Dominican truckers block border crossings into Haiti
By EZEQUIEL ABIU LOPEZ
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — The main truckers union in the Dominican Republic on Monday blocked transport of all freight through border crossings into neighboring Haiti, citing concerns about their safety.
The Dominican truckers said they were protesting recent violence against them while in Haiti. They asserted that some 60 trucks were pelted with rocks in recent days and some were looted.
Union leader Blas Peralta said the blockade will continue until Haiti provides better security on its side of the border. For now, Dominican trucks are being unloaded at the border crossings and Haitian buyers must arrange transport for goods.
Normally, some 200 trucks each day carry tons of food, construction materials and other items across the border on the island of Hispaniola, which is shared by the two countries. Haiti is the Dominican Republic's biggest export market after the United States.
It's the second protest so far this year by Dominican truckers. In March, they refused to cross the border for several days amid protests in Haiti about the treatment of Haitian citizens in the Dominican Republic.
The truckers' latest protest comes as the Dominican Republic is under international scrutiny for immigration policies that affect mostly Haitians and people of Haitian descent.
There was a June 17 deadline for migrants to apply for legal residency under a controversial program aimed at regulating the flow of migrants across the porous border with Haiti. Authorities have warned that anyone without proof of legal residency faces deportation.
Haitian Prime Minister Evans Paul has warned that deportations into Haiti could create a "humanitarian crisis."
Has the international community failed Haiti?
By Owen Bennett-Jones
BBC News
Since its shattering earthquake five years ago Haiti has received billions of dollars of foreign aid. But for all the international largesse the country remains impoverished and ill-governed and many believe this weekend's delayed elections - like so many other election days in Haiti - will be marred by politically-motivated violence.
When the January 2010 magnitude 7.0 earthquake killed more than 200,000 Haitians, aid flowed in. Shocked by the dreadful TV images of the disaster, nearly half of American households contributed money to relief work in the country. And around the world many others joined them.
The United Nations estimates that since the earthquake international donors have pledged more than $10 billion of aid to Haiti. Over half of that money has already been spent.
The US Congress has calculated that if one includes commitments running through to 2020, the pledges amount to $13.4 billion. That includes a US government allocation of $4 billion, of which $3 billion has already been spent. The money helps keep thousands of foreign NGOs active in Haiti.
Culture of dependency?
Despite all this activity, some Haitians have never left the displacement camps that were set up immediately after the earthquake. Others live in slums that have no running water, electricity or sewage facilities.
Even if some families have never recovered from the earthquake, the aid agencies' emphasis has shifted from emergency relief to long-term reconstruction projects.
The Clinton Foundation, one of the leading foreign agencies in the country, has been an active donor ever since the earthquake. While Bill Clinton served as the UN Special Envoy to Haiti, Hillary Clinton, both as US Secretary of State and subsequently through the Clinton Foundation, has tried to keep international attention focused on helping the country.
Critics of the aid programs - including those run by the Clintons - argue that a culture of aid dependency has developed in Haiti and that government systems in the country are weak in part because international aid staff are performing functions that should be carried out by local officials.
A report by the US Institute of Peace once suggested that Haiti was a "Republic of NGOs" which were able to cream off local talent by offering higher salaries than the government could afford.
Other complaints include claims that most of the American aid money has been spent on contracts with American companies and that many aid agency employees cannot speak French or Creole.
There have also been cases of aid donations having been subjected to an agency's administration charges before the envisaged aid project is handed on to another NGO that in turn imposes its overhead costs.
Earlier this year a joint report by ProPublica/NPR claimed that the half a billion dollars that had been raised by the American Red Cross for Haiti relief had led to a string of poorly-managed projects and dubious claims of success.
Bright spots
Even though Haiti remains the poorest country in the Americas with a GDP per capita of just $846, the record of the last five years is not universally bleak.
According to the World Bank, the school participation rate of children since the earthquake has risen from 78% to 90%. Between 1980 and 2013 life expectancy at birth increased by 12.3 years. And some projects have clearly transformed the lives of beneficiaries.
But Haiti is a long way from breaking out of its chronic poverty.
It lags far behind the Dominican Republic with which it shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
Fifty years ago both countries had similar GDP per capita rates. Today there is a huge gap between them. Despite both having similar sized populations, the Dominican Republic has more than half a million government employees, while Haiti has fewer than 60,000.
Poor infrastructure, a history of foreign interference, chronic political repression and instability and extreme inequality are all cited as some of the long-term causes of Haiti's failure to flourish.
And despite the best efforts of the international community, many of those underlying problems are likely to hold the country back for years to come.
For more on this story, listen to Newshour Extra on the BBC iPlayer or download the podcast.
Haiti President Michel Martelly embroiled in sexism row
Three officials in Haiti's governing coalition announced their resignation on Wednesday in protest at a remark President Michel Martelly made at a campaign rally last week.
The remark was directed at a woman in the audience who had criticized Martelly and his administration.
According to Haitian media, Martelly told her to "go get a man and go into the bushes" at the rally in Miragoane.
A presidential adviser said Martelly's words had been distorted.
Martelly, who is in the final year of his five-year-term, is a former singer of Haitian dance music known for his flamboyant style and sometimes colorful language.
'Unbecoming behavior'
The row was triggered by President Martelly's reaction to a woman at a campaign rally in the port city of Miragoane on 29 July.
The woman complained about the failure of the government to provide electricity to her area, prompting Martelly's hostile response, which in turn was greeted by cheers and clapping from the audience.
In response to the incident, Women's Affairs Minister Yves Rose Morquette, Social Affairs Minister Victor Benoit and Secretary of State for Alphabetization Mozart Clerisson announced on Wednesday that they would step down from their posts.
They all belong to the Fusion of Haitian Social Democrats party, which is part of the governing coalition.
Party leader Edmonde Supplice Beauzile said Martelly's behavior was "unbecoming" to a head of state.
Supplice Beauzile is running for president in the upcoming presidential election in October, in which Martelly will not be able to stand again.
She said that "by insulting this woman, he has insulted all Haitian women".
"Such behavior is a shame for the country," she added.
She also urged voters to "punish" candidates for Martelly's party standing in Sunday's legislative election.