Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 8 septembre 2016

 17 Haitian scholarships winners are going to study in Taiwan

Seventeen Haitian scholarship winners, who are going to study in Taiwan, were honored last Thursday before Minister of Education Jean Beauvois Dorsonne, Minister of Foreign Affairs Pierrot Délienne, and Tsai-Chiu Hwang, the Ambassador of the Republic of China in Haiti.

These 17 scholarship winners, who were selected through competition and who originate from all of the country’s departments, are leaving for Taiwan to pursue five years of higher education in diverse fields such as electrical engineering, information technology, civil engineering, tropical medicine and renewable energy.

In his speech, Minister Dorsonne encouraged the scholarship winners to be diligent in their studies and to salute "in the name of the Haitian government and of the educational community, this support by the Taiwanese government in the field of the education."

Taiwanese Ambassador, Tsai-chiu Hwang, indicated that these scholarship exchanges are within the framework of the bilateral cooperation between Haiti and Taiwan, which has last lasted in harmony for more than 50 years.

Chancellor Délienne greeted proudly these 17 young people, whom he said, "are going to acquire new knowledge and return to put it to use toward the development of their country."

The Haitian Studies Institute opens its doors at Brooklyn College

In the presence of academics, politicians, and members of the private sector, the Haitian Studies Institute opened its doors in the heart of "Brooklyn College" recently.

It is thanks to the tireless efforts of New York State Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte, who is of Haitian origin, that this project, which initially did not have the necessary political support, came to fruition.

Peter Helder Bernard, the general consul of the Republic of Haiti in New York, was unable to hide his emotions regarding the choice of "Brooklyn College", where he attended 23 ago, to permit this Institute to help popularize Haitian culture.

Dr. Jean Eddy Saint Paul, who is of Haitian origin, was chosen as first Director of the Institute. In his speech, he shared his vision, to create a research center on a national scale, a modern international website, as well as the realization of key research on Africa-Haiti relations.

Haiti-Cuba: towards the creation of a sports educational college

Last week while at the Multi-purpose Training Center of Croix-des-Bouquets, Abel Nazaire, Minister of Youth, Sports and the Civic Action (MJSAC) hosted Naima Ariatne Trujillo Bareto, Director of the University José Marti Perez de Santi Espiritu, Cuba, regarding the creation of a sports college in Haiti.

At this meeting, during which Franck Charles, Director of Renaissance University of Haiti, Auguste D' Méza, Assistant Director of Academic Affairs and Luis Eyen Reina Garcia, Assistant to Director Bareto, Minister Nazaire praised the virtues of the Cuban sports model which has allowed Cuba to take its place among the best sports nations of the world. Minister Nazaire also showed great interest in this project which would allow Haiti to have sports technicians trained in the country.

A work schedule is going to be established between the MJSAC, the University of the Renaissance of Haiti and the Cuban University to finalize this project, in order to allow Haiti to have the necessary tools essential to the development of sports in the country. (Haiti Libre)

The Superior Court building will cost approximately 27 million US dollars

The new building that must accommodate the Superior Court of the Accounts will cost Haiti approximately 27 million US dollars. It will be financed by funds from the cancellation of the debt of Haiti by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to HPN.

Opening of the first symposium for small and medium-sized enterprises

Allowing institutions to have access to financing by trying to bridge the existing gap between finance companies and small to medium-sized enterprises was the objective of a symposium last week organized by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MCI), with the support of the BID and of (PANSEH), an organization that helps support and structure Haitian entrepreneurship.

"We have to prepare the economy of tomorrow with the actions of today by creating better opportunities," declared Minister of Justice Camille Edouard Junior at the opening of the symposium.

Approximately 300 participants from throughout the country were expected at this event. Among them were the heads of 200 small and medium-sized enterprises, 40 representatives of financial institutions, and 40 representatives of organizations that support small and medium sized enterprises. According to the organizers, the event’s main goal was to allow companies to have access to the services or technical support of the MCI.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 14 septembre 2016

 Throngs mourn Spanish Catholic sister shot dead in Haiti

Port-au-Prince (AFP) - Throngs of mourners attended the funeral for a Catholic sister from Spain last week. She was shot dead earlier this month while on a highway in Haiti.

"People are dying and the authorities do not care at all," said Mimose Targette, a leader at the same church where Sister Isabel Sola Macas, 51, played guitar every morning.

Macas was driving in downtown Port-au-Prince early Friday when she was gunned down by unidentified attackers who shot her twice in the chest -- a shocking act even in this poverty-stricken and politically insecure nation where acts of violence are not uncommon.

The passenger next to Macas was also hit and is still receiving treatment in a hospital in the capital city.

"Sister Isa helped people from poor neighborhoods and these are the same people who killed her," Targette said.

Top religious leaders as well as everyday citizens filed past her open coffin Thursday and offered condolences to her four siblings who came to Port-au-Prince for the funeral.

Haitian police said progress had been made in the investigation but declined to share any details.

"We know that the investigation will lead to nothing, so it's still one more person who has spilled her blood for nothing," Catholic sister Sandra Thomas said.

"But we are going to continue fighting in our own way so that Haiti finally rises from the ashes because we are not going to leave this country by itself," she added.

Seizure of Illegal weapons – The United States congratulates the Haitian national police force

The U.S. Embassy congratulated its Haitian partners and welcomed the seizure of illegal weapons by the Haitian National Police force and Haitian authorities at the port of Saint Marc on Thursday, September 8^th, 2016.

"We continue to work in association with American and Haitian authorities to pursue the criminals implied in this affair and to fight the dealing of illegal weapons in Haiti.

The United States is committed to continue to support the National police force of Haiti in the long term, and we welcome the continuous progress of the PNH to insure the safety and the rule of law in Haiti."

Trinidad Express: Haiti to lift restrictions on importation of Dominican products

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, Sep. 1, CMC – The Haitian government has agreed to lift the restrictions on overland imports of several products from the neighbouring Dominican Republic in the next few days.

According to Haiti's Foreign Minister Pierrot Delienne, the restrictions will be lifted as long as the corresponding customs fees are paid.

Delienne also said the government will provide over 100,000 Haitians with the official documents needed to in order to qualify for the Dominican Republic's foreigner regularization plan.

The decision was made during a meeting earlier this week with Dominican Foreign Relations Minister Miguel Vargas in Port-au-Prince.

Delienne also responded positively to his counterpart's request to resume meetings by the Mixed Bilateral Commission, for which he said a common agenda would be drawn up, as well as to Vargas's proposal for a trade agreement between the two countries

In addition, Vargas proposed a treaty that would boost bilateral trade flows “without blockages and without objections” beyond the international trade rules.

From remote stronghold, Haiti fugitive seeks political power

PESTEL, Haiti -- Fishermen gathered eagerly at a rickety wooden pier to welcome a boat carrying Haiti's most divisive and provocative political candidate.

The crowd quickly cleared a path as Guy Philippe stepped to shore and began shaking hands and slapping backs. More people emerged to see the man whose face adorns campaign posters on one-room shacks in a community isolated from the rest of the country by forested mountains and rutted roads.

Philippe is reviled by some Haitians as a leader of the 2004 rebellion that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He is wanted on decade-old drug-trafficking charges by U.S. authorities. And last week, a Haitian judge questioned him about a deadly May raid on a police station after he rebuffed previous subpoenas.

Yet Philippe appears to be revered in the rural Grand'Anse region of southern Haiti. Many already call him "senator" as he seeks to win a seat in a runoff election scheduled for Oct. 9 - a victory that would give him immunity from arrest and prosecution in his homeland as well as political power that he has long craved.

"He's like a father for this area," said Christin Pierre Louis, who was among those welcoming Philippe to the village.

Elsewhere, many see him as a troubling symbol of Haiti's wider problems.

"There is an accountability vacuum in Haiti that means people implicated in past human rights violations can run as popular candidates with no fear of investigations, much less prosecutions, of alleged abuses," said Amanda Klasing, a senior researcher with New York-based Human Rights Watch.

The fugitive candidate, who looks much younger than his 48 years, allowed Associated Press journalists to spend a day with him in his Pestel stronghold. It's a remote municipality in the rugged mountainous region that has been his refuge since U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents barely missed capturing him in a 2007 raid at his house in the south coast city of Les Cayes.

He says he wants to bring prosperity to Haiti's mountainous southern peninsula, which features clear blue waters and lush forests but has scarce electricity, little infrastructure and widespread hunger.

Philippe insists he is innocent of any crimes, blaming the accusations on enemies trying to silence him. He has particular rancor for Haiti's caretaker president.

"The path I chose, the way I chose, is not easy. But I chose it and I'm willing to die for it," Philippe told AP journalists, who made the teeth-rattling drive to his stronghold along a dirt road that has been lined with boulders so barricades can be erected at a moment's notice.

In Pestel, where his father served as mayor, Philippe is the undisputed boss.

Downing bottles of Prestige beer, he held court at the town's only hotel, which he owns. He occasionally barked orders to supporters, socialized with a coterie of hangers-on and doled out favors.

At a gazebo he built for the town on a waterfront promenade, he made an open invitation to former soldiers to relocate to Pestel. Haiti's military was abolished in 1995, but veterans like Philippe and their supporters have long demanded the army be reconstituted.

"They can come to Pestel - land of liberty," he said, flashing a grin.

While Philippe insisted he holds great respect for law enforcement as a former police commander and soldier, he warned that any uniformed officials trying to capture him in his tropical outpost will be met with force.

"We'll consider them as mercenaries and we will fight them," he said.

Philippe denied reports he has stockpiles of weapons, but two T65 assault rifles and a pair of M-1 carbines were visible inside a roadside shack where a lookout stood guard.

Philippe's candidacy for a Senate seat is the latest chapter in a colorful life.

In 2000, he was police chief of the northern city of Cap-Haitien, the country's second largest city, when he bolted to the neighboring Dominican Republic after accusations he was plotting a coup. While in exile, he was accused of masterminding attacks on Haitian police stations and other targets.

He returned in 2004 to join an uprising against Aristide, taking over a band of rebels that captured Cap-Haitien. Aristide left the country aboard a U.S.-supplied jet before Philippe's rebels reached the capital.

After rolling triumphantly into Port-au-Prince, Philippe proclaimed himself "military chief." But he gave up his arms as a U.N. stabilization force geared up.

He ran for president in 2006, finishing a distant ninth.

A year later, heavily armed U.S. and Haitian anti-drug agents raided his home in Les Cayes but found only his family and a maid. U.S. agents came in several Black Hawk helicopters.

A fugitive poster from the DEA said he is wanted on charges including conspiracy to import cocaine into the U.S. But the decade-old U.S. indictment charging him is sealed and federal prosecutors decline to discuss the case.

Philippe faces questions about a May 16 assault on the Les Cayes police headquarters. As many as 50 armed men wearing camouflage or faded green uniforms attacked the station, stealing guns and killing one police officer and wounding another.

His lawyer, Reynold Georges, confirms that Philippe is named on a Haitian warrant involving the attack, but says his client had no involvement.

Philippe says he is living a simple life and is focusing on his campaign. Jovenel Moise, a presidential candidate chosen by former President Michel Martelly, recently campaigned with Philippe in Pestel.

His American wife and two children live in the U.S., and he says he seldom ventures out of Grand'Anse.

Philippe warns of trouble if he loses the Senate runoff.

"I will fight if I lose this election because I'll know the government did it illegally," he said between swigs of beer. "I've got nothing left to lose."

___

Visit of a volleyball world icon of Haitian origin

Last Thursday at the Karibe Hotel before numerous personalities of the world of Haitian sports - volleyball in particular - the Minister of Youth, Sports and Civic Action, Abel Nazaire, hosted a cocktail party in honor of volleyball legend Mireya Luis Hernandez. A Cuban athlete of Haitian parents, Mireya Luis Hernandez is considered to be the best volleyball player of all times. She recently launched her autobiography titled "Between Heaven and Earth."

On behalf of the government and of the Haitian people, Minister Nazaire declared it was an honor and a big opportunity to receive Mireya Luis and her husband Humberto Gonzalez (the former Cuban Secretary of sports), and a symbol pride to have an icon of the world of sports who is of Haitian origin be a role model to the young people of Haiti. Let us recall that that Mireya Luis Hernandez was an Olympic champion three times, and that she holds several world and international titles.

Three days of protest scheduled against the possible renewal of the mandate of the Minustah

Social organizations announced three days of mobilization against a possible renewal of the Mission of United Nations for the stabilization in Haiti (Minustah) announced the news agency Alter Press.

These organizations are said to oppose the presence of the UN, installed in Haiti since 2004.

David Oxygène, who is in charge of the Movement for Freedom, and Equality of Haitian for the brotherhood (Molegaf), announced three days of mobilization to denounce the renewal of this mandate.

A report of the General Secretary of the United Nations Organization (UNO), Ban Ki-Moon, recommended a continuation of 6 months (until April, 2017) of the mandate of the mission.

On Tuesday, September 13^th, a protest is planned in front of the national palace, to call upon temporary president, Jocelerme Privert, to speak against the recommendation of Ban Ki-Moon.

A sit-in is also planned for Tuesday, September 20^th in front of the base of Minustah, in Clercine (north sector of the capital) to say “No” to the continued presence of the Minustah.

That same day, the UN will have a general assembly in New York.

Another sit-in will be organized on Tuesday, September 27th, in front of the Ministry of Agriculture, natural resources and rural development (Marndr), to demand that authorities take measures against foreign products which are invading the country.

The cholera epidemic first appeared in Haiti in October, 2010. It was introduced into the country by a contingent of Nepalese servicemen of the Minustah. Recently, the UN finally recognized its responsibility in the introduction of the disease in Haiti.

Molegaf calls upon "the popular resistance" to fight against the continuation of Minustah.

Guy Numa, who is in charge of the popular democratic Movement (Modep), also rejects the general request of the secretary of United Nations and urges the government of Enex Jean Charles not to extend the mandate of the mission.

"The cholera epidemic constitutes one of the greatest damages caused by Minustah, without counting the rapes of minors and adults," condemned Modep.

The Minustah had a new mandate, until October 16th, 2016, according to a resolution, adopted unanimously, on Wednesday, October 14th, 2015, by the United Nations Security Council.

According to this resolution, the prolonged mandate of Minustah would keep the current level of authorized staff of 2,601 policemen of United Nations (Unpol) and 2,370 servicemen.

The United States gets involved in the fight against Zika in Haiti 

The American Ambassador to Port-AU-Prince, Peter Mulrean, and the Managing director of the Ministry of Health, Gabriel Timothé, made a visit to the Private Community Hospital of Martissant in the capital, earlier this month.  

The American diplomat and Dr. Timothé also took part in the distribution of Zika prevention kits to pregnant women who are in their first trimester.

Following a request by the Ministry of Health, the Office of Cooperation for Safety of the Program of Humanitarian Assistance of SOUTHCOM, donated more than 700 Zika prevention kids, which contain insecticide, citronella candles, and condoms to be distributed to pregnant women.

This visit to the Martissant Hospital, supported by the American Agency for the International Development (USAID), demonstrates the continuous commitment of the American government to support the Haitian authorities with health care supplies in particular in the prevention of the transmission of the Zika virus.

Ambassador Mulrean stressed the need to strengthen community programs to prevent the spread of Zika in the vulnerable zones in Haiti. "The United States actively supports the action plan against Zika by the Ministry of Health. This plan aims at preventing, detecting and at the responding to the disease. In the context of prevention, today we distributed anti-Zika kits to Haitian women in the first trimester of their pregnancy. Pregnant women being a high risk group, we are targeting them in our intervention," he said.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 23 septembre 2016

 A new mosquito-borne illness has been detected in Haiti

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES – The Miami Herald

There is a new mosquito-borne illness in Haiti.

Infectious disease specialists at the University of Florida say they have confirmed the existence of the Mayaro virus in a patient in Haiti. The virus is closely related to the chikungunya virus but researchers say they do not yet know if it’s caused by the same Aedes aegypti mosquito that’s been linked to chikungunya and the Zika virus.

“We are not sure,” said Dr. John Lednicky, a University of Florida associate professor in the environmental and global health department of the College of Public Health and Health Professions. “Many different mosquitoes can carry the same virus.”

Lednicky, who runs UF’s laboratory in Haiti, said the Mayaro virus first was found in Trinidad and Tobago in 1954, and has been causing outbreaks in South America, mainly in the Amazon. It causes similar symptoms to chikungunya: fever, joint and muscle pain, rashes and abdominal pain.

“One can say it’s as bad as chikungunya, but there is so little information available,” he said. “Maybe it’s been in Haiti this whole time and no one checked for it.”

Whether the confirmed case signals the start of a new outbreak in the Caribbean region, researchers do not know, Lednicky said. Nor do they know if the virus is going to be widespread in Haiti where the Zika virus has been difficult to track because of the country’s weak health system.

“We would like to do a lot more but our hands are quite tied,” he said. “We would really like to help in Haiti... and look into which mosquitoes are carrying this virus.”

It was Lednicky and his team of researchers who earlier this year announced that the Zika virus had been present in the hemisphere months before it was confirmed in Brazil in March 2015. It was in Haiti as early as 2014, they said, citing blood samples collected in December 2014. The lab had begun monitoring chikungunya fever cases after its April 2014 outbreak in Haiti and had collected blood samples from schoolchildren in the Gressier/Leogane region, southwest of Port-au-Prince, where the laboratory is located.

Lednicky said the new Mayaro virus is different from what they found in 2014.

“The virus we detected is genetically different from the ones that have been described recently in Brazil, and we don’t know yet if it is unique to Haiti or if it is a recombinant strain from different types of Mayaro viruses,” he said.

On Thursday, the university announced that the National Institutes of Health awarded it more than $1.75 million to study the Zika virus. The funding will support the laboratory’s ongoing Zika research in Haiti.

“Any little bit helps,” Lednicky said. “A lot more money would be useful. It’s very difficult to do this type of work and do it well unless you have a lot of funding, and you also have to train the people to do this work.”

In addition to the NIH funding, Bernard Okech, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental and Global Health, received a $100,000 award from the USDA to support his research into the mosquitoes that transmit the Zika virus. He studies mosquito-borne diseases at the Haiti lab.

“Not only are we doing great research on the Zika virus, but for the first time we’re also getting awards to support that research,” said Dr. J. Glenn Morris, director of the Emerging Pathogens Institute. “The funds we are receiving to support our research on the Zika outbreaks in the Caribbean will help us begin to understand the risk to Florida.”

DONALD TRUMP VISITS MIAMI’S LITTLE HAITI

By Jacqueline Charles – The Miami Herald

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump met with a small group of Haitian Americans Friday in Little Haiti, telling them that they share “a lot of common values” and the country deserved better than Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

Clinton, Trump said, failed Haiti when it needed help the most.

“Clinton was responsible for doing things a lot of the Haitian people are not happy with,” Trump said from prepared remarks, referring to the aftermath of Haiti’s devastating Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake. “Taxpayer dollars intended for Haiti and the earthquake victims went to a lot of the Clinton cronies.”

Later, Trump told the crowd that he had come to “listen and learn” and to build a new relationship with the community.

“Whether you vote for me or not I really want to be your biggest champion,” he said.

There was no news from the candidate during the 26-minute discussion, in which attendees questioned him about his position on school choice. They also complained about the Clintons’ two-decade-plus involvement in Haiti.

“I didn’t understand, now I understand it,” Trump said in reference to many Haitians’ feelings about the Clintons.

Outside of his prepared remarks, Trump said very little during the meeting at the Little Haiti Cultural Center’s adjoining marketplace and visitor center before he was ushered out to his next stop. A few protesters held signs saying, “Little Haiti says No to Trump’s racism and hate.”

Trump was introduced by Georges Saati, a controversial blogger in the Haitian community, who told the room that this was the first time that a U.S. presidential candidate had visited the community. The remarks earned Trump applause from attendees, several of whom said they went because they were curious and wanted to hear what Trump had to say. Most of their remarks to the candidate focused on their personal disappointment over the lack of progress in Haiti despite the involvement of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

“The fact that he came here is everything for us as Haitians,” said Monique DieuJuste, 41, a Lauderhill residents who works as a registered respiratory therapist.

DieuJuste, who is registered with no party affiliation, said she plans to vote for Trump because the “Clintons haven’t done anything for us.”

As for Trump’s controversial stances on immigration, which many Haitians remain concerned about, DieuJuste said while she too has her concerns, he won her over with his support for possibly sending a Haitian-American as ambassador to Haiti should he be elected.

Attendees included Haitian doctors, lawyers and former Haiti government ministers. Ringo Cayard, a Haitian community activist who help put the event together, said it’s time for the Haitian-American vote to stop being taken for granted.

“I want them to listen to Trump and to listen to Hillary and then decide,” he said.

Leonce Thelusma, a former Haitian finance minister and a registered Republican, said his support for Trump will depend on the candidate’s stance on helping Haiti and Haitians. Clinton, he said, has little to show for her and her husband’s involvement in Haiti, where most recently Bill Clinton served as U.N. special envoy and czar of the recovery effort after the quake.

“No Haitian has benefited from that,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that we don’t have any institutions in Haiti that can call him and demand that he gives an account of the [earthquake] money.”

HAITIANS ARE BEGINNING TO BE EXILED FROM GUIANA

Last week, about fifteen Haitian migrants with irregular immigration status were expelled from French Guiana and repatriated by air to Port-au-Prince.

The operation was carried out after the decision of the Prefecture last August, to suspend asylum applications because of the massive secret arrival in Guiana of immigrants, most of whom of Haitian origin, since the beginning of the year. About 4,000 files cases of asylum seekers were in progress in August, according to the French Office of Protection of the Refugees and Stateless persons (OFPRA).

It should be reminded that following a complaint from France, Suriname a nearby country, which is used as footbridge by illegal Haitian migrants to enter French Guiana, was forced to impose a visa on Haitian, effective September 15th, 2016 http: // www.haitilibre.com/article-18549-haiti-flash-suriname-visa-obligatoire-pour-le - haitiens.html

JEANS BERTRAND ARISTIDE EXPERIENCE HEALTH TROUBLE WHILE CAMPAIGNING IN CAP HAITIAN

(Haiti Libre) Last Saturday while at the Mont-Joli Hotel, in Cap-Haïtien, former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide gave a press briefing a day after he was hospitalized for fainting after a speech. He wanted to reassure the population about his health. He also encouraged the population to beware of disputes, slander, the malicious gossip and all quibbles, that some are using destabilize others.

"… I thank all the people who thought of me, a special thank you to the medical team who took care of me yesterday evening to the Hospital Justinien of Cap-Haïtien… I was also pleased that among the doctors there was the future president of Haiti Dr. Maryse Narcisse.

Haïti-Justice / kidnapping: will Clifford Brandt appeal or not of his condemnation to 18 years of hard labor?

(Alter Presse) Haitian Businessman Clifford Brandt rejected the verdict, concerning his implication in the kidnapping and the detention of two children, but his lawyers did not indicate whether or not he is going to appeal.

The verdict, pronounced on Tuesday, September 13th, 2016, by Judge Joseph Jeudilien Fanfan, without a jury, condemns Brandt to 18 years of hard labor, for his implication in the kidnapping and the detention of Nicolas and Coralie Moscoso.

The entrepreneur moves forward that there is nothing which proves that there was a conversation between him and the people who kidnapped the children.

"Among all of the play by plays, presented before the court, nothing showed that my telephone was used within the framework of texts messages with the kidnappers," he protested, immediately after the reading of the verdict by the judge.

Contacted by AlterPresse, one of Brandt’s lawyres did not want to discuss the question by the telephone. Brandt, is the second condemned persons in this affair.  He had up to 5 days to appeal the judgment.

After more than 4 years of detentions, Carline Richema and Sawadienne Jean were anxious to enjoy their freedom, due to insufficient evidence.

Brandt condemned for kidnapping

• By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Sep 14, 2016, 4:35 PM ET

A man from a wealthy Haitian family has been convicted of running a kidnapping ring that preyed on other members of the elite in this impoverished country.

Clifford Brandt, who briefly escaped during a mass jail uprising in 2014, was convicted of charges that included kidnapping and sentenced to 18 years of hard labor at a hearing Tuesday (September, 13)  before an investigative judge in the capital,Port-au-Prince.

Judge Jeudilien Fanfan Joseph also convicted two co-defendants, Ricot Pierre-Val, who sentenced to 18 years, and Carlo Bendel Saint-Fort, who got a 19-year sentence. He found two others not guilty and ordered their immediate release.

Brandt, 45, was first jailed in 2012 for allegedly kidnapping two adult children of another wealthy family and demanding a ransom of $2.5 million. A 2012 report from Haiti's National Human RightsDefense Network alleged that Brandt was the leader of a kidnapping gang that had at least 13 victims.

He escaped from a maximum-security lockup in a mass breakout in 2014 but was recaptured a couple of days later near the Dominican border.

A new mosquito-borne illness has been detected in Haiti

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES

There is a new mosquito-borne illness in Haiti.

Infectious disease specialists at the University of Florida say they have confirmed the existence of the Mayaro virus in a patient in Haiti. The virus is closely related to the chikungunya virus but researchers say they do not yet know if it’s caused by the same Aedes aegypti mosquito that’s been linked to chikungunya and the Zika virus.

“We are not sure,” said Dr. John Lednicky, a University of Florida associate professor in the environmental and global health department of the College of Public Health and Health Professions. “Many different mosquitoes can carry the same virus.”

Lednicky, who runs UF’s laboratory in Haiti, said the Mayaro virus first was found in Trinidad and Tobago in 1954, and has been causing outbreaks in South America, mainly in the Amazon. It causes similar symptoms to chikungunya: fever, joint and muscle pain, rashes and abdominal pain.

“One can say it’s as bad as chikungunya, but there is so little information available,” he said. “Maybe it’s been in Haiti this whole time and no one checked for it.”

Whether the confirmed case signals the start of a new outbreak in the Caribbean region, researchers do not know, Lednicky said. Nor do they know if the virus is going to be widespread in Haiti where the Zika virus has been difficult to track because of the country’s weak health system.

“We would like to do a lot more but our hands are quite tied,” he said. “We would really like to help in Haiti... and look into which mosquitoes are carrying this virus.”

It was Lednicky and his team of researchers who earlier this year announced that the Zika virus had been present in the hemisphere months before it was confirmed in Brazil in March 2015. It was in Haiti as early as 2014, they said, citing blood samples collected in December 2014. The lab had begun monitoring chikungunya fever cases after its April 2014 outbreak in Haiti and had collected blood samples from schoolchildren in the Gressier/Leogane region, southwest of Port-au-Prince, where the laboratory is located.

Lednicky said the new Mayaro virus is different from what they found in 2014.

“The virus we detected is genetically different from the ones that have been described recently in Brazil, and we don’t know yet if it is unique to Haiti or if it is a recombinant strain from different types of Mayaro viruses,” he said.

On Thursday, the university announced that the National Institutes of Health awarded it more than $1.75 million to study the Zika virus. The funding will support the laboratory’s ongoing Zika research in Haiti.

“Any little bit helps,” Lednicky said. “A lot more money would be useful. It’s very difficult to do this type of work and do it well unless you have a lot of funding, and you also have to train the people to do this work.”

In addition to the NIH funding, Bernard Okech, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental and Global Health, received a $100,000 award from the USDA to support his research into the mosquitoes that transmit the Zika virus. He studies mosquito-borne diseases at the Haiti lab.

“Not only are we doing great research on the Zika virus, but for the first time we’re also getting awards to support that research,” said Dr. J. Glenn Morris, director of the Emerging Pathogens Institute. “The funds we are receiving to support our research on the Zika outbreaks in the Caribbean will help us begin to understand the risk to Florida.”

DONALD TRUMP VISITS LITTLE HAITI, MIAMI

By Jacqueline Charles

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump met with a small group of Haitian Americans Friday in Little Haiti, telling them that they share “a lot of common values” and the country deserved better than Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

Clinton, Trump said, failed Haiti when it needed help the most.

“Clinton was responsible for doing things a lot of the Haitian people are not happy with,” Trump said from prepared remarks, referring to the aftermath of Haiti’s devastating Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake. “Taxpayer dollars intended for Haiti and the earthquake victims went to a lot of the Clinton cronies.”

Later, Trump told the crowd that he had come to “listen and learn” and to build a new relationship with the community.

“Whether you vote for me or not I really want to be your biggest champion,” he said.

There was no news from the candidate during the 26-minute discussion, in which attendees questioned him about his position on school choice. They also complained about the Clintons’ two-decade-plus involvement in Haiti.

“I didn’t understand, now I understand it,” Trump said in reference to many Haitians’ feelings about the Clintons.

Outside of his prepared remarks, Trump said very little during the meeting at the Little Haiti Cultural Center’s adjoining marketplace and visitor center before he was ushered out to his next stop. A few protesters held signs saying, “Little Haiti says No to Trump’s racism and hate.”

Trump was introduced by Georges Saati, a controversial blogger in the Haitian community, who told the room that this was the first time that a U.S. presidential candidate had visited the community. The remarks earned Trump applause from attendees, several of whom said they went because they were curious and wanted to hear what Trump had to say. Most of their remarks to the candidate focused on their personal disappointment over the lack of progress in Haiti despite the involvement of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

“The fact that he came here is everything for us as Haitians,” said Monique DieuJuste, 41, a Lauderhill residents who works as a registered respiratory therapist.

DieuJuste, who is registered with no party affiliation, said she plans to vote for Trump because the “Clintons haven’t done anything for us.”

As for Trump’s controversial stances on immigration, which many Haitians remain concerned about, DieuJuste said while she too has her concerns, he won her over with his support for possibly sending a Haitian-American as ambassador to Haiti should he be elected.

Attendees included Haitian doctors, lawyers and former Haiti government ministers. Ringo Cayard, a Haitian community activist who help put the event together, said it’s time for the Haitian-American vote to stop being taken for granted.

“I want them to listen to Trump and to listen to Hillary and then decide,” he said.

Leonce Thelusma, a former Haitian finance minister and a registered Republican, said his support for Trump will depend on the candidate’s stance on helping Haiti and Haitians. Clinton, he said, has little to show for her and her husband’s involvement in Haiti, where most recently Bill Clinton served as U.N. special envoy and czar of the recovery effort after the quake.

“No Haitian has benefited from that,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that we don’t have any institutions in Haiti that can call him and demand that he gives an account of the [earthquake] money.”

CAN UPSCALE CHOCOLATE TURN THE TIDE ON HAITI’S DEVASTATING DEFORESTATION?

With 98 percent of their trees gone, Haitians eye cocoa-based agroforestry as a way to combat poverty and renew the land.

September 14, 2016 —When a tiny Quebec chocolate maker wona gold prizeat this year’s premier International Chocolate Awards for a bar made with Haitian cocoa beans, it rocked the specialty chocolate world. The cocoa beans had been on the market for less than a year, and a Haitian chocolate bar had never before received the award.

Haiti produces less than 1 percent of the world’s cocoa. But today, cocoa industry players are aiming to put the Caribbean nation on the craft quality chocolate map, while providing some of the world’s poorest farmers with a better life and stemming the forces that have left Haiti a near moonscape. Stunningly 98 percent deforested, Haiti is an environmental mess, vulnerable to devastating floods and mudslides.

Efforts to connect poor cocoa farmers in Haiti to consumers willing to pay upwards of US$8 for a single chocolate bar are part of a much broader movement within the development community to combat global poverty and protect natural resources through access to such specialty markets.

But can these efforts make a difference in tackling some of the key drivers of environmental degradation? And can they do it at a scale that actually transforms struggling rural economies?

Reforesting Haiti With Tree Crops

Grinding poverty is a root cause for Haiti’s deforestation. Per capita income was just US$828 in 2015, and two-thirds of Haitians are subsistence farmers. The vast majority cook their food with wood charcoal. Charcoal production fuels deforestation, which leads to soil erosion, loss of productive agricultural land and a vicious cycle of poverty.

An estimated 50 percent of Haitian topsoil has washed away, destroying Haiti’s farmland and contributing to crop losses that reached70 percentin some places in the face of extreme drought this year.

Cocoa is a tree crop that grows well in agroforestry systems, which is why Ralph Denize of FOMIN (Multilateral Investment Fund) says, “Cocoa is one of the best crops you can use for reforesting the country.”

Larger coconut, breadfruit, mango and avocado trees tower over and offer shade to the smaller cocoa trees, as well as food for the farmers and habitat for birds and other animals. Cocoa farms are in fact one of the few places in Haiti with standing trees.

“As long as the market is stable and farmers can depend on it, those trees will be in the ground for at least 40 years,” adds Emily Stone, founder of Uncommon Cacao.

Currently, some 20,000 smallholder farmers harvest cocoa as a cash crop in what they call “creole gardens” in two regions of Haiti. But, “garden” is a misnomer, because these dense tangles of vegetation, averaging an acre (half a hectare) in size, form mini-forests. Larger coconut, breadfruit, mango and avocado trees tower over and offer shade to the smaller cocoa trees, as well as food for the farmers and habitat for birds and other animals.

Cocoa farms are in fact one of the few places in Haiti with standing trees, according to Patrick Dessources fromRoot Capital, which finances small agricultural businesses and is partnering with FOMIN and other groups to rebuild Haiti’s cocoa industry.

Haiti currently exports 4,000 metric tons (4,400 tons) of cocoa per year, a big drop from its peak of 20,000 metric tons (22,000 tons) in the 1960s and far less than neighboring Dominican Republic, which exported 70,000 metric tons (77,000 tons) in 2014.

Revitalizing Haiti’s Cocoa Sector

Revitalizing Haiti’s cocoa industry can help reforest the country, but key to that revitalization is building capacity for producing the high-quality fermented cocoa beans that are used by specialty and dark chocolate manufacturers, likePalette de Bine, the award winner. Those beans fetch higher prices that help farmers live better.

As Denize puts it, “moving from unfermented to fermented cocoa is about keeping the value added in the country.”

Currently, more than 90 percent of Haiti’s cocoa beans are sold and exported in their raw, unprocessed state for mass-produced chocolate because farmers have few options for fermenting their beans. Currently there are only three fermentation facilities in the country.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 28 septembre 2016

 THE PRESIDENT OF PANAMA IS DELIGHTED AT THE U.S.’s DECISION TO DEPORT HAITIAN MIGRANTS

Last Friday, the President of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela, expressed his confidence that the flow of the Haitian migrants in Central America will further decrease due to the decision of the United States to reactivate the deportation of Haitian without papers.

Varela reminded that the American Government decided to eliminate the migratory advantages granted to Haitian after the earthquake of 2010, which will allow the deportation of those who enter the U.S. in an irregular way. "One way or another, it is going to discourage the flow of Haitians," underlined Varela at the end of a meeting of polices chiefs of the Americas in Panama.

It should be reminded that several thousand Haitians have tried to reach the United States via Central America during the last few months. Most of them migrated to Brazil after the 2010 earthquake, but the economic decline of the South American giant forced them to look for opportunities in the United States. According to Panamanian authorities, every year, more than 30,000 immigrants from Haiti, Cuba and countries in Asia and Africa, cross Central America and Mexico for the United States.

The Haitians had their path blocked due to Nicaragua’s refusal to allow them to pass, which left them waiting in Costa Rica, Panama and in Colombia...

Although the Panamanian Government closed its border in the inhospitable jungle of Darien, the migrants continued to come, in spite of the risks to which they could be exposed - violence, theft and extortion by traffickers and other criminal groups.

The Panamanian government set up three camps for about 3,000 migrants on the border with Colombia.

U.S. to Step Up Deportations of Haitians Amid Surge at Border

By KIRK SEMPLESEPT. 22, 2016

Message: turn around or go elsewhere

MEXICO CITY — The Obama administration, responding to an extraordinary wave of Haitian migrants seeking to enter the United States, said on Thursday that it would fully resume deportations of undocumented Haitian immigrants.

After an earthquake devastated parts of Haiti in 2010, the United States suspended deportations, saying that sending Haitians back to the country at a time of great instability would put their lives at risk. About a year later, officials partly resumed deportations, focusing on people convicted of serious crimes or those considered a threat to national security.

But since last spring, thousands of Haitian migrants who had moved to Brazil in search of work have been streaming north, mostly by land, winding up at American border crossings that lead to Southern California.

Few have arrived with American visas, but nearly all have been allowed to enter the United States because immigration officials were prohibited, under the modified deportation policy, from using the so-called fast-track removal process often employed at the border for new, undocumented arrivals.

Instead, the migrants were placed in a slower deportation process and released, with an appointment to appear in immigration court at a later date, officials said. Since early summer, most have been given permission to remain in the country for as long as three years under a humanitarian parole provision, immigrant advocates said.

With the full resumption of deportations, which took effect on Thursday morning, Haitians who arrive at the border without visas will be put into expedited removal proceedings.

Jeh Johnson, the secretary of Homeland Security, said in a statement that conditions in Haiti had “improved sufficiently to permit the U.S. government to remove Haitian nationals on a more regular basis.”

While Mr. Johnson’s statement did not mention the recent influx of Haitians along the southwestern border, Homeland Security officials, during a conference call with reporters, cited the migrant wave as the other major factor in the administration’s decision.

Since last October, officials said, more than 5,000 Haitians without visas have shown up at the San Ysidro crossing that links Tijuana, Mexico, with San Diego. By comparison, 339 Haitians without visas arrived at the San Ysidro crossing in the 2015 fiscal year.

An additional 4,000 to 6,000 Haitians were thought to be making their way from Brazil, immigrant advocates in San Diego and Tijuana said, based on estimates from shelters along the Brazil-to-Mexico migration route.

The message to those Haitians from the Obama administration, however, seems clear: Turn around or go elsewhere.

An uptick in deportations might not occur immediately. Removals require the cooperation of and paperwork from the receiving country, and Homeland Security officials said they were still in talks with the Haitian government about the policy shift.

In the meantime, officials said, nearly all Haitians stopped at the border and scheduled for accelerated deportations will be put into detention centers.

Officials clarified, however, that asylum law would continue to apply to newly arriving Haitians. A migrant who feared returning to Haiti because of the threat of persecution or torture would be interviewed to determine whether that fear was credible. If an immigration officer determined it was, the immigrant could apply for asylum.

Haitian immigrants covered by temporary protected status would be unaffected by the change in policy.

Over the summer, the unusual surge in Haitian migrants was accompanied by an equally unusual surge in migrants from more than two dozen other countries, nearly all traveling along the same arduous routes from South America, across as many as 10 borders.

Costa Rica gets 100 illegal immigrants a day hoping to get to U.S.

By Hugh Bronstein

NEW YORK, Sept 23 (Reuters) - More than 100 illegal immigrants are entering the small Central American country of Costa Rica every day, looking for "coyotes" to take them across the Nicaraguan border and on toward the United States, President Luis Solis said on Friday.

Eighty-five percent of the new arrivals are from Haiti by way of Brazil, where many settled after Haiti's 2010 earthquake, but whose construction jobs have disappeared now that the Rio Olympics are over and the country wallows in recession, Solis said on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

"The phenomenon has shifted quite significantly," Solis said.

His government has set up centers that offer the migrants basic shelter and food, before they take the day-long bus trip through Costa Rica to the Nicaraguan frontier. Nicaragua does not allow the migrants to enter, so they are forced into the world of "coyotes," or illegal guides, often linked to criminal gangs.

Solis said the 15 percent of arrivals who are not Haitians are Cubans as well as Africans and Asians who make their way across the Atlantic to Brazil, and then trudge through Colombia and Panama to get to Costa Rica.

"Migration is a global phenomenon and it is not new. But something unexpected is happening, a refurbished flow of migrants is on the move in Latin America," Solis said.

So far, Solis said, Costa Rica can handle the inflow and outflow of immigrants passing through the country.

The United States, however, responding to a surge in Haitian immigrants, will end special protections for them dating back to the devastating 2010 earthquake, the Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday.

"What if they start deciding to stay in Costa Rica after hearing that the United States has changed its tolerance policy and is going to start deporting them?" Solis said. "That's a concern."

More than 5,000 Haitians have entered the United States without visas this fiscal year through Oct. 1, according to Department of Homeland Security officials, up from 339 in fiscal year 2015.

Panama's president, Juan Carlos Varela, said this week that Haiti's economy and democracy must be fortified in order to stanch the rapid outflow of people from the impoverished island nation.

In February, Michel Martelly stepped down as president of Haiti without a successor. New elections are scheduled for Oct. 9. (Reporting by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Leslie Adler)

WHAT PRESIDENT PRIVERT SAID ABOUT THE MIGRANTS CRISIS DURING HIS SPEECH TO UNITED NATIONS

While speaking at the United Nations, President Privert recently said that he was concerned about the Haitian migrant crisis and added that the Haitian government would offer substantial measures to assist the host countries. “We believe we are taking all possible measures to fight against the traffickers who are abusing these people of good faith who are fleeing the poverty and misery”.

In his speech, Privert also said: “The Haitian delegation is aware of the reoccurring number of our Haitian compatriots who leave the country in search of a better life. Our delegation understands and takes note of the legitimate concerns expressed to this body by representatives of certain host or transit countries. This human crisis calls for concrete decisions and measures to offer the Haitian people new opportunities and a better life. To achieve this, the country needs political stability, the establishment of an infrastructure that will boost development, a system that respects the rule of law, and a better understanding of the major socio-economic challenges that the country is facing. We have begun a dialogue with some of the host countries in search of common solutions. ”  

Haiti: The investigation on the seizure of weapons in St-Marc progresses

Camille Edouard Jr., the Minister of Justice, advised that the investigation on the major arms shipment discovered on September 8 in Saint-Marc is progressing satisfactorily. He announced that the sender and recipient have been identified and will be arrested soon, stating that as part of this investigation, Interpol's collaboration was requested.

For his part, Prime Minister Jean-Charles, also Head of the Superior Council of the National Police (CSPN), confirmed that the authorities are already able to identify the origin of these weapons and their destination, highlighting that "The situation is sensitive to the point that we do not want to reveal certain information," confirming that there is a name circulating, while avoiding revealing whether it is a trafficker or not. He promised that those involved in arms trafficking will soon be apprehended.

François Anick Joseph, Minister of Interior and Territorial Communities, explained the silence of the authorities about the investigation into the seizure of weapons in Saint Marc, by the necessity not to harm the ongoing investigation. He confirmed that investigators from the FBI and the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,and Firearms (BATF) are working with the scientific police of the National Police of Haiti (PNH). He warned against rushing in connection and pay attention to homonyms and find the real concerned. In addition, police are looking for two people, including a customs agent of Saint-Marc, who are currently on the run.

Haiti-disaster / Tornado to Saint Michel de l' Attalaye

In the afternoon of Friday, September 23^rd, 2016, a violent tornado struck the urban area of Saint Michel de l'Attalaye. There was no loss of human life but the damages were significant.

More than 40 houses were destroyed, some people were hurt and farms were ravaged. The affected localities are: Nan Citron, Nan Calvaire, Nan Silo and the bottom of the municipal cemetery.

According to information from the local mayor, Gueilllant Dorcinvil, local authorities have been in touch with the victims of this tornado to in an effort to quickly meet their needs.