What's Up Little Haiti

 World Cup 2018 Schedule: Day-by-Day Matchups and T.V.

CreditMaxim Shemetov/Reuters

By The New York Times

June 14, 2018

The 2018 World Cup has begun in Russia. Here is a schedule of all the early games through the quarterfinals (all times are Eastern):

Group Stage

Thursday, June 14

11 a.m. – Russia vs. Saudia Arabia, Fox (R5/SA0)

Friday, June 15

8 a.m. – Egypt vs. Uruguay, Fox Sports 1

11 a.m. – Morocco vs. Iran, Fox

2 p.m. – Portugal vs. Spain, Fox

Saturday, June 16

6 a.m. – France vs. Australia, Fox Sports 1

10 a.m. – Argentina vs. Iceland, Fox

12 p.m. – Peru vs. Denmark, Fox Sports 1

3 p.m. – Croatia vs. Nigeria, Fox Sports 1

Sunday, June 17

8 a.m. – CostaRica vs. Serbia, Fox

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11 a.m. – Germany vs. Mexico, Fox Sports 1

2 p.m. – Brazil vs. Switzerland, Fox Sports 1

Monday, June 18

8 a.m. – Sweden vs. South Korea, Fox Sports 1

11 a.m. – Belgium vs. Panama, Fox Sports 1

2 p.m. – Tunisia vs. England, Fox Sports 1

Tuesday, June 19

8 a.m. – Poland vs. Senegal, Fox

11 a.m. – Colombia vs. Japan, Fox Sports 1

2 p.m. – Russia vs. Egypt, Fox

Wednesday, June 20

8 a.m. – Portugal vs. Morocco, Fox Sports 1

11 a.m. – Uruguay vs. Saudi Arabia, Fox

2 p.m. – Iran vs. Spain, Fox

Thursday, June 21

8 a.m. – France vs. Peru, Fox

11 a.m. – Denmark vs. Australia, Fox Sports 1

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2 p.m. – Argentina vs. Croatia, Fox

Friday, June 22

8 a.m. – Brazil vs. Costa Rica, Fox Sports 1

11 a.m. – Nigeria vs. Iceland, Fox

2 p.m. – Serbia vs. Switzerland, Fox

Saturday, June 23

8 a.m. – Belgium vs. Tunisia, Fox

11 a.m. – Germany vs. Sweden, Fox

2 p.m. – South Korea vs. Mexico, Fox

Sunday, June 24

8 a.m. – England vs. Panama, Fox Sports 1

11 a.m. – Japan vs. Senegal, Fox

2 p.m. – Poland vs. Colombia, Fox

Monday, June 25

10 a.m. – Uruguay vs. Russia, Fox

10 a.m. — Saudi Arabia vs. Egypt, Fox Sports 1

2 p.m. – Iran vs. Portugal, Fox

2 p.m. – Spain vs. Morocco, Fox Sports 1

Tuesday, June 26

10 a.m. – Australia vs. Peru, Fox

10 a.m. – Denmark vs. France, Fox Sports 1

2 p.m. – Iceland vs. Croatia, Fox

2 p.m. – Nigeria vs. Argentina, Fox Sports 1

Wednesday, June 27

10 a.m. – South Korea vs. Germany, Fox Sports 1

10 a.m. – Mexico vs. Sweden, Fox

2 p.m. – Switzerland vs Costa Rica, Fox Sports 1

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2 p.m. – Serbia vs. Brazil, Fox

Thursday, June 28

10 a.m. – Japan vs. Poland, Fox Sports 1

10 a.m. – Senegal vs. Colombia, Fox

2 p.m. – England vs. Belgium, Fox

2 p.m. – Panama vs. Tunisia, Fox Sports 1

Round of 16 Schedule

Saturday, June 30

10 a.m. – Group C winner vs. Group D runner-up

2 p.m. – Group A winner vs. Group B runner-up

Sunday, July 1

10 a.m. – Group B winner vs. Group A runner-up

2 p.m. – Group D winner vs. Group C runner-up

Monday, July 2

10 a.m. – Group E winner vs. Group F runner-up

2 p.m. – Group G winner vs. Group H runner-up

Tuesday, July 3

10 a.m. – Group F winner vs. Group E runner-up

2 p.m. – Group H winner vs. Group G runner-up

MAX BLANCHET

Dominican senator accused of ripping off Haiti sanctioned by Trump administration

June 12, 2018

A Dominican Republic senator accused of making millions of dollars from post-earthquake Haiti reconstruction projects that he never completed has been sanctioned by the Trump administration for engaging in corrupt acts related to the rebuilding of Haiti following the country's devastating 2010 earthquake.

Sen. Félix Ramon Bautista Rosario and five companies owned or controlled by him have been sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Treasury under the Global Magnitsky Act. The law allows the executive branch to administer visa bans and targeted financial sanctions against foreign individuals and entities responsible for committing human rights violations or engaging in corrupt activity. As a result, any assets that Bautista owns within U.S. jurisdiction will be blocked, and U.S. citizens are banned from doing business with him.

The administration’s move comes as Bautista remains under scrutiny in Haiti, where several of his companies are accused of corruption and failing to fulfill commitments. In March 2015, the Dominican Supreme Court dismissed charges against Bautista for "lack of evidence" after he had been publicly accused of money laundering and embezzlement.

Bautista has denied any wrongdoing in the Haiti corruption allegations. In earlier interviews with Dominican newspapers, he said the contracts were awarded legally.

“These actions are part of our continuing campaign to hold accountable government officials and other actors involved in human rights abuse and corrupt activities," said Sigal Mandelker, under secretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence. "Senator Bautista used his position to engage in corruption, including profiting off of humanitarian efforts related to rebuilding Haiti."

Following the 2010 Haitian earthquake, Bautista received more than $200 million in controversial no-bid contracts from the Haitian government for his firms to rebuild destroyed government ministries and construct housing. Few of the projects were delivered — projects fell behind schedule, workers delivered shoddy construction and the firms stopped work. In some cases, the government changed the scope of the projects, leading to finger-pointing among current and government leaders.

In one example, Bautista's construction firm Hadom was awarded a $14.7 million contract and was paid $10 million up front to construct the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, one of 40 government buildings that crumbled during the earthquake. The building was never built.

That lucrative contract is among several that are part of an ongoing probe by Haitian investigative judges into allegations that former Haitian government officials and heads of private firms embezzled $2 billion in Venezuelan oil loans.

In a press release on the sanctions, the Treasury department describes Bautista as having engaged "in significant acts of corruption in both the Dominican Republic and Haiti."

"Bautista has reportedly engaged in bribery in relation to his position as a senator, and is alleged to have engaged in corruption in Haiti, where he used his connections to win public works contracts to help rebuild Haiti following several natural disasters, including one case where his company was paid over $10 million for work it had not completed," the release said.

Beauplan's commission recently released a 656-page report on the management of $2 billion in loans that Haiti received as part of Venezuela's PetroCaribe discounted oil program. The investigation accuses 15 former government officials, including t José A. Iglesias; edited by Justin AzpiazuMiami Herald

As a result of these actions, any property, or interest in property, of those designated today within U.S. jurisdiction is blocked. Additionally, U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with blocked persons, including entities 50 percent or more owned by designated persons.

Haiti Cotton Presentation at Oxford

Dear Marc, 

How often is Haiti a topic of discussion at the University of Oxford? The answer is at least once in the last month when Atlanta McIlwraith, representing Timberland, and I, representing the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA), made a joint presentation about the reintroduction of cotton to Haiti at the Responsible Business Forum 2018. Our talk is available on YouTube and the accompanying Timberland/SFA case study can be downloaded here.

Atlanta and I outlined the business model being put in place in connection with Haitian cotton, including the new blockchain-ready data management system we are developing in order to inform consumers about the measurable impact of cotton and other crops on farmer income, food security, climate change and women's empowerment. Our talk was very much in line with the Forum's focus on "transforming business into a profitable and scalable force for the common good in the 21st century." Much of the discussion over two days centered on practical examples of how to generate financial, social, and environmental value at scale.

Now in its second year, the Responsible Business Forum brings together global companies at Oxford's Saïd Business School to share their experience of creating new models of responsible capitalism. The Forum is under the leadership of a Mars, Incorporated led think tank that is researching what Forrest Mars, Sr., in 1947, termed the "economics of mutuality" when companies take on this broader responsibility.

It was a good idea in 1947 and it remains a good idea now, as evidenced by yesterday'sannouncement by Goldman Sachs of a new exchange-traded fund that incorporates social impact metrics developed by Paul Tudor Jones through his Just Capital initiative. This is part of a larger move by Goldman to make environmental, social and governance issues more central to the bank.

Atlanta and I titled our talk "Changing the World Through Supply Chains" because we agree with Jones when he said recently on CNBC that, "If you're going to have true social change... it has to start with business."

Regards,

Hugh Locke

President, Smallholder Farmers Alliance + Impact Farming

U.S. Congress to U.N.: What are you doing to compensate Haiti's cholera victims?

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES

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Updated June 15, 2018 08:11 PM

More than 100 members of Congress are sounding the alarm over Haiti's deadly cholera epidemic and the victims of the waterborne disease who are still awaiting compensation from the United Nations.

Cholera, which was non-existent in Haiti for at least a century until it was introduced to the country eight years ago by U.N. peacekeepers, has killed 10,000 Haitians and sickened about 800,000 since the initial outbreak after Haiti's 2010 earthquake.

And while the number of cholera deaths and illnesses have continued to decline, according to the latest statistics from Haiti's Ministry of Health, victims are still dealing with the ripple effects, members of Congress said in a bipartisan June 14 letter to U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.

"We are concerned that the UN's 2016 plan ...to eliminate cholera and provide redress for victims is not meeting victims' rights and needs," the letter stated.

In 2016, after finally accepting responsibility for its role in bringing the epidemic to Haiti, the U.N. announced a new approach to ease the plight of Haitians. It pledged to raise $400 million to treat cholera victims and improve sanitation and water infrastructure in Haiti, while also providing "material assistance and support" to those most severely affected. Victims, the global body promised, would be consulted on any compensation decisions.

In the letter, congressional lawmakers say they want to know what steps the U.N. has taken to make direct compensation payments to victims because it appears that it is "unwilling to provide compensatory payments to cholera victims or engage directly with those affected about their needs."

But Josette Sheeran, Guterres' U.N. envoy for Haiti who oversees the cholera plan, said the U..N. has already launched a process "to provide meaningful consultations with those most affected by cholera."

The current budget, she said, allows for $150,000 to be spent per community, and "the communities are empowered to democratically choose how they want funds invested, either through community or individual investment."

So far, three sections of Mirebalais, where the first outbreak occurred after cholera-contaminated sewage entered the nearby Artibonite River from a U.N. camp, have decided to use their share of the money to bring clean water to their area, the U.N. said. A fourth community has decided to construct a new marketplace.

"The biggest obstacle to expanding remains the lack of funds," Sheeran said. "As funding becomes available, we will continue to expand these consultations and the projects that affected community platforms prioritize."

Her office noted that communities can still choose individual compensation for specific victims — but only after more discussions with the U.N.

Brian Concannon Jr., executive director of the Boston-based Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), said if discussions with the communities about how to spend their compensation have started, he welcomes them. But he said the victim organizations his group has contacted in Haiti have not heard from the U.N. He also questioned whether $150,000 was sufficient given the seriousness of the disease.

The 101 members of Congress who signed the cholera letter said they have concerns about the community projects.

"We question whether community projects alone will redress the harms to affected families and allow them to recover," the letter stated.

The letter is the latest effort by Haiti's cholera victims and the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti to urge the U.N. to keep its promise to include victims in the decision-making as well as compensate them for losses as a result of the disease.

The letter, circulated by Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., was signed by Miami-Dade and Broward County members of Congress, including Democratic Reps. Frederica Wilson, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Alcee Hastings and Ted Deutch, and Republican Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Carlos Curbelo and Mario Diaz-Balart.

The U.N. had for years refused to acknowledge its involvement in Haiti's initial cholera outbreak, even after scientists matched the strain in Haiti to the one in Nepal. Nepal had an outbreak on Oct. 8, 2010, days before Nepalese soldiers arrived in Haiti and before a young Haitian lab technician confirmed cholera's existence in the quake-ravaged country.

In December 2016, former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon finally offered a long-sought-after apology for the U.N.’s role while announcing a new approach after a previous $2.2 billion, 10-year cholera elimination plan failed to gain traction.

During a visit by the U.N. Security Council to Port-au-Prince last year, victims vented their frustrations by hanging banners in the streets and staging protests near the council meetings. Haitian lawmakers also requested compensation in a private meeting with security council members.

Trump didn’t want to give Haiti $11 million for cholera. So Congress found another way

At the time, the U.N. said no decision had been made about individual compensation versus community projects. But now that the U.N. is moving forward on community projects such as one in the town of Mirebalais, concerns are rising over whether victims will ever be adequately compensated.

The United Nations, U.S. lawmakers said, "seems determined to assist victims through charity-based community development projects only, despite pledging in the New Approach to consult victims about their needs and consider the possibility of providing direct payments to the most affected households."

And that, members of Congress say, is "particularly concerning given the economic devastation that cholera has wrought on Haitian households."

Last year, during a meeting of cholera victims in the Cité Soleil slum in Port-au-Prince on the heels of the U.N. Security Council visit, victims spoke of their ongoing struggle years after contracting cholera.

Some had to use their meager finances to pay for funerals after losing family members, while others said they were still paying for medical care for the disease's debilitating effects. All were frustrated by what they described as the U.N.'s unwillingness to directly compensate them.

"We want individual compensation," Berthony Clermont, the head of a cholera victims' association, said on Friday when informed about the letter and the U.N.'s efforts.

Clermont said he has registered 2,400 cholera victims across Haiti, and he hasn't been contacted by U.N. officials. "What is $150,000 going to do? That is too little."

Lawmakers in the letter commend Guterres for his dedication to the cholera plan. But while he has made eradicating cholera from Haiti a priority, the U.N. chief has struggled to attract funds from foreign donors including the Trump administration. Last year the White House nixed turning over $11 million in unspent peacekeeping dollars to help Haiti fight cholera.

In response, Congress stuck $10 million in the $1.3 trillion spending package that was approved and signed by the president earlier this year. The appropriation, which will go to the U.N., is for small, locally based projects in communities severely impacted by cholera.

Haiti U.N. protest continues as government cancels participation in cholera meeting

Another attempt by Guterres and Sheeran to raise funds also hit a snag in late February when the Haitian government canceled its participation in a high-level cholera retreat in New York because Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was offended by a comment from one of Guterres' representatives about corruption and allegations of human rights abuses by a unit of the Haitian National Police.

Only 8% of those who Crossed the U.S. / Canadian Border Illegally Are Eligible to Apply for Political Asylum

Out of about 10,000 Haitian who crossed the U.S. / Canadian border illegally in 2017 (partial figure) only 8 % were eligible to apply for political asylum. This means that more than 90 % were or will be sent back to Haiti.

Until now, there has been no global statistics on the number of people who entered illegally in Canada in 2017, but the authorities recognize that this number could be up to 20,000 and higher still in 2018.

In spite of the Canadian authorities’ repeated warnings that crossing the Canadian border on foot, through unofficial entrances, doesn’t provide a guarantee to being able to stay in the country, a lot of people keep arriving. This is mostly due the fact that there is a lot of misinformation on the subject. Between January and April of this year already about 8,000 people (mainly Haitian) were intercepted in Quebec.

Three reasons influence the choice of thousands of people to enter irregularly in Canada through an unofficial entry point:

First, the information on the existence of an existing TPS system in Canada is false.

Second, the information which leads immigrants to believe that crossing the border illegally will give them protected status in Canada, is false.

Third, the information which assert that there is a strong probability that their application for political asylum will be approved is false

The only way to get to Canada is to complete a legal form and all of the information is available on the following website: www.cic.gc.ca

It should be highlighted that Haitians who cross the border illegally, alone or with their families, run the risk of having their application for asylum rejected (as they are in more than 90 % of cases). They may then to be sent back to their country of origin (Haiti) and not the United States. Because they did not officially cross the border, Canada cannot turn them in the USA).

Furthermore, these people take the risk of losing the possibility of coming to Canada legally in the future, as residents and as they also won’t be able to return to live in the United States.

Haiti - Technology: 190 Gigabytes of Internet Connection for the incubator Alpha Haiti

Jean-David Rodney, Managing director of the National Council of Telecommunications (CONATEL) announced that the Triumphs Movie Complex received a high-speed Internet access connection, mobilizing three operators on the market allowing the incubator Alpha Haiti to have all the necessary Internet capacities.

CONATEL confirmed that a Wi-Fi dome will be installed on the Champ de Mars to honor the promise of the Head of State, to endow the Champ de Mars with free Wi-Fi access.

In addition to these installations, other public squares in the country will also be equipped with Wi-Fi access. Some technological facilities will also be built in municipalities throughout the country. They will be part of "Borders of Inclusion in the Digital Economy " (BIEN).

These measures are designed to provide access to information technology to all layers of the population in Haiti, especially the youth. It will enable the country’s full integration in the information age with an eye on the future.