Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 12 juillet 2018

 Haiti suspends fuel price hike after protesters riot

By The Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Jul 7, 2018,

https://abcnews.go.com/ International/wireStory/ protesters-riot-best-western- hotel-haitis-capital-56428142

The Haitian government suspended a fuel price hike Saturday after widespread violence broke out across the capital and in the northern city of Cap-Haitien.

Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant had originally said the country needed to raise prices to balance the budget and gave no indication he would back down.

But his administration bowed to pressure after demonstrators took to the streets in protest.

A journalist from The Associated Press reported seeing several hundred people on Saturday attack a Best Western Premiere hotel in Petion-Ville, one of the capital's wealthiest neighborhoods. Guests were forced to remain inside as rocks were hurled through windows around 10 a.m. local time.

Security manned the building, but rioters shattered the main entrance before moving to another hotel.

No injuries or deaths were reported during the day's incidents, but at least three people were killed Friday as protesters used burning tires and barricades to block major streets. At one point they attempted to set a gas station on fire but were held off by police.

The demonstrations began after the Commerce Ministry and Economic Ministry issued a joint statement announcing an increase of 38 percent to 51 percent for gasoline, diesel and kerosene.

Government officials agreed to reduce subsidies for fuel in February as part of an assistance package with the International Monetary Fund. The agreement also included increased spending on social services and infrastructure and improved tax collection in an effort to modernize the economy of one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere.

After the Bullet

The injury follows its course,

first the shock, then a slow,

tranquil pause during which

one feels almost nothing,

but afterwards, in a lover's

arms, or alone, any

ordinary Independence Day,

death comes along.

Indran Amirthanayagam, c) July 4^th, 2018

As violent protests continue over gas prices, U.S. airlines cancel all flights to Haiti

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES

Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.

July 07, 2018 02:01 PM

Updated 21 minutes ago

U.S. airlines canceled all of their flights to Haiti Saturday as the country’s embattled prime minister called for Haitians to stop blocking roads and burning tires amid a civil unrest being triggered by the announcement of a sharp hike in fuel prices.

At least three people have died as a result of the violence that erupted Friday afternoon, including a police officer and security guard for a former legislative candidate and opposition leader. Also, two police stations — one in the city of Gonaives and the other in Carrefour on the outskirts of metropolitan Port-au-Prince — were set ablaze. 

Spirit Airlines and JetBlue, which diverted its 1709 flight to Santo Domingo and then returned to Fort Lauderdale Friday night "due to the civil unrest," all announced flight cancellations Saturday to Port-au-Prince.

"Due to concerns over safety from unrest in the area, Spirit Airlines felt it necessary to temporarily suspend service to Port-au-Prince, Haiti," said spokesman Derek Dombrowski. "We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused, but the safety of our Guests and Crew is paramount. "

American Airlines canceled all of its flights including the one to Cap-Haitien in northern Haiti, spokeswoman Martha Pantin said.

“Anybody’s going to Haiti? All flights are canceled,” a Broward County Sheriff deputy at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport yelled as he walked near the Transportation Security Administration check-in line.

The attacks, which appear to have overwhelmed a poorly-resourced Haiti National Police force that for the first time does not have the backing of a U.N. peacekeeping force, continued with fury Saturday with helpless residents and tourists watching as angry crowds attacked luxury hotels and the businesses owned by high-profile Haitians while demanding that President Jovenel Moïse pull back the gas hikes or resign.

The call for a rollback was echoed by Lower Chamber President Gary Bodeau, who tweeted that he was giving "Guy Lafontant and the government a second chance to turn back" its decision.

Near the Toussaint Louverture International Airport a fiery barricade blocked parts of the road while an angry mob broke the front door of the Best Western hotel in Petionville with rocks. Outside, seven cars were set on fire. As black smoke billowed in the air, firefighters were no where to be found and the crowd of more than 300 men, holding machetes and batons, threatened more chaos. Elsewhere around the capital, businesses were pelted with rocks. Some were vandalized and looted.

"Every time you do it, the country becomes poorer," Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant said in a televised address early Saturday morning as he appealed for calm and patience from the population. "Every time you destroy a store, it's jobs that a Haitian will lose.

"Every time you do it, the country becomes poorer," Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant said in a televised address early Saturday morning as he appealed for calm and patience from the population. "Every time you destroy a store, it's jobs that a Haitian will lose.

"I'm asking you for patience because the administration's vision is clear," he said referring to him and President Jovenel Moïse who has been in office 17 months. "It has a clear program that it has continued to execute."

Describing the government's plans to bring 2,485 miles of roads and 24-hour electricity to the country, Lafontant sounded more like a politician still on the campaign trail than one with a grip on

the deepening crisis.

But as the crisis deepened Saturday, many wondered how long Lafontant had left in office. A vote of no-confidence on his government had been put on hold late last month amid questions about the legality of four of ministers who were appointed in a recent cabinet shake up.

Haitians trapped in the unrest describe it as spontaneous and symptomatic of a much deeper anger in the population with the increase in fuel prices being the last straw.

"Gas prices going up is not good for us and it's not good for you," one young man told a Haitian-American couple as they tried to negotiate their way through one of many road blocks in southern Haiti, trying to get to the outskirts of the town of Cavaillon.

On Friday, the Haitian government announced that fuel prices would be rising as of midnight. The increases were set at 38 percent for gasoline, 47 percent for diesel and 51 percent for kerosene, the country’s Commerce and Economic Ministry said in a joint statement.

The Ministry of Social Affairs also announced new fares for public transportation, with some routes now going up as much as 50 percent.

While the price hikes affects everyone from the struggling construction company owner whose weekly diesel costs will now up go from $1,310 to $2,034 for 500 gallons, to the school teacher who will see her grocery bill increase, the poor is especially affected. 

Since 2010, Haiti has lost nearly $770,750,000 in revenues by keeping gas prices low, government officials say.

"Only 25 percent of the population has benefited from the subsidization," Haiti's Finance Minister Jude Alix Patrick Solomon said Friday at a press conference about the fuel hikes. "It's difficult for you to be asking your international partners to give you budgetary assistance or support and at the same time you have revenue that you are not capturing."

The fuel hikes are part of an agreement that Haiti entered into with the International Monetary Fund. It has called on Haiti to make sweeping reforms in its public administration and raise gas prices in accordance with its 1995 law that calls for prices to be adjusted with every shipment. Failing to do the reforms can cost Haiti up to $9 million in budgetary support from international donors. 

A graphic of the hikes went viral shortly after 2 p.m. Friday as Haitians were watching Brazil lose to Belgium during the World Cup. Right after the game ended, the violence erupted with crowds in several major cities setting up fiery barricades with tires cutting off major roads. A lot of people got trapped in offices, in restaurants, hotel lobbies and on the streets. They either had to abandoned their car and walk home or take refuge at a hotel or friend's house.

In Petionville, roads leading to wealthier hillside communities were targeted. Cars were pelted with rocks as residents attempted to make their way home. Protesters even cut off a detour to Montagne Noire that had become popular in recent days after upset residents in the Pelerin 5 community started protesting the demolition of several houses in the vicinity of the president's private residence days earlier. 

The government claims the houses were the private property of the state, and they had to be demolished for security purposes. But residents objected saying they have had no due process.

In response to the violence, the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince warned U.S. citizens to avoid certain area and at the height of the violence on Friday issued a shelter in place order to embassy employees.

The true Haiti is safe and rich in culture

Our crime rate last year was significantly lower than those of the most popular tourist destinations in the region, writes Bocchit Edmond, Haitian ambassador to the UK

In a curious article by the comedian Romesh Ranganathan about a trip to Haiti to promote his BBC television show, he recounts unclothed babies, street gamblers, and dogs emerging from bushes to bark at unsuspecting tourists (Our man in Port-au-Prince: Wild dogs, voodoo potions, guns on the street and the threat of kidnap…, G2, 28 June).

And danger, apparently, lurks around every corner (despite the author never becoming victim to it – unless you count his incident with an ill-mannered dog).

Had Mr Ranganathan done his research, he would have known that Haiti is one of the safest countries in the Caribbean. Our crime rate last year was significantly lower than those of the most popular tourist destinations in the region, and we rank higher on the Global Peace Index.

Advertisement

If a travel writer touring, say, London intentionally chose to stay in and tour only high-crime neighbourhoods, readers would be left with a very different and very lopsided impression of London. Naturally, travel articles about London don’t do that, but this is precisely what Mr Ranganathan chose to do in Port-au-Prince.

His inaccurate depiction of our country and his narrow-minded caricature of the “bizarre natives” in their (by his account) dangerous and dirty land is a process of “othering” that goes beyond simple ignorance and traces back centuries.

It’s a shame that his viewers will learn about our country via cultural stereotype. But when the BBC is ready, we invite it to send a proper journalist to Haiti to show the country as it truly is: complex, dynamic, flawed and rich in culture and history.

That way, we can both understand one another better. 
Bocchit Edmond
Haitian ambassador to the UK

• • Join the debate – email Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.
• • Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters

Since you’re here…

… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading the Guardian than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. The Guardian’s editorial independence means our only agenda is to provide trustworthy reporting for our readers around the world. Facts are sacred; so is our independence. So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps to support it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as $1, you can support the Guardian – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

Beryl bound for Caribbean islands, possibly as a 90-mph hurricane

BY JENNY STALETOVICH

Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.

• July 06, 2018 07:51 AM

Updated July 06, 2018 11:07 PM

Beryl, a tiny, fast-moving storm, will likely be a hurricane when it reaches Caribbean islands over the weekend hit hard by Hurricane Maria last year.

In an 11 p.m. advisory, National Hurricane Center forecasters said the storm continued to intensify Friday with sustained winds reaching 80 mph. Earlier, they had expected strong wind shear to weaken the storm before it neared the Lesser Antilles. But it now looks like Beryl will maintain hurricane strength as it crosses the islands late Sunday or early Monday, they said.

Because the storm is so small — hurricane force winds extend just 10 miles from the storm's center — forecasters said it's too soon to tell what islands may get hit. By late afternoon, however, several islands were already bracing for potential strikes. Dominica was under a hurricane watch and several surrounding islands issued tropical storm watches, with the strong winds possible by Sunday evening.

A potential impact on Puerto Rico, still recovering after Maria's devastation, remained unclear. With the storm tracking a bit more to the south than expected, the NHC slightly shifted the cone away from the island, but that could change over the next few days. The projected wind speeds also came down a tad to an expected peak at 90 mph in two days, but forecasters stressed there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding Beryl.

At 11 p.m. Friday, Beryl was located about 890 miles east, southeast of the Lesser Antilles, moving west at 14 mph. Over the weekend, it's expected to speed up. 

The storm should begin to weaken once it reaches the eastern Caribbean on Monday. However, forecasters warned that may not occur in time to spare the Dominican Republic and Haiti, where storms often trigger dangerous mudslides and flash flooding.

Because the storm is so small, forecasters say they've been less certain about their projections. Small storms can morph quickly — Beryl flared up from a depression Thursday morning to a hurricane in less than 24 hours. The storms can just as quickly lose steam.

For the next day or so, forecasters say low wind shear will likely allow Beryl to continue strengthening, at least until it nears Hispaniola. 

Beryl is the easternmost hurricane to form from an African wave in July on record, according to University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy. Storms forming in the southern Caribbean, where waters are warmer, are far more common.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 18 juillet 2018

 Haiti to name new prime minister ‘as soon as possible’

By The Associated PressJuly 15, 2018

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s president says he will appoint a new prime minister as soon as possible following the resignation of the country’s second highest official.

President Jovenel Moise said late Saturday in a television broadcast that he will “form an inclusive government whose mission will be to alleviate the misery of the Haitian people.”

Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant resigned earlier in the weekend over his handling of a failed plan to raise the prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene by 38 percent to 51 percent.

At least seven people were killed and dozens of businesses were looted during riots after the government announced the price hike.

Moise said he had spoken with protesters and international organizations to find a solution, but did not say if fuel prices would still rise.

Haiti's Prime Minister resigns amid deadly protests

By Amir Vera and Kay Guerrero, CNN

Updated 2241 GMT (0641 HKT) July 14, 2018

(CNN)Haiti's Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant resigned Saturday amid violent and deadly protests sparked by a proposed plan to raise fuel prices, according to President Jovenel Moise.

Lafontant resigned before Parliament, which was due to host a vote of no confidence, Yves Germain Joseph, the general secretary of the National Palace, told CNN.

Lafontant, who took office in February 2017, informed Moise of his resignation by letter. Moise accepted the resignation, Joseph said.

Moise said on Twitter he would address the country Saturday night "in a special edition on the National Television of Haiti."

"I take this opportunity to thank Mr. Lafontant and the members of the cabinet for the services rendered to the nation," Moise said on Twitter.

The controversial plan to raise fuel prices would increase the cost of gasoline by 38%, diesel by 47% and kerosene by 51%.

Since the protests started last week, two people -- a police officer and social leader -- were killed, Joseph said.

IMF: Haiti should cut fuel subsidies gradually, avoid unrest

• Jul 12, 2018 Updated Jul 12, 2018

 PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti should eliminate fuel subsidies but do so gradually and help cushion the effects to avoid the kind of unrest that erupted last week when abrupt price hikes were announced, an International Monetary Fund official said Thursday.

The Haitian government had agreed earlier in the year to eliminate the fuel subsidies as part of a broader agreement in which IMF member nations of would provide more direct assistance to Haiti, spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters.

Part of the plan was for Haiti to strengthen its revenues through increased tax collection and elimination of the fuel subsidies. That "would allow for the Haitian government to provide for badly needed public investment and a better social safety net," Rice said.

He said fuel subsidies "disproportionately benefit the well-off" and divert spending from health and education.

But Rice said subsidies should be withdrawn gradually and combined with "targeted" assistance such as transportation vouchers that would ease the effects to ease the transition.

Haitian officials announced July 6 that increases of up to 50 percent would take effect the following day, sparking protests throughout the country in which dozens of businesses were looted and several people killed as demonstrators clashed with police.

Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant abruptly canceled the increases but is facing calls for his resignation from members of parliament, threatening further turmoil for the country.

Haiti turmoil: Ex-president’s family flees to Dominican Republic

Barahona, Dominican Republic.- The family of former Haiti President Michelle Martelly arrived in the Dominican Republic via Maria Montez International Airport in Barahona (southwest), fleeing the violent protests in their country.

Martelly’s family arrived on Sunday afternoon (July, 8) on a helicopter from the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, said a source quoted by Listin Diario.

The source Matelly’s wife, Angela Pierre Jean-Baptiste, and the ex-president’s children, Michel Yani, Bianka Christy J., Michael Alexandre, Michael Olivier, Olivia Michael, Kahlil Michel-Olivier, and Melaika Martelly, arrived on the aircraft.

It emerged that airport authorities, civil and military security, as well as Customs have been placed on high alert, as the arrival of other prominent Haitian families is also expected, as well as officials of president Jovenel Moïse’s government.

Dominican Republic beefs up border on Haiti turmoil

Santo Domingo.-  Dominican defense minister Rubén Paulino on Sun. affirmed that the country’s embassy in Haiti isn’t in any danger as Dominican troops are guarding it.

“The ambassador is there, our consular staff is also there, we have no risk in our embassy, ​​you are aware of the disorder and looting and all the incidents that happened since Friday night,” the official said.

Paulino said according to his information, the incidents in Haiti have begun to subside since Sunday and it was decided to reinforce and place all border units on general quarter since Friday, both the Army and the Border Corps (CESFRONT), “but above all in the cities of Elías Piña and Jimaní, which are the two cities of the Dominican Republic that are closest to Port-au-Prince, which was where the major incidents originated.”

“The Armed Forces are always ready to respond to any emergency that arises and especially with people who try to cross our border,” he said quoted by Diario Libre.

New looting took place in Port-au-Prince on Sunday, as residents are trying to return to normal after two days of violent protests including widespread arson sparked by the announced jump in fuel prices, a measure the government was later forced to suspend.

Canada urged to put hold on sending asylum seekers back to Haiti amid violent protests

Montreal's Haitian community watch from afar as families and friends struggle to stay safe

A police officer looks on as a crowd enters the Delimart supermarket complex in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday. Now local advocates say it is unsafe to send Haitian asylum seekers home. (Dieu Nalio Chery/The Associated Press)

As violent protests continue to roil Haiti, a Quebec-based coalition is calling on Ottawa to put a hold on sending asylum seekers back to the Caribbean nation.

"My concern is that the situation in Haiti is uncertain and there is big turmoil over there," Marjorie Villefranche, director general of Montreal's Maison d'Haïti, told CBC Montreal's Daybreak Wednesday.

"Now we are working with asylum seekers whose demand has been rejected and they have to go."

Haitian families being sent back to Haiti, she said, will face a dangerous situation and "you cannot do that." 

Calling it a humanitarian issue, Villefranche said the Haitian Coalition for Migrants, a provincial group formed last year to help migrants of all nationalities, is writing to the federal government today, demanding Canada put Haiti back on the list of countries that migrants cannot be sent back to. 

Deportation to Haiti was stopped temporarily after the 2010 earthquake and now, she says, it's time to stop deportations again.

There is a list of countries where you cannot be sent back there, and we want Haiti to be put back on that list," she said.

A request for comment from the Canadian government was not immediately returned Wednesday.

Protests spurred by gas price hikes

The recent protests were sparked by government's double-digit hike of gasoline, diesel and kerosene prices last week.

The government has since cancelled that hike, but the damage was done. Many are calling it the tipping point as tensions in the impoverished nation have been building for some time.

Thousands of Haitians, tired of living in poverty and struggling to survive, continued to march in the streets Wednesday, looting businesses, committing arson and battling with police.

There have been several deaths reported as protesters demand the current president, Jovenel Moïse, step down.

The Canadian government is cautioning citizens against non-essential travel to Haiti and several airlines have cancelled flights to the country.

The latest round of unrest in the country comes as thousands of Haitians are awaiting a decision about whether they will be allowed to stay in Canada.

According to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, of the 6,920 refugee protection claims processed between January and March 2018, 610 were Haitians. Of those claims, 471 were rejected.

More than 7,400 claims for asylum, many of which were made in 2017, were still pending as of March 31. 

Montreal's Haitian community watches the turmoil unfold

"The situation there is horrible," said Montrealer Jennifer Sidney, who has friends and family in Haiti.

"I have a friend, she has to sleep on her belly because gunshots are shooting everywhere."

Another friend's husband, she said, lost his restaurant when rioters lit it ablaze. The same thing, she added, happened to a different friend who lost her dance school to arson.

"Completely burned," she said.

"It's really sad what's going on there. But in the same way, it's like a sign of transition.  The Haitian people, what they're screaming, is that, 'enough is enough.' They are tired of this profound misery."

Sidney said she feels powerless watching the turmoil unfold, but she is doing what she can for her friends and family there.

The hike in gas prices, he said, was the final straw as frustrations have been growing for some time.

Kevin Calixte, a Montreal visual artist who is involved in the local Haitian community, agrees.

He told CBC News protests were inevitable in Haiti considering the majority of its citizens are struggling to survive.

"It's a reality that happens every day in Haiti," he said. "The gas price was only the right stuff for the balloon to explode."

With files from CBC Montreal's Daybreak and Antoni Nerestant

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 25 juillet 2018

 Chile: 46,000 Haitian are in process of regulating their papers

At this time in Chile, more than 46,000 Haitian have already submitted their documents to regulate their status.

The police of the municipality of Bio Bio presented its new figures in a report in which Haitians earned high marks. Indeed, Haitian nationals practically do not commit crime, according to the regional manager of law and order, Claudio Etchevers.

Only 4 of them were arrested since the beginning of the year. Haitians became the second group of foreigners to settle recently in a process launched by the Chilean government.

In this area, made up of Concepción's provinces, Arauco and Bío Bío, there were 3,774 cases of arrests in 2018, according to the data from the Center of studies and Data Analysis of the Undersecretary's office for crime prevention.

Claudio Etchevers lived the major part of his childhood in the Caribbean and understands the desire of Haitian citizens to want a better future in Chile.

It is in the region, in the zone of Coeemu, that three Haitian citizens were killed for having accidentally inhaled carbon monoxide. The incident happened on June 19^th of this year.

The USA: 32,000 Haitian threatened with repatriation

Currently, more than 32,000 Haitians living in the United States thanks to "Temporary Protected Status" (TPS), are threatened with deportation by Donald Trump's administration. The deadline of this temporary status will come to an end on July 22nd, 2019.

Florida: EAD extended for 4,650 Haitians

"Following our request, the American Department of Homeland security (DHS) has just announced that they extended the work authorization for all of the 4,650 Haitians of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) whose demands were still unsettled as of July 20^th,” announced Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson. It should be recalled that the automatic extension of "Employment Authorization Document" (EAD), given in January to Haitians with TPS, was set to expired on July 21^st.

Canada: Solidarity without border asks for a moratorium concerning the deportation of Haitians

Last Saturday, in front of the Canadian federal offices of the Agency of the Border Services (ASFC), on Saint Antoine Street, in Montreal, Solidarity Without Borders Network which is involved in the immigrant struggle and has been active in Montreal since 2003, organized a sit-in for several hours to ask for an immediate moratorium on the deportations of Haitians who arrived illegally in Canada.

Dozens of activists of the network denounced the federal Government which on one hand recommends that Canadians avoid any non-essential trips to Haiti because of its climate of insecurity, but on the other hand continues to proceed with the deportations of Haitians back to Haiti.

Dominican petition for the construction of a wall along the border with Haiti

During a press conference this week, Pelegrin Castillo, vice-president of the Progressive National Strength Party (FNP), a minority opposition party known for its radical nationalist positions on immigration and sovereignty, declared that the Dominican people had to unite and mobilize peacefully to remind to the world that the solution to the Haitian problems is in Haiti and that the Dominican Republic, if she can be an ally, will never serve as "pivot" to solve these problems.

"We have to mobilize, because human rights agencies cannot come here to react every time there is a crisis in the nearby country." He also asserted that the construction of a wall along the border with Haiti will send a signal to the world that the Dominicans cannot take care of the Haitian situation.

In addition, Pelegrín Castillo reminded that for 2 weeks, in January, 2016, the FNP launched an effort intended to motivate Dominicans to defend their national sovereignty. It began in Grand Santo-Domingo to collect signatures of the citizens worried by the peaceful and progressive occupation of the national territory by Haitians.

It should be reminded that in June, 2014, former Deputy Vinicio Castillo, current managing of the FNP, after several rejections of the wall project by the Government of Danilo Medina, suggested collecting more than 300,000 signatures as required by law, to propose a bill concerning the building of this wall. He also suggested having a national referendum, so that the Dominican people could express their vote on the construction of this wall.

If Haiti’s government does not confront poverty, corruption, more unrest will follow

BY BRIAN CONCANNON JR.

www.ijdh.org

July 17, 2018 06:00 AM

Updated July 17, 2018 11:55 AM

Saturday’s resignation of Haiti’s Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant, along with the suspension of controversial fuel price rises, will bring temporary respite from the latest social unrest in the country. But they will not resolve the problem underlying the protests — the Haitian people’s inability to demand better governance and basic services from its leaders.

In a 1962 speech to the Organization of American States, President Kennedy urged the United States and “those who possess wealth and power” in the hemisphere’s less wealthy nations to enact reforms to allow the people of the Americas “to hope for a suitable standard of living.” Kennedy famously warned that. “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”

We did not need last week’s images of angry protests and burning cars to know that, half a century later, a suitable standard of living is beyond most Haitians’ hopes. A drive through Port-au-Prince reveals shocking levels of poverty. In Haiti, 80 percent of the people live on less than $2 a day, which would buy a half-gallon of gas.

Haiti’s poverty, like the fuel-price increases, is the product of decisions made by those who possess wealth and power in Haiti and abroad — with a stunning absence of input from the majority of Haitians who are poor. The crippling fuel increases — between 38 percent and 51 percent — were imposed in February by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a condition of its bailout of Haiti’s government.

Top of Form

Be the first to know when big news breaks

SIGN UP

Bottom of Form

The price increases came amid a long series of corruption scandals under current President Jovenel Moïse and his predecessor Michel Martelly that have diverted hundreds of millions from government services to the pockets of leaders and their associates.

A week before Moïse’s February 2017 inauguration, Haiti’s independent anti-corruption agency reported his frequent, large — $40,000 — and unexplained cash transactions that looked a lot like money laundering. Moïse illegally fired the agency’s head, which ended the inquiry. Revelations of up to $2 billion in theft from the PetroCaribe fuel assistance from Venezuela have rocked the country, with no visible consequences to the thieves. A few days before the massive protests, a prosecutor ordered the police to destroy houses —without the required court order — on land next to Moïse’s personal home where he wants to build an access road and helipad.

The United Nations refuses to fulfill its legal obligations to the victims of the cholera epidemic, introduced by its peacekeepers and that has killed more than 10,000 Haitians. Its own human-rights expert called the U.N.’s response “morally unconscionable, [and] legally indefensible.”

Fair elections, which should be Haitians’ best opportunity for peaceful revolution, are a fading memory. Martelly was elected in 2011, after the Electoral Council excluded Haiti’s largest party, Fanmi Lavalas, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton forced the Council (by threatening to cancel U.S. visas) to change the first-round results to move third-place candidate Martelly into the runoff. Martelly, after years of unconstitutional delay, presided over elections with enough violence, corruption and voter exclusion to reduce turnout to 21 percent for the 2016 presidential elections that Moïse, his protégé, won. In 2000, when Haitians voted enthusiastically — turnout was 68 percent — the results were overturned by the 2004 coup d’état organized by those who possess wealth and power in Haiti, the United States, Canada and France.

Haitians took to the streets last week because they justifiably believed that doing so was the only way they would be heard. More unrest is inevitable, unless Haiti immediately starts a peaceful revolution toward a suitable standard of living. The peaceful revolution requires Haiti’s government to take dramatic steps to penalize corruption and to respect the courts and others institutions that should hold it accountable. The peaceful revolution requires the international community to condition its support on the government’s willingness to be accountable to its people, not its willingness to squeeze them even more, and to practice what it preaches on fair elections and the rule of law.

BRIAN CONCANNON JR., A HUMAN-RIGHTS LAWYER, IS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE & DEMOCRACY IN HAITI.

Haiti Police chief Gédéon travels to the Cayemites Islands

Michel-Angel Gédéon, the General Director of the National Police Force of Haiti (PNH), together with his counterpart of the Minujusth, traveled to the Cayemites Islands in the locality of Anse à Maçon in the department of Grand-Anse. The trip was an evaluation visit of the Program Support Council of the PNH (PAC-PNH) and it answered the demands of the inhabitants of the area for the building of a local police station.

Haiti Senate: postponement of the hearing for the General Director of the PNH:

The invitation by the Haitian Senate to Michel-Angel Gédéon, the General Director of the National police force of Haiti (PNH), planned for last week was postponed to Tuesday, July 24^th because of a scheduling conflicts with the Senate and the candidate, explained the Senator of the Artibonite Gracia Delva (PHTK).

Florence Elie decorated with the Legion of Honor by France

The former Protector of citizens in Haiti, Mrs. Florence Elie, was distinguished by the French government at a ceremony organized by the French Embassy in Haiti on Monday, July 16^th, 2018. Elie received the award of the National Order of the Legion of Honor of France.

The distinction rewards "the eminent merits of French or foreign personalities in all the fields of activity" and represent "the highest French distinction and one of the most known to the world."

"By distinguishing this remarkable woman, the French Republic wished to reward her actions to strengthen justice, the defense of human rights and protection of citizens. This pays tribute to the determination as well as the courage of a tireless defender of human rights," indicated the French Embassy in a press release.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 3 août 2018

Claudine Gay named FAS dean

THE HARVARD GAZETTE

Claudine Gay will become the next Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), Harvard President Larry Bacow announced today.

A member of the Harvard faculty since 2006 and the FAS dean of social science since 2015, Gay is the Wilbur A. Cowett Professor of Government and of African and African American Studies and is the founding chair of Harvard’s Inequality in America Initiative. She will assume her new duties on Aug. 15, succeeding Michael D. Smith, who will step down after 11 years in the post.

“Claudine Gay is an eminent political scientist, an admired teacher and mentor, and an experienced leader with a talent for collaboration and a passion for academic excellence,” Bacow said in announcing the appointment. “She is a scholar of uncommon creativity and rigor, with a strong working knowledge of the opportunities and challenges facing the FAS. She radiates a concern for others, and for how what we do here can help improve lives far beyond our walls. I am confident she will lead the FAS with the vitality and the values that characterize universities at their best.”

“It is hard to imagine a more exciting opportunity than to learn from and lead the faculty, staff, and students of the FAS,” Gay said. “I am reminded daily that ours is an extraordinary community — diverse, ambitious, and deeply committed to teaching and research excellence. We are all drawn here, each in our own way, by a passion for learning, a search for deeper understandings, and a will to serve the common good. I look forward to working together to advance our shared mission, one never more important than it is now.”

Gay’s research and teaching focus on American political behavior, public opinion, and minority politics, with a particular interest in understanding the political choices of ordinary people and how those choices are shaped by their social, political, and economic environments. Her scholarship has addressed such issues as the relationship of citizens’ trust in government to the racial identity of their elected representatives, the ways neighborhood conditions influence racial and political attitudes, the roots of competition and cooperation between minority groups, and the consequences of housing-mobility programs for political participation among the poor.

Haiti wants to increase tariffs, but DR is requesting some dialogue

The Haitian government is trying, by all means, to increase its revenue and to mitigate the economic situation of the country. After having failed with the increase of gas price which resulted in riots between the period of July 6 till July 8 of this year, authorities are now trying to increase tariffs on Dominican products by 40 percent.

This attempt caused reactions from Dominicans, particularly the ministry of Foreign Affairs which alerted the World Trade Organization on this matter. On its part, the Dominican private sector reacted with Pedro Brach, the president of the National Council of Companies and the group SID COMPRENDRE, commenting in the Dominican media.

Recognizing the right of Haitian authorities to make sovereign decisions, Brache declared that they should first prioritize a dialogue with the Dominican Republic to be able to measure the impact of these tariffs on the population of Haiti. According to him this 40 % price hike would be a "burden" for the Haitian people who buy nearly a billion dollars of products from the Dominican Republic.

The head of management for the SID group, Ligia Bonetti, went in the same direction by trying to persuade Haiti to have a dialogue through which citizens can have access to basic staple commodities, in order for that their consumption to be more affordable. He continued by asserting that the disproportionate increase in tariffs would only lead to a price increase on the products which arrive in Haiti.

"I believe that the dialogue is what should prevail at the moment. The Haitian private sector and the Dominicans have to continue to have a dialogue as they have done in the past, and the authorities undoubtedly have to exercise their border commitments," he declared to the newspaper Hoy Digital.

The increase of tariffs, according to him, would only impoverish the Haitian population a little more. At present, Dominican authorities have begun negotiations with the WTO (WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION) to force the Haitian government to reconsider its decision.

TPS: Haitians ask for help from two American senators

Some Haitian activists in Miami organized a press conference on Tuesday July 24^th to ask U.S. senators Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson to find a sustainable solution for the situation of thousands of their fellow countrymen threatened with deportation because of the end of their Temporary Protection Status (TPS).

Marleine Bastien, director of the organization FANM, a network which defends families, announced that she will do everything to make Congress aware of this situation during 363 days remaining.

The community and immigration groups said that they plan at least four visits to Congress in Washington, where at least four bills have been presented to find a solution regarding the TPS.

They also assured that they will organize demonstrations and campaigns to mobilize American voters regarding the question. "We have to mobilize and act," declared Jack Lieberman, board member of FANM, underlining that "the elections have consequences."

Several Haitian children were noticed during this press conferences carrying signs requesting that the government "not separate families", "Find a long-lasting and permanent solution" and have a "Global Immigration Reform."

One of these children Cristina Montieux, age 11, expressed her fear of seeing the splitting of her parting family within one year knowing that the TPS will come to an end in July, 2019. " I am here so that the Americans wake up," declared the child, who explained that she "thinks of death" by seeing images of the violence which takes place in Haiti.

The FANM organization denounced the policies of Donald Trump which according to El Dia, are "against people of colors." United with other organizations, FANM let it be known that the only possible outcome is to find a sustainable solution and not renew the TPS.

The decision of Donald Trump to end the TPS threatens at least 58,000 Haitians at present. Nicaraguans, Hondurans and Salvadorans are also concerned by the application of these measures which, for them will come to an end respectively, on January 5^th, 2019, on January 5^th, 2020 and September 9^th, 2019.

Haiti Missionary Sentenced to 23 Years for Child Sex Abuse

By The Associated Press

• July 24, 2018

BALTIMORE — A Mennonite missionary from Virginia who lived in Haiti for more than a decade has been sentenced to 23 years in prison for child sexual abuse in the impoverished Caribbean nation, officials said.

James Arbaugh, 40, of the small Virginia town of Stuarts Draft is the latest American missionary to receive a hefty sentence for taking advantage of Haiti's extensive poverty and anemic rule of law to sexually abuse vulnerable youngsters.

Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of traveling in foreign commerce from the U.S. to Haiti to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a child. He was sentenced Monday.

Brian Benczkowski, who leads the Justice Department's criminal division, described Arbaugh as a "wolf in sheep's clothing."

State Senator Daphne Campbell and the Miami-Dade Delegation Call on Governor Rick Scott to Suspend SunPass Toll Collections

Demand Investigation of Disastrous Roll out

(MIAMI, FL)- Today, State Senator Daphne Campbell, District 38, and her colleagues of the Miami-Dade Legislative Delegation, hosted a press conference to demand that Governor Rick Scott suspend all SunPass toll collections and appoint a select independent auditing committee to investigate the Florida Department of Transportation's mishandling of the SunPass electronic tolling system upgrade.

In November 2015, the Florida Department of Transportation entered into an agreement with the Centralized Customer Service System Conduent. The upgraded system was designed to streamline toll transactions and have a functional and reliable system for the constituents of Florida. Unfortunately, the hope of having a successful upgraded system has left SunPass customers angry and disappointed as they are encountering issues that are costing them more money.

The issue that the constituents of Florida are experiencing are the effectiveness of the SunPass website and mobile application; multiple charges being applied to their account through the payment processing system; problems with the application at airports and a host of other issues that are leaving the constituents unsatisfied.

At the press conference, Senator Campbell stated "This is shameful, shameful, shameful! Our constituents are being charged double, they are seeing higher bills, this is not what they were expecting and it isn't fair." She also echoed Senator Annette Taddeo, District 40, who stated she received her new SunPass card two weeks ago and has not been able to reach customer service or access the website for assistance.

Senator Campbell made a direct comment to Governor Scott, "How can you have a contract with your own people, your own private friends, and they don't do their job." "How is that possible?" "Governor Scott, wake up and do the right thing because this is unfair."

At the end of the press conference, Senator Campbell and her colleagues had a meeting with the Florida Department of Transportation to discuss the issue further. The goal is to have Governor Scott remedy this issue now. The constituents of Florida have suffered enough and they do not deserve this treatment.  

Worse than gulfweeds, Dominican Republic is invaded by plastic waste

The Dominican Republic, the tourist Mecca is known for its idyllic beaches. But the presence of these polluted waves will not only damage its reputation but it will also create a grave danger for the marine wildlife. They are also murderous for the numerous birds which sink into the toxic garbage.

The big quantity of toxic components, includes heavy metals in all this waste, and threatens the health of all species, including human beings, declared the ecologist Luis Carvajal.