THE DEATH OF FORMER PRESIDENT RENE PREVAL
It was a week with a tragic news. A news which left all those who knew him and liked him distraught beyond measure – Former Haitian President René Préval passed away last Friday.
The news arrived as we least expected it. René Préval was out in the public eye quite a bit lately, and everybody found him to be in great shape.
We met him at the farewell party offered by President Jocelerme Privert at the National Palace recently. Later, he was at the palace again. This time for the investiture of newly-elected President Jovenel Moïse.
After learning of the death of Thierry Gardère, the head of Rum Barbancourt, he went to pay his respect to the family on Thursday, March 2nd. He died the next day on Friday, March 3rd.
No one remained unaffected by Preval’s death, and some of his favorite sayings came back to mind, especially his “Naje poun-n soti.” This quote had become known as the trademark of this shy, wise, lucid president, always looking for a consensus. He brought pride to his people.
The Haitian people are in mourning with René Préval's death, and even those who did not like him will not to forget his sense of humor which will remain one of his key character traits.
SIGNIFICANT DIPLOMATIC CHANGES
Last Monday, US Ambassador to Haiti, Peter Mulrean left the country, after announcing that he was retiring. Ambassadeur Mulrean was liked by the Haitian people and his departure which arrives without warning will leave a big void. We are now waiting to see who will be called to succeed him.
Still in diplomacy: Chile appoints a new ambassador for Haiti.
The Chilean Government, through Chancellor Heraldo Munoz, informed that Chilean President Michelle Bachelet appointed a new Ambassador to Haiti. Patricio Utreras, who has already received the approval of Haiti, was a geographer at the University of Chile, and a graduate of the diplomatic Academy "André Bello." Before his appointment to Haiti, Patricio Utreras worked as an advisor to the secretary and head of the chancellery at the Chilean embassy in the United States.
OBITUARY
Some sad news was received with great pain by all those who knew him – it is the news of the sudden death of the head of Rum Barbancourt, Thierry Gardère.
This is what The Nouvelliste writes:
Thierry Gardère, age 65, head of the Company of Rum Barbancourt, one of the most widely-known Haitian brands, passed away on the road that should have lead him to the hospital. Early in the afternoon of Wednesday, March 1st, he reported having trouble breathing. "He drove from of his secondary residence in Cyvadier, Jacmel, to his home in Port-au-Prince at about 11 o'clock in the morning.
Once he arrived, he complained of faintness, difficulty in breathing. He was driven immediately to the hospital, and he died along the way. It happened very fast. It appears to have been a pulmonary embolism. He had had heart problems for about fifteen year," continued the newspaper.
William Eliacin, administrative director of the company, was very shaken by this sudden loss. "It is a big loss for the country, for the company. He was our potomitan," continued William Eliacin, who worked by Thierry Gardère's side since 1976. That’s year the heir of the Barbancourt dynasty returned to the country after finishing his studies in industrial engineering.
Thierry Gardère took charge of the company after the death of his father in 1990. He had known how to keep the torch and assure the transition of the company in modernity, explained William Eliacin. "For Thierry, we have to move forward", he explained to the Nouvelliste. "He was a quiet man, a big shy person with a lot of lucidity, vision, wisdom, a big philanthropist as well.”
It is a loss for the country, for the board of directors of the UNIBANK to which he belonged since the creation of the bank", indicated Max E. Chauvet, who is also board member of the five stars bank. "Thierry Gardère had taken succession for his father and made Rum Barbancourt one of the jewels of our industry", underlined Max Chauvet who presented his condolences to the family of the deceased, particularly to his wife and their only daughter.
An American missionary was arrested at his home for sexual abuse on Haitian minors
The US citizen Daniel Pye was arrested by the American federal police last week. He is accused of sexual abuse on minors and sex tourism involving children.
According to the data supplied to the American authorities within the framework of the investigation around Daniel Pye, at least four minor girls were victims of sexual abuses while they were at his orphanage. These children were between 6 and 14 years-old at the time. One of the victims declared to the investigators that the abuses went on over several years.
The American newspaper “The Miami Herald” reported what, one of the victims reported to the investigators that she had sexually been assaulted every day; whether his wife was in the vicinity or not, between 2008, when she was six years old, until 2011, when Daniel Pye began to have problem with the Haitian justice system.
Indeed, Daniel Pye was imprisoned for almost 5 months in Haiti. At first, the motives for his detention were not clear, but then it was charges of illegal documents which justified his detention.
The 35-year-old man in question managed an orphanage in the South of country from 2008 till 2011. During this period, he made more than 40 trips between the United States and Haiti. The center which Pye managed welcomed and educated orphan children as well as disadvantaged children whose parents were alive. One of the victims’ mother who worked at the orphanage was dismissed from her job after having asked for explanations from the missionary.
Released due to the diligence of elected officials and the efforts from the American Embassy in Port-au-Prince indicated to “The Miami Herald,” that Daniel Pye returned home to the US and stopped all trips to Haiti. He continued his life, and even began working with children again. Pye will soon be judged for its acts in the United States.
COOPERATION: Donation of 600 tons of rice from Taiwan:
The Government of Taiwan (Republic of China) provided a donation of 600 metric tons of rice to the NGO (NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION) "Food for the Poor" in Haiti. Mr. Roger Beauvoir, who is responsible for the NGO, thanked the Taiwanese State via its diplomat for this humanitarian aid and their cooperation which has already lasted seven years.
Haiti - FLASH: 30,000 Haitian migrants on the border of Mexico are targets for swindlers
Ariadna Estevez, a researcher at the Autonomous National University of Mexico (UNAM), which has been visited by refugees in Tijuana, asserts that the majority of the people who try today to enter the United States are of Haitian origin
Estevez reminded that Haitians began to arrive at Tijuana in May, 2016 and less than year later, there are approximately 30,000 of them, blocked on the border zone. Many had run away to Brazil after the earthquake of 2010 which struck Haiti, but with a lack of jobs due to the economic crisis which rages in Brazil today, they are now trying to reach the United States.
The figures of the American Customs and Border Patrol show that the number of "inadmissible" Haitian arriving at the border post of San Diego increased from 333 in 2015 to 6,377 in 2016. During the first weeks of 2017, there were already 7,589 "inadmissible" Haitians who arrived at this American border post.
In the meantime, thousands of Haitian are blocked in overpopulated shelters and rare are the ones who can find a job in Mexico beyond a day’s labor on construction sites or as servants, often for less than $1 an hour.