Dominican Republic beefs up border while Haitians go to polls
Dajabon, Dominican Republic.- Three days before Haitians vote for a new president, Dominican Republic´s government deployed additional military and police, at border markets and where undocumented foreigners could enter as well.
Haitians go to the polls for the first round on Sunday to elect a president and vote for legislative and municipal posts in the second balloting.
Haiti customs meanwhile have retained for the last 22 days nine tractor trailers loaded with cement of the Dominican truckers union Fenatrado, whose local president Giovanni Escotto on Wednesday said they sent a letter to Haitian officials requesting their return. "Now we´re waiting for answers on these trucks."
Quoted by diariolibre.com, the union leader said his concern is that gangs could steal the merchandise if the trucks remain in Haiti any longer.
Binational market
Meanwhile Dominican merchants were readying for the binational market held Mondays and Fridays, but caution that Haitian authorities maintain the ban on 23 Dominican products from entering their territory over land routes.
President Martelly takes back Arcahaie decree
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (sentinel.ht) – On Thursday it was announced that a decision was made to return on President Michel Martelly’s decree, taken outside of the law, creating five new communes including the commune of Arcadins, divided from Arcahaie.
According to the de facto Prime Minister, Evans Paul, the nullification of the decree would have the purpose of ending the protest movements that have been taking place since the decree’s original publishing on July 22, 2015.
Le National reported that it is linked with elections scheduled to take place on Sunday. The first round of legislative elections on August 9, 2015, had not taken place due to violence and a repeat is scheduled for October 25, 2015.
It is unclear if the unrest will be solved by the measure announced by Mr. Paul. The Archelois, who had been protesting violently for months, said the Martelly administration officials had met with individuals who they did not recognize as representatives for their cause.
According toHPN, the commune of Arcadins, which was created along the coast line of Bay of Port-au-Prince and the historical city of Arcahaie, will now be called Montruis in the decree to rescind it.
Protesters had been demanding no divisions at all, not a name change, but information on the public’s response had not yet been received.
The Archelois had been protesting violently, schools had not opened for the 2015-16 school year and tour buses, motorcycles, the town hall, local tax office and other government buildings were burned.
Mr. Paul said that the government would be compensating motorcycle owners, where at least 17 had been burned in recent weeks.
Representative Daphne Campbell, District 108, request Investigation in Health Care Group "No Haitian" Need Apply Ad.
MIAMI, FL- Representative Daphne Campbell has formally requested The New York State Attorney General, Department of Labor, United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Health Care Bureau, to conduct a full and thorough investigation of Interim HealthCare Inc.
Interim HealthCare Inc. published a "help wanted" ad last week.
The ad seeks a "Female LPN/RN" for employment in West Haverstraw. Among the qualifications listed in the ad are "laid back nurse, no Haitians."
Rep. Campbell was disgusted and outraged when she was informed of the "No Haitians" need apply ad and for her it's personal. "I am not only a State Representative of District 108; I am Haitian, and a licenshttps://ci6.googleusercontent.com/proxy/oPlhgk7NJqf1MuhVlMKMJhTZuMHkFeshsZnmNmNtPpIsFImPX6d8XUncIRSXweBbrwWCB3XTun2VI5FTEHCAlach8n1TZb1GGgyoHOyewEo2-87MdOPbS3uPc-SQ629PgiN_=s0-d-e1-ft#http://files.ctctcdn.com/136dd4d0101/6a713635-05ed-4d64-8d7c-72a9ad61122b.jpg" >ed nurse of over 30 years. My constituency happens to be the largest Haitian populated district in Miami Dade County." She said. "I cannot accept that in the 21st Century Haitians must continue to endure violation of their civil, human, and constitutional rights." She continued. "This ad is shameful and cannot be tossed to the side as a simple oversight; this ad was written with deliberate malice."
Federal laws prohibiting national origin discrimination make it illegal to discriminate because of an individual's birthplace, ancestry, culture or language. With Interim Healthcare located across the US including Florida, Representative Campbell, The Haitian American Nurses Association, along with other public officials are demanding action in the most sever form. Calling on Interims National Headquarters to conduct their own internal investigation.
Rep, Campbell has made this a priority, working to hold Interim HealthCare and every person involved accountable for their carelessness and flagrant disrespect to the most basic of human rights.
In accordance with New York State Senator David Carlucci, in response to the "No Haitians" ad Rep. Campbell stands in solidarity.Campbell calls for all Haitian Nurses, Haitian Healthcare Workers, Haitian Officials, and Haitian supports to mobilize, demand action against the ideology, and discrimination of RockLand County's Interim Healthcare.
With many throughout his community outraged, Senator Carlucci has created hashtag #YesHaitians to highlight the positive achievements and pride of Haitians throughout the community. Representative Campbell has adopted Senator Carlucci's hashtag #YesHaitians initiative and calls all supporters to post on social media outlets #YesHaitians as we come together in solidarity.
State Represntative Daphne Campbell's letter addressing No Haitians Ad
Wyclef Jean in Haiti to support his candidate for president : Jude Celestin
According to Jaqueline Charles (The Miami Herald), Haiti-born hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean arrived in Port-au-Prince Friday to close out the campaign with his new candidate.
Earlier this week, Wyclef endorses Jude Celestin for the Haitian presidency. He announced the news in a rap song that immediately triggered a rap war on the eve of Sunday’s highly anticipated vote. The first response was Martelly’s son and sometimes budding rapper Olivier who dropped his own song. Olivier Martelly then soon got a response from a local rap artist, Mono.
“Apparently I hold some kind of weight”, Wyclef joked with the Miami Herald just hours after dropping a mixes tape of five songs on behalf of Celestin. “I am still baffled by the fact Olivier Martelly would put a song out about me when I never even said anything bad about him or his family
But Wyclef said he doesn’t want the music to become a distraction. His support of Celestin, whom he shrugged off in 2010 after he was banned from running, has nothing to do with Martelly, he said.
“ I feel Jude is the man after Martelly to push Haiti forward, “ he said, noting Celestin’s work as the former head of the government construction company in transforming women’s lives by hiring them to drive tractor trailers.
“He‘s a stand-up guy”, he said.
But in addition to supporting Celestin, Wyclef said his visit is also about pushing for fair elections and exercising his right to vote.
Brazilian President Dilma Rousef condemned the assassination of a Haitian native in Brazil
The president of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, vehemently condemned last Wednesday the murder of a young Haitian migrant, Sterlin Fétière, on October 17th, in Navegantes, a Brazilian city in the State of Santa Catarina, located in the South of the country.
Appalled by this act, which she qualified as xenophobia and unjust, Dilma Rousseff considered that Brazil was always a united country, according to reports from the support group for repatriates and refugees (Garr).
"In a country like Brazil, world-famous for its solidarity and its brotherhood, such crimes are even more unacceptable," she chastised, calling upon the federal police to collaborate with the authorities of the State of Santa Catarina, where the murder was committed, in order to punish the culprits.
The Haitian migrant, who was 33 years old, was killed by several knife wounds by a group of young people in Navegantes as he was returning from a party with his wife, Vanessa Nery Pantoja, a Brazilian national.
Five suspects in the murder, including a 24-year-old man and four teenagers, have already been placed under arrest by the police of Santa Catarina for their implication in this voluntary manslaughter.
Qualifying as barbarian and as inhuman this murder committed against her husband, Vanessa Nery Pantoja, the wife of the victim, denounced the discriminatory behavior that Haitian migrants often experienced on the Brazilian territory.
Haiti Elections - October 25, 2015: “Silence, voting is in progress”
On Sunday, October 25th Haiti’s Presidential and legislative elections took place in peace. It was nothing comparable to what occurred on August 9th of this year, during the first round of the general elections, where polling stations were burned, voters were prevented from voting, and polling stations were forcibly closed.
In brief, this led to a do over of the elections in certain districts, and all of this significantly delayed the publication of the results as more than a month later, they could not be announced to the public yet. It was nothing comparable to October 25th.
Indeed, even if there were a few irregularities, as in the village of Petit Bourg du Borgne, where ballots were burned the day before by bandits, preventing the polling stations in four schools from functioning. Even if there was some disorder in Petit Goâve, always a difficult zone, where early in the morning confusion erupted in Vialet, Marose, Delates, (7th municipal section). Even if in the polling stations of the city center and the municipal sections, police officers were needed for additional reinforcement. We can say that the elections went well.
The President of the republic, Michel Martelly, accompanied with his wife Sofia, voted at the High School of Pétion Ville, where he submitted his ballot and made a short statement to the press. He shared how satisfied he was with the behavior the population had to chosen to follow, to elect its future leaders. Shortly before president Martelly, the Candidate Jude Célestin also went to the High School of Pétion Ville, with an impressive crowd in attendance. The candidate of LAPEH was accompanied with two artists: Wyclef Jean and IZOLAN. The candidate Moses Jean Charles went to the Vote Center of the ONA, near the road to the airport, to cast his ballot.
But a moment anticipated by the Fami Lavalas was the appearance by the former president Jean Bertrand Aristide, accompanied by the candidate Maryse Narcisse. He went to Caradeux, to the National School Jean Marie Vincent. The crowd was there, shouting slogans about Aristide. But the ex-president made no statement, and once his ballot was cast, returned home together with his wife Mildred Aristide and Narcisse.
The streets remained empty throughout the day as people going to vote on foot. If certain polling stations opened their doors rather late, such as the one at Ruelle Vaillant at l’école Argentine Bellegarde, voters were there early in the morning, and those who left discouraged returned later to cast their ballot. There was a very regrettable incident in Hinche, where ill-intentioned individuals forcibly penetrated a polling station and burned the ballot boxes with their contents.
In addition, our reporters were shocked to learn that the sacredness of the vote did not exist. Groups of three or four entered into polling booths and voted together, without any privacy. When we tried to tell them to wait their turn and vote individually, we got the response: “We are all in this together. All of us who are here are going to vote for one person.” And here is it is. The expectation,
“Silence, voting is in effect” doesn’t apply to us here at home. We heard voting slogans, we saw candidates photos at polling stations, while the campaign has been officially closed since Friday, October 23rd, each person knew for whom the other was going to vote.
It is was a big popular celebration. While there was laughter, and joking… The evil ones were still there and watching. The police announced that it made 27 arrests. A little before 4 p.m. in Terrier Rouge, while things were going relatively well, a radio listener called us, and informing us that people came and demolished the polling station of Terrier Rouge. According to the preliminary reports, this cowardly act was committed by candidates who, sensing that they were going to lose, tried to destroy everything so that there would be no winners in that locality. Fortunately the police intervened and returned the peace and the vote was able to resume. The retrieval of the ballots from the ballot boxes began at 4 o’clock in the afternoon and the CEP (Provisional Electoral Council) announced a press conference for Sunday 7 am in the evening.
The Press conference of the CEP (Provisional Electoral Council)
“The elections went well throughout all the country!” That was the initial report of CEP at its press conference on Sunday night at the Kinam 2 Hotel, at Place St. Pierre in Petion-Ville, were election officials invited the press, for 7 p.m.
What is amazing is that despite threats of violence and unrest, nothing significant went wrong. There were no deaths, and no wounded injuries. There were a few irregularities, but they could be qualified as minor.
Now, we wait for the publication of the results. Will the wait be as long as wait after the ballot of August 9th?
“No,” said the president of the CEP. “You will have the results soon,” he said Sunday night.
This wasn’t yet a detailed overview of the day. Rather, it was a meeting to take advantage of microphones of the journalists present, and to thank the various authorities that made the day a success: first the National Police Force (PNH), then all of the partners international as well national.
Pierre Louis Opont, the president of the CEP asked everyone to remain vigilant, and not to listen to those who offered ill-advice to gain streets for demonstrations, and disturbing law and order. “The electoral decree is clear about this. All the trouble-makers will be punished.”
We wondered a bit why the president of the CEP made such declarations. Did he think that among the candidates, there would be some who would not accept the results of the October 25th ballots and who would ask to their supporters to take to the streets and riot?
The president of the CEP said that he learned his lesson, and didn’t want to revisit the same errors committed during the elections of August 9th.
Polling stations were able to work at 98 % said the president of the CEP. It was not the 100 percent, because of the arisen incidents on Saturday in Petit Bourg du Borgne where the ballots that were to be distributed in 8 polling stations were burned by gangsters.
There were also some disorder at the local of the Sisters of Elie Dubois, which was graciously put at the disposal of the CEP by the nuns and which was plundered by people who broke locks, penetrated inside and plundered everything.
The CEP promised the nuns that it would pay for all of the damage and that it would return the local and its equipment in the same condition in which it had received it.
On the evening of October 25th Pierre Louis Opont, seemed more sure of himself, satisfied, and with a sense of relief suggesting: “Here we are. We kept our promises and we were able to realize what we had set out to do.”
The Port of Petit Goave is renovated
The President of the Republic, Michel Martelly, accompanied with the Managing Director of Customs (AGD), M. Victor H. Saint-Louis, and the Managing Director of the National Harbour Authority (APN), Monsieur Alix Célestin, proceeded, last Wednesday with the inauguration of a construction project at the Port of Petit-Goâve.
"Refurbished with new customs offices and stores, in compliance with the ISPS Code, the current Port of Petit-Goâve has a coast of 1,500 meter and a surface of 51 square meters. It falls within the framework of retrofitting projects in the territory to improvement its competitiveness and help with the development of Haiti. Opened to international trade, the new reconstructed port is called to connect the city of Petit-Goâve and its neighborhood with the various points of the coast, to facilitate the transport of passengers and goods, to open up the spaces for agricultural and craft production and also to encourage the possibility of tourism in the area," according to a press release from the presidency.
The Head of State recalled that these positive transformations throughout the country, realized during his administration, are springboards for the initiatives that will change, at the same time, our image, our economy and the lives of our people.
The reconstruction of the Port of Petit-Goâve, realized by the local firm Maritime Economic Construction Inc. (Eccomar S.A.), lasted ten months and cost the Haitian State 2,330,000 US dollars. It can receive boats that are up to 2,000 tons.