THE MOST WIDELY CIRCUL ATED CARIBBEAN AMERICAN NEWSPAPER IN FLORIDA
CNWEEKLYNE WS.COM
Church Comes Clean
THURSDAY APRIL 18, 2024
“We, the general assembly of The United Reformed Church, mindful of our own history and that of our antecedent bodies, apologize for our role in transatlantic slavery and the scars that continue to blight our society, our church, and the lives of black people in our midst and around the globe today.” – Read by Rev. Dr. Tessa Robinson
The United Reformed Church, one of the most historically significant religious institutions in the United Kingdom has joined the ranks of institutions acknowledging their involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, issuing an apology to Jamaica, the wider Caribbean, and Africa continues on B3 – Comes clean
Former US Ambassador sentenced to 15 years in prison for being Cuban spy Victor Manuel Rocha, a long-time resident of Miami, and former U.S. ambassador pleaded guilty on Friday to secretly acting for decades as an agent of the government of the Republic of Cuba. Rocha, a former U.S. Department of State employee who served on the National Security Uzra Zeya Council from 1994 to 1995 and as U.S.
Ambassador to Bolivia from 2000 to 2002, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his crimes of conviction. “Victor Manuel Rocha secretly acted for decades as an agent of a hostile foreign power. He thought the story of his covert mission for Cuba would never be told because he had the intelligence, knowledge, and discipline to never be detected,” said U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida. “I am mindful that Rocha's decades-long criminal activity on behalf of the Cuban
Rocha
Government is especially painful for many in South Florida,” he added. U.S. District Court Judge Beth Bloom accepted Rocha's guilty plea to counts 1 and 2 of the indictment, which charged him with conspiring to act as an agent of a foreign government and conspiring to defraud the United States and acting as an agent of a foreign government without notice as required by law. In addition to the 15-year sentence, he was also fined $500,000, and given three years of supervised release. continues on A6 – Cuban spy
WHAT’S INSIDE NEWSMAKER VP Records’ Pat Chin still going after 60 years in the business A3
CARIBBEAN Seven babies die from bacterial infection at Trinidad hospital A4
FEATURE
ENTERTAINMENT
Top 20 Hotels in the Caribbean A8
Marcia Grifths and friends to celebrate 60 years with concert in Miramar C1