A package of news briefs from the Caribbean

Attorneys fighting corruption charges against former Puerto Rico Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila surprised a judge Tuesday by announcing they would not present any witnesses in his defense.

Attorney Thomas Green said he made the decision after examining evidence that prosecutors presented during the nearly monthlong trial.

"I'm confident," he told reporters outside the courtroom. "I believe that none of the accusations presented by the government has to be contested."

Judge Paul Barbadoro said he was not prepared to give the jury instructions and asked attorneys to present their closing arguments Thursday. Jurors are expected to begin deliberations Friday.

Green had requested the case be dismissed, but Barbadoro said there is enough evidence for the jury to make a decision.

Acevedo is accused of illegally raising money to pay off more than $500,000 in campaign debts from his terms as the island's delegate to the U.S. Congress from 2000 to 2004.

He could face 20 years in prison if convicted on nine counts of campaign-finance violations that include conspiracy, money laundering and giving false testimony to the FBI.

Acevedo denies the accusations and has asked for donations to help pay what he calls "immense" attorney fees. Supporters have given more than $300,000 and offered three paintings and two fighting cocks for auction.

He is the first Puerto Rican governor to face federal charges since the Caribbean island became a U.S. commonwealth in 1952.

ROSEAU, Dominica (AP) — Opposition supporters demonstrated Tuesday in Dominica's capital to demand electoral reform in the sparsely populated Caribbean country, where voter rolls have nearly as many names as there are inhabitants.

"We want a clean voter list," a few dozen United Workers' Party protesters chanted outside the law offices of the Electoral Commission chairman. In another section of Roseau, another dozen people with the Dominica Freedom Party held placards accusing the government of manipulating voter registrations in a bid to dominate elections.

"We cannot go into elections in Dominica without putting in place what is needed for free and fair elections," said Ron Green, a leader of the main opposition United Workers' Party.

At least a quarter of the population in the lush Caribbean country is under the voting age of 18. But the 2005 registration list shows 65,889 voters out of a population of roughly 70,000.

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit's government has resisted calls for new voter lists, preferring to keep the records used in the 2005 vote for the next legislative elections, which must be called by October 2010.

About 41,000 people voted in 2005 elections that gave Skerrit's Labor Party a second consecutive term in power. Leaders of the United Workers' Party challenged the outcome in some areas, saying voter rolls were not purged annually as required by law.

Election chief Gerald Burton said his office has advised the government to update rolls and introduce voter identification cards. Skerrit, however, recently told Parliament he has received no new recommendations from the electoral commission.

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Jamaica is aggressively seeking a buyer for its debt-swamped sugar company after the global financial crisis forced a Brazilian company to drop out of a multimillion-dollar deal for the plantations, a top official said Tuesday.

Agriculture Minister Christopher Tufton told reporters that the government has renewed bidding for its sugar estates and that 14 companies were "showing interest." He did not identify the bidders, but said most were international companies.

"We plan to engage each potential investor and hope to move as quickly as possible to get a buyer," said Tufton, adding there was no firm deadline to sell off the state-owned industry.

Factories of The Sugar Company of Jamaica have lost $283 million since the island's government bought them in 1998. The government announced plans to sell the company in 2004 after years of amassing debt and gave a June 2008 deadline.

Last year, Brazilian company Infinity Bio-Energy signed a $39 million agreement to lease Jamaica's sugar plantations for 25 years to produce up to 36 million gallons (135 million liters) of ethanol by 2013. Sugarcane production was expected to double to 2.5 million tons (2 million metric tons) as a result.

But Infinity backed out of the deal in late January after missing two payment deadlines.

Jamaica's December-through-June sugar crop is projected at 165,000 tons (150,000 metric tons), of which 153,400 tons (140,000 metric tons) would be shipped to Britain by season's end. Most of the remaining sugar would be sold to the U.S.

Tufton said the government cannot afford to operate the sugar estates on a long-term basis given the ongoing economic crisis. The government also has warned it might not have enough money to keep buying sugarcane from farmers after the season is over.

WILLEMSTAD, Curacao (AP) — Four convicts escaped from the Bon Futuro prison on the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao, officials said Tuesday.

The four prisoners, ranging in ages from 20 to 24, were serving terms for attempted murder and armed robbery. They apparently escaped Tuesday when two guards were briefly taken hostage by three other prisoners.

The guards were not injured during the melee, according to police spokesman Reginald Huggins, who said the brief hostage-taking was most likely a diversion to help the other men flee the prison's high-security Block 7, he said.

Residents in the low-income Koraal Specht neighborhood where the prison is located were urged to watch for the men, who are considered dangerous.

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) — Cayman Islands police say the body of a woman has been found in roadside bushes and they suspect it may be that of a 21-year-old video store clerk who vanished last week.

Police spokeswoman Deborah Denis says it could be days before the medical examiner's office completes DNA tests to confirm the dead woman's identity. She would not say if the remains fit the description of the missing woman.

Detectives have been searching the area for Sabrina Schirn since Thursday. She disappeared after borrowing a co-worker's car, which was found close to where the body was discovered Tuesday.

Cayman 27 television reports that Shirn was threatened by a man brandishing a crowbar days before she went missing.

HAVANA (AP) — Cuba's Ladies in White decided to pray instead of protest for their imprisoned relatives Tuesday as they marked the sixth anniversary of a crackdown in which the government jailed 75 activists and independent journalists.

About 30 women squeezed into the apartment of founding member Laura Pollan and chanted Roman Catholic prayers in unison, even seeking protection for Fidel and Raul Castro while urging Cuba's leadership to respect human rights.

Fidel Castro was president in 2003, when authorities rounded up and accused dozens of people of plotting with Washington to undermine the communist government. Castro stepped aside in favor of his younger brother Raul last year.

Twenty prisoners have been released into forced exile or on medical parole, and the number of remaining inmates fell to 54 in January when a democracy activist completed his six-year sentence.

Pollan, whose husband, Hector Maseda, is serving a 20-year prison sentence, read a letter demanding that the rest be freed.

Their activities were "not considered criminal in any country that enjoys a true democracy," it said.

Last year, members of the group were detained for staging a sit-in near the Plaza of the Revolution, where Raul Castro keeps an office. To avoid confrontation this year, they read their letter to foreign reporters rather than deliver it to Cuban authorities.

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — A fire has destroyed an orphanage in Jamaica that was home to about 30 children.

Father Gregory Ramkissoon of the Mustard Seed charity says two children were slightly hurt when firefighters rescued them, and one employee suffered a broken leg.

He said Tuesday that the orphans were relocated to other homes run by his charity.

Jamaica's Social Security Minister Pearnel Charles said the government will donate supplies including food and mattresses.

Police were investigating the Monday night blaze, which gutted the two-story wooden building.

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says that his close friend Fidel Castro is recovering from an unknown illness that forced the former Cuban leader to undergo intestinal surgery over two years ago.

Chavez says Castro, who ceded power to his younger brother Raul shortly after undergoing surgery in July 2006, "is physically very recuperated."

Chavez said the elder Castro reads numerous news articles everyday, and later sends them to him for analysis.

The 82-year-old Castro has not appeared in public since undergoing surgery.

Cuban officials have not commented on Castro's current health, and his condition and exact ailment have been state secrets since the 2006 surgery.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The main cricket ground in Antigua will not be allowed to host international matches for at least 12 months after the "farcical" suspension of a match because of poor field conditions, the International Cricket Council announced Tuesday.

The decision — which took effect Monday — included a demand by the ICC for extensive repair work at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in the Caribbean nation before international play could resume.

A Feb. 13 test between West Indies and England was halted after just 10 balls when officials ruled that patches of thick sand on the field made conditions too dangerous for players. West Indies bowlers had complained about poor footing shortly after the test began.

"The image of the game and the integrity of our sport cannot afford to have such farcical scenes play out as they did on the first morning of the match," said ICC general manager David Richardson. "Steps must be taken to ensure that it never happens again."

The ICC also issued an official warning to the West Indies Cricket Board for offering a field that did not meet international standards. ICC inspections teams plan to visit the stadium in the coming year to decide whether the expected improvements are acceptable.

The surface at the Antigua stadium was built for the 2007 World Cup and modified in October to correct drainage problems, but grass growth was insufficient and sand was spread around the field.