RTC Director

Panama teen was adrift at sea for 26 days; mother calls return 'a miracle'

It was a Friday evening in February when Adrian Vasquez, an 18-year-old from the town of Rio Hato, Panama, accepted an invitation from two friends to accompany them on what was proposed as an overnight fishing expedition.

Their plan, according to Vasquez's mother, Nilsa de la Cruz, "was to return the following morning. On February 24, they left from Ensenada Beach in the town of San Carlos aboard a small fishing boat."

But the following morning came and went without their return, and the Vasquez family started looking for the 18-year-old and his friends.

Arnaldo Vasquez, the teen's father and a hotel worker, asked fishermen to search for them along the shore from which they had departed, and his mother prayed at home with relatives and friends. Soon after, the Panamanian navy joined the search, sending ships and airplanes to look for Vasquez, Oropeces Betancourt, 24, and Fernando Osorio,16.

For nearly a month, their fate remained a mystery. But on March 21, fishermen spotted the boat, the Fifty Cents, adrift north of the Galapagos Islands, nearly 600 miles from where it had launched.

After being alerted by the fishermen, the Ecuadorian navy rescued the lone crew member.

In a statement, Rear Adm. Freddy Garcia Calle said Vasquez showed "severe signs of dehydration and lack of nutrition."

He said the survivor had thrown his friends' bodies into the ocean "because they had become badly decomposed."

Vasquez returned Tuesday to Panama City on a commercial flight. According to his mother, he had lost 20 pounds. "After 28 days of anguish, after praying to God that he be found alive ... this is indeed a miracle," de la Cruz said.

She said her son told her the fishing trip had started out well. The three caught plenty of fish. But the boat's engine died without warning and, with no tools and scant navigational experience, there was little the trio could do, de la Cruz told CNN.

Soon, currents had swept their boat out into the Pacific, far from the coast. De la Cruz said they ate raw fish and drank rainwater. She did not detail how the other two died. The Ecuadorian navy has said it is not investigating the deaths and considers the incident a rescue operation.

De la Cruz described an emotional reunion Tuesday at the airport in Panama City, where relatives hugged Vasquez and cried tears of joy. He was taken to his home in Rio Hato, in Panama's Coclé province, southwest of the capital.

Reached Wednesday by phone, de la Cruz said her son "has been sleeping a lot. We don't want to ask him any questions because we know he's traumatized. He's surrounded by the family. We're loving on him and trying to help him feel better. We're going to take him to a psychologist tomorrow."

De la Cruz said her son is "a very loving and hardworking young man" who enjoys spending time with his brothers and loves soccer.

She said the family is taking one day at a time and trying to support her son.

"For us, this is an opportunity to get closer as a family, to be more understanding and loving," she said.

---

by RTC Director

Cuba sets Good Friday as holiday after pope's request

Cuban President Raul Castro has granted Pope Benedict XVI's request to make Good Friday a holiday -- at least this year -- Cuban state media reported Saturday.

During his visit to Cuba this week, the pope asked Castro to recognize the day Christians commemorate Jesus Christ's crucifixion, a Vatican spokesman said.

The government said it would give workers the day off April 6, the first time Good Friday has been officially celebrated since the 1959 Cuban revolution.

Previously, the only other religious holiday the government recognized in Cuba was Christmas, which was deemed a holiday in 1997 at the request of Pope John Paul II prior to his visit to the island.

According to Cuban state media, Castro told the pontiff on Wednesday that Good Friday would be officially celebrated this year.

Whether Good Friday would remain a permanent holiday is still under consideration, the reports said.

In a private meeting with Raul Castro, Benedict also requested that the church be allowed to open Catholic schools and air religious broadcasts, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said during a press conference in Havana. So far, the Cuban government has not responded publicly to those requests.

---

by RTC Director

Quieter hurricane season predicted for 2012

As we rapidly approach the official start of the 2012 Hurricane Season, experts are predicting a quieter season.

Two recognized hurricane experts say “this year’s storm season could be the quietest one in the past 3 decades”.

The preliminary data came from Professor Emeritus William Gray and Dr. Phillip Klotsbach, research specialists headquartered at Colorado State University in Colorado, USA.

The duo who made a presentation at this year’s National Hurricane Conference in Orlando, Florida indicated that the Tropical Atlantic Ocean is cooler than normal and the La Nina weather pattern is giving way to El Nino.

Drs. Gray and Klotzbach were not presenting their 2012 forecast but were instead presenting a brief qualitative update of large-scale atmospheric ocean conditions likely to impact the 2012 Atlantic basin hurricane season. Dr. Gray also made a presentation to the conference on “Hurricane Multi Decadal Variability and Lack of Global Warming Influence”.

The duo’s first Official Hurricane forecast for 2012 comes out on Wednesday, April 4, 2012 which will show that the Atlantic Hurricane basin “will likely have less activity than the average 1981 – 2010 season”.

Hurricane season starts June 1 and runs through November 30.

Even though there is the potential for a quieter season, this doesn’t mean we are not going to have hurricanes so we must still be prepared, there will still be hurricanes and it only takes one to cause extensive damage, warns Dr. Klotzbach.

Drs. Gray and Klatzbach’s 2012 predictions will also indicate that there will be a more than 40% chance of one hurricane making Caribbean landfall and a 50% chance of a US landfall.

However, the team did not give the actual prediction numbers of expected storms only saying “those numbers will come on April 4”. The other seasonal forecasts for 2012 will come on June 1 and August 3.

A small contingent of Emergency Managers from the Caribbean attended this year’s conference. Dominica’s only representative was the island’s Former Disaster Coordinator Cecil Shillingford.

In related news, Mr. Shillingford was nominated to a small committee to re-organize the Caribbean’s Session and participation in the Annual National Hurricane Conference in the United States. The Committee to be chaired by Paul Martin of St. Martin will get consensus on Topics for presentation at next year’s Conference, select a strong team of presenters and work towards a greater participation from the Caribbean at future Hurricane Conferences.

Next year’s conference will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Meantime, Former National Disaster Coordinator Cecil Shillingford is calling on Dominicans to fully prepare themselves for this year’s Hurricane Season notwithstanding this year’s forecasted prediction of a probable quieter Hurricane Season to be released on Wednesday.

Mr. Shillingford states that according to Dr. Klotsbach’s comments to this year’s National Hurricane Conference in Orlando it only takes one good hurricane or storm to cause millions of dollars of damage. Although predictions are usually for 7 to 9 Hurricanes a year, on average most times only one or two directly strike us or come close to us and we see the kind of damage they can inflict on us so we should not take any comfort in a prediction of a quieter season, says Shillingford.

While there may be fewer storms this year have we sufficiently addressed the issues relating to our vulnerabilities?

Are we building better and adhering to the codes? Are we building in less vulnerable areas like well away from the coastal water marks, away from areas prone to flooding, landslides or other hazards? Are we retrofitting existing buildings to withstand the fury of hurricanes? Are we outfitting our structures with Hurricane Shutters and other safety devices? Are we insured for ALL Hazards?

Are we maintaining our Shelters to ensure they are safe to put vulnerable people who may require sheltering? Are we maintaining our drainage systems to include roadside drains, gullies and ravines? Are we de-silting our rivers and doing river training? Are we pruning or cutting dangerous trees? Are we informing ourselves and others on the effects of Hydro-meteorological systems? Are we training our people in Disaster Risk Reduction and other Disaster Management issues?

Are we securing our livelihoods? Are we seeking to maintain our food security primarily through Agriculture? Are we seriously mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction into our National Developmental thrust? Are we taking care of our Environment? Just a few questions put forward by Shillingford.

Just remember September last year, when a lingering rain-filled band of clouds from Ophelia coupled with our vulnerabilities and weaknesses in Development caused widespread and costly damage to the areas from Roseau to St. Joseph on the West Coast.

By Cecil P. Shillingford

---

by RTC Director

St Vincent UN ambassador describes ordeal at hands of New York police

The permanent representative of St Vincent and the Grenadines to the United Nations, Camillo Gonsalves, has issued a statement in which he describes mistreatment and abuse he received earlier this week at the hands of New York City police officers.

The Permanent Mission of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to the United Nations is located at 800 Second Avenue, New York and Gonsalves said he enters and exits those premises multiple times on each working day.

The building is also the home to many other diplomatic missions. The majority of the diplomatic missions in the building are members of the Commonwealth, with the notable exception of Israel.

“We enter the building by means of a common lobby and shared elevator system, through which we have access to our various permanent missions and office facilities,” Gonsalves explained.

The lobby of the building is staffed by unarmed personnel, who check the identification of visitors to the building, and determine who should gain access. The lobby is also staffed by Israeli security officials, who perform separate identification and safety checks on those individuals visiting the Permanent Mission of Israel.

Uniformed police officers of the New York Police Department (NYPD) are stationed outside of the building. The NYPD officers do not engage in checking the identification of people seeking to enter the building. There is usually one NYPD officer stationed in a permanent guard post directly in front of the building. One or two other officers traditionally patrol the city block on which the building is located.

On the outside of the building, the NYPD maintains stacks of metal barricades, which normally lean against concrete structures that line that particular sidewalk. The barriers are called into use whenever political demonstrations or protests take place outside of the building. In such instances, the barricades are erected on the opposite side of the street from the Permanent Mission to contain the demonstrators, and to keep the protestors from “disturbing the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity,” as is mandated by Article 22 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961).

According to Gonsalves, ambassadors and other diplomatic staff, as well as delivery drivers, couriers, and pedestrians, regularly step between and around these metal rails when no demonstrations are taking place. It is the common practice for ambassadors and other diplomatic staff to be dropped off by their drivers directly in front of the building, and for those persons to step around/between the barricades, cross the sidewalk, and enter the building. The staff members of the Permanent Mission of Israel, as the largest diplomatic staff in the building, are probably the most frequent users of this particular mode of entry. However, all diplomatic staff frequently enter the building in this manner.

“Over the course of my four and one-half years as Permanent Representative of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to the United Nations, I have regularly entered the building in this manner,” he pointed out.

On Wednesday, at about 2:45 pm, Gonsalves said he returned from a lunch with other diplomatic colleagues and, as is the custom, the official vehicle of the Permanent Mission of St Vincent and the Grenadines to the United Nations, which bears diplomatic licence plates, stopped directly in front of the building that houses the Permanent Mission.

Gonsalves then recounted the sequence of events.

“I exited the official vehicle in full view of the NYPD officer in the guard post, and began to walk to my office, while the staff member continued driving the car to its designated parking area. As usual, I stepped between the metal barricades, which were not linked together or otherwise connected, and continued towards the front door of my office building.

“After I had walked past the guard post located on the sidewalk, an NYPD officer emerged from the structure and shouted at me angrily.

“He said: ‘Hey you! You! What the hell do you think the Goddamn barricades are there for?’

“I was, quite frankly, shocked at the NYPD officer’s loud and angry outburst, both because of its hostile tone and the fact that, in over four years of entering the building in that manner, I had never been previously been subject to any comment whatsoever. I did not respond to the NYPD officer, and instead continued into the lobby of my office building.

“In the building, I was greeted by the unarmed personnel that supervise the entrance of visitors to the building. Since the building staff all know me very well (as they know all longstanding tenants of the building), they do not require me to produce identification to enter the building. I stopped to speak briefly with the individual on duty that day, a Caribbean national with whom I chat often.

“I was proceeding to the elevators when the NYPD officer that shouted at me earlier entered the building. He approached me from behind placed his hand on my neck and shoulder, and spun me around to face him. The officer, again angrily, shouted at me once more.

“He said: ‘You! Didn’t you see me talking to you outside?’

“I replied, in a calm voice, ‘You couldn’t have been talking to me.’

“The NYPD officer then responded, again with hostility: ‘Show me some ID right now!’

“I replied to the NYPD officer’s demand with a simple question: ‘Why? Am I under arrest?’”

Gonsalves said his question was based on the fact that (1) the officer had already grabbed him and spun him around, impeding his entry into his office; and (2) the NYPD officers stationed outside the building, to his knowledge, have never previously requested identification from any individual. The decision to check identification and to grant access to the elevators is made by the building personnel in the lobby, not the NYPD.

Gonsalves continued:

“As soon as I asked the NYPD officer why I was being asked to produce identification, and whether I was under arrest, he said, ‘You are now!’

“The NYPD officer, whose surname is Parker, and whose badge number is 21289, then produced his handcuffs and demanded that I place my hands behind my back. Aware of my rights under the relevant sections of the Vienna Convention, and aware of the fact that I had committed no criminal offence, I informed Officer Parker that I would not place my hands behind my back. Officer Parker proceeded to place his handcuff on my left wrist. I clasped my hands in front of me and stood perfectly still and rigid, as if at attention.

“Officer Parker then began to squeeze the handcuff tightly on my left wrist, in an attempt to yank my hands behind my back. He was unsuccessful in this effort. Officer Parker called for backup, and another one or two NYPD officers arrived in the lobby and began to manhandle me in an effort to handcuff me. I remained uncooperative, but peaceful. At some point I was struck or somehow bruised behind my right ear. There are minor abrasions in this area.

“The officers, collectively, managed to force my hands behind my back and to handcuff me. I was pulled to the side of the lobby, where Officer Parker informed me that he was getting a squad car to take me to the ‘17th Precinct.’”

Other ambassadors with permanent missions in the building, as well as other diplomatic staff, began to congregate in the lobby. They were shouting at the NYPD officers that they were at fault, that Gonsalves had done nothing wrong, and that they should not arrest and handcuff ambassadors. The persons gathered in the building lobby also stressed the number of times that very day that members of the Israeli Permanent Mission had entered and exited the building in that manner.

“Other officers on the scene began questioning me about what took place, and also asked me whether I worked in the building and in what capacity. I responded to them calmly and truthfully, despite the fact that I was under arrest and being questioned without having been informed of my ‘Miranda Rights’ as mandated by US law. Similarly, I had not been informed of the supposed ‘crime’ for which I was under arrest. The other officers persuaded Officer Parker not to place me in a squad car and instead to call his superior officer. My own staff, in turn, learned of my predicament and called the individuals in the United States State Department responsible for the interactions between Permanent Missions and the United States, our host country,” Gonsalves continued.

“As the crowd gathered, Officer Parker began to act in an uneasy manner. Apparently by way of post-hoc justification, Officer Parker said quietly to his fellow officers, but within my earshot: “I couldn’t let him just walk into the building. Look at him: he could be a terrorist.’”

After approximately 20 minutes in handcuffs, senior NYPD officers and US State department personnel arrived in the lobby. At that point, Gonsalves’ handcuffs were released, and he went upstairs to his office.

The lobby of the building in question is under 24-hour video surveillance. The Permanent Mission of St Vincent and the Grenadines to the United Nations is currently attempting to obtain the footage of the incident, which Gonsalves is confident will corroborate his account of his ordeal.

“The US State Department Personnel later joined me in my office to express their personal regret that the incident had taken place. They also said that the NYPD was considering issuing me a summons for disorderly conduct, which would require me to pay a fine. I informed them that I considered myself the victim of a police assault, and may pursue my own redress to that assault. Shortly thereafter, the State Department personnel informed me that the NYPD had decided not to issue any summons,” Gonsalves said.

“Later that day, I was contacted by the US State Department and reminded that, if I decide to pursue legal action for my assault, I would be waiving whatever jurisdictional immunities I possess as a diplomatic agent. I was informed that, if I contemplated legal action, I may become subject to a countersuit by the New York District Attorney. Responding to this, I told the State Department official that all of my legal and diplomatic options remain open at this point, and that I was unwilling to foreclose on any action under threat of counteraction,” he added.

On Wednesday night, Gonsalves said he visited the emergency room of the New York University Medical Center, which is located a short way from his office, where he was evaluated by Dr Heather Mahoney, who examined the following injuries:

1. Abrasions to the back of his head (and performed basic tests of balance and coordination)
2. Bruises on his wrists
3. Swelling and numbness in his left hand
4. Injuries to his left shoulder, which prevented a full range of motion in that joint.

Dr Mahoney ordered X-rays, which revealed no broken bones. She diagnosed Gonsalves with peripheral nerve damage in his left wrist and hand and possible strained ligaments in his left shoulder. In Dr Mahoney’s opinion, the damage should not be lasting. However, she indicated that he should see hand specialists and orthopedists if the hand and shoulder pain, respectively, does not dissipate within a week. He was also given a tetanus injection, due to the bruising on his wrists caused by the officer’s handcuffs.

The Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations ensures that, at a minimum, any diplomatic agent enjoys “immunity from jurisdiction and inviolability in respect of official acts performed in the exercise of his functions.”

Article 29 of the Convention, which deals with the issue of “inviolability,” states: “The person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable. He shall not be liable to any form of arrest or detention. The receiving State shall treat him with due respect and shall take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on his person, freedom or dignity.”

Article 22 states that the receiving state (in this case, the United States) “is under a special duty” to “prevent any disturbance of the peace of the diplomatic mission or impairment of its dignity.”

Included in the Agreement between the United Nations and the United States of America regarding the Headquarters of the United Nations, which was approved by the UN General Assembly on 31 October 1947, the United States is bound, to extend these privileges and immunities to Permanent Representatives of the United Nations, even in instances where the United States itself does not maintain diplomatic relations with the countries accredited to the United Nations.

Similarly, Article V of the 1946 Resolution 22(I), entitled “Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations” states “Persons accredited to the United Nations by Members as resident representatives and their staffs, whether residing inside or outside the zone, shall be recognized by the Government of the United States of America as entitled on its territory to the same privileges and immunities as that Government accords to the diplomatic envoys accredited to it, and the staffs of these envoys.”

By Caribbean News Now contributor

---

by RTC Director

Man dies in petrol tanker explosion

A man was burnt to death Thursday night when a petroleum tanker, loaded with 10,000 litres of premium 87 gasoline, burst into flames after overturning along the Falmouth bypass in the vicinity of Martha Brae.

The deceased, who was a passenger in the ill-fated petrol tanker, has been identified as 29-year-old mechanic Leonard Stewart, also called 'Hummer', of Deeside in Trelawny, Jamaica.

The driver of the vehicle was rushed to the Falmouth Hospital then transferred to the Cornwall Regional Hospital where he was admitted in a stable condition.

The police reported that shortly after 11:00 Thursday night a Ford Sterling truck, registered CG 9967, was transporting petroleum from Kingston to Montego Bay, when one of the front tyres blew out, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle, which exploded after overturning.

The driver, who reportedly fell from the vehicle, failed in his attempt to remove his colleague who was pinned down in the cab of the truck due to the unbearable heat emitting from the fire which engulfed the entire vehicle.

Linton Gordon, acting divisional commander of the Falmouth Fire Department, said the fire was brought under control by 17 firefighters, using one unit each from Montego Bay Fire Brigade and the Falmouth Fire Brigade.

Gordon said the operation lasted for more than three hours, after which the badly burnt body of Stewart was removed from the truck by undertakers.

Residents, who live in close proximity to where the accident took place, told the Jamaica Observer that two loud explosions made them aware that something had gone wrong. The first blast was believed to be caused by the blowout of the truck's tyre and the other whenthe vehicle went up in flames.

Up to early yesterday morning scores of onlookers were seen staring in amazement at the burnt-out truck cab strewn to one side of the road and the frame of what was left of the tanker lying across the road. A thin puff of smoke rose from the mangled wreckage.

Jamaica Observer

---

by RTC Director