Community Events

Police Records Office – Walkers Road

The Police Records Office on Walkers Road is back up and running after a systems failure this morning (4). The office was open until 3pm.

2015 Orientation Dates for Cayman Islands Government Schools

Released on behalf of the Education Ministry.

WED AUG 5

CARE – Cayman Animal Rescue Enthusiasts

Plans for Wednesday?

Why not get a team together and join us for the first Wednesday of every month for Quiz night at PD’s!

If you are unable to make it but would like to help spread the word about our Quiz, please download the attached flyer to share on your office notice board.

NWDA in Bodden Town

The National Workforce Development Agency will be at the Bodden Town Libary on Wednesday (5 Aug) from 10am until 1pm.

THU AUG 6

National Pensions Bill Savannah Primary

The next public consultation meeting for the National Pensions Bill is Thursday (6 Aug) at the Savannah Primary School at 730pm.

National Gallery Summer Cine Club for Kids

National Gallery Summer Cine Club for Kids is back with an all new selection of neat movies to enjoy! Screenings will be every Tuesday afternoon starting at 2:00 PM and children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult. To ensure that authentic cinema experience, popcorn, cookies and juice will be on sale at each showing. On Aug 4th the film is Howl’s Moving Castle.

National Gallery Summer Arts Drop Ins

The National Gallery of the Cayman Islands is thrilled to be hosting a Summer of Art, free programming that allows kids to utilise their creativity by participating in a range of imaginative activities. Drop-in sessions will take place in the National Gallery Education Centre every Thursday afternoon from 2:00 PM — 4:00 PM Each Summer Camp Drop-in session is different and gives kids ages 6 to 14 multiple opportunities to take part in a range of art-related activities including stenciling, creative group activities, painting, drawing and more.

“Destination Paradise” Vacation Bible School

The Newlands Seventh-day Adventist Church will be having their “Destination Paradise” Vacation Bible School thru August 6th at 6pm nightly.

FRI AUG 7

District Administration Calendar of Government and Community Events

The District Administration Calendar of Government and Community Events is published by District Administration to promote local events and activities. With immediate effect, submissions to the Cayman Brac & Little Cayman Community Calendar should be emailed to [email protected] or faxed to 948-2506, attention Chevala Burke. All items should be submitted before the 27th of every month in order to appear in the following month’s calendar.

 

Complaint filed, legal action planned as Muslims and Trinidad lawmen clash at police station

From CARIBBEAN360

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Friday July 24, 2015 – The son of Jamaat al Muslimeen leader Yasin Abu Bakr has filed a police complaint alleging he was choked and kicked by lawmen last night when he and others from the Muslim organization demanded to see a female member who has been detained by police since Monday.

Fuad Abu Bakr also said lawyers for the group would be initiating legal action.

The confrontation occurred around 11:30 p.m. at the Belmont Police Station, on the outskirts of the capital, where Jamaat members had gone in search of Stacy Griffith – one of the nine held in connection with investigations into the murder of attorney Dana Seetahal.

She is among the five who remain in custody, following the release of the Jamaal al Muslimeen leader as well as senior member Hassan Ali – Griffith’s father-in-law – on Wednesday and then, according to Fuad, two others last night.

Griffith’s husband, Rajaee Ali, is in prison on remand for conspiring to murder a radio announcer in December last year.

Fuad said Griffith has been suffering anxiety attacks all week and was taken to the hospital and then returned to the police station, while her two-year-old daughter “has Missing Parent Syndrome and is not eating, not playing [and] crying for her mother”.

He said the confrontation with police came as Griffith’s supporters and friends tried to put their case to police and urge that she be released.

“I was assaulted by two officers. One grabbed my neck and choked me pulling me towards him over the front desk in the station lobby. While he was doing that, another officer kicked me and also right after grabbed my legs pulling me in the (next) opposite direction,” Fuad wrote in his complaint.

The group had initially gone to the Piarco Police Station where they believed Griffith was being held.

Before their arrival, the Trinidad Express reported, police had set up road blocks and stop and search exercises outside the station.

When the Jamaat group reached, they were not allowed to drive into the compound and some of them got out of their vehicles and challenged police.

They left only when they were assured by Griffith’s attorney-at-law Criston Williams – who also represented Yasin Abu Bakr – that she had been moved to the Belmont station.

According to reports, when a group of female members tried to enter the station they were physical removed. The men then attempted to make their way inside but they were also blocked and removed.

“They asked us to leave, and then they began to physically remove us,” Fuad later told the media.

“I respectfully said to them that I don’t mind spending the night with this young lady in a cell. I said if that was the only way to get in to see her and make sure she was OK and to finally get some answers, then they could willingly arrest me, I just didn’t want to get physical. Yet, they decided they wanted to go the physical way. I’m sure the cameras that they have installed [at the police station] would have captured the incident. Now what would become of that footage is another story.”

Fuad insisted that Griffith should either be charged or released.

“The time period where they can keep her legally is over, yet they are still holding her, without any real excuse. At least if they charge her she will know her fate and get bail or whatever the case would be,” he said, contending that her continued detention was unacceptable.

IMAGES:

THE SCENE OUTSIDE THE BELMONT POLICE STATION LAST NIGHT. (PHOTO: ALEXANDER BRUZUAL/TRINIDAD EXPRESS)

FEMALE JAMAAT AL MUSLIMEEN MEMBERS OUTSIDE THE PIARCO POLICE STATION, CALLING FOR THE RELEASE OF STACY GRIFFITH. (PHOTO: TRINIDAD GUARDIAN)

THE POLICE COMPLAINT WHICH FUAD ABU BAKR POSTED ON HIS FACEBOOK PAGE

For more on this story go to: http://www.caribbean360.com/news/complaint-filed-legal-action-planned-as-muslims-and-trinidad-lawmen-clash-at-police-station#ixzz3gx4VtvjW

 

CARICOM wants criteria for concessional financing addressed as matter of urgency

From CARIBBEAN360

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Friday July 24, 2015 – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque today called for “strong collaborative action” to urgently address the criteria for access to concessional financing.

He says that is vital if Small Island Developing and Low-Lying Coastal States (SIDS), including CARICOM countries, are to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under the Post-2015 Development Agenda.

Addressing the Eighth General Meeting between CARICOM and its associated institutions and the United Nations (UN) System in Guyana, Ambassador LaRocque drew attention to the challenge member states faced accessing concessional development financing because of their designation as middle-income countries, based on a narrow and unique criterion of per capita income.

He said regional countries were being denied access to financing that would help them address formidable developmental challenges, such as their small size, inherent vulnerabilities, susceptibility to exogenous shocks and a lack of resilience.

Yet, Ambassador LaRocque said, a significant portion of the high level of indebtedness of CARICOM nations was due to those shocks and the reconstruction requirements after natural disasters.

Touching on a number of other developmental issues, including adaptation to and mitigation of the effects of climate change and transnational organized crime, the Secretary General reiterated the need for effective partnerships for successful outcomes.

He referred to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon’s call for strengthened partnerships when he addressed the High Level Dialogue, attended by a number of CARICOM Heads of Government, earlier this month in Barbados.

During the course of today’s meeting, delegates will discuss a number of issues such as the integration and development of CARICOM, including its Strategic Plan for 2015-2019; SIDS; Renewable Energy; Post -2015 Development Agenda, Financing for Development; Climate Change and Sea Level Rise; Violence against Children; alternative criteria to concessional financing; agricultural development and food and nutrition security; prevention and control of non-communicable diseases and pandemics; and citizen security.

IMAGE: CARICOM-UN-Meeting- CARICOM SECRETARY GENERAL AMBASSADOR IRWIN LAROCQUE (CENTRE) ADDRESSES DELEGATES AT THE EIGHTH GENERAL MEETING OF CARICOM AND ASSOCIATE INSTITUTIONS AND THE UN SYSTEM AT THE CARICOM SECRETARIAT IN GUYANA.

For more on this story and video go to: http://www.caribbean360.com/news/caricom-wants-criteria-for-concessional-financing-addressed-as-matter-of-urgency#ixzz3gx5eyTvw

 

Riri’s success inspires local talent

BILLBOARD BIZ, From Nation News Barbados

From her initial hit Pon De Replay which peaked at No. 2 on the Hot 100, to her recent designation as the first artiste to surpass the RIAA’s 100 million cumulative singles award threshold, Rihanna’s phenomenal success over the past decade has generated international interest in the music of Barbados and has raised the career aspirations of artistes hailing from the superstar’s Caribbean island birthplace.

“The unexpected transformation of Robin Fenty from an unknown Barbadian school girl into Rihanna, an international music icon, has stimulated Barbados’ music landscape,” said Adisa “Aja” Andwele, Barbadian-born musician, poet, writer and event producer for the Barbados Government’s cultural arm, the National Cultural Foundation (NCF).

“In that regard, more younger people are now looking at music as a viable career, and getting involved in singing at Crop Over competitions.”

Crop Over, Barbados’ largest annual event, is actually a season that begins in late May and concludes the first Monday of August (Kadooment Day), which culminates in a parade along Spring Garden Highway, set to a pulsating soca soundtrack.

Rihanna’s return to Barbados in recent years to participate in Crop Over festivities drew widespread media coverage to the event, primarily in the form of captioned photos of the seven-time Grammy winner wearing an ornamented bikini, standard attire for Kadooment Monday’s female carnival masqueraders.

Crop Over’s rum-fuelled revelry is serious business – its various activities pull thousands of visitors to Barbados, filling hotel rooms and guesthouses across the 430-square-kilometre island, generating an estimated $80 million dollars for its economy in 2014, according to the NCF. Crop Over is also the engine that accelerates Barbados’ music industry into high gear, and the launching pad for many Barbadian (or Bajan) artists’ careers.

Originally founded in the late 1600s to celebrate the sugar cane harvest, the festival went dormant from the 1940s through 1974, when it was revived by the Barbados Tourism Authority, now Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. (BTMI) in 1974 as a tourism vehicle to combat the slow summer months. Crop Over remained primarily a heritage celebration until the early ’90s, when various musical competitions and other events were added to its cultural mix.

By the end of the season, the NCF would have staged approximately 30 events, including the Pic-O-De-Crop calypso competition, the Party Monarch competition for artistes performing rapid-paced soca, the Sweet Soca competition for slower songs and the Grand Kadooment carnival finale. Private organisations and promoters also put on various parties, concerts and all-inclusive fetes. “Crop Over reflects Barbados’ musical development and its constantly evolving trends,” says Andwele.

“In the 1980s, Crop Over music was confined to calypso’s social commentary. By the early ’90s soca had replaced calypso as Crop Over’s most popular music, which influenced the NCF to create the Party Monarch soca competition, which attracted over 25 000 patrons in its first year [1995]. That impacted the local music industry as artistes made more records which engaged writers, arrangers, musicians, producers, etc.”

Rihanna’s emergence

Years before Rihanna’s emergence, Barbadian artistes had already made international strides in local and regional Caribbean genres, especially calypso and its uptempo derivative soca, which originated in nearby Trinidad. Trinidad’s pre-Lenten Carnival is the world’s largest event for soca and the birthplace of several of the genre’s biggest acts including Bunji Garlin, Destra Garcia and Machel Montano. In 1995, Crop Over hits by Barbadian artistes including the bands Krosfyah (featuring Edwin Yearwood), Square One (featuring Alison Hinds) and Coalishun (featuring Rupee) impacted Trinidad’s February 1996 carnival so forcefully their music was collectively referred to as a “Bajan Invasion”.

“My career started with Crop Over and my presence here now can help younger people see what we have done and pass it along,” observed krosfyah’s lead singer Edwin Yearwood, whose unprecedented win of three major Crop Over competitions in 1995 for his soca classic “Pump Me Up” has yet to be repeated.

The majority of Barbados’ soca artistes release new music on their own or through independent labels during Crop Over to benefit from increased opportunities for airplay, performances at competitions, parties and on Kadooment Monday, with NCF estimating 500 songs to be released for Crop Over 2015. An artiste’s earning potential at Crop Over is difficult to gauge, says Yearwood, as it is dependent on their notoriety, the popularity of their songs during the season and whether or not they enter or win cash prizes at competitions.

Crop Over preparations

“Artistes that aren’t successful will lose the money they spent on recording, buying clothes for performances and other Crop Over preparations,” Yearwood acknowledged, “but artistes with popular songs will get bookings for performances at Brooklyn’s Labour Day carnival and at other carnivals in the US where they can earn much more than in Barbados.”

The influx of soca stars from other Caribbean islands now releasing music during the festival, including Trinidad’s Farmer Nappy, Patrice Roberts and Kes The Band, have raised the Crop Over stakes, opines Rhona Fox and Zack Cohen, co-owners of the New York City-based digital soca label Fox Fuse, now the world’s largest distributor of Crop Over music.

“The amount of people travelling to Barbados and the music being made each year for Crop Over continues to grow; credit must be given to the quality music made by Barbadian and other Caribbean producers, which has helped developed this niche market,” said the Fox Fuse team in an emailed statement to Billboard.biz.

“It’s not just soca artistes making music for Crop Over,” added John Doe, host of the popular Morning Mayhem programme on Hott 93.5 FM and the co-producer of the hit What A Way from The Crop Over EP by marquee Jamaican dancehall sing-jay I-Octane, who is also a Jamaica Brand Ambassador for telecommunications company Digicel.

“Caribbean artistes want to get into this market to access fans they might not reach otherwise and attracting an artiste of I-Octane’s calibre brings a greater shine to the soca business,” noted Doe, whose station adjusts its dancehall, hip-hop and soca format in early July and solely programmes Crop Over music for the remainder of the season.

Taken from Billboard Biz.

IMAGE: Robyn Rihanna Fenty (GP)

For more on this story go to: http://www.nationnews.com/nationnews/news/70293/riri-success-inspires-local-talent#sthash.r04VO6CF.dpuf

 

Not getting enough sleep might be way worse for you than we thought

By Lydia Ramsey From Business Insider

Losing one night of sleep may do far more damage to your body than simply making you groggy the next day.

A few years ago, scientists figured out which genes are associated with your biological clock — the thing that wakes you up in the morning and tells you when you need to get some sleep.

These so-called “clock genes” make proteins that rise and fall throughout the day and control various bodily functions, including when we sleep and when we wake up. Our body clocks also help regulate many other things, from our body temperature to our heart rate, blood pressure, and metabolism.

In a small study published earlier this month, researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden found out that our “clock genes,” like many of our other genes, may be negatively affected by external factors in our environment, a field of research known as epigenetics. And these changes, they hypothesized, could take place over the course of just a single night of missed sleep.

While epigenetics itself is still a pretty new field, scientists are discovering that the genes that are altered in this way — known collectively as our epigenome — are affected by everything from what we eat to how stressed we are.

It’s important to keep in mind that the effects the researchers observed didn’t involve changes to the genes themselves, but rather in how they were expressed. Researchers liken these effects to switching genes on and off. And not sleeping — even for just a single night — appeared to switch some genes off.

To get their results, the researchers had 15 healthy men in their early 20s spend two nights in a lab. On one of the nights they got to sleep a full eight hours, but on the other night they had to stay awake, which the researchers ensured by keeping a close eye on them and not letting them get into bed.

On both mornings, the researchers collected samples of connective tissue below the skin and skeletal muscle to get a look at their genes.

In just one night of not sleeping, some genes appeared to have been hypermethylated, or essentially switched off. That could be bad news for the metabolism, since some of the genes that are affected by lack of sleep are also the genes that break down the sugar from the food we eat. If these blood-sugar-processing genes are silenced, they can’t to do their job.

Christopher Payne, a professor of human molecular genetics at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine who was not involved in the study, expressed some concerns over the limitations of the study, particularly the small sample size and the fact that they only looked at two samples of tissues and only studied four genes. But there’s one positive thing the study did find, Payne said:

“The study does provide evidence that there are measurable changes to the circadian clock from just one lost night of sleep.”

The researchers haven’t figured out if these changes are permanent yet. Payne said from what we know about epigenetics, the changes are likely reversible, so long as they’re not consistently repeated.

For more on this story go to: http://www.businessinsider.com/negative-effects-of-not-sleeping-2015-7#ixzz3h1oanDFF

 

Marianne Miles reviews the Caribbean Film Schedule @ the 2015 BFM International Film Festival

From Blacknet

Black Filmmaker (BFM) International Film Festival (IFF) is the leading and longest running platform for Black World Cinema in the UK. After a hiatus the event returned last weekend, (July 3rd – 5th)in conjunction with the Bernie Grant Arts Centre, promising, “A new era of black world cinema in the capital city of London.”

There was an impressive list of films from all over the world shown throughout the 3-day festival, I concentrated on watching the movies from the Caribbean region…

Jamaica

‘Kingston Paradise’ (2013) – Director: Mary Wells

kingston_paradise_the_british_blacklist Rocksy, a small-time hustler, journeys into chaos to steal a car while his lady friend Rosie hangs a watercolour painting in their modest room and dreams of peace. The fight to survive their broken dreams and aspirations forces them to commit a crime that changes their lives forever…

Living in poverty, dreaming of a better life and turning to crime to achieve said life are nothing new in Jamaican cinema, and this version of the scenario was unfortunately tiresome. Rocksy & Rosie live together and have a complicated relationship, he’s a taxi driver and she is a prostitute. She is his confidant; he is her pimp. Both are dreaming of a life away from the streets and have long discussions about the lives they wish for. However, once the car is stolen, the film becomes more about the crime and the consequences whereas for me, their relationship was a more interesting story. It would’ve been great to know their back-story, to learn how they got together and what pitfalls in life led them to each other.

After the crime is solved with the de rigueur bloodshed and violence we have come to expect from films of this nature, we see them meet up again after Rocksy is released from prison 3 years later and it’s like they have never been apart. The same chemistry, the same flippant exchanges but they seemingly remain together. The script had a lot of movement, wit and comedy and it was well shot in parts but we must push for more from the Jamaica film industry which has become famous with gritty urban classics such as The Harder They Come (1972), Dancehall Queen (1997) and Shottas (2002). This was not in the same field as those titles.

St Lucia

‘The Mango Tree’ – Director: Ted Sandiford

The Mango Tree begins with two young boys, one native and one from the UK arguing over the pronunciation of the Mango’s they are about to steal. The comedy continues long after the boys are caught climbing Mr Lemmy’s Mango Tree, as one by one the protagonists all turn up, eat stolen mangos and end up sharing a branch on the tree. The Mango tree in this film was a place to hide from problems and the place where you learn everyone has problems to hide from. Very funny,well written, dodgy acting in parts from the adults, however the two young boys were brilliant.

Antigua & Barbuda

the_skin ‘The Skin’ (2011) – Director: Howard Allen

Obeah and supernatural themes are never explored sensitively in Caribbean cinema and this film was no exception. Young couple Michael and Lisa are in debt and on the verge of losing their home when Michael, discovers an ancient vase and sells it to a unscrupulous antique dealer for a fraction of its worth. They get to keep the house but also unleash a poltergeist into the neighbourhood. The poltergeist needs its skin to return to its home (The Vase), which Lisa has thrown away in their kitchen dustbin. We Know what is about to happen; the story is told by the antique dealer – an old lady living on the island who had a reputation for killing all her babies. The poltergeist launches a reign of terror on the island looking for its home – stealing babies, killing pregnant women and everyone else in its path. Strangely though, not Lisa or Michael. For their sins they only suffer bad dreams, a lecherous Police Sergeant and a visit from the poltergeist herself – in human form – which they ultimately survive.

The storyline was unrealistic and predictable, the demons were comical – they looked practically plastic and the writing was dire. The acting by most of the cast was one-dimensional. The rich beautiful people were white and the rest of the island was almost empty apart from the lecherous Police Sergeant and 2 other people. The film’s only saving grace was legendary Carl Bradshaw’s turn as the Jamaican Mystic. That’s when we got to see exemplary acting, brilliant comic timing and an actor who actually committed to the film and the character.

Puerto Rico

‘Por Amor En Al Caserio (For Love In the Caserio)’ (2013) – Director: Luis Enrique Rodriguez

por_amor You can be forgiven for thinking this would be just another clichéd housing estate, drug gang story until you realise that the stars are all from the largest public housing project in Puerto Rico, and this film was made to open the eyes of viewers about how detrimental and prevalent gang culture still is on the island.

After the death of his mother, Angelo has come to live with his aunt where his cousin Popeto – the feared local gang leader, is currently at war with their rivals who live on the other side of the projects. Angelo soon learns his cousins’ status in the area and, for most part, steers clear of trouble. However he soon meets and falls in love with Cristal, sister of the opposite drug-lord and enemy of his cousin. They have to meet in secret and we are treated to syrupy sweet scenes as we get to watch their love blossom organically. When the action is not focussed on gang culture the audience sees the other side. Watching the opposition gang leader Trebol trying to win his mother’s love and look after his younger brother, which unintentionally causes him to lead his brother astray and the anguish every mother must feel when her suspicions are confirmed after she finds drugs in Popeto’s room.

What comes across brilliantly throughout the film is the struggle both Popeto & Trebol have with leading a normal life. Popeto wanting a family with his girlfriend for instance, and them both giving in to street life because they know that is what is expected of them. The gangs are plotting one last war, a fight that will finally determine who controls the drug territories, which starts well as it is supposed to be determined by a common fistfight, but this is soon derailed, the war spirals out of control to a very tragic ending for both families.

I watched this film with just two other people, which was a shame, it was the least attended and most enjoyable of the four films based in the Caribbean. In parts it was reminiscent of classic American gangland stories, Boyz in The Hood (1991) or South Central (1992), following the same themes, but Por Amor En Al Caserio had an endearing innocence, it was easy to expect a positive ending because the characters always seemed like they were on the verge of a breakthrough.

All in all the Caribbean films in the festival were entertaining and worth the price. (£7 – £9) we still have a way to go in terms of writing and cinematography but clearly it’s worth exploring the talent that the region has to offer.

Speaking to the organisers after the last screening, it is expected that the BFM International Film Festival will be back again in 2016 which is great to hear. There were so many screenings over the 3 days, it was impossible to see everything, but it’s amazing that, with so many other film festivals in the UK, the Black Filmmaker (BFM) International Film Festival (IFF) seems to have sourced a great variety of films from our community and introduced us to new actors, writers and directors.

I sincerely hope we can look forward to seeing the Festival again in 2016.

Profile photo of The British Blacklist

For more on this story and video go to: http://www.blacknet.co.uk/marianne-miles-reviews-the-caribbean-film-schedule-the-2015-bfm-international-film-festival/

 

Pew survey shows most U.S. citizens support relations with Cuba

From Cuban News Agency

HAVANA, Cuba, Jul 24 (acn) Seven out of every 10 U.S. citizens support the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States, according to a Pew Research Center survey.

As reported on the Web site of this U.S. organization, the opinion poll, conducted last week among citizens around the country, reveals that an equal number, seven out of every ten, are in favor of lifting the economic, commercial and financial blockade against the island.

Compared with data from a similar Pew survey held in January, there was a considerable increase in support for the change of policy towards Cuba, when 63 percent of those surveyed by Pew said it supports the announcements made on December 17 and 66 percent was in favor of lifting the blockade.

After 54 years, six months and 17 days, the governments of Havana and Washington reestablished diplomatic relations on July 20, and the Cuban embassy was reopened in the U.S. capital.

Meanwhile, in Havana, the ceremony to hoist the U.S. flag on its legation will take place on August 14, as confirmed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a press conference this week.

The public support of U.S. citizens to resume relations with Cuba was majority, regardless of political affiliation.

The Pew survey shows an increase in support from U.S. political parties to the process of rapprochement between the two nations: 56 percent of Republicans approve the reestablishment of relations, a 16 percent increase since January.

Also, eight out of every 10 Democrats support the new policy of President Barack Obama, as does 75 percent of independents, an increase from nine and eight percent, respectively.

Also, 59 percent of Republicans supported the end of the blockade, something done only by four out of every ten in that party in January.

Among Democrats, however, 82 percent is in favor of lifting the economic, commercial and financial blockade, a measure that depends entirely on the Congress.

The need to lift the blockade was among the outstanding issues mentioned by Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez during his two-day visit to Washington, referring to the new stage that now opens towards normalization of bilateral relations.

Although Obama has asked Congress to initiate a serious debate to put an end to that unilateral measure that has been in force for more than five decades, the issue is not on the congressional agenda, nor on that of the House of Representatives or the Senate, dominated by the Republicans.

By demographic groups, Hispanics are the most supportive of the resumption of diplomatic bonds with Cuba, with 75 percent in favor, an opinion shared by 72 percent of white and 68 of African-American persons, according to Pew.

The Pew Research Center, a think tank based in Washington DC, provides information on issues, attitudes and trends characterizing the United States and the world.

SOURCE: http://www.cubanews.ain.cu/world/3418-pew-survey-shows-most-u-s-citizens-support-relations-with-cuba