ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – MONDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2019 High of 84 Low of 73 Slight with wave heights of 1 to 3 feet. EDITORIAL | PAGE 4 TURTLE RELEASE: A ‘SHELL GAME’ WORTH PLAYING LOCAL | PAGE 3 CHARLES LINDBERGH EDEN, ONE OF LAST VESTRYMEN, PASSES SEVEN MILE BEACH WATERFRONT WALKERS ROAD TOWN CENTRE PLAZA RED BAY ORIGINAL CHICKEN FRIES NEW CHICKEN FRIES Foreclosures down as economy rebounds JAMES WHITTAKER jwhittaker@pinnaclemedialtd.com The number of people losing their homes to foreclosures in the Cayman Islands has re- duced significantly over the last few years, ac- cording to data from realtors. There were 67 forced sales concluded last year on homes, businesses and land plots in the Cayman Islands, down from 116 in 2015. Those sales figures, from the Cayman Is- lands Real Estate Brokers Association, include properties that have been on the market for several years. According to Kim Lund, of RE/MAX, there are relatively few new foreclosure properties coming onto the market. He said there were currently 43 such properties for sale, many of which had been on the market for some time. “Fortunately, we are seeing less and less foreclosure sales, every year now. Last year, we only had 67 foreclosure sales. We hope this trend continues until there are no foreclosure sales, with no one being forced to sell their property,” he said. Jeanette Totten, president of CIREBA, said the real estate market was starting to feel the effects of the economic recovery. She said there were fewer foreclosed homes on the market and those that were listed were selling quickly for closer to market value. “The whole economy in Cayman is in a lot better shape. There is not a lot of unemploy- ment, people are not being foreclosed on as much. There’s a lot less [foreclosure proper- ACTING CHIEF FIRE OFFICER APPOINTED TO REPLACE HAILS KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com Divisional Officer Witney Tatum has been appointed as the acting chief of the Cayman Islands Fire Service effective Friday. Mr. Tatum replaces David Hails, whose three-year contract expired on the same day. Meanwhile, government continues searching for an interim chief fire officer, to serve for 12 months for a salary of between $105,252 and $128,232. Government has also responded to crit- ical online media reports and comments made by legislators about Mr. Hails departing with a payment from government of more than $40,000 for the compensatory time he accrued during his tenure. Those reports and comments suggested that Mr. Hails received his payment on his way out the door. Mr. Hails, however, said the payment was made in early 2018 for owed comp time and accrued leave, and that virtu- ally every other person in his department re- ceived payouts. On Friday, the Ministry of Home Affairs made similar statements. “A pay-out to staff across several depart- ments in the Ministry in early 2018 was made in keeping with established HR policy to re- duce the amount of accrued annual leave and comp time carried forward into a new budget year by its personnel,” the ministry stated. “With the approval of the Deputy Governor, a total of 51 employees received payment for annual leave while 13 received pay-outs for comp time. This included senior staff, as well as emergency services and any other per- sonnel meeting pre-determined criteria.” Janet Hislop tapped as new Cayman National Bank president KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com Cayman National Bank an- nounced on Friday that it has appointed Janet Hislop to serve as its new president. Ms. Hislop joins Cayman Na- tional after 11 years as chief country officer of Deutsche Bank (Cayman) Ltd. She also has expe- rience in senior positions at Bar- clays Bank and CIBC. Her appointment will be finalized pending regula- tory approval. “We are pleased to welcome Janet to the Cayman National family,” Cayman National CEO Stuart Dack said of the appoint- ment. “And it really feels like a homecoming since Janet con- tinues the deep association es- tablished 45 years ago through her father, Benson, one of our founding shareholders and long serving past Chairman.” Young students raise cash to fight cancer Colorfully dressed in bright pink shirts, students from Cayman Academy marched from their school to the Cayman Islands Cancer Society headquarters to present them with an impressive $4,000 check on Friday. The youngsters collected the money themselves as part of the Stride Against Cancer campaign. Some of the children said they had been moved to help because their grandparents or friends of grandparents had battled the illness. See story on Page 6 . - PHOTO: JEWEL LEVY PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » Pending Cayman National Bank President Janet Hislop with Brian Esau, left, executive vice president of the bank; Stuart Dack, CEO of Cayman National Corporation; and Phil Jackson, senior vice president of human resources. PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 7 »2 LOCAL®IONAL MONDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2019 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. - MONDAY - 640-FILM (640-3456) THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING (PG) 12:50 I 3:45 I 6:45 AQUAMAN (PG13) 1:40 I 4:50 I 8:00 THE UPSIDE (PG13) 1:15 I 4:10 I 7:05 I 10:00 MISS BALA (PG13) 1:55 VIP I 4:40 I 7:00 VIP I 9:50 DRAGON BALL SUPER: BROLY (PG) 2:00 I 4:30 VIP I 7:30 I 9:35 VIP I 10:05 GLASS (PG13) 12:40 I 3:35 I 6:50 I 9:45 Academy Sports Club leases Triple C field Academy Sports Club has signed a lease with Triple C School for the use of the field where the club conducts various de- velopmental programs for footballers from chil- dren to adults. The club has used the property off Out- post Street, George Town since the late 1990s for its training facility and clubhouse. The long-term agree- ment was formalized by members of the Academy Board of Directors and representatives of Triple C School in November. For more information about Academy Sports Club, email admin@academysportsclub.ky. Cayman Kai owners must remove encroachments Roads to be rebuilt and widened CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Property owners in the Cayman Kai area were ad- vised on Thursday night that they should remove any en- croachments on the gazetted road corridor before the Na- tional Roads Authority does it for them, bills them and possibly has them prose- cuted in court. North Side MLA Ezzard Miller held a public meeting at the Craddock Ebanks Civic Centre, where four different maps of the Cayman Kai area were on display. Mr. Miller said the NRA proposed to rebuild and widen roads in the area. The purpose of the meeting, he explained, was to try to get the cooperation of the land owners to remove encroachments at their own expense. Otherwise, the NRA has full legal authority to come in and remove the en- croachments, such as fences, hedges, garbage bins, trees or driveways. A boundary plan of the area was first gazetted in 1986 at the request of de- velopers, Mr. Miller said by way of introduction. “We are not moving any road,” he emphasized. “We are simply re-establishing where the road was placed in 1986 and 2004. I know [the devel- opers] put down markers, so every land owner should know where the road is.” What had happened, he elaborated, was that the road was gazetted for a 30-feet width, but the government of the day did not have the money for the amount of as- phalt that would have been required; the government did have enough money for a 20- foot width, so that is what was put down, but the Crown road is 30 feet. Present plans are for hot mix to be laid for a road 24- feet wide with a three-foot shoulder on each side, Mr. Miller said. He expressed concern for the safety of area residents and visitors, noting that traffic had increased significantly in the area. Not only is walking on the road dangerous, but there is also the potential problem of a fire truck or am- bulance not being able to get through, he pointed out. The NRA is in the pro- cess of writing to each land owner, he said. All owners will receive a map of their property showing any en- croachment. Mr. Miller said he hoped this would happen within the next 90 days. The time frame for removal of the encroachment will be stated in the letter. He expected that land owners would know their property boundaries. Anyone who does not can obtain a map from the Lands and Survey Department on the ground floor of the Gov- ernment Administration Building, he said. Mr. Miller was speaking primarily about Water Cay Road and Sand Point Road. Water Cay Road runs past Kaibo and ends at Ivory Sands, popularly known as Starfish Point. Sand Point Road runs past Rum Point Club. Both areas are popular tourist destinations. When the MLA opened the floor to questions, a common concern expressed was about speeding vehicles. “You’re encouraging a raceway if you put in a 30- foot road,” one man declared. That raised the issue of whether speed bumps could be installed. Another person asked what would happen if owners did not get a letter from the NRA before they left the island for their summer home. Mr. Miller said anyone leaving in the next three months should give their name to the administrative assistant at his constituency office. He would then see if the NRA could get those no- tices out earlier. Notices will go the address filed at the Land Registry, he pointed out. If an owner does not re- move any encroachment and the NRA does the work, the owner will be billed for it. If the bill is not paid, the NRA can put a charge on the property, meaning that it could not be sold before the bill is paid. The National Roads Au- thority Law (2016 Revision) states that any regulation made under this law “may provide for the imposition of a fine of $5,000 and im- prisonment for six months for any contravention of, or failure to comply with, such regulation.” Salvadoran front-runner seeks to end corruption SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) – A former mayor of El Sal- vador’s capital was making a strong run Sunday to end a quarter century of two- party dominance in the crime-plagued Central Amer- ican nation. Polls ahead of Sunday’s vote showed Nayib Bukele ahead of the National Re- publican Alliance’s Carlos Callejas and former Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, as well as a minor-party candidate. But he could fall short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a March runoff. All four candidates have promised to end corrup- tion, stamp out gang vio- lence and create more jobs, with crushing crime at the top of the agenda: Roughly 67,000 Salvadorans belong to gangs that terrorize their communities via extortion, murder and other forms of violence. The candidates have pro- posed creating economic op- portunities and restoring social values to dissuade Sal- vadorans from engaging in criminal behavior. Turnout appeared to be heavy in early voting, with no reports of major problems. Bukele, 37, made his po- litical debut in 2012 as a small-town mayor with the now-ruling Front, known as the FMLN, and won elec- tion in the capital three years later, automatically making him a potential presiden- tial contender. But his frequent criticism of the leftist party’s lead- ership led to his expulsion, and he wound up as the un- likely standard-bearer of a small conservative party known as the Grand Alliance for National Unity, whose ini- tials – GANA – mean “win” in Spanish. The FMLN and the con- servative Alliance, known as ARENA, have dominated Salvadoran politics since a 1992 peace deal that ended a brutal civil war. But both parties have been stained by corruption scandals and nei- ther has been able to stem gang violence. More than 4,500 election observers, including repre- sentatives of the Organiza- tion of American States and the European Union, will be on hand when Salvadorans go to the polls. El Salvador is small both in size and population, with just 6.5 million people. Close to a third of its households live in poverty, while the World Bank says per capita income is $3,560. Salvadorans searching for a better life have joined re- cent caravans of migrants trekking through Mexico to- ward the U.S. North Side MLA Ezzard Miller explains a map of gazetted roads in Cayman Kai. - PHOTO: CAROL WINKER 6.6 quake hits southern Mexico MEXICO CITY (AP) – A strong earthquake jolted southern Mexico on Friday, rattling nerves and swaying tall buildings hundreds of miles away in the capital, but there were no reports of serious damage, inju- ries or deaths. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that the quake had a magnitude of 6.6. It was centered about 10 miles from the city of Tapachula in Chiapas state and struck at a depth of 40 miles. Chiapas civil defense official Arturo Barrientos told The Associated Press that there were no reports of serious damage and au- thorities were monitoring the situation. Barrientos said cracks appeared in a wall at an elementary school in the state capital, Tuxtla Guti- errez, but the children were evacuated safely. “It was felt pretty strongly, but everything is normal. We went out into the street, and that was it,” Enrique Vidal, a lawyer who lives in Tapachula said via text message. “Those with children in schools went to look for them since there are buildings that are still damaged from 2017.” The same region was rocked in September 2017 by a magnitude 8.1 earth- quake that killed nearly 100 people and damaged thousands of buildings. A more damaging 7.1 quake in central Mexico later that month left more than 400 dead, including at least 228 in Mexico City. “Fortunately there is no loss of human lives nor in- juries that require hospital- ization,” Luis Manuel Garcia, Chiapas’ civil defense sec- retary, told Foro TV. “Only nervousness.” Presidential candidate Nayib Bukele listens to a question during an interview with the Associated Press in San Salvador, El Salvador. - PHOTO: AP3 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS MONDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2019 One Honeywell Lynx touch wireless residential/ commercial security alarm panel with 4.3” full colour touchscreen display Three wireless door/window contacts (white) One Honeywell pet immune motion sensor (up to 40Lbs.) One 4 button remote keychain Full installation and demonstration 12 months parts warranty WIFI module for the mobile Apps. Honeywell Lynx Intruder Alarm Package Includes: The Honeywell intruder system is linked to our 24/7 monitoring centre to keep your family and your property safe. Upon system activation our experienced monitoring station staff will handle the situation. The Total Connect app allows you complete control of your security system from your mobile device. To find out more about this special offer contact the Security Centre on 949-0004 or email info@security.ky *The free alarm system and installation is available to new clients when signing up for a 12 month monitoring contract ($660 residential - $860 commercial). 24/7 Alarm Monitoring Secure and protect your property with the Honeywell Lynx intruder protection system. Controllable from your mobile device. Lindbergh Eden, one of the last vestrymen, dies Charles Lindbergh Eden, one of two remaining original vestrymen of the Cayman Islands, has died. He was 91. Services were held Sat- urday at Savannah United Church, of which Mr. Eden was a member. Premier Alden McLaughlin was scheduled to speak at the event. Mr. Eden was hon- ored last Monday, Jan. 28, during the nation’s Heroes Day celebration for his ser- vice as a vestryman from 1954 to 1959. Heather Dianne Bodden accepted the award in his honor, as Mr. Eden was in Cayman Islands Hospital at the time. She presented it to him later that same day and said he was “over- whelmed with excitement” at receiving the award. He died the following day. Ms. Bodden said she was a distant cousin of Mr. Eden, but her father was in busi- ness with him and she grew up calling Mr. Eden, Uncle Lindbergh. She said she helped him in his later years and always appreciated his friendliness. “You could hear him from the time you drove up,” she said. “He’d say, ‘Good morning!’ or ‘Hello, hello, hello.’ He always greeted you like you were special, patting you on the shoulder and wel- coming you into the house.” A farmer all his life, Ms. Bodden said Mr. Eden con- tinued to tend his crops into his 80s. “He loved to talk about his land,” and was most proud of his breadfruit and mangoes,” she said. He also liked to talk about world events. “He was an avid listener of the news, everything worldwide,” she said. “He took pleasure in telling you what he’d seen.” One major world event, in fact, gave Mr. Eden his name. In a previous interview with the Cayman Compass, Mr. Eden explained that he had been named after Amer- ican aviator and military officer Charles Lindbergh, who completed the first solo, non-stop transatlantic flight from Long Island, New York, to Paris, France, on May 20, 1927. The 33 1⁄2-hour journey aboard the Spirit of St. Louis, a single-seat, single- engine monoplane, inspired his father, Alexander Selwyn Eden, an aviation enthusiast, to name his son after the famed pilot. A lifelong bachelor, Mr. Eden was born in Savannah on June 11, 1927 to Alex- ander and Sarah Leonie Eden. Unlike most young men at that time, he did not go to sea, but stayed in Cayman and became a farmer. He also owned sev- eral businesses, including a meat market, the CleCoe Bot- tling Plant and the Savannah Tall Tree General Store. He operated this last business with his brother Crosby. The two men, along with Jay Bodden, also had a heavy equipment business. Mr. Eden may be best known for helping to found the Cayman Islands Agri- cultural Society. In a recent magazine article, he recalled being part of a 10-person delegation that visited Ja- maica in the mid-1960s to experience that island’s ag- ricultural expo. Soon after, members of the group formed the local Agricul- tural Society. A skilled carpenter, Mr. Eden built the old Savannah post office and was one of the contractors who re- furbished Pedro St. James Castle in the 1960s. He was also very instru- mental in building the is- land’s first Agricultural So- ciety building, which was near today’s cricket pitch, and the present Stacy Watler Agriculture Pavilion in Lower Valley. A baseball enthusiast and youth coach, Mr. Eden was also an avid golfer. And in October 2017, he was se- lected as an ambassador for the Older Persons Month. During this year’s He- roes Day ceremony, Captain Owen Murphy Farrington, now the jurisdiction’s only surviving vestryman, en- couraged attendees to keep Mr. Eden, who played an important role in the de- velopment of the modern Cayman Islands, in their thoughts. “First of all, I want to ask you to remember in your prayers my colleague Mr. Eden, who’s in the hos- pital since Christmas,” Mr. Farrington said that day, adding, “From when the justices of the peace and vestrymen agreed on what the coat of arms should look like until today, spans 60 years. “That 60-year journey was not without challenges, but through the grace of God, we arrived to where we are today.” Mr. Eden is survived by sister Ruby West, sister-in- law Kathleen Eden and sev- eral nieces and nephews. Older Persons Month ambassador Charles Lindbergh Eden, left, joined Deputy Governor Franz Manderson at the official launch of Older Persons Month in October 2017.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 EXECUTIVE EDITOR PATRICK BRENDEL A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will find their own way” There was a time when teeming herds of the mighty bison foraged grasslands from the Appalachian to the Rocky Mountain range – tens of millions of beasts upon whom entire populations relied for food, tools and other supplies. Call them the turtles of the plains. But just as it did for Cayman’s once-abundant turtle populations, overharvesting brought the bison to the brink of extinction. If it weren’t for people such as James “Scotty” Philip, who spared and domesti- cated a few animals, there’s little question the bison would be lost to history. But it was the rediscovery of a consumer market for bison meat that deserves credit for the bison’s real comeback. Today there are about a half-million bison in North America – far more than would be alive if the animals had been relegated to a mere curiosity. A similar trend is presenting itself here in Cayman, thanks to the Cayman Turtle Centre, which deserves credit for nurturing green turtle populations back from functional extinction. As the Compass reported last week, researchers tested the DNA of the green turtles nesting on Cayman’s beaches and discovered that 90 percent are related to farmed turtles released into the wild (call it the “23andMe” of the sea). We agree with the Turtle Centre’s Managing Director Tim Adam that the family tree clearly dem- onstrates the center’s value in shoring up wild turtle populations. As he told the Compass, “It shows that 50 years of work is paying off.” Inexplicably, Department of Environment Director Gina Ebanks-Petrie, a longtime critic of the Centre, said she is not convinced that the positive outcomes are … positive. She called for yet another independent review of the center’s protocols to safeguard against “unintended, negative consequences.” If 50 years of problem-free turtle releases and a slow-but-steady climb in wild turtle populations is not enough to convince Ms. Ebanks-Petrie of the center’s success, perhaps she could make a call to the Uni- versity of Georgia, which Mr. Adam says already has vetted the center’s protocols and turtle health. Indeed, we wonder if any amount of hard evidence would ever be enough to persuade eco-warriors who have long ostracized the center out of misguided and emotional objections to turtle farming. There is no rational basis for arguing that the Turtle Centre cannot have it both ways – simultaneously to protect, stabilize and grow wild turtle groups while providing turtle meat for domestic consumption – but that is exactly what it has done all along – releasing 1,300 hatchlings just last year, alone. Perhaps the center has been too good at its mission of educating the public about these magnifi- cent creatures. As Mr. Adam told the Compass, “If we can get people to fall in love with turtles, you are going to protect what you love.” Purists would do well to remember that in this context, “protection” refers to the species, as a whole. The Turtle Centre is doing a stellar job in its contributions to the rejuvenation and replenishment of this species. All of us should be applauding – including DOE Director Gina Ebanks-Petrie. Turtle release: A ‘shell game’ worth playing MONDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2019 CAYMAN COMPASS Carbon taxes and other idols of economics Few things are more threatening to the progress of our civilization than a group of economists at a blackboard prescribing public policy. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, an all-star panel led by former Federal Re- serve chairmen, Nobel lau- reates and presidential ad- visers from both parties recommended that the United States adopt a $40-per-ton carbon tax and increase that tax annually until the nation reaches its goals for green- house gas emissions – pre- sumably those spelled out in the 2016 Paris Agreement. In the cultural bubble of economics, markets work perfectly, information is good enough to make sensible plans and an omnipotent reg- ulator ensures everyone fol- lows the rules. Sadly, the real world does not work that way. Consider free trade. Ac- cording to the theory of com- parative advantage all those workers in Middle America displaced by imports from China and other Asian na- tions should be employed as West Coast software engi- neers or heading for Amazon facilities in Long Island City. Instead, we have urban decay, prostitution, opioid ad- diction and endemic poverty throughout much of the Rust Belt. I wonder how many of those economists who signed the recent op-ed ever both- ered to drive to places like Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and stroll down Main Street. Climate change is real enough – atmospheric tem- peratures are up by nearly 2 degrees Fahrenheit since latter decades of the 19th century and CO2 and indus- trial emissions are the pri- mary culprit. How much further those go – with or without a universal carbon tax – is difficult to project. What is clear is that we are not headed for an economic Armageddon. Assuming a high emis- sions path – thanks to fairly slow improvements in energy efficiency and other technol- ogies – the U.S. economy in 2090 will be at least three times larger in real terms than it is today. With GDP at $61 trillion, the annual costs imposed by higher atmo- spheric temperatures would be a manageable $510 billion. The latter is likely to be less but where the bur- dens are visited, those will be severe. Coastal floods and ferocity of storms along the East and Gulf Coasts and wild fires in the West are already es- calating, but insurance com- panies, with armies of cli- matologists, are having fits trying to model where and how much further their pro- spective risks will increase. At the same time, fresh water supplies are becoming more valuable and the target of speculative investors, like the Harvard endowment, and ag- ricultural land in Canada’s Prairie Provinces more pro- ductive and valuable. Still mitigation – such as building sea walls in cities like New York and tougher building codes in Texas – and relocating populations from many high risk areas will be less expensive than a carbon tax, because the tax would have to escalate to draconian levels and impose unconscio- nable risks to accomplish the Paris Agreement’s objectives. To substantially reduce the trajectory of carbon emis- sions globally, about 100 kilo- watt hours of electrical gen- erating capacity – about 3.3 kilowatts per year over 30 years – will be needed. The Merkel government in Ger- many has pulled out all the stops on renewables and found it can only accomplish about one-fifth its annual share – and it is a highly ad- vanced society with the best engineering expertise. Consequently, a massive buildout of nuclear power would be required for a uni- versal carbon tax to accom- plish a meaningful reduc- tion in the path of projected greenhouse gas – not just in industrialized countries but also in the developing world. If Japan with its superior organization could not avoid the Fukushima Daiichi nu- clear disaster, do we really want to build out a pervasive network of nuclear reactors including places like Vene- zuela and the Sudan? China, which is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, has reversed course and is building new coal fired facilities that will almost equal total existing U.S. capacity. Provincial gov- ernments in Canada and the Yellow Jackets in France are opposing national carbon taxes of one sort or another. If the United States took the economists’ advice, it would be free trade all over again – America and some European nations would play by the rules while others would not. More jobs would be lost to China and other destinations in Asia. Global emissions would rise not fall as those nations gener- ated the necessary electricity with cheap coal, and the costs to the U.S. economy of a carbon tax would far exceed the benefits. Peter Morici is an economist and business professor at the University of Maryland, and a national columnist. © 2019, The Washington Times, LLC. PETER MORICI If the United States took the economists’ advice, it would be free trade all over again – America and some European nations would play by the rules while others would not. More jobs would be lost to China and other destinations in Asia.5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS MONDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2019 FOUNDATION The NINTH ANNUAL BREAST CANCER BEACH WALKAST CANCER BEACH SATURDAY MARCH 2 starting at Royal Palms on Seven Mile Beach at 7.00 pm breast cancer FACTS register Now at breastcancerfoundation.ky, or on the night at 6:00pm at Royal Palms CI$25 donation includes one raffle entry fabulous raffle prizes Royal Palms offer $6 cocktail special (with $1 of it donated to the BCF) and 10% off food items Walk along the beach from Royal Palms to The Ritz-Carlton and back, bring the whole family, dogs included! 1 in 8 Women will be diagnosed with Breast Cancer in their life time. (USA facts) For further information please contact The Breast Cancer Foundation on 923 1135 JANET JARCHOW MEDIA LTD. HURLEY’S Financial authority needs staff for growing caseload KEN SILVA ksilva@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Financial Reporting Authority is looking for ad- ditional staff to handle a skyrocketing load of suspi- cious activity reports of po- tential money laundering and other financial crimes connected to Cayman. Financial Reporting Au- thority Director Robert Berry told the Public Ac- counts Committee on Thursday that his depart- ment received 938 suspi- cious activity reports last year – about a 50-per- cent increase over the 601 reports it received in 2016/17, which itself was a near record. When the Financial Reporting Authority re- ceives a suspicious ac- tivity report, it must look into the report to see if it should be forwarded to law enforcement authori- ties for further investiga- tion. Most of the reports involve “suspicious ac- tivity” – typically reports on accounts showing ac- tivity that is out of line with the account holder’s expected level of income – while other reports sus- pected fraud, tax evasion, corruption and money laundering. The Financial Reporting Authority is dealing with a growing backlog of uncom- pleted reports. Due to unfinished re- ports from previous years, the authority had 980 SARs to analyze in 2016/17. The agency completed 398 reports in total, carrying the remainder into the next fiscal period. Mr. Berry did not say how large the backlog at his authority currently is. That information will be included in the authori- ty’s annual report, which will likely be released later this year. The authority has said 2016/17 was “particu- larly challenging” due to the resignation of one of its most experienced staff members, Senior Financial Analyst Julian Hurlston. The Financial Re- porting Authority attrib- uted the increased number of SARs to more stringent regulations and reporting rules that have come into effect in recent years. For example, all funds must now have anti-money laun- dering officers. Mr. Berry told the Public Accounts Com- mittee that he needs ad- ditional resources to deal with the growing backlog. “We’ve recently under- taken assessment of our resource needs, including both human and physical capital – IT infrastruc- ture – and concluded we don’t have the necessary resources to meet mandate in terms of timeliness,” he said. “We’ve prepared a paper for the chief officer and AG to seek supple- mental funding this year for additional staff.” Anti-Corruption Com- mission Chairman Richard Coles also ap- peared at Thursday’s PAC sitting, and he, too, said additional staff would help his commission func- tion better. Mr. Coles did not ex- press the same urgency for additional resources as Mr. Berry, but he said ideally he’d have twice as many investigators on his force. The Anti-Corruption Commission often needs the assistance of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service to make arrests, Mr. Coles said. He also said his commission does not have a female investi- gator, and therefore has to use an RCIPS female of- ficer when dealing with a female suspect. Crown concludes evidence in immigration English test trial Jurors hear portion of one defendant’s interview CAROL WINKER cwinker@pinnaclemedialtd.com Grand Court did not ad- journ until almost 5 p.m. on Friday, but the extended time allowed Acting Di- rector of Public Prosecu- tions Patrick Moran to conclude the presenta- tion of evidence in the Crown’s case against five immigration officers and two civilians. Presiding judge Philip St. John-Stevens released ju- rors until noon on Monday. The defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit fraud on the gov- ernment by arranging for the payment of rewards to public officers as consider- ation for providing assis- tance to candidates to pass an English language test. The offenses are alleged to have occurred between Au- gust 2015 and June 2016. Applicants for work per- mits must take the test if they are from a country in which English is not the primary language. The five immigration of- ficers are further charged with failure to report the solicitation of a reward or advantage. The defendants were ar- rested on various dates in 2017. All have pleaded not guilty to all charges. The Crown’s final wit- ness was the investigating officer, Anthony Daniels of the Anti-Corruption Commission. Jurors heard that, when the defendants were ar- rested, their phones were seized. Thousands of mes- sages were obtained from the phones and these were screened, using keywords. Questioned by defense attorneys, Mr. Daniels agreed that many messages were in Spanish and not all of them were translated or put into the evidence bundle given to jurors. One message not in- cluded was, “Buy number three.” Mr. Daniels said it was not included because it had no bearing on the Eng- lish language tests. The attorney asked if the omission did not present a misleading picture – and whether adding it to the conversation might provide a different context. (Jurors have already heard that some immigration officers bought numbers in a lottery that is illegal in Cayman.) Mr. Daniels said he could see the attorney’s point, but to include every single text or message would have taken away the clarity of other messages. The attorney suggested that Mr. Daniels was in- viting jurors to speculate. He did not agree that he was inviting jurors to “fill in the blanks” or “guess.” Asked about an exchange of messages between two immigration officers, he agreed he thought they had to do with an attempt to get assistance with the English language test for a candi- date. He said it was a con- clusion he came to based on messages that showed a re- peated pattern. Mr. Daniels was asked about his interview with a female civilian defen- dant. It was suggested that she should have had an in- terpreter present because she did not understand his questions. The officer said that, after he rephrased the question and spoke more slowly, she did answer. The attorney suggested that this defendant never admitted that $600 was paid to get help for a rela- tive with the English lan- guage test. He referred to a written record of the inter- view, which has the woman replying, “For the test” as a statement, when in fact she was asking, “For the test?” Mr. Moran advised that he had an audio recording of the interview. He later played a portion of it and jurors were able to hear the tone of voice with which the defendant said the words. For legal reasons, the defendants are not being named at this time. The five immigration officers are further charged with failure to report the solicitation of a reward or advantage. The Financial Reporting Authority is dealing with a growing backlog of uncompleted reports. Due to unfinished reports from previous years, the authority had 980 SARs to analyze in 2016/17. 6 LOCAL NEWS MONDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2019 CAYMAN COMPASS Cayman Economic Outlook nets new lead sponsor SPENCER FORDIN sfordin@pinnaclemedialtd.com The Cayman Economic Outlook forum has a new group in charge. Royal Fidelity Merchant Bank & Trust Limited an- nounced Friday that it will be the title sponsor for the 2019 Cayman Economic Outlook Conference, previously run by Fidelity Bank. The conference will be held on Feb. 28 at the Kimpton Seafire, and its theme will be titled, “Dynamic New World: Braving the Turmoil.” Michael Anderson, the president of Royal Fidelity, spoke briefly about the Cayman Economic Outlook at a press confer- ence at The Brasserie on Friday morning. “Royal Fidelity has been a sponsor of this event since its inception about 16 years ago, but we were just a co- sponsor,” he said. “Fidelity had been the lead sponsor for that period. Royal Fidelity is anticipating entering the Cayman market this year, and Fidelity Group has decided we should take over the con- ference this year. We also run the same conference in the Bahamas and have for the last five years.” Economist Noreena Hertz, the best-selling author of “The Silent Takeover, IOU: The Debt Threat” and “Eyes Wide Open,” will be the keynote speaker at the Cayman Eco- nomic Outlook conference. Other speakers will in- clude Ian Goldin, professor of Globalization and Devel- opment at the University of Oxford; Andreas Eckstrom, a digital revolution journalist; biotechnology futurist Jamie Metzl and professional surfer Mark Mathews. Mr. Anderson said speakers will address the impact of nationalism on economies around the world and the integration of health- care and technology, among other subjects. “The conference is a full- day event. It’s suitable for virtually everybody,” Mr. An- derson said. “It’s an amazing social networking oppor- tunity. … And afterwards, there’s a great cocktail party.” Dart, Fidelity, Yello Media Group, PwC and the Cayman Utility Company are among the conference’s sponsors, and a few representatives spoke Friday about what the conference means to them. “There’s so many con- ferences on the circuit these days, but this is re- ally a must-attend event,” said Chris Duggan, Dart’s vice president of business development. “That’s certainly why Dart continues to be delighted to be a part of it. It’s really an amazing conference and we commit continued support to the event for years to come.” “It’s a pleasure to be part of this event,” said Eileen Keens, marketing manager for Yello Media Group. “This is actually our fourth year. We are delighted. We actually got approached to support many causes and many different platforms, and we always choose every year to come back to this conference.” Conference registration is open with early bird rates running through Feb. 14. Further details are available through rfceo.ky. Cayman Academy raises money for cancer awareness JEWEL LEVY jlevy@pinnaclemedialtd.com Cayman Academy school donated $4,152 to fight cancer after making the journey by foot to the Cancer Society offices on Maple Road Friday. Students raised the money after launching a Cancer Awareness Pro- gram at the school that ran from Jan. 3 to Jan. 28. They used Stride Against Cancer forms to solicit funds. Dressed in colorful pink shirts, carrying a large banner promoting cancer awareness and led by two officers from the Royal Cayman Islands Po- lice Service, the group of over 300, including 27 teachers, made it safely to the Cancer Society offices. Having raised over $1,100 of the funds col- lected, Year 6 student Ga- brielle Coleman said she wanted to help because her grandmother’s friend died of cancer. “I was moved to help people with cancer,” she said. Roger Alex Johnson, also a Year 6 student, col- lected $400. He said he was moved to help because his grandmother died from cancer. Year 7 student Gabrielle Williams collected $232. Her parent Andrea Wil- liams said her daughter had liked to fundraise since she was 5 years old. “As a parent, I like to be involved in the school and Gabrielle always wanted to help,” she said. Cancer Society director Jennifer Weber was over- whelmed with apprecia- tion, accepting the check from principal O’Neil Duncan in the company of students and teachers in the Cancer Society parking lot. Ms. Weber told the chil- dren the money would be used to assist those in the community with cancer, and she was happy to see so many of them had made the journey from the school. Donors give blood at George Town library event The third floor of George Town library was trans- formed into a blood bank Saturday as part of an effort to get more Cayman Islands residents to give blood. The unusual setting was designed to make people more comfortable, said Joel Porter, vice presi- dent of the Rotaract Club of Grand Cayman. He said some people found hospitals scary or intimidating, so the li- brary was chosen as a more friendly location. “We want everybody to be aware that they can donate. We understand people don’t like to go to the hospital. So we are having it outside of the hospital at GT public li- brary,” he said. Cayman’s rotary clubs joined forces with clubs in Kingston, Jamaica and East Nassau, Bahamas, for Sat- urday’s blood drive. Mr. Porter said the aim was to encourage more people to give blood. He said donated blood was a vital resource for hospitals to help save lives. He said giving blood was a simple way to help others and rarely took more than 15 minutes. “If you are afraid, I can come hold your hand,” said Mr. Porter, who has given blood himself on numerous occasions. “I am really passionate about this. I want to just drill in how simple and easy it is and there is really nothing to be afraid of. It is one of the easiest things you can do. It is a wonderful gift to the world.” Michael Anderson, seated center, the president of Royal Fidelity Group, announced the lineup for the Cayman Economic Outlook conference Friday alongside representatives of several co-sponsors of the event. - PHOTO: JANET JARCHOW Rotaract volunteers help out at Saturday’s blood drive. - PHOTOS: ALVARO SEREY Karlene Singh donates blood with Nurse Jheanel Heslop. Cayman Academy students walk to the Cancer Society offices Friday to donate $4,152. - PHOTO: JEWEL LEVYThe islands’ most-trusted news source 7 CAYMAN COMPASS MONDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2019 ties] out there than there was a couple of years ago and a lot of forced sales are getting multiple offers on them as well,” she said. “The market is very strong right now. You have projec- tions of more people coming on island and anything within a realistic drive of George Town is being picked up very quickly.” Michael Binckes, also of RE/MAX, said he used to handle a significant number of foreclosure properties. He said this had declined drastically. “Right now, I think I have two properties on the Brac and that is it. For me per- sonally, it is about 5 percent of what it was a few years ago. There is hardly anything coming through from the mainstream banks.” He said the vast majority of forced sales were vic- tims of the 2008 recession, with the impacts, in some cases, taking several years to filter through as banks at- tempted to work with mort- gage holders before eventu- ally losing patience. Before the recession, he said, property prices in the Cayman Islands were very high and people who had bought properties without putting in equity strug - gled, like homeowners else- where in the world, to keep up with mortgage payments after the crash. The property market is running high again, with prices continually rising in most sectors. “The market is high at the moment but banks are being more conservative about their lending practices,” he said. He cautions, however, that there are still no regulations to protect banks or home buyers in Cayman. “You can still buy prop- erty without putting your hand in your pocket,” he said. Ms. Totten said the best approach for anyone who was consistently unable to meet their mortgage pay- ments would be to sell their property themselves. “The smart thing to do if you find yourself in that po- sition in this kind of market is to put it on the market yourself before you get foreclosed on.” She said homeowners may have to accept an offer of slightly below value for a quick sale, but they would avoid the more costly process of a foreclosure. Mike McWatt, managing director of Butterfield Bank, added, “We are seeing a de- cline in new foreclosures in line with market trend. We make every effort to work with clients that are expe- riencing difficulty making mortgage payments to reach a mutually acceptable re- payment arrangement, and we view foreclosure as a last resort.” The ministry added that it took this approach be- cause there are a large number of emergency ser- vices personnel who reg- ularly work outside their normal hours, or are unable to use their full annual leave entitlement due to situa- tions beyond their control. “With regards to the Fire Service in particular, the overall staff complement of the department is such that it was impractical for their leave balances to be re- duced through time taken,” the ministry stated. “The Ministry has committed to regularly monitoring its li- ability for comp time and leave accrual so that it is able to pro-actively take steps to keep these within reasonable limits.” Ms. Hislop replaces Or- mond Williams, who was terminated from Cayman National Bank last No- vember after serving as its president for 15 years. Meanwhile, the local bank still awaits regula- tory approval to finalize its sale to the Republic Bank Trinidad and Tobago (Barbados) Ltd. Cayman National stated on Thursday that it has approval from the Dubai Financial Services Authority. Approval from this regulator is required because Cayman Na- tional has a branch there, Cayman National (Dubai) Ltd. Approvals are still required from the Cen- tral Bank of Barbados, the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago, the Cayman Islands Monetary Au- thority, the Cayman Is- lands government, and the Isle of Man Financial Services Authority. Janet Hislop tapped as new Cayman National Bank president CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Acting chief fire officer appointed to replace Hails Newly appointed Chief Fire Officer Witney Tatum, left, accepts an award from Deputy Governor Franz Manderson. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Foreclosures down as economy rebounds METEORITE STRIKES IN TOWN IN WESTERN CUBA HAVANA (AP) – Residents and tourists in a town in western Cuba saw a flare pass through the sky and heard an explosion Friday in what officials said was a meteorite strike. Witnesses reported seeing a ball of fire and a smoke trail in a clear midday sky, and a rain of black stones fell on the tourist town of Vinales and other parts of Pinar del Rio province. Explosions were also heard and a smoke trail seen in Havana. There were no reports of damage or injuries. “We were coming from the center … and we saw a ball of fire cross the sky,” said Spanish tourist Jesus Nicolas, 34, in Havana. “Sure it was a meteorite and a very big one.” Amid speculation on so- cial media, state media in Cuba denied that a plane had crashed and called it a “natural, physical phenomenon.” Later Friday, a state- ment from Cuba’s Ministry of Science and the Envi- ronment read on a nightly newscast confirmed that it was a meteorite strike. Efren Jaimez Salgado, head of the Environmental Geology, Geophysics and Risks department of Cu- ba’s Institute of Geo- physics and Astronomy, earlier told state news- paper Granma that prelim- inary information suggests a meteorite or meteorite fragments struck an area near the Mural of Prehis- tory in Vinales and that a team was heading to the area to take samples. Mexican president unleashes labor unrest at border plants MEXICO CITY (AP) – A mass strike at 48 “maquiladora,” or manufacturer, plants in Mexico’s border city of Mat- amoros is heading for vic- tory, bringing pay raises for laborers who make less than $1 an hour, or about 100 pesos a day, assembling auto components and TV sets for export to the United States – and causing jitters for the business community. The labor battle broke out in mid-January after Presi- dent Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador decreed a doubling of the minimum wage in Mexico’s border zones, ap- parently unaware that some union contracts at the ma- quiladora plants are indexed to minimum wage increases. The decree sparked a wave of walkouts involving about 25,000 workers. The maquiladoras claim the strikes threaten the very existence of their industry, which has attracted over 5,000 mostly foreign-owned plants and 2 million jobs by paying very low wages. Union leaders say those wor- ries are overblown, noting that workers at the border plants still earn far less than their counterparts in the United States. Less than a week after the strike broke out, a majority of the export plants in Mat- amoros – 29 companies with a total of about 34 factories – have agreed to the union demands, a rare victory that owes a lot to something the president probably did not intend to happen. After taking office Dec. 1, Lopez Obrador doubled the minimum wage in communi- ties along the U.S. border to 176.20 pesos a day, the equiv- alent of $9.28 at current ex- change rates. With maqui- ladora pay averaging about 146 pesos ($7.70) a day, the Matamoras workers went on strike to demand the 20 percent raise be applied to everybody – even those making above the minimum – and a one-time bonus of about $1,685. “Perhaps he didn’t take into account what was in the labor contracts,” said Ja- vier Zuniga, an activist with the Miners’ Union who has helped coordinate the strike. “The president acted in good faith, but he didn’t measure the impact that was going to have on union contracts, and the workers came out win- ners for once.” Since the 1990s, many companies in Matamoros, which is across the border from Brownsville, Texas, signed contracts indexed to minimum wage hikes. It was a way to keep wages down, given that in most pre- vious years, annual increases were about equal to the in- flation rate. One such contract signed in March 2018 at the Kongs- berg Interior Systems plant, which makes automotive ca- bles, stipulates that “the com- pany will reach an agreement with the union to increase wages by the same percent that minimum wages are increased.” In addition, many compa- nies’ annual bonuses are cal- culated by multiplying min- imum wage increases by 365, a figure that in past years usually amounted to only about $100. “They (the government) never thought there was a real union, or that there were (contract) clauses like that,” said Cirila Quintero, a soci- ology professor at Colegio de la Frontera Norte who has studied the Matamoros union that has represented maqui- ladora workers for more than a quarter century. The Industrial Workers and Laborers’ Union of Mat- amoros, which was founded initially in 1932 to represent cotton workers, is unusual in Mexico because it has won gains for its members that do not exist in contracts any- where else in the country. Far more common are pro-com- pany “ghost” unions that sign contracts without consulting the workers they purport- edly represent. Lopez Obrador has been wary of antagonizing the business sector, and he ap- pears to be an unwilling hero in opening the floodgates of labor discontent. Both Quin- tero and Luis Aguirre, the head of Mexico’s association of maquiladora companies, said federal officials actively discouraged the Matamoros union from seeking the pay increases. The Labor Depart- ment refused to confirm that, saying only that it sent medi- ators to Matamoros to try to defuse the dispute. Aguirre also claims fed- eral officials agree that the union’s interpretation of the contract clauses is erro- neous, but he says the fed- eral government has been un- willing to act. “This will give rise to un- employment and cause at least 15 of these companies to flee,” Aguirre warned. His group, the Maquiladora and Export Manufacturers In- dustry, said in a statement that the wage demands may spread to other areas along the border “where the in- dustry is present and will project a very bad image for foreign direct investment.” Workers gather outside a ‘maquiladora’ for car accessories in Matamoros, Mexico. A mass strike at 48 plants that broke out in mid-January is heading for victory. - PHOTO: APThe islands’ most-trusted news source 8 MONDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2019 CAYMAN COMPASS Diplomats meet before Trump-Kim summit Senior U.S. and South Korean officials have met to discuss an expected second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump said last Thursday that he will announce this week the site and date where he will meet with Kim. Venezuela’s Guaido urges military defections amid protests CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Ven- ezuela’s opposition leader called on more members of the military to abandon the country’s socialist govern- ment following the defec- tion of a high-ranking gen- eral, while President Nicolas Maduro proposed holding early National Assembly elec- tions that could potentially oust his challenger. Maduro’s call for early leg- islative voting is likely to in- tensify his standoff with rival Juan Guaido, who heads the opposition-controlled Na- tional Assembly and is de- manding a new presiden- tial election. Guaido declared himself Venezuela’s legitimate ruler on Jan. 23, and has the support of Washington and most South American nations. Speaking from behind a podium decorated with Ven- ezuela’s presidential seal, Guaido told supporters he would keep his opposition movement in the streets until Maduro stopped “usurping” the presidency and agreed to a presidential election over- seen by international ob- servers. On Saturday, tens of thousands of Venezuelans joined opposition protests against Maduro in Caracas and other cities. Guaido called on “blocks” of the military to defect from Maduro’s administration and “get on the side of the Venezu- elan people.” “We don’t just want you to stop shooting at protesters,” Guaido said in a hoarse voice. “We want you to be part of the reconstruction of Venezuela.” He said in the coming days, the opposition would try to move humanitarian aid into the country by land and sea along three border points, including the Colombian city of Cucuta. He described the move as a “test” for Venezue- la’s armed forces, which will have to choose if they allow the much needed aid to pass, or if they instead obey the or- ders of Maduro’s government. Maduro also dug in his heels, insisting he was the only president of Vene- zuela and describing Satur- day’s anti-government pro- tests as part of a U.S.-led coup attempt. “I agree that the legislative power of the country be re- legitimized and that we hold free elections with guarantees, and the people choose a new National Assembly,” Maduro said at a pro-government demonstration in Caracas. The opposition controls the National Assembly while government supporters con- trol the more-powerful Con- stituent Assembly, so calls for a vote to replace the former and not the latter was seen as a move against Guaido. The socialist leader also had words for the adminis- tration of President Donald Trump, which recently im- posed sanctions on Venezu- elan oil exports in an effort to undermine Maduro’s main source of income and weaken his grip on power. “Do you think you are the emperor of the world?” he asked Trump. “Do you think Venezuela is going to give up and obey your orders? We will not surrender.” The standoff comes amid what appears to be growing dissension among the ranks of Venezuela’s powerful military. Earlier Saturday, a Vene- zuelan air force general de- fected from Maduro’s admin- istration and called on his compatriots to participate in protests against the socialist leader’s rule. Gen. Francisco Yanez is the first high-ranking officer to leave Maduro’s government since Jan. 23, when Guaido declared himself the country’s legitimate leader by invoking two articles of the Venezuelan constitution that he argues give him the right to assume presidential powers. He con- siders Maduro’s election win fraudulent. In a YouTube video, Yanez described Maduro as a dic- tator and referred to Guaido as his president. He did not say where he was. The officer confirmed in a phone call with The Associ- ated Press, from a Colombian number, the veracity of his declaration. He said he would not speak further until given authorization by “the com- mander-in-chief of the legal armed force, which is Presi- dent Juan Guaido.” The military controls some of Venezuela’s key assets, in- cluding the state-run oil com- pany, and until now, its top brass has helped Maduro to survive rounds of mass protests in 2014 and 2017 by jailing activists and re- pressing protesters. Yanez said in his video that “90 percent of the mili- tary” is against Maduro, but it is unclear how many will ac- tively support the opposition. Shortly after protests broke out against Maduro last week, Venezuela’s most important regional military commanders and its defense minister issued a statement in support of Maduro, describing Guaido as a coup-monger backed by Washington. Venezuela’s aerospace command of the armed forces shared a picture of Yanez on its Twitter account with the words “traitor” above it. “We reject the declara- tions made by General Yanez who betrayed his oath of loy- alty to our nation and chose to follow foreign plans,” the command wrote. On Saturday, Maduro said he was willing to sit down for talks with the opposition in an effort to promote na- tional “harmony.” But that offer has been rejected by Guaido, who de- scribes it as a ploy by the Maduro administration to buy time. Previous talks between the government and opposition have failed to change electoral conditions in the South Amer- ican country, and many polit- ical leaders have been forced into exile. At a pro-Maduro rally, supporters blamed the op- position for undermining the Bolivarian Revolution with years of protests and seeking financial sanctions against the Venezuelan government. Zeleyka Muskus, a 53-year- old tax collector from Ca- racas, said the opposition was responsible for the coun- try’s current economic woes, saying they have staged years of protests that have gotten people injured and killed. “Chavez is the love of my life,” she said, referring to late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez. Other public workers at- tending the pro-government demonstration said they had been forced to go there by their bosses. Meanwhile, marchers from middle-class and poor neigh- borhoods walked to another part of the capital and said they were demanding Mad- uro’s resignation and a tran- sitional government that would hold a new presiden- tial election. Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido, center, who has declared himself the interim president of Venezuela, greets supporters as he arrives at a demonstration demanding the resignation of President Nicolas Maduro, in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday. - PHOTO: AP French yellow vest protesters condemn injuries, blame police PARIS (AP) – France’s yellow vest protesters were back on the streets Saturday to keep up the pressure on French President Emmanuel Ma- cron’s government and to decry the number of people being injured by police during the anti-government demonstrations. Multiple protests in Paris and other cities denounced Macron’s economic policies, which they view as favoring the rich, for the 12th straight weekend of demonstrations. Most were peaceful. In Paris, scuffles broke out between some protesters and police around the Re- public plaza, northeast of the city center, where hundreds of demonstrators headed on Saturday afternoon. Police managed to disperse most of the crowd. Some clashes between protesters and police also took place in the southern cities of Bordeaux, Toulouse and Valence. Thousands of demon- strators in the French cap- ital paid tribute to the yellow vests who have been injured during clashes with police in an effort to unite the move- ment despite growing di- visions. Several competing groups of yellow vests are getting ready to present can- didates for the European Parliament election in May, while other figures insist the movement must remain non-political. The government says around 2,000 people have been injured in protests since the movement began Nov. 17, including at least four se- rious eye injuries. Separately, 10 people have died in traffic accidents related to yellow vest actions. Franck Dideron, 20, said he was protesting peacefully, speaking on the phone to his mother, when his eye was in- jured by a rubber bullet fired by police during a Dec. 1 protest near the Arc de Tri- omphe in Paris. “The policeman shot me voluntarily. And I was just turning around – how was that violent behavior? How was I dangerous for him?” he asked The Associated Press. “Today, I would like to see this policeman come and stand in front of me, look me in the eye and tell me why he shot me.” Jerome Rodrigues, a prominent member of the movement who suffered an eye injury last week, was widely applauded by the crowd Saturday. A French police investi- gation is still trying to de- termine how Rodrigues was injured. Video im- ages show Rodriguez col- lapsed on the ground last Saturday near the Bastille monument, where protesters throwing projectiles clashed with police. Antonio Barbetta, a 40-year-old protester with in- jured foot, call the police re- sponse to the yellow vests “excessive.” “I’m in contact with a large number of injured people and I can tell you that these were nonviolent people. I myself am against all forms of violence on ei- ther side,” he said. A demonstrator runs by a fire during a yellow vest protest Saturday in Paris. - PHOTO: AP9 WORLD®IONAL CAYMAN COMPASS MONDAY FEBRUARY 4, 2019 Russia to pull plug on nuclear arms pact after US does same Philippine troops battle Muslim militants after church blast MANILA, Philippines (AP) – Philippine troops clashed with Abu Sayyaf gunmen in fierce jungle fighting that left five soldiers and three militants dead, as the mili- tary pushed forward with a fresh offensive following a deadly church bombing last weekend. President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered government forces to destroy the Abu Sayyaf after the bombing last Sunday of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral in the Sulu provincial capital of Jolo that killed 22 people and wounded more than 100. The attack has renewed terrorism fears across the Philippines, where the national police went on full alert and secu- rity has been strengthened in churches, shopping malls and other public areas. Regional military spokesman Col. Gerry Besana said another five soldiers and 15 militants were wounded in nearly two hours of fighting Saturday between the army and about 150 Islamic State group-linked fighters in the jungles near Patikul town. The militants were led by Abu Sayyaf commander Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, who is suspected of helping plot the bombing. The Abu Sayyaf, which has about 300 to 400 armed fighters, has been blacklisted by the United States and the Philippines as a terrorist organization be- cause of years of bombings, kidnappings and beheadings in the predominantly Roman Catholic nation. Government forces have over the years pressed on sporadic offensives to crush the group, including in Jolo, a poverty-wracked island of more than 700,000 people where Muslims are the ma- jority. A few thousand Catho- lics live mostly in the provin- cial capital. Since the church attack, the air force has launched air- strikes on suspected militant bases near Patikul and police killed a suspected militant on a raid in the city. Duterte told reporters ear- lier this week that the church bombing was a suicide at- tack carried out by a militant couple. Interior Secretary Ed- uardo Ano said Friday that an Indonesian couple was respon- sible for the bombing aimed at fomenting sectarian conflict in the south. The Indonesian man reportedly used the nom de guerre Abu Huda and Phil- ippine authorities said they would coordinate with their Indonesian counterparts to try to validate the identities of the two. Indonesian Foreign Min- istry spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said the government had not been able to confirm the involvement of Indonesian na- tionals in the attack. There has been speculation that the bombing may be a di- versionary move by Muslim militants after troops recently carried out an offensive that killed a number of ISIS-linked extremists in an encampment in the hinterlands of Lanao del Sur province, also in the south. MOSCOW (AP) – Following in the footsteps of the U.S., Russia will abandon a cen- terpiece nuclear arms treaty but will only deploy interme- diate-range nuclear missiles if Washington does so, President Vladimir Putin said Saturday. President Donald Trump accused Moscow on Friday of violating the 1987 Interme- diate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with “impunity” by de- ploying banned missiles. Trump said in a statement that the U.S. will “move for- ward” with developing its own military response options to Russia’s new land-based cruise missiles that could target Western Europe. Moscow has strongly de- nied any breaches and ac- cused Washington of making false accusations in order to justify its pullout. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, in explaining that Washington on Saturday formally suspended its treaty obligations, said in a state- ment that Russia’s “continued noncompliance has jeopar- dized the United States’ su- preme interests.” He said the treaty will terminate in six months unless Moscow re- turns to “full and verifiable compliance.” The collapse of the INF Treaty has raised fears of a repeat of a Cold War show- down in the 1980s, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union both deployed intermediate-range missiles on the continent. Such weapons were seen as particularly destabilizing as they only take a few minutes to reach their targets, leaving no time for decision-makers and raising the likelihood of a global nuclear conflict over a false launch warning. After the U.S. gave notice of its intention to withdraw, Putin said Russia would do the same. He ordered the de- velopment of new land-based intermediate-range weapons, but emphasized that Russia will not deploy them in the European part of the country or elsewhere unless the U.S. does so. “We will respond quid pro quo,” Putin said. “Our Amer- ican partners have announced they were suspending their participation in the treaty, and we will do the same. They have announced they will conduct research and de- velopment, and we will act accordingly.” The U.S. has accused Russia of developing and de- ploying a cruise missile that violates provisions of the pact that ban production, testing and deployment of land-based cruise and bal- listic missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,410 miles). Trump’s move also reflected his administra- tion’s view that the pact was an obstacle to efforts needed to counter intermediate-range missiles deployed by China, which is not part of the treaty. NATO allies have strongly backed Washington and urged Moscow to save the treaty by returning to compliance. Russia has rejected the U.S. claims of violation, charging that the missile, which is part of the Iskander- M missile system, has a max- imum range of 298 miles. Russian officials claimed the U.S. assertions about the al- leged breach of the pact by Moscow were intended to shift the blame for the pact’s demise to Russia. The Russian Defense Min- istry on Saturday released a satellite image of what it described as new produc- tion facilities at the U.S. mis- sile maker Raytheon’s plant in Tucson, Arizona, noting that their expansion began in 2017 as the Congress au- thorized spending for the de- velopment of intermediate- range missiles. “The character and the timing of the works provide an irrefutable proof that the U.S. administration had de- cided to pull out of the INF treaty years before making unfounded claims of Russian violations,” it said. Putin has argued it makes no sense for Russia to deploy a ground-based cruise missile violating the treaty because it has such weapons on ships and aircraft, which aren’t banned by the pact. Speaking Saturday in a televised meeting with his foreign and defense minis- ters, Putin instructed the mil- itary to work on developing new land-based weapons that were previously forbidden by the INF treaty. Defense Min- ister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that they would in- clude a land-based version of the Kalibr ship-based cruise missile and a new hyper- sonic intermediate-range bal- listic missile. Putin emphasized that such new weapons will not be deployed unless the U.S. does so. “Russia will not station in- termediate-range weapons in Europe or other regions until similar U.S. weapons appear in those regions,” he said. The Russian leader said Moscow remains open to talks with Washington, but added it would be up to the U.S. to take the first step. “Let’s wait until our part- ners are mature enough to conduct an equal and sub- stantive dialogue on those is- sues,” he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, attends a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Saturday. - PHOTO: AP Soldiers attend the scene after two bombs exploded outside a Roman Catholic cathedral in Jolo, the capital of Sulu province in southern Philippines, on Jan. 27. - PHOTO: APNext >