ESTABLISHED 1965 www.caymancompass.com – 50 CENTS – MONDAY, 5 AUGUST 2019 High of 90 Low of 78 Slight with wave heights of 1 to 3 feet. WORLD | PAGE 7 TWO MASS SHOOTINGS IN 24 HOURS TURN U.S. FOCUS TO GUN CONTROL SPORTS | PAGE 10 CAYMAN TO HOST INTERNATIONAL GIRLS U-14 FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT 6pc - $2.99 9 MOZZARELLA STICKS New! New app-branded cabs hit the road Cab driver Devorn A. Miller drives one of the first CI:GO branded taxis outside the Owen Roberts International Airport on Friday. CI:GO is a new offline smartphone calculator app that allows passengers to plug in their route and the number of passengers to find out how much the ride will cost. It will be available for download in mid-August. – PHOTO: STEPHEN CLARKE Radio emergency alert system launching soon Cayman’s emergency response agencies have received training in the new National Emergency No- tification System, part of which is designed to interrupt local radio transmissions to broadcast crit- ical public safety information in the event of a disaster. Julian Lewis, director of the Department of Public Safety Communications, said final testing with all radio stations will be completed by the end of this month, when Phase I of the system will be fully activated and operational. At a workshop held last week, participants received de- tails about of how the system would work and the status of the project, which was spurred by difficulties in disseminating information during incidents in recent years. Home Affairs Minister Tara Rivers, in opening remarks at the workshop, said, “Many of you will recall the Sol fire in July 2017, and the subsequent alert of a potential tsunami threat fol- lowing an earthquake north of Honduras in January 2018. It was immediately apparent that the mechanisms that we re- lied on historically to alert the public, like press releases, radio and TV advisories, were not ad- equate in these situations.” There had been widespread criticism of the level of commu- nication from officials during the 2017 fire at Jackson Point fuel depot that led to an evac- uation of neighbouring homes and businesses. Similar con- cerns were also expressed about the speed of emergency SOLAR CARPORT PLANNED FOR GOVERNMENT CENTRE MARK MUCKENFUSS mmuckenfuss@compassmedia.ky A new carport topped with solar panels will soon be supplying a portion of the power used by the Government Administration Building in George Town. The Ministry of Commerce, Planning and Infrastructure is analysing bids for the struc- ture, which is planned for the parking area be- hind the government centre. Specifications call for the solar array to generate 100 kilowatt hours of electricity, between 5% and 10% of the building’s needs. In an email response to questions, officials declined to provide an estimate on the cost of the project. It is expected to be completed within six months of the bid award. Ministry officials told the Compass that the 100 kW system corresponds to the “max- imum allowed by the Caribbean Utilities Com- pany for commercial building”. The electricity IGUANA COUNT BEGINS THIS MONTH The Department of Environment will soon find out whether its iguana culling pro- gramme is making an impact. The annual green iguana survey for Grand Cayman will be conducted this month at 158 sites across the island. According to an article in the DoE’s latest Flicker publication, surveyors will be “col- lecting records of the number of iguanas de- tected at each point, their age class and dis- tance from the point center”. Last year’s survey estimated there were between 1.1 million and 1.6 million green iguanas on Grand Cayman. That figure helped prompt an intense culling programme that began in the last week of October 2018. Since then, more than 800,000 iguanas have been turned in by hunters at the island’s landfill. The count coincides with the recent hatching season, which also impacts the effec- tiveness of the cull. “The cull will have to fight to keep ahead of the surge of hatchling emergence, which could be substantial as it represents the re- productive power of the population that was PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 6 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 6 » PLEASE TURN TO PAGE 6 »2 LOCAL®IONAL MONDAY, 5 AUGUST 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS BREAKTHROUGH (PG) 1:25 I 4:10 I 7:15 I 10:00 SUN: 4:10 I 7:15 I 10:00 KALANK (PG) 3:10 I 9:00 (SAT ONLY) I 9:30 (NO SAT) SUN: 3:10 I 9:20 LITTLE (PG13) 12:30 I 3:25 (SAT ONLY) I 3:50 (NO SAT) 6:50 I 9:45 SUN: 3:50 I 6:50 I 9:35 THE CURSE OF LA LLORONA (R) 1:10 VIP I 4:35 I 7:00 VIP I 10:15 HELLBOY (R) 12:35 (SAT ONLY) I 1:00 I 6:10 (SAT ONLY) I 6:45 SHAZAM! (PG13) 1:30 I 3:40 VIP I 7:15 I 9:30 VIP SUN: 3:40 VIP I 4:40 I 6:40 VIP 8:00 I 9:40 VIP KIDS CLUB: • 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) F&F HOBBS & SHAW (PG13) 12:40 VIP | 1:05 3D | 3:45 VIP | 4:05 | 6:45 VIP | 7:10 3D | 9:20 | 9:50 VIP SPIDER-MAN FAR (PG13) FROM HOME 12:30 3D | 3:45 | | 6:50 3D | 9:50 TOY STORY 4 (G) 2:35 | 5:05 A SCORE TO SETTLE (R) 1:50 | 7:35 | 10:05 STUBER (R) 12:15 | 4:30 | 7:00 | 10:15 THE LION KING (2019) (PG) 12:45 | 3:45 3D | 6:30 | 9:15 3D Honduran president accused of drug conspiracy MEXICO CITY (AP) – US fed- eral prosecutors have accused the Honduran government of essentially functioning as a narco-state, with the current and former presidents having received campaign contribu- tions from cocaine traffickers in exchange for protection. A 49-page document filed in New York’s southern dis- trict on Friday refers to Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández as a co- conspirator who worked with his brother, Juan Antonio ‘Tony’ Hernández, and former President Porfirio Lobo “to use drug trafficking to help assert power and control in Honduras”. It says that the president and his predecessor “relied on drug proceeds” to fund po- litical campaigns and cites “evidence of high-level polit- ical corruption”. The filing comes just months after other US federal court documents showed the current president and some of his closest advisers were among the targets of a Drug Enforcement Administration investigation, casting further doubt on the United States’ assertion that Honduras has helped stop the flow of drugs. The US government has been a staunch supporter of Hernández’s government, pouring millions of dollars into security cooperation to stop cocaine headed to the US from South America. The office of the Hon- duran president said via Twitter on Saturday that Hernández “categorically de- nies the false and perverse accusations”. It later issued a sepa- rate, lengthier statement sug- gesting that the allegations in New York were put forward by drug dealers seeking retal- iation against the president, who was head of the Cen- tral American country’s con- gress in 2012 when the legis- lature authorised extradition of Honduran nationals to face drug-trafficking charges in the US. Since then, the presi- dent’s office said, more than 40 Hondurans have been ex- tradited and others have ne- gotiated plea deals with US officials in exchange for information. “President Hernández has been relentless in the fight against drug traffickers de- spite predictable reprisals, to the point that one of his 17 siblings, a younger brother, is now being tried in New York,” the office said. Specifically, New York prosecutors allege that the president used $1.5 mil- lion in drug trafficking pro- ceeds to help secure power in 2013. That campaign sup- port came via cash bribes to Honduran officials as well as gifts and favours to local pol- iticians, prosecutors argue. Hernández won re-election in 2017, despite term-limits in Honduras and widespread allegations of election fraud. The filing also alludes to multiple payments of $1 mil- lion or more from drug dealers to Lobo. Lobo’s wife was arrested by Honduran officials in 2018 on charges of diverting $700,000 in public funds. His son, Fabio, was sentenced in the US to 24 years in prison in 2017 for drug trafficking. Lobo was Hernández’s mentor and oversaw his rise to power. The filing forms part of pre-trial documents in an upcoming case against Tony Hernández, who was ar- rested in 2018 in Miami on charges of smuggling thou- sands of kilogrammes of co- caine into the US. Prosecutors describe Tony Hernández as a “violent, multi-ton drug trafficker” with significant influence over high-ranking Honduran officials, who in turn pro- tected his shipments and turf. They also say that mem- bers of the Honduran Na- tional Police escorted his co- caine through the country’s waters and airspace, while Lobo once deployed mili- tary personnel to the nation’s border with Guatemala to deter another drug trafficker from encroaching on territory in western Honduras. Fire at Prospect apartment A fire broke out at a Lantern Point apart- ment in Prospect Sat- urday afternoon. The fire appeared to be localised to a third floor balcony. A resident at- tempted to put it out using a hose from the roof of the building until the Fire Ser- vice arrived at 5:40pm. Residents evacuated the building and waited on the lawn until the Fire Service extinguished the flames. One man was treated on site for a burn to his hand. Deputy governor unveils new run logo Deputy Governor Franz Manderson last week un- veiled the new logo for his annual 5K chal- lenge last week. The logo, which is re- freshed every year, is de- signed to celebrate the var- ious charitable recipients it aims to support. “I am thrilled to be able to work closely with the various charities,” Man- derson said in a press re- lease. “Every year we aim to assist foundations that are tirelessly at work to provide services that reach areas of need in our community.” The DG 5K is raising funds this year for the Alex Panton Foundation, the Crisis Centre of the Cayman Islands and the Special Needs Foundation. “I would like to thank our sponsors who partner with us in this initiative which improves quality of life, drives awareness and facilitates change,” the deputy governor said. “Of course, I would be remiss not to also thank members of the public who register and join the fun in support of a good cause – we could not make this a success without each of you, and I welcome the community to register early.” The DG 5K run on Cayman Brac will be held on Sunday, 15 Sept., and the Grand Cayman run will be held on Sunday, 29 Sept. Registration is open on the CaymanActive website www.caymanactive.com/dg5K. CORRECTIONS A story in Friday’s Com- pass, ‘Ahearn leaves chief officer post,’ mistakenly reported Nancy Barnard’s new title with the Ministry of Health, Environment, Culture and Housing. Bar- nard has been named acting chief officer. Also, a story in Friday’s Compass titled ‘Medical experts call for tighter re- strictions on cosmetic in- jections,’ incorrectly iden- tified Barrie Quappe’s position. She is a former health practice and fa- cility inspector, reporting to the Health Practice Commission. Fire breaks out at a third-floor apartment in Lantern Point on Saturday. - PHOTO: ALVARO SEREY Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez steps off a bus at an event in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, March 11, 2019. – PHOTO: AP From left, Ventisha Conolly, Cayman Brac and Logistics Coordinator; Tony Heaver-Wren, representing the event’s platinum sponsor Appleby; Ania Milanowska, Cayman Islands Crisis Centre; event co-chair Jennifer Ahearn; Deputy Governor and event co-chair Franz Manderson; Kesrene Estrella, Special Needs Foundation of Cayman; Shane Purcell of the Alex Panton Foundation, and Fundraising Subcommittee Chairwoman Nancy Barnard.The islands’ most-trusted news source 3 CAYMAN COMPASS • MONDAY, 5 AUGUST 2019 We are pleased to announce that as of Monday, August 5th the CINICO office is now open at its new location. CINICO’s Board of Directors, Management and Staff are truly grateful for your patience and support throughout the unexpected delays while relocating, and apologise for any inconvenience which the office closure may have caused. We look forward to better serving our valued members at our new office which is now located at: 20 Kirkconnell Street Unit 1A OFFICE RELOCATION AND OPENING CAYMAN BRAC OFFICEThe islands’ most-trusted news source 4 Opinion & Letters MAC MARGOLIS Cuban socialism has sur- vived exploding cigars, Key- stone counter-revolutionaries and the collapse of the So- viet Union. So, however much pain the Trump administra- tion means to exact upon the island economy through new sanctions, the imminent de- mise of the autocrats in Ha- vana seems unlikely. No doubt, the recent US- imposed measures, including a ban on cruises, restrictions on remittances and a green light for aggrieved former Cuban businesses to sue for reparations over seized prop- erty, will hurt. Tourism, Cuba’s second biggest source of for- eign exchange, is expected to drop 8.5% this year, with in- ternational arrivals down 12% in the first quarter of 2019. That’s a blow for a country already reeling from the crisis in Venezuela, which has provided cut-rate oil that would otherwise eat up even more foreign exchange. Yet if Havana takes the right cues, the US-enhanced crisis could spur a makeover that the is- land economy sorely needs. The end of Soviet largesse in the early 1990s, which sent Cuban gross domestic tum- bling by a third, led Fidel Castro to grant more au- tonomy to government en- terprise, encourage self-em- ployment and slash lavish state subsidies. But, once Cuba started to recover, that window of disruptive liberty during the so-called Special Period was closed. Raul Castro carried on the tradition with a decade of re- form that promoted decentral- isation while retaining control of the economy. Now Presi- dent Miguel Diaz-Canel has his own emergency to manage, and his first instincts were to look in the rear view with a call to “strengthen the socialist state enterprise, which is our biggest productive force”. Cuba’s emerging private sector in tourism has shown vibrant growth. Foreign in- vestment has gained a foot- hold, thanks in part to new regulations. Domestic oil production has tripled since 1989, slashing by half Cu- ba’s nearly total depend- ence on imported Venezuelan crude, reported economist Pavel Vidal. Banking is on more solid footing, communications have improved and a steady flow of remittances irrigates the economy. Two domestic measures Cuba could embrace are the restructuring of the bloated state sector and a monetary reform to get rid of the dual currency system – one dollar- pegged peso for Cubans, an- other overvalued peso for public sector business – which distorts prices and props up inefficient state companies. Cuba has licensed tens of thousands of private busi- ness, including restaurants, stores and inns, and allowed foreign providers such as Eu- ropean hotel operators and Airbnb. But it virtually halted new licences last year. The number of authorised busi- nesses fell to 584,477 in the first quarter, down 1.5% from last August. Ride-hailing and Airbnb may not be what Cuba’s re- bels had in mind when they claimed the Pearl of the An- tilles for socialism. Given the chance, however, the island’s new enterprising disruptors offer a chance to save the revolution from itself. Mac Margolis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Latin and South America. He was a reporter for Newsweek and is the author of ‘The Last New World: The Conquest of the Amazon Frontier’. © 2019, Bloomberg Opinion MONDAY, 5 AUGUST 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS The Cayman Compass welcomes comments, opinions and viewpoints from readers. Letters to the editor can be emailed to editor@compassmedia.ky, submitted via www.caymancompass.com, sent by post or hand-delivered to the Compass office. LETTER TO THE EDITOR The importance of Emancipation Day I found the article (‘Eman- cipation Day: ‘a bubbling stew’ of Caribbean heritage’, Cayman Compass, 1 Aug.) in- formative and edifying and write not so much to add to what was written in the ar- ticle but rather to lament the absence of, or should I write the deliberate attempt by ig- norant elements in Cayma- nian society to deny the ex- istence of slavery and its ancillary phenomenon in this jurisdiction. In the mid-1970s, the then political directorate in their attempt to rewrite Cayma- nian history removed the cul- tural celebration of Emanci- pation Day (1 Aug.) from the cultural calendar. Before that time, Emancipation Day in the Cayman Islands was a popular and much celebrated holiday on Grand Cayman with both black people and enlightened whites marking the occasion with dance, ca- maraderie and revelry. In Bodden Town, which was both the political as well as the slave capital, the cel- ebration took on a special significance with black folk from all walks of life congre- gating in jovial mood. As a youth with ancestral ties dating back to the slave era, I grasped the significance of what black folk sought to preserve in this celebration. Bodden Towners of my generation and older will re- call that Dick Frederick had a standing contract with the authorities for the use of the Bodden Town Town Hall on 1 Aug. The celebration cul- minated in a dance which re- ally was more like a ball. At this soiree, men and women of colour from all over the island came together to cel- ebrate. The occasion was formal and the quadrille was among the dances performed. I recall Dick Frederick speaking of another dance which he called the ‘Sir Roger’. As best as I can as- certain, this was some sort of European waltz and, like the quadrille, it was probably the black people’s interpreta- tion of a European dance em- anating out of the slave era. From an early age, I cul- tivated an interest in and re- spect for what black Cayma- nian folk did and, of equal importance, how they felt about the society in which they lived. This was enhanced by the groundings from my mother, whose sense of Pan- African history and culture led me to fathom the du- ality which is Caymanian so- ciety. I later realised that men like Dick Frederick were de- scribed by black historians as ‘Royal Africans’. From the era of the slave ships and beyond, these men and women were entrusted with shepherding, guarding and disseminating the her- itage, culture and history of the oppressed and enslaved. It is a fact of some historical importance that the white slave catchers, owners and contractors knew of the ex- istence of such persons and tried their best to prevent them from boarding the slave ships or from working on the plantations. The cultural history of Bodden town is enriched by the numbers of such persons who played important roles in the preservation of what is increasingly appreciated as our Caymanian heritage. As always, I am fascinated by what I described in ‘The Cayman Islands in Transition’ as the ‘duality‘ which is Cay- manian society. I am intrigued by the number of ‘established Caymanians’ who when ques- tioned as to their ancestry cite Scottish, Irish, Welsh and English (WASP) roots with not so much as a mention of an African connection. Of course we are not African, neither for that matter are we any of the other mentioned ethnicities. Slavery was an institution predicated upon violence, in- cluding sexual violence and force. No society in which slavery existed was exempt from such practices. Taken to its logical conclusion, this suggests that there existed little to no racial purity in slave societies or, in our case, a society with slaves. Furthermore, European blue bloods abhorred living in the culturally impaired, mos- quito-infested colonies. Hence, they sent their attorneys, managers and bookkeepers to attend to their colonial af- fairs. These persons settled in the colonies and cultivated li- aisons with black men and black women. The product of such liaisons are elaborately scaled by Kamau Brathwaite in his seminal work ‘The De- velopment of Creole Society in Jamaica 1770-1820’. The Portuguese coined the word for persons of European descent born in the colonies. This word was ‘criollo’, angli- cised today as ‘creole’. Today, the term applies equally to all persons (black and white) of established ancestry born in the colonies. Hence my reason for claiming that there is no racial purity among estab- lished Caymanians. Having laid that impor- tant foundation, let me now return to what I consider the revisionist attempt to deny history. The records show that slavery existed on Grand Cayman. The record also shows that racism existed (and by my account) still ex- ists in Caymanian society. If we are honest with our- selves, we should try to exor- cise these old ghosts before the situation becomes chronic. Those who continue in the present vein, leave themselves open to that most frightening of situations as mentioned by the philosopher George Santayana – “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” I live with the hope that the Emancipation Day Holiday (1 Aug.) will one day return to the Caymanian cultural cal- endar and that Long Celia will take her rightful place among the pantheon of National He- roes of these islands. J.A. Roy Bodden New US sanctions on Cuba have a silver lining PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY: Compass Media Limited Compass Centre Shedden Road, George Town, Cayman Islands SEND US YOUR VIEWS OR NEWS: P.O. Box 1365 Grand Cayman, KY1-1108 Cayman Islands Telephone: (345) 815-0095 Email: newsdesk@compassmedia.ky ADVERTISE WITH US: Telephone: (345) 949-5111 Email: sales@compassmedia.ky Website: www.caymancompass.com PUBLISHER KATHLEEN CAPETTA EDITOR CATHERINE MACGILLIVRAY A MEMBER OF THE INTER-AMERICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION “Give light and the people will find their own way”5 LOCAL NEWS CAYMAN COMPASS • MONDAY, 5 AUGUST 2019 JOIN US ON: Thursday, 8th August 2019 at 9:00 a.m. Owen Roberts International Airport Conference Room, 2nd floor of the Terminal Building The meeting will start promptly. Please arrive by 8:45 a.m. to sign in. New Shared-Use Passenger Lounge Owen Roberts International Airport The Cayman Islands Airports Authority (CIAA) proudly announces its latest business opportunity in the redevelopment and expansion of Owen Roberts International Airport (ORIA). We are seeking a professional firm with experience operating luxury lounges to design, construct and operate a full-service passenger lounge at ORIA in Grand Cayman to accommodate and delight our travelling guests with comfort, conveniences and a world-class experience. In order to qualify for consideration, the firm must be able to demonstrate that it operates at least one lounge, preferably at an airport. To learn more about this exciting new opportunity at Owen Roberts International Airport, the CIAA will be holding a pre-proposal meeting and site tour of the lounge space. RSVP by 6th August 2019 to lounge@caymanairports.com Please provide information about where you are currently operating a lounge. Only persons or company representatives who RSVP will be allowed to participate in the meeting or the tour. DoE locates missing shark tag NORMA CONNOLLY nconnolly@compassmedia.ky The Department of Envi- ronment offered a $200 re- ward for anyone who lo- cated a satellite tag that dislodged from a Caribbean reef shark off Little Cayman on Thursday night, but the tag was found in the end by one of the department’s own officers. According to the DoE, the tag “popped off” the shark on Thursday night. The tags are designed to eventually re- lease from the sharks and float ashore. The DoE said in a Face- book posting, “If we get it back, it means we are getting a lot of detailed information and are able to potentially redeploy the tag on another Caribbean reef shark.” The black GPS tag, which allows for the tracking of a shark over a wide geographic area and a long period of time, was found by DoE con- servation officer Mike Gu- derian on a beach along the south side of the island on Friday morning. The DoE’s Shark Project Officer Johanna Kohler was sent the last recorded coor- dinates of the tag and she forwarded the longitude and latitude information to a number of people on Little Cayman, including Guderian. “I got a WhatsApp around 9:30am from Johanna. She WhatsApped several of us on Little. I responded, saying I’d go and have a quick look now,” said Gu- derian by phone from Little Cayman a few hours after finding the tag. “I put the coordinates into my handheld GPS,” he said. “It was surprising. I thought that the tag would have come further west from the coordinates. An- other couple of people who’d also gotten the informa- tion were there searching too. I started to look and went about a kilometre to the west of the coordi- nates. Then I came back to where I started from and headed east. “I got well past the coor- dinates that were given to us, and that’s where I found the tag, right among the roots of the mangroves, in the sand.” He added, “I was afraid that it would be buried under the sargassum and we would never find it, but lo and be- hold, after walking about in waist-deep [water] for half an hour, I found it.” Shark Conservation Cayman, a collaboration be- tween the DoE and Marine Conservation International, has been tagging sharks in an effort to better under- stand their behaviour. Since the project started a decade ago, 66 sharks have been tagged, according to the DoE. DEH warns consumers about hummus recall The Department of Envi- ronmental Health is advising consumers that a foreign food distributor has recalled some of its hummus prod- ucts. Pita Pal Foods, based in Houston, Texas, issued the re- call, which is believed to be connected to a contamination by the Listeria bacterium. Some of the brand names involved include: Lan- tana, Buccee’s, Fresh Thyme, Harris Teeter, Hummus Hummus, Pita Pal, Lidl, Rea- sor’s, Roundy’s, Schnucks and 7-Select. Expiration dates on the recalled products range from 25 July 2019 through to 18 Sept. 2019 and, in some cases, 1 Jan. 2020. DEH environmental health officers have contacted all local wholesalers and markets to make sure that they are not offering the affected products for sale to local consumers. Pita Pal Foods claims that it is making the recall out of an abundance of caution and that there have not been any reported illnesses associated with the group of products. The DEH is advising con- sumers to refrain from using affected products. If you have them in your kitchen, dis- pose of them or return the un- opened packages to the place of purchase. If you have con- sumed the any of the products and fallen ill, contact your medical provider immediately. Listeria has been known to cause severe infections in young children, seniors and others with weakened im- mune systems. Healthy people in- fected with the bacteria often experience fever, se- vere headaches, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhoea. Department of Environment conservation officer Mike Guderian celebrates finding the missing tag. - PHOTO: LORRI LAMB A Pita Pal hummus product that is among the recalled items.The islands’ most-trusted news source 6 MONDAY, 5 AUGUST 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS communications during the January 2018 tsunami scare. Director of Hazard Man- agement Cayman Islands Danielle Coleman said she was pleased with last week’s workshop, which was coor- dinated by her agency along with the Department of Public Safety Communications. The workshop was held in prep- aration for the final testing stage of the Phase I imple- mentation of the system. “The workshop was very successful as it provided HMCI and DPSC with an opportunity to provide in- formation about Phase I of the NENS to all key stake- holder agencies and get their input on the content for public messaging, which is critical,” Coleman said in a news release. The workshop was at- tended by the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, the Cayman Islands Airports Au- thority, the Department of Environment, the Department of Environmental Health, the Health Services Authority, the Utility Regulation and Com- petition Office of the Cayman Islands (OfReg), the Cayman Islands National Weather Service, Emergency Medical Services and Radio Cayman. First Saturday Night Live event draws a crowd MARK MUCKENFUSS mmuckenfuss@compassmedia.ky. It started at 4pm, but Sat- urday Night Live did not re- ally take off until, well, Sat- urday night. At 5pm, a few food vendors lining Har- bour Drive, backed by Hog Sty Bay, stood in idle antic- ipation. The four-piece jazz band Pa’lante! was warming up without an audience. A couple of people ordered beers at a bar stand. But by 6:30pm, there were lines at the food stalls, a small cluster of people were perched in front of the bandstand and more than 100 people were milling about in the half-block area reserved for the occasion. The event is the first in what is expected to be a monthly series of happenings designed to help bring more people to George Town’s wa- terfront. Saturday’s event ran until 11pm. “This is exceptional,” said former MLA Lucille Seymour, who moments before had been inspired to perform a few dance steps to the music. “I’ve always been a fan of the revitalisation of George Town. In my day, growing up here, it was exciting.” Seymour said she’s happy to see the community working with the government to promote the area. She sees it impacting locals as well as visitors. “When the cruise ship people come here, this is what they see prima facie,” she said. “This will give them a better impression. We need the [business] owners and the government to come together to make sure it’s the best wa- terfront in the Caribbean.” Jessie Dixon came with some friends visiting from Barbados. She was pleased to see an event in an area often quiet on weekend nights. “I think it would be good to bring back some life to the city,” she said. At one end of the mini- festival, the scent of grilled meat drifted from the Burger Shack food truck. The Food Vault was serving conch frit- ters and other Caymanian dishes. Spicy street tacos were available from Agave. And Gelato and Co was scooping up frozen treats. South Sound resident Cor- leen Goodman said she was enjoying the atmosphere. “It would be nice to have something to do in George Town on a regular basis,” she said. What would help the downtown area even more, she said, would be the con- struction of more residential space among the commercial and financial businesses. There have been sim- ilar efforts to generate more weekend nightlife in George Town in the past. But a se- ries of concert/culinary events several years ago drew few people. With a buzzing crowd around her, Seymour said she thinks the latest revital- isation effort will be more successful. “Now,” she said, “it’s be- coming a reality.” George Town’s inaugural Saturday Night Live event draws crowd to the waterfront in the weekend. - PHOTO: MARK MUCKENFUSS will feed directly into the power grid as part of the customer-owned renew- able energy programme, known as CORE. The project is the first for the government under CORE. Several more are ex- pected to follow. “There are other pro- posed projects planned by other government entities,” officials said, although they provided no details. In line with the National Energy Policy, which calls for 70% of all power in the Cayman Islands to be generated by renewable sources by 2037, officials said the gov- ernment “anticipates uti- lising renewable technol- ogies where possible in the future”. Other such projects are anticipated. “In a case of leading by example, the government plans for installations of charging infrastructure at town halls, civic cen- tres and other government buildings,” officials said. still alive in May, when numbers of reproductive adults were significantly higher than now,” the article said. Efforts to keep the green iguana populations down in Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are ongoing. Res- idents are encouraged to contact the DoE if they spot a green iguana. Caymanians interested in joining the culling ef- fort can register during working hours at the re- ception facility at the en- trance to the landfill. Cull training opportunities are also available. Contact Cornwall Consulting at 949‑1544 or 769‑8888, or email info@cornwall.ky for more information. Iguana count to begin PEDESTRIAN STRUCK BY CAR A pedestrian was in- jured after being struck by a car on Bodden Town Road, near Lakeview Road, on Friday afternoon. Police and other emer- gency services received a report of the accident just before 3:25pm. The male pedestrian, who had been walking east on Bodden Town Road, was being tended by members of the public when police arrived. Emergency Med- ical Services officers took over first aid treatment and the man was trans- ported to hospital for fur- ther treatment. Police said he is be- lieved to have sustained se- rious but non-life-threat- ening injuries. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Solar carport planned for government centre Radio emergency alert system launching soon Home Affairs Minister Tara Rivers makes opening remarks at the 30 July National Emergency Notification System workshop. CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 31 dead, 62 rescued after ferry boats capsize in Philippines MANILA, Philippines (AP) – Rescuers recovered more bodies in rough seas where three ferry boats capsized after being buffeted by fierce winds and waves off two central Philippine provinces, bringing the death toll to 31 with three missing, the coast guard said Sunday. Coast guard spokesman Armand Balilo said the dead were mostly passengers of two ferries that flipped over in sudden wind gusts and powerful waves Saturday off Guimaras and Iloilo prov- inces. Sixty-two other passen- gers and crew were rescued. A third ferry, which was not carrying any passengers, also capsized in the Iloilo Strait but its five crewmen survived, Balilo said. Survivors recounted how the sky suddenly turned dark midway through their trip, followed by strong winds and rain that battered their ferries. Authorities wondered why a third ferry was allowed to sail about three hours after two other ferries overturned almost at the same time at noon in bad weather. Forecasters have warned of heavy monsoon rains, thunderstorms and rain-trig- gered landslides amid a trop- ical depression more than 620 miles off the country’s eastern coast. Rescuers check the remains of a ferry boat after it capsized due to bad weather in the waters between Guimaras and Iloilo provinces, central Philippines on Saturday. – PHOTO: AP CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1The islands’ most-trusted news source 7 CAYMAN COMPASS • MONDAY, 5 AUGUST 2019 2 bitten by sharks at Florida beach Authorities say two people were bitten by sharks minutes apart at New Smyrna Beach, Florida, on Saturday. A 23‑year‑old woman was bitten on the left hand and wrist, and a short time later a 21‑year‑old man was bitten on his right foot. Neither bite was life‑threatening. If you think you have fallen victim to any type of online fraud, contact your bank directly or the RCIP Financial Crime Unit on 949-8797. This message is brought to you by: Sponsored by our member retail banks: DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU! If it looks suspicious, do not interact. Notify local authorities of any suspicious activity. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Only share information with those you trust. Remove fraudulent content and block senders. BANK ACCOUNT SAFETY HOW TO BE CYBER SMART Cayman Islands retail banks will never ask for account or card details such as your PIN number, account number, or any form of card verification in this way. Ever had someone threaten to freeze or block your bank account if you do not comply with their request for personal information? THIS IS A SCAM! Two mass shootings in 24 hours turn US focus to gun control Two mass shootings within the space of 24 hours put the nation’s focus back onto gun control and, given the alleged anti-immigrant views of a shooter in Texas, elevate the issue of the dan- gers of hate speech. Gun control has been a mostly peripheral theme on the Democrats’ 2020 cam- paign trail until now. Some have written it off as a lost cause after years of violent incidents with little policy response from lawmakers or others. It’s set to dominate Sunday morning talk shows, for starters. “It’s past time we take ac- tion and end our gun vio- lence epidemic,” Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden said on Twitter after the first shooting. Police on Saturday ar- rested a 21-year-old Texas man suspected opening fire with an assault rifle at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas, killing at least 20 people. The suspect allegedly drove hundreds of miles from his near home near Dallas to carry out the attack in the heavily Hispanic city on the US-Mexican border. Authorities are investi- gating a possible link to an anti-immigrant document that surfaced online shortly after the killings, with anger directed against immigrants and specifically against Mexicans. Given that, the carnage gave a renewed im- petus to critics of Presi- dent Donald Trump’s harsh rhetoric on immigration. Three Mexicans were killed in El Paso shooting, Mex- ican President Andrés Ma- nuel López Obrador said in a Twitter video. Less than 24 hours after the El Paso shooting, a gunman in body armour killed at least nine people and injured dozens of others in a popular nightlife dis- trict of Dayton, Ohio, police there said. Among the Democratic hopefuls due to appear on Sunday talk shows were Sen- ators Cory Booker and Bernie Sanders; former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who represented El Paso in Congress, and Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana. Representing the admin- istration will be acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney plus Larry Kudlow and Peter Navarro, two of Trump’s economic advisers. In a series of tweets, Trump called the El Paso kill- ings “an act of cowardice”, saying there are “no reasons or excuses that will ever jus- tify killing innocent people”. He was being briefed Sunday morning on the Dayton inci- dent, the White House said. Trump launched his presi- dential bid in June 2015 with a speech that slammed immi- grants from Mexico as drug dealers, criminals and rap- ists. Since then, anti-immi- grant rhetoric, and a focus on the US-Mexican border, has been a centerpiece of the Trump administration. The president has de- scribed the southern border as “a pipeline for vast quan- tities of illegal drugs in- cluding meth, heroin, co- caine and fentanyl”. He’s termed gang members “ani- mals” and sent troops to the southern border to “stop the attempted Invasion of Il- legals”. He’s also said in tweets and at rallies that the US is simply “full”. In recent weeks the presi- dent has stepped up racially charged rhetoric against Democratic lawmakers and others in an apparent bid to animate his base for the 2020 election. Last week, faith leaders from the National Cathedral in Washington – who typi- cally stay far from the polit- ical fray – said Trump’s “vi- olent dehumanizing words” attacking minority law- makers and others risked disastrous consequences. O’Rourke left the cam- paign trail to return to his hometown on Saturday, and drew a direct line from hateful speech by the presi- dent to violent acts. “Trump’s racism does not just offend our sensibilities; it funda- mentally changes the char- acter of this country. And it leads to violence,” he said. Trump’s racial broadsides are now coming at such fre- quency and volume as to in- fuse and eclipse most other business and keep the issue foremost in voters’ minds headed into his re-election. It was a multi-day Twitter attack by Trump on Rep. Elijah Cummings, a black Democrat from Maryland, that prompted the leaders at the National Cathedral, which has been the site of four presidential funerals, to post the essay, “Have We No Decency? A Response to Pres- ident Trump,” on July 30. “Violent words lead to vio- lent actions,” the Cathedral’s three top religious leaders said. “They are a clarion call, and give cover, to white supremists who consider people of color a sub-human ‘infestation’ in America. They serve as a call to action from those people to keep America great by ridding it of such infestation.” Walmart is “in shock over the tragic events” at the El Paso mall, the company said in a statement. Congress failed to pass any meaningful gun restrictions in the wake of the 2012 shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. The killing of 26 people, including 20 children between 6 and 7 years old, had been seen as a potential tipping point for measures to restrict access to firearms. Trump moved to bar bump stocks, devices that allow a semi-automatic weapon fire like a machine gun, after a massacre at a Las Vegas con- cert in October 2017 killed al- most 60 people. He also said after a mass shooting in Vir- ginia in June that he will “se- riously look” and banning gun silencers, but no action on that has been taken. © 2019, Bloomberg Several law enforcement agencies respond to an active shooter Saturday at the Walmart at Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso. - PHOTO: AP Customers are escorted from a Walmart store after a gunman opened fire on shoppers near a shopping mall, Saturday in El Paso, Texas.8 WORLD®IONAL MONDAY, 5 AUGUST 2019 • CAYMAN COMPASS CREWS TRY TO EASE PRESSURE ON DAMAGED UK DAM LONDON (AP) – Heavy rain was forecast Sunday for the area around a damaged reservoir in northwest Eng‑ land as emergency crews raced to pump out water to prevent the dam from failing and a town from being flooded. Britain’s meteorolog‑ ical agency said “torren‑ tial downpours and hail” were possible across northern England, ham‑ pering the emergency work to reduce the water level in the 180‑year‑old Todd‑ brook Reservoir. About 1,500 residents were evacuated from Whaley Bridge, a town 175 miles northwest of London, after part of the reservoir’s spillway gave way last week. Another 55 homes were evacuated Saturday due to concerns about the weather and “the ongoing risk of the Toddbrook Reservoir breaching”, Derbyshire police said. Police stopped allowing evacuated residents to stop by their homes for supplies, saying officers needed to focus on the pending storm and potential flooding. “The attention of of‑ ficers and other responders has to be on the preserva‑ tion of life,” Derbyshire po‑ lice said in a statement. “While there was an ur‑ gent need over the past 24 hours to allow residents back into the area, our first duty is to protect the lives of the public and emer‑ gency services.” Forecasters said as much as 1.6 inches of rain could fall in one to two hours, according to Brit‑ ain’s Met Office. Since the dam was dam‑ aged last week from heavy rains that sent torrents of water rushing over the spillway, a Royal Air Force helicopter dropped some 400 one‑ton bags of sand and gravel into a gaping hole in the spillway. French hoverboard inventor flies over the English Channel ST. MARGARET’S BAY, England (AP) – Is it a bird? A plane? No, it’s a French inventor flying over the English Channel on his hoverboard. Looking like a super‑ hero, Franky Zapata suc‑ cessfully completed the famed 22‑mile journey in just 22 minutes Sunday morning, reaching speeds of up to 110 mph on the flyboard that has made him a French household name. Propelled by a power pack full of kerosene, Zapata set off from Sangatte in France’s Pas de Calais region and landed in St. Margaret’s Bay, beyond the white cliffs of Dover, in southeast England. He stopped only once, on the British side, to refuel his fu‑ turistic invention from a boat in the choppy waters. “I’m feeling happy … It’s just an amazing moment in my life,” he said in English following his touchdown in Britain. “The last 10% [of the flight] was easier … because I had the time to look at the cliffs.” It was, of course, the re‑ cord for such a trip: No one else has tried to cross the channel in this way. It was also a personal record – the furthest dis‑ tance that the 40‑year‑old, who drew nationwide atten‑ tion after whizzing above European leaders in Paris at Bastille Day celebrations, had ever travelled atop his hoverboard. The wind in the Channel, especially gusts, presented a major challenge, he said, adding that he bends into gusts but is destabilised if the wind quickly dies. It was, he acknowledged, no easy feat – especially given the physical endurance it re‑ quires. He said his leg mus‑ cles were “burning” during the flight. “Your body resists the wind, and because the board is attached to my feet, all my body has to resist to the wind,” he told reporters. “I tried to enjoy it and not think about the pain.” Witness Mark Kerr, a 60‑year‑old hospital librarian from Dover, said it was quite an unusual sight. “Spectacular and amazing. Not everyday you see a man standing up, flying across the Channel, being chased by three helicopters,” he said. Rosie Day, a 17‑year‑old at the British landing site, was impressed by Zapata’s flying skills. “I was surprised by how quick he was. It was re‑ ally impressive how fast he came in and the agility of his movements,” she said. “He was very smooth.” Sunday was the inven‑ tor’s second attempt at crossing the Channel. His first – 10 days ago – ended when he collided with a re‑ fuelling boat several minutes into his flight. That destroyed his transportation, a version of the flyboard that his com‑ pany sells commercially. Zapata told reporters this time he was “scared to touch down” at the refueling station on the sea but knew “what‑ ever happened”, his team “wouldn’t let me fall into the water”. He said he and his team worked around the clock to pull off the feat. “All week, we worked 16 hours a day … we worked like crazy,” he said. French maritime authori‑ ties said the refuelling op‑ eration was dangerous, even though Zapata nixed his ini‑ tial plan to refuel his power pack from a flying platform. Johnson’s spending fuels UK election talk Boris Johnson’s recent flurry of spending commit‑ ments is fuelling specula‑ tion the new British prime minister is preparing for an early general election, espe‑ cially after his working ma‑ jority in Parliament was cut to just one in a special elec‑ tion last week. Johnson unveiled 1.8 bil‑ lion pounds (US$2.2 billion) in additional funding for the state‑run National Health Service, delivering on his key pledge made during the 2016 Brexit referendum campaign while continuing a rapid roll‑ out of domestic policies. His administration has promised to hire 20,000 more police officers and to boost infra‑ structure spending, including on railways. It’s all part of what the government is calling eco‑ nomic “boosterism” as it pre‑ pares to take the UK out of the European Union – with or without a deal – on Oct. 31. But ramping up public spending is also a typ‑ ical tactic for governments gearing up to go to the polls, and a senior Labour official said on Sunday that’s how the UK’s main opposition party is approaching it. “We could have a general election very soon,” Shadow Health Secretary Jonathan Ashworth told Sky News, suggesting the NHS cash boost was a tactic to win over voters. “That’s what today’s announcement is all about.” Asked about a poten‑ tial election, Conservative Party Chairman James Clev‑ erly told Sky News the gov‑ ernment would not “ini‑ tiate” one. “What we’ve got is a new prime minister who during the leadership cam‑ paign made a number of ex‑ plicit commitments, and he is setting about delivering on those commitments”. Even so, there are several reasons an election might be looming. One argument is that the prime minister will look to reset the parliamen‑ tary arithmetic in order to get a new Brexit deal through the legislature. The Conservative Party’s defeat in the Brecon and Radnorshire special elec‑ tion last week has made his “do or die” pledge to deliver Brexit potentially harder. More significantly, John‑ son’s wafer‑thin working ma‑ jority makes him more vul‑ nerable in a no‑confidence vote in Parliament, which the Labour Party has hinted it could call as early as Sep‑ tember to try to prevent a no‑ deal Brexit. There are plenty of po‑ tential Tory rebels opposed to a no‑deal split from the EU, though whether they would vote to bring down their own party’s govern‑ ment is debatable. Even so, the risk is there for the prime minister. While Johnson has said he does not want an early election – the next one is not scheduled until 2022 – some of his own party are already preparing, according to the Mail on Sunday. More than 10 Tories have approached Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party not to run against them in their constituencies, the newspaper reported. In Brecon, the To‑ ries would have won had their candidate secured the 3,331 votes that went to the Brexit Party. There’s another reason why an early election could be in the cards: Having se‑ cured Brexit on 31 Oct., Johnson could immediately seek his own mandate for his domestic agenda. And ac‑ cording to his senior adviser, that timetable could apply even if he loses a no‑confi‑ dence vote in the fall. According to a report in the Telegraph newspaper, Dominic Cummings told min‑ isters last week that MPs will not be able to stop a no‑deal Brexit even if the govern‑ ment loses a no‑confidence vote, because the prime min‑ ister would have the power to schedule an election for after the 31 Oct. Brexit dead‑ line. Efforts to thwart Brexit will be too late, the paper re‑ ported him as saying. On Sunday, Labour’s Ash‑ worth disputed that analysis, saying cross‑party efforts to prevent a no‑deal Brexit would gather pace once the government puts necessary legislation to Parliament in September. “We are working with MPs across the House of Commons and we will work to stop no‑deal,” Ashworth told Sky News. © 2019, Bloomberg One argument is that the prime minister will look to reset the parliamentary arithmetic in order to get a new Brexit deal through the legislature. French inventor Franky Zapata flies near St. Margaret’s beach, Dover after crossing the English Channel Sunday on a flying board. – PHOTO: AP Looking like a superhero, Franky Zapata successfully completed the famed 22‑mile journey in just 22 minutes Sunday morning. Bags of aggregate are placed to reinforce the damaged Toddbrook Reservoir in Derbyshire, England, Saturday. – PHOTO: AP Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson9 WORLD®IONAL CAYMAN COMPASS • MONDAY, 5 AUGUST 2019 EXPERT CANCER CAREFOR CAYMAN ISLANDS PATIENTS © 2019 IPB CAYMAN ISLANDS PATIENTS Pamela R. Breast Cancer Patient At Cancer Treatment Centers of America © (CTCA), we guide you and your family every step of the way, starting with a 3-5 day initial evaluation to develop your personalized cancer treatment plan. A team of clinicians will work together to provide treatments combined with supportive care therapies designed to help manage side effects, boost your energy and keep you strong during treatment. Puerto Rico governor resigns as promised; successor sworn in Moscow police detain more than 800 at protest MOSCOW (AP) – Police in Moscow cracked down hard on an unsanctioned elec- tion protest for the second weekend in a row Saturday, detaining more than 800 people at a rally against the exclusion from city council contests of some inde- pendent and opposition can- didates, an arrest monitoring group said. Election officials rejected signatures several candidates needed to qualify for next month’s local ballot. The de- cision tapped dissatisfaction with a political environment dominated by the Kremlin- aligned United Russia party, in which dissenting voices are marginalised, ignored or repressed. The OVD-Info organisa- tion, which tracks arrests in Russia, said 828 people were detained Saturday. The Russian Interior Min- istry said the number was about 600 in a crowd of about 1,500 protesters, although police are widely believed to understate crowd estimates for opposition events. The detentions came a week after authorities ar- rested nearly 1,400 people at a similar protest. Lyubov Sobol, one of the excluded candidates and a driving figure of the cur- rent wave of protests, was among those detained. She was grabbed by police in central Moscow and hustled into a police van, loudly de- manding to know why she was being held. Demonstrators were aiming to hold a march along the Boulevard Ring, which skirts central Moscow and is a popular locale for people to walk around, despite re- peated warnings that police would take active measures against a protest. Helmeted riot police lined the route and started seizing demonstrators from a scat- tered cluster on Pushkin Square and pushing them back from another square further along the route. Some of the detentions were harsh, including one young bicyclist who was beaten with truncheons as he lay on the pavement still straddling his bike. Some other detainees appeared nonchalant, smirking or checking their phones as po- lice led them to buses. The demonstrations dis- sipated after about four hours as a steady, cold rain began falling. Once a local, low-key af- fair, the September vote for Moscow’s city council is now emblematic of the divi- sion within Russian politics and the Kremlin’s ongoing struggles with how to deal with strongly opposing views in its sprawling capital of 12.6 million people. In the past month, the issue has provoked a sur- prisingly large outcry for a local election. On 20 July, about 20,000 people turned out for a demonstration that was the largest in the city in several years. On Saturday, about 2,000 people attended another rally in St. Petersburg sup- porting the Moscow pro- tests, the local news site Fontanka.ru reported. The Moscow city council, which has 45 seats, is re- sponsible for a large munic- ipal budget and is now con- trolled by the pro-Kremlin United Russia party. All of its seats, which have a five-year- term, are up for grabs in the 8 Sept. vote. Also Saturday, Russia’s Investigative Committee an- nounced it was opening a criminal case against the Foundation for Fighting Cor- ruption, headed by the Krem- lin’s most prominent foe Alexei Navalny. The com- mittee said the organisation was suspected of receiving funding that had been crimi- nally acquired. Navalny is serving 30 days in jail for calling last week’s protest. The head of the foundation also is jail in connection with that protest. SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló resigned Friday as promised, clearing the way for veteran politician Pedro Pierluisi to be sworn in as his replacement, a move that threw the US territory into a period of fresh political uncertainty. Rosselló had promised to step down in response to weeks of popular protest over mismanagement and a se- ries of leaked chats in which he and advisers denigrated a range of Puerto Ricans. Be- cause of problems with the qualifications of members of Rosselló’s administration in the constitutional line of suc- cession, it was unclear until the last minute who would become governor. Pierluisi was named sec- retary of state, the next in line to be governor, in a re- cess appointment this week. In an emailed announcement from his office, Rosselló said Pierluisi would succeed him. He was sworn in by a judge at 5pm, the hour Rosselló had set to leave office. Four hours later, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz tweeted that the mu- nicipality at 8am on Monday would be challenging Pierlu- isi’s swearing in as governor. Meanwhile, a well-respected attorneys’ organisation ac- cused Pierluisi of “hijacking” the constitution. The territory’s House of Representatives confirmed Pierluisi as secretary of state Friday, but the Senate has not yet voted on his appoint- ment. Rosselló said confir- mation by both houses was unnecessary for a recess ap- pointment, an assertion that appeared certain to generate legal challenges. After taking the oath at his sister’s house, Pierluisi emerged at the governor’s resi- dence to address the press and promised only to serve as gov- ernor until the Senate’s hearing on his nomination, which has been moved up to Monday. If the Senate votes no, Pierluisi said, he will step down and hand the governorship to the justice secretary, the next in line under the constitution. Nothing more was heard from Rosselló. Pierluisi said he was “fully capable and authorised to act, but the Senate will have its say”. Depending on the Sen- ate’s action, his tenure “could be very short-lived”, he said. He did not plan to move into the governor’s mansion until after the vote. He also said he would avoid any major changes and concentrate on meeting with top govern- ment officials. The down-to-the-wire manoeuvring risked polit- ical chaos and sowed bitter- ness and pessimism among Puerto Ricans about the fate of their island, which has been battered by years by bankruptcy and Hurricane Maria in 2017, one of the worst natural disasters in US history. Only days ago, there was jubilation over the success of the popular movement to force Rosselló out of office. On Friday, Puerto Ricans be- moaned the confusion that left them not knowing who would be their next governor. “People are disgusted with the government in general, not just Ricardo Rosselló, everyone,” said Janeline Avila, 24, who recently received her degree in biotechnology. Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz, a member of Rosselló’s party who is seen as a possible future gov- ernor, criticised Rosselló for naming Pierluisi and ap- peared to hint at fighting the succession plan. “He never regretted any- thing,” Schatz said of Ros- selló. “He did not respect the demands of the people. In fact, he mocked them, using new accomplices.” Schatz said that order and morals will prevail: “No one should lose faith.” Hundreds of protesters marched to the governor’s residence, the Fortaleza, banging pots and drums and singing the national anthem. Protesters had not been highly critical of Pierluisi before Friday but expressed disgust with the succession process and Pierluisi’s ties to the federal control board that has promoted cutbacks on the island. Rosa Cifrian, a 47-year- old professor of nursing, said Pierluisi would not be a good governor “for the people”. “He’ll keep promoting pol- icies of austerity, cutbacks, everything that the board says,” she said. By late Friday night, po- lice warned protesters that they would fire tear gas if needed as some chanted, “Guilty of the crisis! Pierluisi! Pierluisi!”. The legislature, which is controlled by Pierluisi’s New Progressive Party, erupted into cheers when the House voted 26-21, with one absten- tion, to confirm Pierluisi as secretary of state. Lawmakers and Pierluisi himself expressed concern that the continuing political uncertainty would damage Puerto Rico’s efforts to get federal funds to recover from the hurricane and confront the economic crisis. Pedro Pierluisi, sworn in as Puerto Rico’s governor Friday, speaks during a press conference, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. – PHOTO: AP Police officers detain a protestor during an unsanctioned rally in the center of Moscow, Russia, Saturday. – PHOTO: APNext >