GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — The Caribbean’s largest sugar producer and exporter says strikes and unseasonal weather will delay key shipments to neighbouring trade bloc nations.

Guyana’s state-run sugar company said yesterday that it had considered importing sugar from Central American countries to meet regional demands. But officials said those shipments would not arrive for at least six weeks and that they expect employees to resume work by that time.

Last year, Guyana had the lowest sugar production in a decade with only 219,000 tons (199,000 metric tons).

DomRep agents seize cocaine after chase

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Authorities in the Dominican Republic say they have seized 700 kilograms (1,500 pounds) of cocaine after a two-hour police chase.

The spokesman of the National Drug Control Agency says agents detained two men on Wednesday after chasing a car loaded with 616 bags of cocaine that had been picked up from the southern coastal city of La Romana.

Roberto Lebron said the drug was hidden inside plastic bags bearing the name of a Venezuelan sugar brand.

Guyana police chief chief awaits rape allegation ruling

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — A judge in Guyana says he will soon issue a ruling on a rape allegation against the South American country’s police chief.

Ian Chang said he would review the evidence and issue a ruling on February 27, as requested by Police Chief Henry Greene during a Monday hearing.

Chief prosecutor Shalimar Hack has insisted that a jury review the case and issue a verdict.

Greene has obtained a court order that temporarily bars anyone from charging him with a crime.

Greene was placed on leave in December after a 34-year-old woman accused him of rape. Greene has denied the allegations and said the sex was consensual.

In 2006, the US revoked Greene’s visa following drug-trafficking allegations that he has denied.

US aid group gives Haiti $7.2m to curb deforestation

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The US Agency for International Development is hoping to build a small market in Haiti to offset a charcoal industry that has led to widespread deforestation in the Caribbean nation.

USAID says it has awarded a contract for $7.2 million to Chemonics International Inc. to work on a three-year project meant to help businesses with the production and sales of charcoal cook stoves and liquefied petroleum gas stoves. The project will also promote the use of more efficient charcoal stoves to help Haitians meet the same cooking needs while allowing them to save money.

The use of charcoal is a major reason why forests in Haiti now cover less than two per cent of the country.

USAID made the announcement on Tuesday.

Some US charter flights to Cuba postponed until fall

LINTHICUM, Maryland (AP) — Anyone hoping to catch a flight to Cuba next month from Baltimore’s airport will have to wait until the fall.

Weekly flights from Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport were to begin on March 21, days before Pope Benedict XVI’s planned visit to the communist island nation. But the travel agency arranging the flights, Island Travel & Tours, tells The Washington Post newspaper that interest didn’t translate into ticket sales. The agency will try again in October.

The airport is among several new markets that received approval by US Customs and Border Protection to provide service to Cuba. Cold War-era federal restrictions still prohibit US citizens from traveling to Cuba as tourists, but flights are open to academics, journalists, religious institutions, cultural groups and other organisations that can show other travel purposes.

US seeks half off ex-Haitian drug lord’s sentence

MIAMI (AP) — A once-powerful Haitian drug lord imprisoned in the US deserves half off his 27-year sentence because he provided key assistance in the convictions of at least a dozen other corrupt officials from his country and high-level cocaine traffickers, a federal prosecutor said Tuesday.

Assistant US Attorney Lynn Kirkpatrick said 48-year-old Beaudoin “Jacques” Ketant’s cooperation led to successful prosecutions of five high-ranking Haitian officials under former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, including the Port-au-Prince police chief and the security chief at the capital city’s airport.

Ketant is projected for release on Christmas Eve 2026. The proposed reduction of 13.5 years would make him eligible for release in a matter of months.

Chief US District Judge Federico Moreno did not immediately rule, saying he wanted more information on what has become of Ketant’s assets in Haiti that included an $8 million mansion as well as valuable paintings, one of them by French impressionist Claude Monet. Ketant’s original sentence included forfeiture of $15 million in assets.