Cry of abuse
Guyanese are planning to demonstrate in Barbados this week to draw Caribbean and international attention to what they describe as the poor state of human rights in their homeland.
And the organizers are urging Barbadians to join.
The protests are to take place near the United States Embassy in Wildey, St Michael, and outside Government Headquarters on Bay Street, St Michael, on Friday.
The demonstrations are intended to send a message to the Barbados Government and American diplomatic representatives about the alleged “rising tide of human rights abuses” in Guyana, being ignored by CARICOM, the United Nations, Washington, Britain, Canada and regional and international bodies, the organizers say
Nation News
Gonsalves urges more work as ALBA pushes ‘single economic space’
Describing a proposal for creating a “single economic space” as a “possible way forward” through “a dangerous phase” of the world economy, the Vincentian prime minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves urged more detailed work before the eight-nation ALBA bloc formed a new economic area.
Gonsalves was speaking late Saturday night at the opening plenary of the 11th summit of the eight-year-old Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) whose formation was inspired by Venezuelan leader, Hugo Chavez.
The plenary session at the Palacio de Miraflores in the Venezuelan capital, which extended until shortly before midnight here (1220 East Caribbean Time Sunday) and was televised live, was an open and free-flowing roundtable discussion dominated by frequent, lengthy, off-the-cuff statements by Chavez and his Latin American counterparts.
“What we are proposing here is a possible way forward … not the only way forward but at least a possible way forward,” Gonsalves told the summit.
He stressed that he was not speaking for his Eastern Caribbean counterparts in ALBA, Dominica’s Roosevelt Skerrit and Baldwin Spencer of Antigua and Barbuda.
But the Vincentian leader and attorney-at-law said a proposal for an ALBA economic area required a “significant juridical framework” that needed to take into account other regional economic and monetary arrangements, including the newly-formed OECS economic union and the CARICOM Single Market (CSME).
Other leaders, including Chavez, and the leaders of Bolivia, Ecuador, Cuba and Nicaragua sat stony-faced, as Gonsalves appeared to depart from the general thrust of the discussion that supported the concept of an economic area.
The proposed economic area would emphasise bartering and a virtual currency, the Sucre, to enable inter-ALBA transactions as an alternative to payment in United States dollars.
Later describing Gonsalves as “ALBA’s lawyer”, Chavez acknowledged the complex legal issues facing the body but pressed the need for political will to overcome any bureaucratic obstacles the economic area might present.
Gonsalves said he welcomed the ALBA proposal’s “excellent provisions” for “special and differential treatment” – language which offers concessionary support for small, open economies such as those in the Eastern Caribbean.
“The world economy has entered a dangerous phase,” said Gonsalves quoting the International Monetary Fund in its world economic outlook.
But the OECS leader also noted that half of the six-member nations of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union – Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada and St Kitts and Nevis – were currently involved in “structural adjustment” programmes of a “schizophrenic” IMF that at once proposed both “stimulus and austerity”.
“My observation (is that) the IMF programme is nothing more than a continued life-support system with no capacity to take the patient off life support,” Gonsalves told his counterparts.
But tracing the economic problems facing the Eastern Caribbean to the American financial crisis and the depression that followed in September 2008, Gonsalves drew the summit’s attention to the impact of the collapse of the British-American and CLICO insurance companies on OECS economies.
He said the insurance giants’ collapse left liabilities that amounted to 18 per cent of the combined GDP of the six-member Eastern Caribbean Currency Union, apart from the impact of the global economic crisis.
“In my country, St Vincent and the Grenadines, it is 22 per cent (of the national economy),” Gonsalves said.
He drew a distinction with US President Barack Obama, who raised one trillion US dollars to bail out the US banking system – about one per cent of the size of the American economy.
“If I had a one per cent problem (I do not have a problem). I have a 20 per cent problem,” Gonsalves declared.
The Vincentian prime minister also blasted the ongoing debate between Republicans and Democrats in an election year in the United States, saying it was an “infantile debate” that presented “no serious answers” and to the dangers facing the global economy.
He noted that the disparities in the American economy where corporations continued to amass wealth at the expense of ordinary citizens.
Gonsalves said these problems presented “no clear solution” to the small open economies of the Eastern Caribbean.
The three ALBA member states of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica and St Vincent and the Grenadines are dwarfed by the five Latin American member nations with a combined population of 71 million people and Gross Domestic Product of 588 billion US dollars.
Chavez has been pushing the ALBA system as a center-piece of Venezuelan foreign policy and regional integration that relies heavily on a form of pan-American cooperation that posed an alternative to an international economic and political system dominated by the United States.
The Venezuelan leader’s rhetoric and his concept of ALBA are patterned after the democratic ideology of the 19th century military and political leader, Simon Bolivar, who led the political independence of Venezuela and five other South America nations.
Quoting from Bolivar’s writings, Chavez said that a political revolution could not succeed unless there was an economic revolution.
As if to mirror history, Haiti, which offered military aid and moral support to Bolivar during his struggle against the Spanish Empire 200 years ago, has been invited to join ALBA.
Haiti’s President Michel Martelly made his first appearance at the summit. He read a prepared text in Spanish that outlined his country’s struggle against poverty and the humanitarian disaster the 2010 earthquake had triggered.
Chavez urged Martelly to adopt the Sucre, while announcing a humanitarian aid fund and an ALBA-Haiti development plan for the poorest nation in the Americas.
Later on Sunday, Suriname’s President Desi Bouterse and St Lucia’s Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony will address the second day of the summit, Chavez said.
Antigua Observer
Fidel Castro publishes memoirs
The leader of the Cuban Revolution and former president of Cuba, Fidel Castro, attended the launch on Friday of his memoirs, a two-volume book titled “Fidel Castro Ruz: Guerrillero del Tiempo” (Fidel Castro Ruz: Guerrilla of Time), at Havana’s Convention Palace.
The book is a compilation, in nearly one thousand pages, of conversations between Castro and writer and journalist Katiuska Blanco. It opens with the Cuban leader’s memories of his childhood and closes in December 1958, just before the triumph of the Revolution.
The presentation took place lasted about six hours, during which Castro greeted personally a number of attendees, among whom were old comrades from the Moncada military action and the Granma expedition.
The volumes were presented by Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto and the president of the Association of Cuban Writers and Artists, Miguel Barnet, who recounted some of the anecdotes contained in the book.
The book is a published by the Casa Editora Abril Cuban publishing house and the Federico Engels printers, with photos and drawings by Ernesto Rancaño, who also designed the cover.
Talking with and answering questions from the audience, Castro spoke about a number of things: the battles fought by students in Latin America and the rest of the world over their rights; tremendous scientific discoveries and emerging technologies; the risk of shale gas and the fabulous perspectives of nanotechnology.
Castro told the audience he reads hundreds of press releases every day; devours all the information he gets; follows closely the situation in Venezuela commemorating on February 4 the 20th anniversary of the military uprising led by Hugo Chavez.
He also spoke about the threats hanging over Syria and Iran, while the US and Europe are trying to convince Russia of the “ridiculous” idea that the antimissile shield was established to protect that country from the threats of Iran and North Korea.
Writer Graziella Pogolotti, president of the Alejo Carpentier Foundation, started the round of questions and told Castro that he should continue writing about his experiences as a fighter and his meetings with world personalities.
Castro said he is willing to do everything possible to pass on “whatever he remembers well”, and added: “I’m aware of the importance of writing all of this to pass it on, so that it can be useful.”
In closing the meeting, Castro regretted that time had run out and remarked, “I feel very happy, but I like to collaborate with the doctors. And, just for the record, I don’t do it as an act of courage but as an act of intelligence.”
Caribbean News Now
Pakistan v England: Gul and Ajmal complete series whitewash
England slumped to a 71-run defeat in the third Test in Dubai to suffer a series whitewash by Pakistan for the first time.
Set 324 to win, the England top order was undone by spin before Umar Gul (4-61) ripped through the middle order.
Alastair Cook (49) offered some resistance, only to succumb to off-spinner Saeed Ajmal (4-67).
Matt Prior showed late aggression and was unbeaten on 49 as England were bowled out for 252.
The wicketkeeper's efforts at least took England past 200 for only the second time in the series, but another poor performance was typical of the way their batsmen have failed throughout the tour.
They managed only five half-centuries in three Tests, while Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan and Ian Bell mustered fewer than 200 runs between them.
Indeed, on the entire tour, those three players failed to pass 40 in 29 innings, and Morgan's place especially looks under threat for the two-Test series in Sri Lanka in March and April.
By that time, England could be on the verge of being usurped as the world's number one Test side, as South Africa will move to the top of the rankings if they whitewash New Zealand 3-0.
For Pakistan, victory after being bowled out for 99 on the first day ensured they became the first side since 1907 to win a Test after making fewer than 100 in the first innings.
It completed a remarkable turnaround since the sides last met in England in 2010, a series overshadowed by the spot-fixing scandal.
Since then, Pakistan are unbeaten in seven series under captain Misbah-ul-Haq, but this result is by far their most impressive.
Their success came mainly thanks to the artistry of Ajmal and slow left-armer Abdur Rehman, who combined to take 43 wickets in three matches.
With England, who resumed on 36-0, needing to achieve their second-highest Test run chase for victory, the duo made short work of the top order before Gul's burst.
Pakistan were again aided by some dismal England batting, but when Strauss and Cook got away with offering simple chances to wicketkeeper Adnan Akmal and Gul respectively, it seemed luck was with the tourists.
However, England managed to play a part in their own downfall, Jonathan Trott and Bell falling to inexplicable strokes and Strauss trapped lbw by Rehman as he again refused to play off the front foot.
After Trott uncharacteristically top-edged a sweep to become Ajmal's first victim, England looked to be recovering through Cook and Pietersen, who signalled his intent to attack by launching Rehman for a straight six.
Both both were undone by Ajmal, Pietersen by an off-break from around the wicket that went between bat and pad, before Cook was caught at slip via a leading edge.
Bell and Morgan managed to stifle the threat of the spinners and forced Misbah into a bowling change after Rehman and Ajmal had bowled in tandem for much of the afternoon session.
It was to prove decisive as Bell slapped a Gul long hop to point on the paceman's return, then Morgan, advancing down the wicket, edged behind.
Stuart Broad joined Prior in attempting to attack after tea, only to hole out to long-off, before Graeme Swann drove Gul to point.
James Anderson shared a ninth-wicket stand of 34 with Prior that was broken when the former edged Ajmal to point, and Monty Panesar was lbw sweeping Rehman.
It completed England's seventh losing whitewash in Test cricket and their first series defeat since 2009.
Super Bowl XLVI: New York Giants pip New England Patriots in epic
The New York Giants came from behind to beat the New England Patriots 21-17 with a dramatic last-minute touchdown in Indianapolis.
Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who destroyed New England in the Super Bowl four years ago, repeated the trick to set up Ahmad Bradshaw's six-yard run.
There were still 57 seconds for Tom Brady to respond, though, but the Patriots quarterback fell just short.
As in Super Bowl XLII, Manning picked up the Most Valuable Player award.
Manning, who this season led his team to six victories after being in losing positions before the Super Bowl, kept his composure at the end of a keenly contested encounter to mount the winning drive.
He was helped enormously though by a stunning catch by Mario Manningham, which will be remembered for years to come.
It came on the first play of their final drive. Manning, on his own 12-yard line with less than four minutes remaining, signalled his intent by firing a long pass down the left sideline. Manningham defied gravity to produce a superb catch as he fell, somehow getting both feet down in bounds and holding on to the ball.
It provided the Giants - who began the game well, taking an early 9-0 lead - with fresh impetus after they wilted under some relentless pressure from the Brady-inspired Patriots.
Eight plays later, and in surreal circumstances, Bradshaw fell into the endzone, completely untouched by the New England defence, who were prepared to concede the touchdown because it would have allowed Brady enough time for one final chance.
Were Bradshaw to have fallen at the one-yard line, Scottish-American kicker Lawrence Tynes would have had an easy field goal attempt to win the game as time expired.
Giants running back Bradshaw, who impressed throughout with 72 rushing yards from 17 attempts, could not stop himself from scoring, setting up a nailbiting final minute in which Brady - who completed a Super Bowl record 16 passes in a row during the game - did his utmost to snatch victory for New England.
But, with the last play of the game, his Hail Mary pass was batted to the ground by the Giants' relieved defence.
It was cruel on Brady, playing in his fifth Super Bowl, who recovered superbly from conceding a safety with his first possession to complete 27 of 41 passes for 276 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Giants capitalised on Brady's mistake to take a 9-0 lead when Victor Cruz snagged Manning's perfectly thrown two-yard pass.
New England responded, hitting back with a well-measured drive before ultimately being stopped by the Giants' defence. Kicker Stephen Gostkowski made no mistake from 29 yards though to get them on the scoreboard.
Danny Woodhead's catch in the endzone then capped a masterful 14-play drive from Tom Brady, which saw the Patriots march 96 yards down the field at the end of the first half - tying the Super Bowl record for the longest drive.
Brady picked up where he left off at the start of the third quarter with another controlled drive before ultimately finding Aaron Hernandez with a short pass. The tight end fought off Deon Grant's despairing tackle to run into the endzone to make it 17-9.
The Patriots defence, with a reputation for giving up a lot of yards but not so many points, then took inspiration from their offence. Some fearful hitting and tackling restricted the Giants, but nonetheless they got three more points onto the board courtesy of a 38-yard Tynes field goal.
New England failed to respond, but were unlucky soon afterwards when they failed to recover the Giants' wide receiver Hakeem Nicks's fumble.
New York failed to fully capitalise on their stroke of good luck and were forced to settle for another Tynes field goal, this time from33 yards, at the end of the third quarter to bring them back within two points at 17-15.
Brady's trademark composure slipped at the start of the fourth quarter when, after successfully evading two tackles, his long bomb down the field was intercepted by Chase Blackburn.
Bradshaw then nearly gave the ball straight back to New England but again the Giants got lucky when Chris Snee recovered the fumble.
The Patriots then aimed to run down the clock in the knowledge that the Giants had already blown two of their three timeouts.
But, after punting the ball back, Manning - who completed 30 of 40 throws for 296 yards - was able to weave his magic and set up yet another fairytale ending for the Giants.
James, Heat hold back Raptors, 95-89
LeBron James took a hard foul and clearly was not happy. So the next time he saw the ball, he made sure no Toronto player could reach him.
James' steal and dunk with just more than two minutes left gave Miami some breathing room, and the Heat held on to defeat the Toronto Raptors 95-89 on Sunday. James finished with 30 points and Dwyane Wade added 25 for the Heat (18-6), who won for the 10th time in its last 12 games and moved within one game of Chicago (20-6) for the best record in the Eastern Conference.
"We stuck with our principles," James said. "And that's to defend."
Chris Bosh scored 12 points against his former team, which saw a 15-point edge trimmed to three in the final minutes but never surrendered the lead. Mario Chalmers added 11 for Miami.
DeMar DeRozan scored 25 for the Raptors, who got 17 apiece from Jerryd Bayless and Linas Kleiza.
"I liked our disposition," Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. "I liked the way we approached it. I liked the way we competed."
Kleiza's 3-pointer with just under five minutes left got Toronto within eight, and another 3 from Bayless as the shot clock expired on the next Raptors' possession cut the Miami lead to 85-80 - the closest the game had been since early in the third quarter.
Bayless scored again to get the Raptors within three and cap a 12-0 Toronto run. And after Bosh missed a fadeaway from the right baseline, Bayless tried a 3-pointer to tie. It bounced off, and with the game in the balance, James went to work.
He was fouled by James Johnson and made two free throws with 2:20 left, not before letting anyone around him know he wasn't pleased with the physicality of the play. The next time James touched the ball, he didn't give the Raptors a chance to foul him - his steal and two-handed slam with 2:07 left gave Miami an 89-82 edge and all but ensured the win.
"Good back-to-back plays for our team and I was happy I was able to make them," James said.
James - who leads the NBA in first-quarter scoring this season (9.1 points a game) - got off to another big start, making his first five shots and scoring 12 points in the opening quarter. He's now shooting just under 60 percent in first quarters this season.
While scoring wasn't an issue, the Heat were far from in the clear.
Casey told the Raptors that establishing pace and limiting turnovers - especially early - would be big keys. Seemed like his team got the message: The Raptors matched a season-high with 27 points in the first quarter, and turned the ball over only five times in the first half. That, combined with DeRozan tying his season best with 16 points in the opening two quarters, kept the Raptors close.
"It just shows that we can compete with anybody," DeRozan said.
Miami's lead was only 53-48 at the break, and that was even after James and Wade combined to score 22 points in the opening quarter on 8 for 9 shooting.
"We knew it was going to be one of those grind-out kind of games," Wade said. "We understand that a lot of teams do that when they play the Heat - come out on fire."
In the third quarter, the Heat finally took control - not surprisingly, when the defense picked up a notch.
Toronto missed all but one of its shots over a seven-minute stretch of the third, a span where Miami started with a 55-54 lead and increased it 73-57. Chalmers hit back-to-back 3-pointers late in the 18-3 run, James made a fadeaway with 3:27 to play in the period to close the flurry.
"Our energy was good," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "Even throughout the game, I didn't have a problem with the energy. ... It was more of a real concentration and a discipline toward the end of the (shot) clock. And that's something we'll have to continue to get better at."
And, just as Casey feared, turnovers proved decisive. Toronto committed eight in the third, which Miami turned into nine points. Miami gave the ball away only twice in the third, and the Raptors didn't score on either.
"Next time we've got to come out and make the plays and close," Bayless said.
ESPN committed to Caribbean region
Bernard Stewart, ESPN's vice-president of Caribbean and Maritime Media, underlined the international sport network's commitment to the region and noted that the company is actually looking for even greater integration opportunities through the addition of more region-specific programming.
Stewart, who is one of over 5,000 guests aboard Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas for this year's ESPN Super Bowl at Sea, the third instalment of what is fast becoming a calendar event for cruise and NFL fanatics, told The Jamaica Gleaner that is company is focused on deepening its roots in the market and giving the people more of what they want to see.
"We are absolutely here to stay," said Stewart.
"I like to feel that the longevity of our company is based on the fact that we view what we do as a permanent part of life and we are here to be a major part of the Caribbean for a long time."
"When I first took this assignment, we made a couple of stops in the region in the first month or so and I made the statement that everyone knows ESPN, but they don't know the value of the ESPN brand to them as people of the Caribbean," he added.
"My mission is to make sure that everybody understands that when they see ESPN, they feel a connection beyond just watching something on their television.
We took a look at all of the countries that are celebrating monumental anniversaries within the next five years or so, and it is for us to find those stories and tell them in a compelling way. I am happy that we have a solid strategy and that we have a few projects under our belt now," added Stewart.
Cyclists welcome end of Armstrong investigations
Cycling teams at the Tour of Qatar yesterday welcomed the end of a US federal investigation into Lance Armstrong, saying they were hopeful the seven-time Tour of France champion could finally move on with his life.
Federal prosecutors dropped their investigation of Armstrong on Friday, ending a nearly two-year effort to determine whether the American cyclist and his teammates were involved in doping. Armstrong has long denied doping and said he was "gratified" by the decision.
Laurenzo Lapage, the Greenedge cycling sporting director who worked with Armstrong on the US Postal Service and Discovery Channel teams from 2003 to '07, said the decision reaffirmed what most colleagues of Armstrong had long believed: he didn't dope.
"Everyone who knows Lance and was racing and working with him knew this before," said Lapage, as his team prepared for the first stage of the Tour of Qatar.
"It was not a surprise for anyone. It's a good feeling that the truth is out now," Lapage said. "The guy had a lot of success and a lot of people were jealous ... People tried to break him down with lies and it is really good thing everything (is) over for him now. He did a lot of great things for cycling. It is his moment to live in peace."
Johnny Weltz, the sporting director of the American team Garmin-Barracuda and who rode with Armstrong on the Motorola team in 1995, said Armstrong was an easy target.
Federal inquiry ideal
"The people who (made) these charges, they wanted to be Lance and didn't manage it," Weltz said.
"So OK, you can hit him in another way. These aren't the right people to judge. For us and cycling, it was best that it was a federal investigation. They had no know-ledge up front and no past in the sport. I think most justice happens that way."
Investigators looked at whether a doping programme was established for Armstrong's team while, at least part of the time, they received government sponsorship from the US Postal Service. They also examined whether Armstrong encouraged or facilitated doping on the team.
Armstrong won the Tour de France every year from 1999-2005.
Several riders contend Armstrong doped including disgraced cyclist Floyd Landis, who claims Armstrong had a long-running doping system in place while they were teammates. Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for drug use, acknowledged in 2010 he used performance-enhancing drugs after years of denying he cheated.
Several riders, including world sprint champion Mark Cavendish and former Armstrong teammate Yaroslav Popovych, refused to discuss the Armstrong matter ahead of their race in Doha. Officials from Popovych's Radioshack-Nissan team also refused to discuss it.
USA beat Belarus to reach Fed Cup World Group play-offs
USA reached the play-offs for promotion to the Fed Cup World Group after beating Belarus 5-0 in Massachusetts.
Leading 2-0 overnight after wins for Christina McHale and Serena Williams, they secured victory when Williams beat Anastasia Yakimova 5-7 6-1 6-1.
Belarus, missing Victoria Azarenka due to injury, could now face Great Britain in April's World Group II play-offs.
Elsewhere in the World Group II, Japan beat Slovenia, Slovakia overcame France and Australia defeated Switzerland.
With Azarenka still troubled by a lower back injury it was a formidable task for Yakimova, 65th in the current world rankings, against Williams, the winner of 13 Grand Slams, undefeated in eight Fed Cup matches, and still 12th in the rankings despite recent absences through injury.
But, after conceding an early break, Yakimova recovered to take a gruelling first set in 68 minutes.
After squandering seven break point opportunities in the opener, Williams took both of the chances she had in the second set, racing through it in 29 minutes.
The deciding set followed a similar pattern, Williams underlining her superiority to take it in 32 minutes to complete victory in two hours nine minutes.
"It wasn't my best day today, for sure," Williams admitted afterwards. "It's important for me to just get matches. I just need to get matches."
In the elite World Group, Serbia won the deciding doubles to beat Belgium 3-2.
Their semi-final opponents on 21-22 April will be Russia, who beat Spain 3-2.
Defending champions the Czech Republic beat Germany 4-1 and will play Italy in the other semi-final, after they won the deciding doubles to beat Ukraine 3-2.
Greece crisis bailout talks delayed
Greece is set to continue talks with international authorities over cuts being demanded in exchange for crucial bailout funds.
However, negotiations between coalition parties on the austerity measures, which broke down on Sunday, have been delayed until Tuesday.
Athens needs the 130bn euros (£108bn; $171bn) of funds and help from private lenders to avoid a debt default.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said time was running out for a deal.
Speaking after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Sarkozy urged Greek political leaders to agree to reforms, saying the crisis had to be solved "once and for all".
"Greece's leaders have made commitments and they must respect them scrupulously," he told a press conference.
"Europe is a place where everyone has their rights and duties. Time is running out, it needs to be concluded, it needs to be signed."
Athens faces loan repayments to private lenders of 14.4bn euros on 20 March which it currently cannot afford to pay.
A European Commission spokesman said Greece was already "beyond the deadline" to end the talks.
Talks on Sunday between Greek PM Lucas Papademos and the leaders of his three-party coalition over new austerity measures ended without full agreement.
The measures include:
- Further government spending cuts equal to 1.5% of GDP
- Re-capitalisation of Greek banks - whilst retaining their independence
- Reducing labour costs, including a cut in the minimum wage and holiday bonuses
- Further civil service job cuts
- Cuts to the size of pension programmes
On Sunday, the prime minister's office said that some agreement had been reached in some areas. But there were disagreements over the size of job cuts, cuts to the minimum wage, pension cuts and the ending of a so-called 13th or 14th month's pay as a holiday bonus.
The talks between the parties had been expected to reconvene on Monday, with signs emerging of movement on some of the more contentious issues.
Government sources told the BBC's Athens correspondent, Mark Lowen, that there was the outline of an agreement on cutting the minimum wage, currently about 750 euros a month, by 20%. Holiday bonuses that had been under threat, would be kept, the sources suggested.
Mr Papademos will meet representatives of the European authorities and the International Monetary Fund later.
It is hoped that the text of a final agreement on reforms will be distributed to party leaders on Monday night or Tuesday morning, giving them time to consult with their MPs before meeting the prime minister to sign off on the deal.
Unions and employers' groups have resisted pay cuts, with the two largest unions calling for a day-long strike on Tuesday.
Iannis Panagopoulos, leader of the GSEE private-sector union, was reported as saying proposed 20-30% cuts in private sector wages "chronicle a pending death".
Anti-austerity protests are also expected to take place on Monday evening.
The discussions come as the EU's statistics office reported Greece's debt spiked to 159.1% of gross domestic product in the third quarter of 2011 - up from 138.8% a year earlier and 154.7% in the second quarter.
Unless Greece promises to implement reforms, the eurozone ministers say Greece will not be able to go ahead with a plan to restructure its privately-held debt.
Eurozone finance ministers had hoped to meet on Monday to finalise the bailout - Greece's second - but that meeting has been delayed.
Greece has prepared a debt plan with private creditors to more than halve the value of Greek debt and in return receive new, 30-year bonds with an average interest rate of less than 4%.
The restructuring is designed to help cut Greek debt to 120% of GDP by 2020, a level viewed as sustainable by some economists.