Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 5 juin 2019

 U.S. Requiring Social Media Informations from Visa applicants

By Sandra E. Garcia

• June 2, 2019
• • NEW YORK TIMES - Visa applicants to the United States are required to submit any information about social media accounts they have used in the past five years under a State Department policy that started on Friday.

Such account information would give the government access to photos, locations, dates of birth, dates of milestones and other personal data commonly shared on social media.

“We already request certain contact information, travel history, family member information, and previous addresses from all visa applicants,” the State Department said in a statement. “We are constantly working to find mechanisms to improve our screening processes to protect U.S. citizens, while supporting legitimate travel to the United States.”

In March 2017, President Trump asked the secretary of state, the attorney general, the secretary of homeland security and the director of national intelligence to put in effect “a uniform baseline for screening and vetting standards and procedures,” according to a memo published in the Federal Register. Requiring information about the social media accounts of visa applicants was part of that.

The move represents a step up from a September 2017 measure in which the Homeland Security Department proposed and enacted a regulation calling for the surveillance of social media use of all immigrants, including naturalized citizens. During the Obama administration, the State Department began to ask visa applicants to voluntarily submit their social media information.

“This seems to be part and parcel of the same effort to have an extraordinary broad surveillance of citizens and noncitizens,” Elora Mukherjee, director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School, said on Sunday of the latest development. “Given the scope of the surveillance efforts, it is hard to find a rational basis for the broad surveillance the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security have been doing for almost two years.”

The added requirement could dissuade visa applicants, who may see it as a psychological barrier to enter the United States.

“This is a dangerous and problematic proposal, which does nothing to protect security concerns but raises significant privacy concerns and First Amendment issues for citizens and immigrants,” Hina Shamsi, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project, said on Sunday. “Research shows that this kind of monitoring has chilling effects, meaning that people are less likely to speak freely and connect with each other in online communities that are now essential to modern life.”

The social media web today is a map of our contacts, associations, habits and preferences. This kind of requirement will result in suspicion of surveillance of travelers and their networks of friends, families and business associates, Ms. Shamsi said, adding that the government had failed to explain how it would use this information.

Further, the government has been unable to prove that social media can provide reliable indications that identify a security threat, she said.

“In the absence of any such indicators, what we’ve seen domestically and abroad is government officials penalizing people’s speech, religious affiliation and other conduct,” she said.

Haitian senators ransack Parliament in failed effort to ratify a new government

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

MAY 30, 2019  

PORT-AU-PRINCE

Haiti’s third attempt to ratify a new government and prime minister ended in chaos Thursday, when a vote in the country’s Senate was interrupted as four opposition senators ransacked the chamber — dragging chairs, desks and other furniture onto the lawn — and police fired tear gas at protesters.

The act was captured on video in front of Parliament security and Haiti National Police officers, who had been called to beef up security for Thursday’s vote. The vandalism was immediately condemned by the United Nations, U.S., Canada and others in the international community.

“These deplorable events go against democratic principles,” Canada’s ambassador in Haiti Andre Frenette tweeted. “Canada is calling for a national dialogue aiming at solutions to the security, economic and social crisis that is affecting the Haitian population.”

Haiti has been without a working government for more than two months, costing the impoverished nation more than $120 million in aid from international financial institutions aimed at helping the country prepare for the upcoming hurricane season and shore up a rapidly deteriorating economy.

It was the country’s third attempt to ratify a new government and confirm nominated Prime Minister Jean Michel Lapin after the Lower Chamber of Deputies abruptly fired ex-prime minister Jean-Henry Céant on March 18.

Hearing about the opposition senators’ actions, some of their militant supporters from the nearby slums converged outside the Haitian Parliament’s gates and tried to get inside. They were stopped by police and Parliament security. A clash ensued with police, who responded by firing tear gas.

The violence extended to Grand Rue, a central street of Port-au-Prince, where flaming barricades were erected, and a truck from the government’s Centre National des Equipements construction agency was set on fire.

“What happened today pretty much opens the door for the gourde to deteriorate even further since we don’t know when we will get a government,” said economist Kesner Pharel in reference to Haiti’s national currency.

In March, the International Monetary Fund approved a zero-interest $229 million loan to Haiti. But the money — and an immediate $49 million disbursement — was contingent on the country’s having a government and a budget approved by both chambers of Parliament. The European Union, Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank had planned to provide about $75 million in budget support.

All of that is now up in the air.

On Thursday, Haiti’s Central Bank, fearing that the economy could deteriorate further, announced that it was pumping $150 million into the economy to stabilize the depreciation of the gourde. Haiti currently has a 17.7 percent inflation rate, and Haitians are spending more than 50 percent of their income on food. Meanwhile food prices have gone up by more than 20 percent in the past year.

“What the Central Bank has done may quiet the local exchange rate market for a couple of weeks. But if the deep political crisis isn’t solved, we will have the same pressures,” Pharel said.

The four senators involved were Antonio Cheramy, Évalière Beauplan, Rica Pierre, and Nènel Cassy. Cassy said they took the route they did because Senate President Carl Murat Cantave “has refused to listen to the voice of reason.“

“When he decided to side with the executive to violate the constitution, we told him that we disagreed to have former ministers that were part of the [previous] government return in the new government, which the constitution does not allow,” Cassy said.

Since the formation of Lapin’s cabinet, the senators have objected on technical and constitutional grounds to the process, accusing President Jovenel Moïse of not respecting the constitution and trying to illegally appoint ministers who lack the necessary financial clearance to serve.

On Thursday, they also claimed that the current cabinet — which was reconfigured after the second ratification hearing ended in a near fistfight — did not meet the 30 percent rule for female representation in the government.

The key point of contention has been the reappointment of Justice Minister Jean Roody Aly, one of eight ministers from the fired government to be reappointed. Earlier this year, Aly authorized the transfer of five armed Americans, including a former Navy SEAL, who had been arrested by Haiti National Police, to U.S. custody, where they were then flown out of Haiti and faced no charges in the U.S.

Sen. Ronald Lareche, a pro-government lawmaker, said he believes the key to breaking the impasse is to get rid of Aly. Dialogue is needed, Lareche said, while condemning the move by the four senators.

“Some of them decided to resort to violence, removing all of the furnishings inside the Senate, and that’s not acceptable,” Lareche said, describing the battle as one of “galactic proportions.”

But the senators also had support among some of their colleagues. 

“I am for all the means necessary to force a respect of the Haitian Constitution,” said Sen. Jean Renel Senatus, a former government prosecutor.

Senatus said he doesn’t condone the burning of vehicles. However, he dismissed the broken chairs as “no big deal” and said he supports the four opposition senators.

“President Jovenel needs to know that the country isn’t a savannah,” Senatus said. “There are laws, there is a constitution. He was sworn in under the constitution. He has a duty to respect it.”

Haiti Opposition Senators Block Prime Minister Ratification Process

WASHINGTON / PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI —

VOA NEWS - The sound of furniture being dragged across the floor disrupted the silence inside Haiti's parliament at 7:30 a.m. Thursday.

Four opposition senators and some helpers dragged chairs, desks and other furniture out of the Senate chamber and into the yard just 30 minutes before the Senate was due to begin debating the nomination of Prime Minister-designate Jean Michel Lapin.

The proceedings were canceled Thursday after the Senate furniture was removed. A new vote is planned for June.

On Wednesday, Senate leader Carl Murat Cantave had announced his intention to move forward with the process, at a standstill since March 18, when former Prime Minister Jean Henry Ceant resigned amid corruption allegations. 

Lapin's initial appearance before the Senate ended in chaos last month when a fight broke out between two senators who hurled insults and threw punches before calm was restored. 

The opposition has dug in its heels and vowed to block the process until all former members of the Ceant Cabinet are removed from Lapin's proposed new government. 

Senator Antonio Cheramy talks to VOA Creole about the furniture protest on the lawn of the Haitian parliament, May 30, 2019.

"What we did was a [deliberate] strategy," Sen. Antonio Cheramy, one of the opposition leaders who masterminded the furniture protest, told VOA Creole. He alleged that Cantave "violated various parliament regulations" during the process, which led to more drastic measures on their part. 

"We've always said that we will not be bullied [by the ruling party]," Cheramy said. "I think everyone can agree that we need a government that defends the right of the people." 

Haitians cheered Cheramy in the streets as his car made its way through downtown after leaving the Senate.

'The beginning of the revolt'

Meanwhile, outside the gates of parliament, dozens of protesters gathered in a show of support for the opposition's actions.

"Lock them up!" they chanted, referring to corrupt politicians. 

Downtown, tires burned in the middle of Rue Pave, a main thoroughfare, and cars that risked navigating the road were met with a shower of rocks, VOA Creole's reporter said. The reporter also saw two Ministry of Public Works tractors parked in the middle of the road.

Protesters gather in front of of the Haitian parliament in Port au Prince, May 30, 2019.

"The people decided to put these here because we're done, we've had enough," said a young man standing near the tractors. "We can't let our country become a nation of thieves." 

Asked where they got the equipment, the protester claimed he didn't know.

"We don't know how they got here, but what is important is that the people are watching. We know who is our enemy and who isn't. This is the beginning of the revolt," the protester said. 

In another neighborhood of the capital, protesters dropped large rocks in the middle of the road, rendering it virtually impassible. 

"We can't take it anymore," a protester yelled. "We want Jovenel [Moise, the president] to resign. Today we say, 'No, we can't take it. We are done.' " 

The young man told VOA Creole that protesters would stay in the streets until their demands are satisfied. 

Police fire tear gas to disperse protesters in front of the parliament building in Port au Prince, Haiti, May 30, 2019.

​Reactions online

On social media, reaction to the events were mostly negative. 

"These four people, I'd like them to search Google for the definition of opposition. Then analyze your actions and see if you should call yourselves something else," @jeffdenis3451 commented on VOA Creole's Instagram page. 

"These guys should be fined for what they did and then jailed," @otoniel_lafortunajean.j said. 

But @elgetseycharles3 applauded the move, saying, "Bravo."

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 12 juin 2019

 Deaths, protests in Haiti as Venezuela aid scandal increases calls for president to go

Jacqueline Charles ( The Miami Herald

Thousands of angry Haitians marched in protest in Port-au-Prince on Sunday, decrying corruption and stepping up calls for the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse, who has been implicated in two government audits on the misuse of billions of dollars in Venezuelan aid meant to help the country’s poor. 

Though the protest started off calm, tensions mounted later in the day throughout the country. Protesters vandalized buildings with rocks, blocked roads, doused a former government official in the city of Jacmel with gasoline and tried to burn down a supermarket near one of the symbols of the graft: an old, abandoned movie theater that received, what critics say can best described as a $5 million paint job.

Police Spokesman Michel-Ange Louis-Jeune said a preliminary tally shows there were at least two deaths from gunshots, four injuries also from gunshots and 12 arrests were made. Reports of vandalism, which including rock throwing and setting vehicles and two buildings aflame were also reported. 

Some opposition groups have said that the number of arrests are far more than what police are reporting. Concerns have also been raised about possible police repression after a video circulated on the WhatsAPP messaging platform showing a Haiti National Police officer stoning a protester with rocks as he laid face down in the hills above Petionville not far from Moïse’s Pelerin 5 residence.

The incident triggered immediate calls for an investigation despite the insistence of Petionville Police Commissioner Paul Ménard that “the video is not from today.”

As proof, Ménard in a Miami Herald interview pointed to the dirt road, saying the road near the president’s home is asphalted. But people familiar with the neighborhood said the incident is about 200 meters from the road leading to Moïse’s residence, and it is a dirt path.

“We are asking the [director general of the Haiti National Police] to launch an immediate investigation on the matter,” Sen. Patrice Dumont said. “This was an attempted murder if the person did not die.”

In a communique to the press, Police Chief Michel-Ange Gédéon said police were instructed not to use excessive force and he has instructed his inspector general’s office to launch an investigate into the incident. 

The mounting tensions in Haiti come as opposition senators, political parties and the grassroots anti-corruption group known as Petrochallengers, promise to keep the pressure going until Moïse steps down from power. Some groups have called for a general strike on Monday and Tuesday. 

“We are telling the people to ‘hold on.’ The fight isn’t easy,” Sen. Antonio “Don Kato” Cheramy said at a press conference on the Champ de Mars not far from the presidential palace. “Don’t let go.”

Moïse has not made any public statements since the corruption audit was released. But in private “Our country is shamefully trapped in corruption at the highest level of society,” the Episcopal Conference of Haiti said. “Unabated corruption has become an endemic evil, a messy swamp, a degradation, an organized robbery. It has become a real social plague that is clogging our institutions, makes politics ill, threatens democracy and social peace, and thus seriously undermines, both from an ethical and an economic point of view, the development of our country.”

Without naming any names, the bishops said those implicated in the recent court of auditors report and a previous one issued in January, should “repair the social injustice” by submitting themselves to “the justice of their country, if it is the price to pay to restore the moral authority of the state and its leaders.”

The May 31 audit is the second installment of a three-part investigation into how Haiti managed billions of dollars in savings from the Venezuelan oil program between 2008-16. Among the most damning accusations, millions of dollars in aid money were mismanaged and embezzled during the administration of former president Michel Martelly, 2011-1016. This includes $5 million that

the Private Sector reiterated its appeal for dialogue, while a group of politicians from various political parties began circulating a transition plan focused on reforming the constitution, political parties structure and fiscal operations.

Business leaders noted that five months after they first asked the president, parliamentarians and opposition to urgently work toward “a sincere dialogue,” they have noticed a “total failure, the worsening of the economic and social situation, the unacceptable insecurity, the lost of control of the geographical departments by the public powers and so many other problems known to all.”

“The country is nearing a cliff,” the pro-business Economic Forum said in its statement. 

Business leaders said while they recognize the collective responsibility of all Haitians in Haiti’s failure and that Moïse and the parliament inherited a dysfunctional country, they have, through bad decisions, “contributed to dragging the country even further into crisis and proven that they are part of the problem and not part of the solution.”

Memorial for the three Haitian Kids killed by a drunk driver.

A Memorial for 3 very Young Ayisyen boys with Promising Lives.

2 of the boys were sent from Ayiti without their immediate family for a better opportunity here in the states. The parents of the 2 boys are still in Ayiti and could not be assisting at the Memorial.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 19 juin 2019

 Accused by judges, Haitian president denies corruption allegations

(HAITIAN TIMES)

Haitian President Jovenel Moise last week denied allegations that he was at the center of an embezzlement scheme spanning the last decade.

"I'm looking you in the eye today to say: your president, whom you voted for, is not guilty of corruption," Moise said at a press conference.

“The people who mishandled and misused state funds will be brought to justice in a fair, equitable trial without political persecution,” he added.

The judges of Haiti's High Court of Auditors said in a voluminous report at the end of May that Moise was at the center of an embezzlement scheme that siphoned off Venezuelan aid money intended for road repairs, laying out what they said was a litany of examples of corruption and mismanagement.

The magistrates said they discovered, for example, that in 2014 Haitian authorities signed contracts with two different companies -- Agritrans and Betexs -- for the same road-repair project. The two turned out to have the same tax registration number and the same personnel.

Before he came to power in 2017, Moise headed Agritrans, which received more than 33 million gourdes ($700,000 at the time) to do the road work, though the company in principle did nothing but grow bananas.

Agritrans received an advance two months before the road-repair contract was signed, leading the magistrates to believe "there was collusion, favoritism and embezzlement."

"To those who think it's alright to criticize the company I led before being president, before being a candidate, I say that justice is doing its work. The business is there and all the paperwork exists," Moise responded Wednesday.

As tensions continue to escalate in Haiti over president, journalists come under attack

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES

JUNE 11, 2019 06:52 PM

The day before a journalist was gunned down near downtown Port-au-Prince and anti-government protesters attacked a Haitian broadcast station, someone plastered the station’s exterior yellow walls with images of President Donald Trump and Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

“It said ‘Down with Donald Trump’ and ‘Long Live Maduro,’” said Jean Lucien Borges, 60, the owner of Radio Télé Ginen, recalling the threats against his Port-au-Prince TV and radio station after it began showing images of demonstrators turning violent Sunday. The protesters were demanding the ouster of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in a new round of anti-government and anti-corruption protests.

On Monday, as the first day of a two-day strike paralyzed Port-au-Prince, the threats went beyond just posters of Trump and Maduro that were also plastered around the capital. A crowd of protesters had barricaded both ends of Delmas 31, where Radio Télé Ginen is located, with burning tires, Borges said, and proceeded to burn and loot a van, while setting fire to several other vehicles. Vehicles that weren’t burned were vandalized with rocks before police arrived.

“All of our journalists were inside,” Borges said.

In Haiti’s escalating tensions over corruption allegations against Moïse and fresh demands for his resignation, journalists are increasingly becoming targets of aggression as both sides accuse them of working for or against the government. Their Twitter handles are being photo-shopped with fake tweets. Their images are being distributed in videos. Their cars are being burned. And they are being physically attacked.

The deadliest of the aggressions came Monday night when radio journalist Rospide Pétion, 45, was gunned down in Portal Léogâne in Port-au-Prince while on his way home. He had just finished his broadcast for Radio Sans Fin, and was driving home when people approached his car and opened fire, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said in a statement condemning the killing.

“The Haitian authorities must shed light on this sordid execution and bring to justice those responsible for the death,“ said Emmanuel Colombié, director of the Latin America office for Reporters Without Borders. “It is also the responsibility of the government to guarantee the safety of the journalists covering the demonstrations, whose role during this turbulent period is fundamental. “

Pétion’s final broadcast was about the allegations against Moïse, who has been implicated in two government audits on the misuse of billions of dollars from Venezuela’s PetroCaribe oil program. He also denounced the attacks against Radio Télé Ginen by demonstrators.

“This is outrageous and unacceptable,” the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, a Boston-based human rights group said. It added that it had once represented Pétion who had survived being a political prisoner in 2004-05.

On Tuesday, Moïse, who has yet to speak publicly since auditors sent a second audit on May 31 to the president of the Senate, condemned the attacks against Radio Télé Ginen and Pétion in two separate tweets..

“The assassination of RSF’s journalist Rospide Pétion is a heinous act. I vehemently condemn this despicable crime,” he said. “Once again, the Haitian press is in mourning.”

Several media organizations have also spoken out about the attacks and demand that police protect journalists.

Several media organizations have also spoken out about the attacks and demand that police protect journalists.

“Let the journalists and media do their job,” the Association of National Haitian Media and the Association of Independent Media of Haiti said in a joint statement. “Do not attack their vehicles. Do not attack their buildings. Do not prevent them from moving freely.”

“Attacks against journalists, attacks against media.... are contrary to democracy, they are contrary to freedom of the press, they are contrary to the freedom of expression,” Jacques Desrosiers, the secretary general of the Association of Haitian Journalists, told Magik 9 radio station last week.

Carnival Cruise ship rescues fishermen who were stuck at sea for two days

Michael Hollan3 days ago

Carnival Cruise Line ships keep coming to the rescue.

One of the cruise line’s ships heading towards Miami made a detour to come to the aid of a small fishing boat. Seven passengers were successfully rescued after reportedly spending two days stuck at sea.

Carnival Horizon was returning to Miami from Aruba on Friday when they were alerted to the smaller boat’s calls for help, Local 10 reports. Passengers took pictures as the boat rescued the seven Haitian fishermen. Horizon is still expected to return to Port Miami on Sunday as scheduled with the fishermen on board.

A spokesperson for Carnival provided the following statement to Local 10: ”Continuing its longstanding tradition of assisting mariners in distress, Carnival Horizon was alerted to a small craft in need of assistance. Following the direction of the U.S. Coast Guard, Carnival Horizon diverted its course and participated in a search and rescue mission, bringing several passengers from the craft on board. The passengers were given food, water and medical treatment. There is no expected impact to the ship’s arrival on Sunday.”

He got off the plane from Haiti. He was immediately taken into custody.

When Pascal Joly landed at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport from his native Haiti last Wednesday, U.S. Marshals were waiting for him, poised to charge him with one count of child abuse and one count of soliciting sexual battery of a child by a custodial adult. 

Joly, 63, sits in Palm Beach County Jail with $25,000 bond. Tuesday, the child abuse charge was dropped and the latter charge was downgraded to misdemeanor domestic battery.

According to a domestic violence probable cause affidavit, a girl told Boynton Beach police that on Feb. 6, Joly began talking about “her private areas and trying to get her to lay in his bed with him.” She also said he foot massaged her vaginal area and squeezed her breast. To back up her claim, the affidavit says, she played a recording she made of the interaction.

In his interview with police, Joly denied saying “anything to (the girl) in a sexual manner and claimed that he was probably just joking around. Pascal said “if he touched (her) thigh area with his foot, it was probably him kicking at her to get her away from him.”

By the time Boynton cops talked to Joly again, the affidavit said, a detective fluent in Creole had listened to the recording and determined it supported the girl’s accusation. The affidavit claims Joly admitted both claims the girl made were true.

This was at least the second time this year that a man wanted by the Boynton Beach police for sexual battery got taken into custody by U.S. Marshals at a Florida airport.

Also in Palm Beach County Jail, but granted no bond, is Pascal Estime. Estime was facing two counts of sexual battery and had a hearing scheduled for Feb. 19. But Homeland Security heard on Feb. 17 that Estime had bought a one-way ticket to Haiti. The U.S. Marshals picked up Estime at Orlando International Airport on Feb. 18.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 26 juin 2019

 OAS tells Haiti opposition to back off — and tells president to start governing

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JUNE 19, 2019  

A fact-finding mission from the Organization of American States concluded its visit on Wednesday to a politically volatile Haiti with two messages, and a proposal to help bring those implicated in a Venezuela PetroCaribe aid corruption scandal to justice. 

For the frustrated masses seeking to depose Haitian President Jovenel Moïse: “We will always support rule of law. If you don’t like Moïse, the solution is to beat him at the ballot box. We are not going to ask him to resign,” said an official speaking on background because of the sensitive nature of the discussions. Moïse is in the third year of a five-year term.

And for the president: “You have to govern, and right now you are not governing.”

During the talk with Moïse, the delegation proposed putting together an OAS-sanctioned commission made up of international financial experts to help Haitian government auditors determine how much was stolen from the PetroCaribe aid fund, and who should be prosecuted.

Moïse, the official said, agreed. “He said he was ready to go to Washington and sign. He said he has nothing to hide.”

The handpicked successor of former Haitian President Michel Martelly, Moïse is among several Martelly supporters and ex-government officials accused of embezzling millions of dollars in the latest government audit of the program. The audit was issued on May 31 by Haiti’s Superior Court of Auditors and Administrative Disputes. It looks at six governments under three different presidents, but it is the alleged corruption involving Moïse, who sold himself as a banana farmer during the presidential campaign, that has spurred nationwide violent protests and growing calls for his resignation.

“There can’ t be impunity. Whoever stole money needs to be held accountable,” the official said.

The delegation drove through the capital, where, nearly 10 years after the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake, government ministries are still unrestored. The buildings were supposed to be replaced with money from the PetroCaribe fund. A lot of that money was wasted or stolen, according to auditors.

“It was very apparent,” the official said. “A lot of fraud took place.”

The high-level visit, led by U.S. OAS Ambassador Carlos Trujillo, who chairs the permanent council and general committee of the hemispheric organization, lasted about five hours. He was joined by U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Michele Sison, OAS Haiti representative Cristobal Dupouy and Gonzalo Koncke, chief of staff for OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro.

After arriving in Port-au-Prince early Wednesday morning, Trujillo headed straight to Moïse’s residence in the hills of the capital, where he was joined by the foreign minister, Bocchit Edmond. Having refused suggestions for about a month to bring Haiti’s crisis to the attention of the OAS permanent council, Edmond finally did so on June 14, asking Trujillo if he could come see if the OAS can facilitate dialogue between the president and those demanding his resignation.

“We are not mediators,” said the official, adding that the aim of the OAS is to help put in place conditions for a dialogue, not dictate one.

It was at the president’s residence that the delegation made it clear to the president that he has to step up. The protests have stalled government functions. Banks are opened half a day. Revenues are not coming in or being collected, and earlier this week the finance minister said instead of 2.5 percent economic growth, Haiti can expect to see less than 1 percent.

Moïse, the official said, complained that while he has support in the lower chamber of deputies, he lacks a two-thirds majority in the Senate, which has thwarted his ability to get a new government in place, four months after the lower chamber fired the last prime minister. Of 29 senators, only four are viewed as opposition.

“You don’t need an absolute majority,” the official insisted.

After meeting with Moïse, the group conferred with the representatives of Canada, Brazil, the United Nations and other OAS member countries. They also heard from four members of civil society, and the representatives of two of the more moderate political parties, Fusion and OPL, along with an ex-Senate president, Kely Bastien.

Not part of the discussions: representatives of the private sector, which has been asking the president for months for a dialogue. Also not invited were members of the structured grassroots movement Nou Pap Domi (We are not sleeping) and the radical opposition, both of which have been rallying Haitians into the streets in demonstrations that have become increasingly violent.

If Trujillo was hoping to find a more moderate stance on whether Moïse should stay, and a dialogue was possible, some in attendance said he did not get it. Meanwhile, the exclusion of the more outspoken players in Haiti’s brewing political crisis had even some members of the foreign diplomatic corps, wondering if the OAS’ visit could produce the needed dialogue between Moïse and those demanding his departure.

“This shows a willingness by the OAS to impose a solution without listening to the popular demands of the population,” Nou Pap Domi said in a statement. “[But] we at Nou Pap Domi are committed to finding a solution to Haiti with Haitians.

“The presence of the OAS does not change our position,” the organization added. “But we wrote the OAS on June 8, 2019, to inform them that we do not recognize the legitimacy of President Jovenel Moïse and we have no trust in him leading the country because he has serious allegations that involve corruption.”

Edmonde Supplice Beauzile, a former senator and current head of Fusion, said the meeting has not changed her party’s position on Moïse.

“We cannot lose time with him. He’s not credible,” she said of the president. “The OAS has to start working for the goodwill of the Haitian people and not a person who doesn’t have leadership or credibility.”

OAS should promote systemic change in Haiti not an external agenda

Jun 21, 2019

By Sir Ronald Sanders

In what is increasingly becoming a pattern of ignoring established procedures and authority in the Organisation of American States (OAS), a delegation went to troubled Haiti on June 19 without any discussion or mandate by the Permanent Council, the organ responsible for making and overseeing policy between General Assemblies.

The results of the unmandated OAS delegation to Haiti are left to be seen, but early reports by the US public service broadcaster, the Voice of America (VOA), indicate a hostile response so far.

Over the last few weeks, massive protests have rocked Haiti with thousands nationwide demanding the resignation of President Jovenel MoÏse over fraud and corruption allegations.  A report, published on May 31, concerning misspending of monies from a PetroCaribe Fund implicated two companies closely connected to President MoÏse.  While he has denied the allegations, protests have intensified.

A May 2019 report on Haiti by the US-based Institute for Justice and Democracy states that MoÏse’s “administration has engaged in human rights abuses, flouted the rule of law, and mismanaged the economy in ways that disproportionately impact the poor. In the long term, this administration’s failures are enabled by years of flawed elections, a dysfunctional justice system and domestic and foreign economic policies that have impoverished the majority of Haitians”.

The usual response in the OAS to situations such as Haiti now faces, is that countries, like the United States and Canada, backed by others, call for the establishment of a Working Group to monitor the situation in the country; demand the establishment of investigatory machinery; insist that the Government provide guarantees for safety of protestors; and stipulate that a supervised process of dialogue be instituted between all political parties. Further the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights quickly produces reports that are used to rouse international pressure on governments.

This is what occurred in relation to other countries, most recently Nicaragua, but oddly it is not what happened in relation to Haiti, even though the MoÏse government joined in OAS resolutions that condemned the governments of Venezuela and Nicaragua.

In fairness, I note that the delegation of Canada had weeks ago suggested to the Haitian representatives that the situation in the country be brought before the Permanent Council – a request that was resisted by Haiti’s representation at the OAS.

Instead of action being taken on the authority of the Permanent Council after due deliberation and decision, the visit of a delegation to Haiti seems to have been organised between the Ambassador of the United States, Carlos Trujillo, and the Secretary-General, Luis Almagro in response to a letter of invitation from the Government of Haiti that, most unusually, was not distributed to OAS member states as is the norm.

The Haitian letter, dated June 14 according to the Miami Herald newspaper, has still not been circulated to member states of the OAS up to the time of writing.

The first official inkling that any OAS member state had of a delegation going to Haiti came on June 17 in an announcement by Ambassador Trujillo, unusually, in a meeting of a committee preparing for the OAS General Assembly and not in the right body, the Permanent Council.   Ambassador Trujillo stated that: “The United States is pleased to accept this invitation in representation of all Council members”.  Thereafter, a team he headed that included Gonzalo Koncke, the Chief of Staff to the OAS Secretary-General, went to Haiti on Wednesday, June 19 with no prior mandate or authority from the Permanent Council.

It is most unlikely that, having not discussed, authorized or mandated the delegation to Haiti and having never been made privy to the Haitian letter, that the entire Permanent Council of the OAS can embrace it, particularly as, according to media reports, the OAS was vilified by protestors.  The VOA reported a representative of one protest group as stating: “That’s why we want everyone to know we do not recognize this (OAS) mission. Before they even arrived, we considered them persona non grata.”

In the event, the visit by Ambassador Trujillo’s delegation which was always a risky endeavour because of its suddenness, does not appear to have assuaged the concerns that have motivated the recent riots in Haiti or to have promoted dialogue.  But time and events will better judge the efficacy of the effort.

Any OAS endeavour in Haiti required careful pre-planning with dedicated time to consulting fully with all sectors of the society for as long as it takes.  A one-day visit, while a bold attempt, might not have been adequate.

The external approach to Haiti’s deep-seated problems is often rooted in the objective of stopping the thousands who flee its shores as refugees from its desperate poverty and in curbing the trafficking of drugs also occasioned by its abject poverty.  The objective is less about helping Haiti and more about protecting the interests of others.

Yet, Haiti, with a population of 11 million, has less than a million people in permanent employment; over 60 percent of the population live in extreme poverty; the level of literacy is 61 per cent (in the rest of the Caribbean it is an average of 92 per cent); and it is plagued by corruption.  In short, Haiti is a continuing powder keg of dissatisfaction.  That it has managed not to erupt in greater conflict is a tribute to the tenacity of its people to survive; it is also an indication of how beaten-down and helpless the great majority feel.

Further, Haiti has been impoverished and kept in thrall to foreign occupiers for most of its existence since its revolution in 1804 to free its people from enslavement.  Therefore, its people’s distrust of foreign interposition, especially when they feel the purpose is not in their broad interest, is understandable and should always be considered.

No piece meal response to Haiti’s fundamental economic and social problems and their attendant political instability, and no lectures, promises and pressures will quell disquiet.

The Haitian people are owed a great debt for their historic struggle that ended enslavement in their own country and opened the pathways to end slavery in all the Americas, especially as they continued to pay the price for almost two hundred years.

The OAS should address the situation in Haiti not in ad-hoc ways, but by using its convening capacity, in association with legitimate representatives of the Haitian community, to bring together the institutions of the international community in the delivery of a comprehensive scheme to reform and transform the country in all aspects of the governance of its political, social and economic systems.

(The writer is Ambassador of Antigua and Barbuda to the United States and the Organisation of American States.  He is also a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of London and at Massey College in the University of Toronto.  The views expressed are entirely his own)

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On Wednesday, June 19, 2019, Marcel Duret <Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.> wrote:

His Excellency Sir Ronald Sanders

Barbados representative at the OAS

Excellency,

My name is Marcel Duret and I am the former Haitian Ambassador in Japan.

I am writing you because you were instrumental to find a solution about 5 years ago when the mandate of President Martelly expired. I thank you very much for your invaluable contribution.

Most probably you are one of the members of the new OAS delegation which is already in Haiti. As food for thoughts I am sharing with you the following ideas:

- considering that Preaident Jovenel Moise has lost all of his credibility in the overall Haitian population, there is not much that can be done with him in terms of dialogue. All possible solutions must include his resignation;

- considering the weakness of most if not all the institutions in the country;

- considering that the constitution does not offer a valuable altwrnative;

- considering that certain changes must be included in the overall system that can not be brought to bear by one individual or one political party;

- considering that Haiti suffers from a lack of qualified men and women;

- considering that 5 years ago an attempt was made to create the Club of the Former Prime Ministers which rwpresent a wealth of experience and competence;

We, a group of Haitians who are worried about the future of our country Haiti, make the following humble suggestions:

1) the Club of the Ex Prime Minisyers is reactivited;

2) those who are cited as being involved in the PetroCaribe affairs would not be called upon to join;

3) the group would become the memwbers of a State Council whose mandate would be 3-4 years;

4) the OAS delegation objective should be to meet these individual on a one to one basis and later  meet with them as a group;

5) on a rotation basis the position of the Council President would be changed every 6 months. The President of the Council being the President of Haiti.

6) the internal regulations of the Council would be elaborated by the members themselves with probably the help of the OAS.

Dears Ambassador Sanders,

This is a humble suggestion from some Haitians citizen who hope that the OAS delegation will give it some thoughts and share it with others they are meeting during their stay.

Thanks for your support to reach a solution which will be beneficial to all Haitians.

Best,

Marcel Duret

Former Haitian Ambassador in Japan

Tel: 3695-2134

Director-General urges justice for murder of journalist Rospide Pétion in Haiti

The Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, has condemned and called for an investigation into the killing of radio journalist Rospide Pétion in Haiti on 10 June. 

“I condemn the killing of Rospide Pétion,” said the Director-General. “Investigating cases of violence against journalists and bringing their perpetrators to trial is indispensable for the defense of freedom of expression and of the press.”

Rospide Pétion, a journalist for Radio Sin Fin, was killed in Port-au Prince, capital of Haiti, as he was driving home from work in a company vehicle.

UNESCO promotes the safety of journalists through global awareness-raising, capacity building and a range of actions, notably in the framework of the UN Plan of Action on the

Two U.S. businessmen convicted of bribery in scheme involving $84M Haiti port project

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June 20, 2019 10:22 PM

Dr. Joseph Baptiste, the chair and founder of the National Organization for the Advancement of Haitians, was convicted in a Boston court in a bribery scheme involving Haitian government officials.

A Haitian ambassador-at-large and his business partner, a prominent retired U.S. Army colonel, were both found guilty by a federal jury in Boston on Thursday of participating in a scheme to bribe Haitian government officials in exchange for business advantages on an $84 million port project in northwest Haiti. 

Roger Boncy, the CEO of Hispaniola Invest, LLC, and a dual citizen of the United States and Haiti who lived in Madrid, and Dr. Joseph Baptiste, a Maryland dentist and founder and chairman of the National Organization for the Advancement of Haitians (NOAH), were convicted after a two-week jury trial. Both were found guilty of conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Travel Act, while Baptiste, 66, was also convicted of conspiracy to commit money laundering and an additional Travel Act violation. Boncy, 74, was cleared of the latter two counts.

Under the federal Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, it is illegal for Americans or U.S. companies to pay foreign officials to win business. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Travel Act counts carry a maximum of five years each in prison, while the more serious money-laundering conspiracy charge carries a maximum of 20 years. Both men are scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 12 and will remain free until then, Boncy’s lawyer, Jed Dwyer of Greenberg Traurig said.

“Mr. Boncy is happy the jury acquitted him of the most serious counts,” Dwyer told the Miami Herald. “We disagree with, but respect, the jury’s decision on the least serious count.”

Baptiste’s attorney Donald LaRoche said: “Obviously we don’t agree with the verdict, but we are not done fighting.”

Both men came under the glare of U.S. officials after the FBI received a tip about the alleged scheme. It then conducted a sting operation in Boston, using undercover FBI agents posing as potential investors interested in the port project. The agents, for example, gave Baptiste two separate payments of $25,000 meant to be used to bribe Haitian government officials. The money was funneled through Baptiste’s nonprofit charity. The money, however, was “ultimately used ... for personal purposes” by Baptiste, an agent said in the criminal complaint. 

Baptiste and Boncy were charged after prosecutors accused them of conspiring to pay millions of dollars in bribes to Haitian officials to be able to develop the port project in Mȏle St. Nicolas, a city in northwest Haiti. Prior to the charges, Boncy made frequent visits to Haiti, where he often spoke of the benefits of the project in bringing jobs to one of Haiti’s poorest regions and his frustrations with the lack of support from government officials.