck, and then survived Walmart (often better than Sears, Roebuck has). Indeed, many brick-and-mortar re- tailers are now bricks-and- clicks enterprises, offering online shopping. Traditional retailing will, like Walmart (which is now being challenged by Amazon), prosper or not de- pending on market forces, meaning Americans’ pref- erences. State governments should not try to prevent this wholesome churning from going where it will. George Will’s email address is georgewill@washpost.com. © 2018, Washington Post Writers Group GEORGE F. WILL GEORGE South Dakota’s impertinent law reflects this fact: Governments often are reflexively reactionary when new technologies discomfort established interests with which the political class has comfortable relations of mutual support.5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2018 NOTICE TO THE MEMBERS OF CAYMAN NATIONAL PENSION FUND ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Notice is hereby given of the Annual General Meeting of Members of the Cayman National Pension Fund Ltd. to be held Wednesday 9th May, 2018, in the Cayman National Building, 4th Floor Board Room, Elgin Avenue, George Town, Grand Cayman at 4pm. The Agenda is set out below: - AGENDA 1. Review the Minutes of the last Members Meeting held on the 4th May, 2017 and any matters arising. 2. Receive Audited Financial Statements for the period ended 30th September 2017. 3. Report from Investment Committee. 4. Trustee Elections: David Perry retires by rotation and is eligible for re-election. 5. Any other competent business. Brac hosts first run of the DG’s 5K Challenge SPENCER FORDIN sfordin@pinnaclemedialtd.com Deputy Governor Franz Manderson tied on his run- ning shoes for the fifth annual DG’s 5K Challenge on Sunday, which kicked off on Cayman Brac. The race will be con- tested in Little Cayman for the first time on Saturday, and it will come to Grand Cayman for a grand finale on April 29. Mr. Manderson was one of nearly 80 runners who made their way to the finish line on Cayman Brac, and there were competitors of all ages and fit- ness levels. The race carried a $25 entry fee, and all proceeds will go toward the provision of meals at the island’s Kirkcon- nell Community Care Centre. When the race comes to Grand Cayman, it will benefit three deserving causes: Feed Our Future, Cayman Island Meals on Wheels, and the Ki- wanis Club of Grand Cayman’s Buy a Kid Breakfast program. The Little Cayman edition of the race will raise funds for a primary school “grow box.” “The 2018 DG’s 5K Chal- lenge got off to a great start on the Brac on Sunday,” Mr. Man- derson said. “We had a really good turnout and everybody enjoyed themselves. This is our way of giving back to the community and we are glad to support the Kirkconnell Com- munity Care Centre this year. “We are now looking for- ward to the DG’s 5K on Little Cayman next Sunday and then on Grand Cayman the following week. Everybody is welcome to join our fit- ness and fundraising event, whether you are a slow walker or a fast runner.” Lizzette Yearwood, chief executive officer of the Health Services Authority, was the fastest woman in the race for the third straight year. Gregley Gayle, an anaesthetic technician for the Health Ser- vices Authority, thundered home with the fastest time for all male competitors. Mr. Gayle won the event for the first time. The DG’s 5K Challenge aims to bring together civil servants, private sector em- ployees and members of the general public in a setting where they can raise money and better their own phys- ical fitness. Mr. Manderson’s vision is to have a healthier, more active and more so- cially engaged civil service. The DG’s 5K Challenge will begin and end at the Southern Cross Club on Little Cayman, and the Government Adminis- tration Building will serve as the site of the start and finish line on Grand Cayman. Gregley Gayle and Lizzette Yearwood, the fastest finishers for men and women, pose with their trophies after the race. Deputy Governor Franz Manderson congratulates Rosa Ritch at the finish line. Members of the Health Services Authority team pose prior to the race. - PHOTOS: JAMES TIBBETTS PHOTOGRAPHY And they’re off: Christon Ferguson and Zane Smith take the lead after the opening whistle. Nurse Kerry Hunter-Giscombe celebrates after crossing the finish line. Deputy Premier Moses Kirkconnell crosses the finish line at the DG’s 5K Challenge.The islands’ most-trusted news source 6 Community CALENDAR ■ COMMUNITY CALENDAR is published TUESDAYS and THURSDAYS. It is available to charitable or nonprofit organizations. Items should be submitted at least three working days before publication. Information must include name of sender, signature and contact number. ■ Items may be faxed to 949-2662, brought to the Cayman Compass office on Shedden Rd. or emailed to cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com at least three days in advance of publication. TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS TUESDAY, APRIL 17 SEAFARERS: The Cayman Islands Seafarers Association advises all members of a general meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the Seafarers Hall, 11 Victory Ave. Prospect. Buses will be provided from West Bay Town Hall at 6 p.m. A bus route has been added in George Town, leaving the public library parking area at 7 p.m., stopping at Cayman Compass building and the Airport Fosters. The bus is blue and marked Bobo $1, but there is no charge. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18 BRAC OLDER PERSONS: The Older Persons’ Council is seeking input from older persons and their families through a series of meetings in each of the Cayman Islands’ six Districts. The meeting for Cayman Brac and Little Cayman is today, noon till 2 p.m. at the Aston Rutty Centre. Light refreshments will be available. THURSDAY, APRIL 19 PUB QUIZ: Fidel Murphy’s. 7 p.m. To benefit the Humane Society. SATURDAY, APRIL 21 ROTARY SCIENCE FAIR: 10 a.m. until noon. The Arts & Recreation Centre. All are invited. INTERNATIONAL NIGHT: The principal and staff of Sir John A. Cumber Primary IB World School are inviting parents of students and members of the community to attend “International Night 2018 – Passport to the World, A Celebration of Cultures.” 6-8 p.m. At the school’s Shirley Kidd Memorial Hall. GEORGE TOWN OLDER PERSONS: The Older Persons’ Council is seeking input from older persons and their families through a series of meetings in each of the Cayman Islands’ six Districts. The meeting for George Town is today, 5:30-7 p.m. at the Family Life Centre. Light refreshments will be available. OVERCOMING DISABILITY: Jamaica’s first visually impaired member of the Parliament of Jamaica, Senator Dr. Floyd Morris, speaks at the Kings Seventh-day Adventist Church, off Walkers Road, adjacent to Cayman Academy, at 4:30 p.m. on the subject of public policies on disabilities and how they impact some core areas of people’s lives, such as religious liberty. All are invited. EARTH DAY FAIR: Sir John A. Cumber Primary School Field, 4-9 p.m. Music, food stalls, exhibits, kids zone, artists corner, eco-friendly vendors. Admission free. Organized by West Bay Central Earth Day Committee. SUNDAY, APRIL 22 CONVOCATION: The United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands Cayman Islands Regional Mission Council will host Convocation 2018 beginning at 9 a.m. at Cayman Prep and High School Auditorium on Walkers Road. All are invited to join this year’s Convocation with the theme Disciples of Peace. DG’S 5K CHALLENGE: Registration is open for the 2018 Deputy Governor’s 5K Challenge. The walk/ run is being held on Little Cayman today, and Grand Cayman Sunday, April 29. The event is raising money for five good causes. In Little Cayman, money will be used for a “grow box” at the island’s school. Register at www.caymanactive.com/dg5K. MONDAY, APRIL 23 OVERCOMING DISABILITY: Jamaica’s first visually impaired member of the Parliament of Jamaica, Senator Dr. Floyd Morris, will be at Camana Bay’s Books & Books, at 5 p.m. where he will be available to sign his book, “Not by Sight, But by Faith.” All are invited. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25 NORTH SIDE OLDER PERSONS: The Older Persons’ Council is seeking input from older persons and their families through a series of meetings in each of the Cayman Islands’ six Districts. The meeting for North Side is today, 7-8:30 p.m. at the Civic Centre. Light refreshments will be available. THURSDAY, APRIL 26 PUB QUIZ: The Alzheimer’s and Dementia Association holds a Pub Quiz at 7 p.m. at Fidel Murphy’s. Get your colleagues, friends and family together and come out for a night of brain challenge. Entry fee is $10 per person and teams are made up of 6 persons. Call 924-4170 to reserve a table. Lots of prizes and surprises. SATURDAY, APRIL 28 WEST BAY OLDER PERSONS: The Older Persons’ Council is seeking input from older persons and their families through a series of meetings in each of the Cayman Islands’ six Districts. The meeting for West Bay is today, 5:30-7 p.m. at the Sir John A. Cumber Primary School Hall. Light refreshments will be available. LITTLE CAYMAN AGRICULTURE SHOW: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Blossom Village Park. Contact Roger Scott, 948-1051, or Chevala Burke at chevala.burke@gov.ky. DEALS ON WHEELS: The Red Cross mobile Thrift Shop will be in East End, close to Pirates Cove Bar, 6-10 a.m. SUNDAY, APRIL 29 HEALTH & WELLNESS EXPO: Free community event organized by the East End SDA Church. 2-5 p.m. Cooking lessons and tastings, massages, hydrotherapy and facials, blood pressure and sugar testing, Ask the Doctor booth. SDA Church, 2638 Sea View Road. All are invited. TUESDAY, MAY 1 HURRICANE SHELTER VOLUNTEERS: The Department of Children and Family Services wants people to sign up as hurricane shelter volunteers for the 2018 hurricane season. Today is the deadline to register for training to offer support and immediate on-scene assistance. Training sessions are Tuesday and Wednesday, May 8 and 9 from 6-8:30 p.m. For further information and to register, please call the Department on 949-0290 or email dcfs.smt@gov.ky. SATURDAY, MAY 5 BODDEN TOWN OLDER PERSONS: The Older Persons’ Council is seeking input from older persons and their families through a series of meetings in each of the Cayman Islands’ six Districts. The meeting for Bodden Town is today, 5:30-7 p.m. at the Civic Centre. Light refreshments will be available. SATURDAY, MAY 12 EAST END OLDER PERSONS: The Older Persons’ Council is seeking input from older persons and their families through a series of meetings in each of the Cayman Islands’ six Districts. The meeting for East End is today, 5:30-7 p.m. at the East End United Church Hall, Gun Bay. Light refreshments will be available. GENERAL INTEREST VEHICLE & LICENSING DEPT.: The Crewe Road office of the Department of Vehicle and Drivers’ Licensing has resumed its normal hours of operations. The office will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. No extended hours for license plate exchanges on Wednesdays. No Saturday openings. CADET CORPS: The Cayman Islands Cadet Corps is looking for new recruits, ages 11-16, to join the Band Detachment or the Marine Detachment and School Detachments at John Gray High School, Clifton Hunter High School, Layman E. Scott High School and Triple C School. Program includes drilling, field craft and adventure, navigation, first-aid, competition shooting, physical and leadership training, music and band, water-based activities. For more information, contact the Cadet Corps at 938-8821/22, 946-9810 or email cadetcorps@gov.ky. On Cayman Brac, call 948-8824 or 938-8824. Website is www.cicadetcorps.ky. EARLY CHILDHOOD FEES: The Ministry of Education provides financial assistance for Caymanian children between 3 and 4 years of age before Sept. 1, 2018, to assist with payment of fees at an early childhood center between September and June 30. Application forms can be downloaded from www.education.gov.ky or collected from the Government Administration Building, the Department of Education Services and all early childhood centres. Contact Renee Barnes at 244-5735, Turnette Stewart at 244-5724 or email ecap@gov.ky. BETHESDA COUNSELLING CENTRE: Caters to all who seek help. Open Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at 68 Mary St. Appointments available Saturdays and late evenings. Owned and operated by the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Call 946-6575. HUMANE SOCIETY BOOK LOFT: North Sound Road. Open Monday 12:30-4 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday 5:30-7:30 p.m. Volunteers needed for front desk a few hours per week. Email humanesocietybookloft@ candw.ky or call 946-8053. Donations of books, games, CDs, stationery, DVDs, cards etc., in good condition always needed. COMMUNITY CHESS: Tuesdays 5-8 p.m., West Indies Wine Company. Join the Cayman Chess Club for a complimentary chess class and open challenges weekly. Anyone can learn to play and enjoy chess, even beginners. OPEN CANVAS: Every Wednesday. Visual Arts Society supports this event at KARoo Restaurant located in Camana Bay. 7-11 p.m. No fee. Easels provided for artist of all levels to come out and enjoy painting and socializing with other artists. Email info@visualartcayman.com or jar.was@gmail.com. MUSEUM TOURS: The National Museum provides guided tours for students and school groups free of cost. Students will gain an understanding of Cayman’s geological formation, flora and fauna, seafaring and rope-making heritage, political history and more. Contact the museum to book a tour in advance at 949-8368 or email info@museum.ky. CLUBS, ORGANIZATIONS ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: Meets daily to help with drinking problems. Call 926-9044 or visit www.caymanaa.org. NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS: Is available for substance abuse help. Call the info line at 929–NANA (6262). AL-ANON GROUP MEETING: Are you troubled by someone’s drinking? Al-Anon Family Groups can help. Call 928-8843 or email caymanalanon@gmail.com for meeting times. OVERCOMERS OUTREACH: A Christ-centered 12-step recovery group addresses addictions and those affected by them. Meetings at Cayman Islands Baptist Church, Pedro Castle Road, Mondays, 7 p.m. For details, contact Virginia Castillo at 946-2422, or visit www.overcomersoutreach.org. DEMENTIA/ALZHEIMER’S SUPPORT GROUP: This group meets on the last Wednesday of each month at ADACI’s office, 4th floor Cardinall Plaza, 30 Cardinall Ave., George Town. All are invited to attend. Call 924-4170 or email info@adacyman.com. GRAND CAYMAN TOASTMASTERS: Club meets each Thursday 6-7:15 p.m. on 3rd Floor, George Town Public Library. Visitors and guests welcome. Local contact is George R. Ebanks, 322-9369 or Grand Cayman Toastmasters club on Facebook. Email info@ toastmastersclub2686.org. ROTARACT BLUE OF CAYMAN: Meets Wednesdays 6 p.m., at Royal Palms Beach Club, West Bay Road. Contact rotaractblue@gmail.com or www.rotaractblue.org. For more Community Calendar events, visit www.caymancompass.com/events. The annual Rotary Science Fair will be held on Saturday, April 21, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Arts and Recreation Centre in Camana Bay. All are invited.The islands’ most-trusted news source 7 CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2018 JOIN ROTARY CENTRAL FOR THE CLUB’S 12TH ANNUAL ARE YOU A TOP STUDENT WITH UNIQUE IDEAS? Compete for Cash and other prizes. 21st April 2018 DOORS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC 10am – 12pm SPONSORS: WE INVITE SPONSORS TO SUPPORT THE BRIGHT MINDS OF OUR YOUTH. CONTACT: Rotarian Leyla Jackson • EMAIL. Leyl.Jackson@gmail.com SIGN UP Now to showcase your creativity in the 2018 Rotary Science Fair! www.rotarysciencefair.ky Camana Bay Arts and Recreation Centre at Cayman International School ADMISSION IS FREE Central Cayman Islands DR. BILL HRUDEY DR. BILL HRUDEY “Maybe the big ones came through already.” Others think the slow tournament may have had something to do with the currents. “Normally around this time of the year, the cur- rents come in from the north- east and head west, but this year it’s going to the east,” said About Time captain Leon Dilbert. “So the bigger mahi, instead of coming in, they head out.” “Other than that, the only excuse I have is that the fish weren’t biting,” added one of the tournament’s orga- nizers, Len Layman. While there were not many big dolphins caught, Mr. Dil- bert’s crew did haul in a 60.9- pound tuna, which he said he will give to Kirk Market. Down the Hatch crew- member Ron Hatch also said his team caught and re- leased a 6.5-foot whitetip shark, winning a cash prize of $1,000 for putting a sat- ellite tag on it to further the Guy Harvey Founda- tion’s research. Additionally, the tour- nament’s 33 competitors tagged dozens of smaller dolphinfish, also assisting with the Guy Harvey Foun- dation’s work. “It’s important to measure mahi-mahi fish stocks, con- sidering how much we eat them,” said conservationist Jessica Harvey. “Also, they grow very fast and live about four years, so they’re really interesting to study.” The tournament’s awards ceremony was scheduled to take place Monday night at the George Town Yacht Club. OfReg and new require- ments for price reporting for Cayman’s two main fuel distributors. In the U.S., prices at the pump have risen steadily since the beginning of the year, going from an average of US$2.53 (CI$2.08) per U.S. gallon (.83 imperial gallon) for regular unleaded last month to US$2.71 average as of Monday – a 7 percent one-month increase. The U.S. Energy Information Ad- ministration notes average per gallon prices during the summer holiday period are expected to rise to around US$2.74 per U.S. gallon. Internationally, prices per barrel of Brent crude – a key international bench- mark for oil prices – have risen steadily since July 2017, going from US$46 per barrel to US$69 per barrel in January 2018. Average Brent crude prices were US$66 per barrel in March. Cayman’s fuel dis- tributors have long ar- gued that comparisons be- tween the American fuel market and prices here in Cayman are unfair. “The USA is a macro market with totally dif- ferent supply logistics, vast fuel resources, huge fuel storage capacity, a network of pipelines from the re- fineries to the distribution points, and trucking fleets which deliver fuel 24 hours per day, 365 days per year,” said Alan Neesome of Sol Petroleum, which supplies the local Esso stations. “The USA’s scale of opera- tions provides efficiencies in fuel distribution that Cayman does not obtain as we have much higher unit infrastructural and opera- tional costs, which result in higher prices to consumers than in the U.S.” of the marriage or cohabita- tion, the standard of living the family enjoyed before the breakdown of the relation- ship, and whether there is a family home. Similar reforms were orig- inally recommended in a Law Reform Commission report in 2013, but were never enacted. “One of the principal aims of modern divorce leg- islation is to ensure that when a marriage has broken down and parties have no in- tention of trying to fix such marriage, the process of dis- solving the marital partner- ship should be as free of acrimony as possible,” the report states. “Naturally, this depends on the person- ality of the parties and the circumstances leading to the breakdown, but legisla- tion should ensure that this difficult time is made less painful. One of the legisla- tive responses to this was to move away from fault-based divorce and provide for one ground of divorce, i.e., irre- trievable breakdown.” The public can submit feedback to the proposals by June 8 by writing to Law Reform Commission Director Cheryl Neblett at cheryl.neblett@gov.ky. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Proposed laws would reform divorce, maintenance rules 10 cent hike noted in local gas prices CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The prices for regular gasoline rose by an average of $4.43 as of March 31 to $4.52 by April 7. Anglers struggle to find big fish at 8th Kirk Slam CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 California rejects border duties for troops SAN DIEGO (AP) – California has rejected terms of the federal government’s initial plans for sending National Guard troops to the border because the work is consid- ered too closely tied to immi- gration, two U.S. officials told The Associated Press. Gov. Jerry Brown elicited rare and effusive praise from President Donald Trump last week for pledging 400 troops to the Guard’s third large- scale border mission since 2006. But the Democratic gov- ernor conditioned his com- mitment on troops having nothing to do with immigra- tion enforcement, even in a supporting role. Brown’s announcement last week did not address what specific jobs the Cal- ifornia Guard would and would not do and how state officials would distinguish work related to immigration from other aspects of border enforcement, such as fighting criminal gangs and drug and gun smuggling. Brown’s offer of troops for the mission that Trump wants up to 4,000 troops to perform is still in place. But state authorities told fed- eral officials late last week that the California Guard will not perform tasks in an ini- tial rollout planned for all four border states, according to officials with knowledge of the talks who spoke con- dition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. Those jobs include fixing and maintaining vehicles, using remote-control surveil- lance cameras to report sus- picious activity to U.S. border patrol agents, operating ra- dios and providing “mission support,” which can include clerical work, buying gas and handling payroll, the of- ficials said. California Na- tional Guard members have done such work in previous border deployments. Talks are ongoing and the federal government has yet to publicly respond to Brown’s demand that troops avoid im- migration enforcement or the state’s position on avoiding the specific jobs proposed, the officials said. The federal government also proposed that troops provide air support in a second phase of the border- wide rollout, which includes aerial surveillance and flying agents to remote locations, but California officials have not responded to that re- quest, the officials said. Republican governors from the three other border states – Arizona, New Mexico and Texas – have openly em- braced the Trump adminis- tration’s plans and specific tasks for guard members sent to the border with Mexico. Texas National Guard mem- bers are already doing aerial and ground surveillance. Offi- cials with Arizona’s National Guard said last week that its troops will provide air and ground support Brown’s commitment al- lowed Trump to boast sup- port from all four border- state governors and helped put the president above the lower end of his threshold of marshaling 2,000 to 4,000 troops that he wants as a border security mission to fight illegal immigration and drug trafficking. In this March 13, 2018 photo, a motorcade carrying President Donald Trump drives along the border in San Diego. - PHOTO: APThe islands’ most-trusted news source 8 TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2018 • CAYMAN COMPASS Protesters take da Silva’s apartment A homeless movement has occupied the beachfront apartment at the center of the corruption case against former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Organizers said da Silva’s arrest is a farce and protesters have the right to stay if the apartment indeed belongs to the former president. Raul Castro leaves Cuba with new freedoms, deep problems HAVANA (AP) – In 2008 Raul Castro took over a country where most people could not own computers or cellphones, leave without permis- sion, run most types of private busi- nesses or enter resort hotels. Castro set about re-engi- neering the system he had helped create and Cuba opened dramati- cally over his decade in office. But when Castro steps down Thursday after two terms as president he will leave his successor a host of problems that are deeper than on the day his brother Fidel formally handed over power. Cuba has nearly 600,000 pri- vate entrepreneurs, more than 5 million cellphones, a bustling real estate market and one of the world’s fastest-growing airports. Limited internet use is expanding fast, with thousands of Cubans in- stalling new home connections this year. Foreign debt has been paid. Tourism numbers have more than doubled since Castro and President Barack Obama re-established dip- lomatic relations in 2015, making Cuba a destination for nearly 5 million visitors a year, despite a plunge in relations under the Trump administration. On the other side of the ledger, Cuba’s Soviet-style command economy still employs three of every four Cuban workers but pro- duces little. Private sector growth has been largely frozen. The av- erage monthly state salary is $31 – so low that workers often live on stolen goods and handouts from relatives overseas. Foreign invest- ment remains anemic. The island’s infrastructure is falling deeper into disrepair. The break with Wash- ington dashed dreams of detente with the U.S., and after two de- cades of getting Venezuelan subsi- dies totaling more than $6 billion a year, Cuba’s patron has collapsed economically with no replacement in the wings. Castro’s inability or unwilling- ness to fix Cuba’s structural prob- lems with deep and wide-ranging reforms has many wondering how a successor without Castro’s founding father credentials will manage the country over the next five or 10 years. “People in Cuba really haven’t processed yet what it means to have a government without Raul or Fidel leading it,” said Yassel Padron Kunakbaeva, a prolific 27-year-old blogger who writes frequently from what he describes as a Marxist, rev- olutionary perspective. “We’re en- tering unknown territory.” Tens of thousands of highly edu- cated professionals are abandoning the island each year, leaving Cuba with the combination of third-world economy and the demographics of a graying European nation. After a 2016 recession, Cuba said growth was 1.6 percent last year, although official accounts remain opaque and questioned by experts. The single- party government controls virtu- ally all forms of expression and or- ganization, with near-zero tolerance of public criticism or dissent. The mood on the street is pessimistic, with few expecting a better future anytime soon. “The political future of who- ever takes over in April depends on the economic question,” said Jose Raul Viera Linares, a former first deputy minister of foreign affairs. “It’s the possibility for young people to dream, to design their own fu- ture. That’s all based in the ma- terial wealth that this country is able to achieve.” The greatest immediate chal- lenge for Castro’s expected suc- cessor – 57-year-old Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez – is unwinding a byzantine dual-cur- rency system featuring one type of Cuban peso worth 4 cents and an- other that is nearly a dollar. The system was designed to insulate a state-run, egalitarian internal market using “national money” from trade with the outside world de- nominated in “convertible pesos.” The barrier between the two worlds swiftly collapsed and the system has fostered big economic distortions. Inefficient state enter- prises receive mammoth subsidies by obtaining expensive convertible pesos for the price of the cheaper “Cuban peso.” The dual-currency system also allows private busi- nesses to receive subsidized goods and services like water and elec- tricity in Cuban pesos, then turn around and charge their relatively wealthy clients in convertible pesos at a significant profit. Castro called for elimination of the dual currencies from the begin- ning of his presidency, but never got around to it. Unlike his brother Fidel, who extended his time in of- fice until illness forced him to re- tire, Raul has long made clear that he would step down as presi- dent in 2018 as part of a coordi- nated handoff to a new genera- tion of leaders. He will remain first secretary of the Communist Party, the country’s guiding body, but many Cubans ex- pect him to move into semi-retire- ment in Santiago, the largest city in Cuba’s east, where he was born and led rebel troops in the country’s 1959 revolution. In one of his final speeches last year he called once again for the system’s urgent elimination, a process that many expect to start in Diaz-Canel’s first year in power. Eliminating dual currency is widely seen as necessary for Cu- ba’s economy to grow, but it carries risks of inflation and major disrup- tion for inefficient state businesses whose subsidized balance sheets will finally become understandable when they are denominated in a single currency. Those state businesses gained new competitors as Castro ex- panded the space for capitalism in the Cuban economy by permitting private enterprise in dozens of fields ranging from agriculture to hospi- tality to construction. “We’ve risen up economically. The new possibilities have changed my life, of course,” said Yanelis Garcia, a 44-year-old mother of three who saved money from raising pigs in her backyard to slowly build a prosperous six-room bed-and- breakfast and taxi business in the central city of Santa Clara. “I’ve al- ways liked having my own business to be able to provide for my family. It’s been really good.” Cubans fill thousands of flights a year to Miami, Panama and Cancun, where they cram duffel bags with gym socks and Xboxes for the vi- brant private sector and rising middle class. But last August, the Cuban government froze new li- censes for private bed-and-break- fasts, restaurants and other popular businesses, leaving many Cubans questioning how their government envisions a path to prosperity. “We’ve seen necessary reforms and I think that in the future there will have to be more,” said Norma Chiang, a 77-year-old state accoun- tant and auditor. “Self-employment needs to be broadened, little things like bakeries or food stands that can be in the hands of individuals and not the state.” Despite the image of Raul Castro as an all-powerful military strongman, many Cubans say back- and-forth moves and the overall slow pace of reform have shown the dif- ficulty of modernizing a Soviet-era bureaucracy controlled by hundreds of thousands of civil servants who would be threatened by a transition into a market economy, a difficulty Castro’s successor will also face. “No one dares to disobey Raul to his face. They quietly don’t get things done and search for ways to cover their backs so no one can accuse them of not getting things done,” Padron said. Cuba’s next president also must find a way to make its economy grow while maintaining social sta- bility and satisfying the millions of Cubans who depend on the state and a shrinking list of subsidized essentials sold in Cuban pesos for their survival. While Cuba sees Russia as one of its closest allies, Cuba’s leaders are desperate to pre- vent the sort of shock transition to capitalism that marked the end of the Soviet Union. “I can’t eat, dress myself and live on $20 a month,” said Adela Ar- pajon, a 54-year-old accountant for the Communist Party. “I either eat or buy clothes. It’s hard, but that’s the way it is.” Wariness of disruption is exac- erbated by Cuba’s increasing eco- nomic dependence on the Cuban emigres and exiles once seen by the Communist government as a threat to its survival. As part of his broader immigra- tion reforms, Raul Castro changed Cuba’s relationship with its dias- pora by allowing Cubans to main- tain their rights to own property and receive social benefits as long as they return once every two years. That change fueled the growth of a new class of Cubans who earn money overseas but invest at home and are responsible for hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars in small-scale investment on the is- land in recent years. More than 20,000 Cuban emi- gres have “repatriated” and regained their property rights since the emi- gration reforms, according to Cuban figures. Still, the flow of emigres back to Cuba is swamped by the outward flood of Cubans unleashed by Castro’s elimination of the hated exit permit known as the “white card.” According to U.S. Homeland Security statistics, the United States admitted 463,502 Cubans between 2006 and 2016, with tens of thou- sands more heading to countries such as Spain and Ecuador. “I don’t think people have re- alized how momentous that is in terms of for the first time having circular migration,” said Lisandro Perez, an expert on the Cuban di- aspora at New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “They take back things, they finance pri- vate restaurants. It’s a totally dif- ferent ballgame.” Castro’s successor will have to manage the delicate relationship with Cuba’s prosperous exiles at a time when relations with the U.S. have dropped from an unprece- dented high under President Barack Obama to a deep low under Presi- dent Donald Trump. For Reinaldo Taladrid, a popular commentator on state television, tensions with the U.S. will serve as a brake on any reforms sought by Raul Castro’s successor. “While there’s a sense of a state of siege, there’s an instinct of self- preservation that doesn’t have any- thing to do with politics. It’s the human instinct for self-preservation. You have the world’s most powerful state, the most powerful government in the history of humanity that has regime change in Cuba as its official policy,” Taladrid said. “While that’s true this little, poor country’s gov- ernment will have a siege mentality, and it’s logical to have it.” In this Dec. 3, 2016 photo, women hold a portrait of the late Fidel Castro, and of his brother, Cuba’s President Raul Castro, as they wait to see the arrival of the caravan transporting Fidel’s ashes from Havana, in Santiago, Cuba. The caravan was fraught with symbolism as the island nation buried the only leader it had known besides his younger brother, Raul, in 57 years. - PHOTO: AP9 WORLD&REGIONAL CAYMAN COMPASS • TUESDAY APRIL 17, 2018 SaxonMG Insurance is seeking witnesses to a serious motor vehicle/motorcycle accident which occurred on Tuesday 6 January 2015 on the Esterley Tibbetts Highway at around 6 p.m. in the vicinity of Raleigh Quay, West Bay and involving a Toyota Windom and a Kawasaki motorcycle, and possibly witnessed by the driver of a green Honda. If you witnessed this accident would you please call 623-7788. Compensation may be available for your time. SEEKING WITNESS May: Syria strikes were legal and moral LONDON (AP) – British Prime Minister Theresa May told restive lawmakers on Monday that military air- strikes against Syria were right both legally and mor- ally, and accused Syria and its ally Russia of at- tempting to cover-up evi- dence of a deadly chemical weapons attack. May faced down her do- mestic critics as European Union foreign ministers united to say they under- stood the need for the air- strikes and called for a new push for a political solution to the war in Syria. Royal Air Force jets joined American and French war- planes and ships in hitting targets in Syria early Sat- urday in response to a re- ported chemical attack by the Syrian government in the town of Douma. The British government is not legally bound to seek lawmakers’ approval for mil- itary strikes, although it is customary to do so. May told lawmakers in the House of Commons that consulting them would have been impractical, both be- cause Parliament was on a spring break until Monday and because some of the in- telligence behind the decision was classified. “We have always been clear that the government has the right to act quickly in the national interest,” May said, calling the military ac- tion “not just morally right but also legally right.” “We cannot allow the use of chemical weapons to be- come normalized, either within Syria, on the streets of the U.K., or elsewhere,” May said – linking the chemical attack in Syria with the poi- soning of a former Russian spy and his daughter last month with a military-grade nerve agent in the English city of Salisbury. Syria and its backer Russia have both denied that Syrian government forces carried out the Douma gas attack, sug- gesting it may have been staged to implicate them. May said the presence of helicopters and the use of barrel bombs pointed the finger of blame squarely at the government of Syrian Presi- dent Bashar Assad. She ac- cused Syria, aided by Russia, of trying to block an investiga- tion into the gas attack being done by the international chemical weapons watchdog. “The Syrian regime has reportedly been attempting to conceal the evidence by searching evacuees from Douma to ensure samples are not being smuggled from this area. And a wider operation to conceal the facts of the at- tack is under way, supported by the Russians,” she said. Ahmet Uzumcu, director- general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chem- ical Weapons, said Monday that the organization’s team “has not yet deployed to Douma,” two days after ar- riving in Syria. He said Syrian and Rus- sian officials who met the OPCW team in Damascus told them “that there were still pending security issues to be worked out before any deployment could take place.” In an unusual move, the British government said it would seek an emergency House of Commons debate on the airstrikes so legisla- tors could have their say. Yet an after-the-fact debate – which may not include a vote – is unlikely to satisfy angry opposition lawmakers. Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, called the airstrikes “legally questionable” and accused May of “following Donald Trump’s lead.” He said Britain should introduce a War Powers Act to ban mil- itary action without Parlia- ment’s approval. May rejected the claim. “We have not done this because President Trump asked us to do so,” May said. “We have done it because we believe it was the right thing to do – and we are not alone.” French Prime Minister Ed- ouard Philippe justified the military action in a speech Monday to the National As- sembly, France’s lower house of parliament. The speech was being followed by a de- bate, but a vote on France’s participation in the Syria air- strikes is not anticipated. Under the French Consti- tution, the government must inform the parliament, but a vote is requested only if a mil- itary intervention is expected to last more than four months. In Luxembourg, the for- eign ministers of the 28 EU countries called for a political breakthrough involving re- gional players to put Syria on track to a peaceful solution for its seven-year conflict. The ministers said the EU “understands” the need for the coordinated U.S, French and British airstrikes fol- lowing the suspected April 7 chemical attack. They insisted it was executed with “the sole objective to prevent fur- ther use of chemical weapons and chemical substances as weapons by the Syrian re- gime to kill its own people.” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the EU wants to use a major meeting on Syria in Brussels next week to give impetus to U.N. peace efforts following Saturday’s airstrikes. “There is the need to give a push to the U.N.-led pro- cess,” Mogherini said. More than 70 delegations are expected to attend the April 24-25 Syria donor con- ference in Brussels. Prime Minister Theresa May appears during a press conference in 10 Downing Street, London on Saturday’s air strikes against Syria. - PHOTO: PA WIRE White House weighing more Russia sanctions WASHINGTON (AP) – The White House says a decision on new economic sanctions against Russia will be made soon – not committing to an announcement Monday that U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley had said to expect. In a statement, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said: “We are considering additional sanctions on Russia and a decision will be made in the near future.” Haley had said Sunday that new sanctions were coming against Russia for enabling the government of Syrian leader Bashar Assad to continue using chemical weapons. She said Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin “will be announcing those on Monday, if he hasn’t already.” She said Russia has blocked six attempts by the U.N. Se- curity Council to make it easier to investigate the use of chemical weapons. “Everyone is going to feel it at this point,” Haley said, warning of consequences for Assad’s foreign allies. “The fact he was making this more normal and that Russia was covering this up, all that has got to stop.” President Donald Trump on Sunday said a U.S.-led missile attack on Syria’s chemical weapons program was “perfectly carried out.” Trump tweeted “Mis- sion Accomplished” on Sat- urday after U.S., French and British warplanes and ships launched more than 100 mis- siles nearly unopposed by Syrian air defenses. While he declared success, the Pen- tagon said the pummeling of three chemical-related facili- ties left enough others intact to enable the Assad govern- ment to use banned weapons against civilians if it chooses. His choice of words re- called a similar claim asso- ciated with President George W. Bush following the U.S.- led invasion of Iraq. Bush addressed sailors aboard a Navy ship in May 2003 alongside a “Mission Accom- plished” banner, just weeks before it became apparent that Iraqis had organized an insurgency that would tie down U.S. forces for years. Later Sunday, Trump sent a letter to congres- sional leaders informing them in writing of his de- cision to order the strike. Under the War Powers Res- olution, the president must keep Congress informed of such actions. Haley made clear the United States will not be pulling troops out of Syria right away, saying U.S. in- volvement there “is not done.” Haley said the three U.S. goals for accomplishing its mission are making sure chemical weapons are not used in a way that could harm U.S. national interests, defeating the Islamic State group and having a good vantage point to watch what Iran is doing. “We’re not going to leave until we know we’ve accom- plished those things,” she said. Haley said the joint mili- tary strike “put a heavy blow into their chemical weapons program, setting them back years” and reiterated that if Assad uses poison gas again, “the United States is locked and loaded.” French President Em- manuel Macron said Sunday that France wants to launch a diplomatic initiative over Syria that would include Western powers, Russia and Turkey. Speaking on French television BFM and on- line site Mediapart, Macron stressed that the French di- plomacy is able to talk with Iran, Russia and Turkey on one side and to the United States on the other side. He said, “Ten days ago, President Trump wanted to withdraw from Syria. We convinced him to remain.” Sanders asserted that Trump’s plans for the region have not changed. In a state- ment, she said “he wants U.S. forces to come home as quickly as possible.” The nighttime assault on Syria was carefully limited to minimize civilian casualties and avoid direct conflict with Russia, but confusion arose over the extent to which Wash- ington warned Moscow it was coming. The Pentagon said it gave no explicit warning. The U.S. ambassador in Moscow, John Huntsman, said in a video, “Before we took action, the United States communi- cated with” Russia to “reduce the danger of any Russian or civilian casualties.” Russia has military forces, including air defenses, in sev- eral areas of Syria to support Assad in his long war against anti-government rebels. Assad denies he has used chemical weapons, and the Trump administration has yet to present hard evidence of what it says precipitated the allied missiles attack: a chlorine gas attack on civil- ians in Douma on April 7. The U.S. says it suspects that sarin gas also was used. The strikes “successfully hit every target,” said Dana W. White, the chief Pentagon spokeswoman. The military said there were three targets: the Barzah chemical weapons research and development site in the Damascus area, a chemical weapons storage fa- cility near Homs and a chem- ical weapons “bunker” a few miles from the second target. Although officials said the singular target was Assad’s chemical weapons capability, his air force, including heli- copters he allegedly has used to drop chemical weapons on civilians, were spared. Haley said the three U.S. goals for accomplishing its mission are making sure chemical weapons are not used in a way that could harm U.S. national interests, defeating the Islamic State group and having a good vantage point to watch what Iran is doing.Next >