Haiti to name new prime minister ‘as soon as possible’
By The Associated PressJuly 15, 2018
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s president says he will appoint a new prime minister as soon as possible following the resignation of the country’s second highest official.
President Jovenel Moise said late Saturday in a television broadcast that he will “form an inclusive government whose mission will be to alleviate the misery of the Haitian people.”
Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant resigned earlier in the weekend over his handling of a failed plan to raise the prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene by 38 percent to 51 percent.
At least seven people were killed and dozens of businesses were looted during riots after the government announced the price hike.
Moise said he had spoken with protesters and international organizations to find a solution, but did not say if fuel prices would still rise.
Haiti's Prime Minister resigns amid deadly protests
By Amir Vera and Kay Guerrero, CNN
Updated 2241 GMT (0641 HKT) July 14, 2018
(CNN)Haiti's Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant resigned Saturday amid violent and deadly protests sparked by a proposed plan to raise fuel prices, according to President Jovenel Moise.
Lafontant resigned before Parliament, which was due to host a vote of no confidence, Yves Germain Joseph, the general secretary of the National Palace, told CNN.
Lafontant, who took office in February 2017, informed Moise of his resignation by letter. Moise accepted the resignation, Joseph said.
Moise said on Twitter he would address the country Saturday night "in a special edition on the National Television of Haiti."
"I take this opportunity to thank Mr. Lafontant and the members of the cabinet for the services rendered to the nation," Moise said on Twitter.
The controversial plan to raise fuel prices would increase the cost of gasoline by 38%, diesel by 47% and kerosene by 51%.
Since the protests started last week, two people -- a police officer and social leader -- were killed, Joseph said.
IMF: Haiti should cut fuel subsidies gradually, avoid unrest
- Jul 12, 2018 Updated Jul 12, 2018
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti should eliminate fuel subsidies but do so gradually and help cushion the effects to avoid the kind of unrest that erupted last week when abrupt price hikes were announced, an International Monetary Fund official said Thursday.
The Haitian government had agreed earlier in the year to eliminate the fuel subsidies as part of a broader agreement in which IMF member nations of would provide more direct assistance to Haiti, spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters.
Part of the plan was for Haiti to strengthen its revenues through increased tax collection and elimination of the fuel subsidies. That "would allow for the Haitian government to provide for badly needed public investment and a better social safety net," Rice said.
He said fuel subsidies "disproportionately benefit the well-off" and divert spending from health and education.
But Rice said subsidies should be withdrawn gradually and combined with "targeted" assistance such as transportation vouchers that would ease the effects to ease the transition.
Haitian officials announced July 6 that increases of up to 50 percent would take effect the following day, sparking protests throughout the country in which dozens of businesses were looted and several people killed as demonstrators clashed with police.
Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant abruptly canceled the increases but is facing calls for his resignation from members of parliament, threatening further turmoil for the country.
Haiti turmoil: Ex-president’s family flees to Dominican Republic
Barahona, Dominican Republic.- The family of former Haiti President Michelle Martelly arrived in the Dominican Republic via Maria Montez International Airport in Barahona (southwest), fleeing the violent protests in their country.
Martelly’s family arrived on Sunday afternoon (July, 8) on a helicopter from the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, said a source quoted by Listin Diario.
The source Matelly’s wife, Angela Pierre Jean-Baptiste, and the ex-president’s children, Michel Yani, Bianka Christy J., Michael Alexandre, Michael Olivier, Olivia Michael, Kahlil Michel-Olivier, and Melaika Martelly, arrived on the aircraft.
It emerged that airport authorities, civil and military security, as well as Customs have been placed on high alert, as the arrival of other prominent Haitian families is also expected, as well as officials of president Jovenel Moïse’s government.
Dominican Republic beefs up border on Haiti turmoil
Santo Domingo.- Dominican defense minister Rubén Paulino on Sun. affirmed that the country’s embassy in Haiti isn’t in any danger as Dominican troops are guarding it.
“The ambassador is there, our consular staff is also there, we have no risk in our embassy, you are aware of the disorder and looting and all the incidents that happened since Friday night,” the official said.
Paulino said according to his information, the incidents in Haiti have begun to subside since Sunday and it was decided to reinforce and place all border units on general quarter since Friday, both the Army and the Border Corps (CESFRONT), “but above all in the cities of Elías Piña and Jimaní, which are the two cities of the Dominican Republic that are closest to Port-au-Prince, which was where the major incidents originated.”
“The Armed Forces are always ready to respond to any emergency that arises and especially with people who try to cross our border,” he said quoted by Diario Libre.
New looting took place in Port-au-Prince on Sunday, as residents are trying to return to normal after two days of violent protests including widespread arson sparked by the announced jump in fuel prices, a measure the government was later forced to suspend.
Canada urged to put hold on sending asylum seekers back to Haiti amid violent protests
Montreal's Haitian community watch from afar as families and friends struggle to stay safe
A police officer looks on as a crowd enters the Delimart supermarket complex in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday. Now local advocates say it is unsafe to send Haitian asylum seekers home. (Dieu Nalio Chery/The Associated Press)
As violent protests continue to roil Haiti, a Quebec-based coalition is calling on Ottawa to put a hold on sending asylum seekers back to the Caribbean nation.
"My concern is that the situation in Haiti is uncertain and there is big turmoil over there," Marjorie Villefranche, director general of Montreal's Maison d'Haïti, told CBC Montreal's Daybreak Wednesday.
"Now we are working with asylum seekers whose demand has been rejected and they have to go."
Haitian families being sent back to Haiti, she said, will face a dangerous situation and "you cannot do that."
Calling it a humanitarian issue, Villefranche said the Haitian Coalition for Migrants, a provincial group formed last year to help migrants of all nationalities, is writing to the federal government today, demanding Canada put Haiti back on the list of countries that migrants cannot be sent back to.
Deportation to Haiti was stopped temporarily after the 2010 earthquake and now, she says, it's time to stop deportations again.
There is a list of countries where you cannot be sent back there, and we want Haiti to be put back on that list," she said.
A request for comment from the Canadian government was not immediately returned Wednesday.
Protests spurred by gas price hikes
The recent protests were sparked by government's double-digit hike of gasoline, diesel and kerosene prices last week.
The government has since cancelled that hike, but the damage was done. Many are calling it the tipping point as tensions in the impoverished nation have been building for some time.
Thousands of Haitians, tired of living in poverty and struggling to survive, continued to march in the streets Wednesday, looting businesses, committing arson and battling with police.
There have been several deaths reported as protesters demand the current president, Jovenel Moïse, step down.
The Canadian government is cautioning citizens against non-essential travel to Haiti and several airlines have cancelled flights to the country.
The latest round of unrest in the country comes as thousands of Haitians are awaiting a decision about whether they will be allowed to stay in Canada.
According to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, of the 6,920 refugee protection claims processed between January and March 2018, 610 were Haitians. Of those claims, 471 were rejected.
More than 7,400 claims for asylum, many of which were made in 2017, were still pending as of March 31.
Montreal's Haitian community watches the turmoil unfold
"The situation there is horrible," said Montrealer Jennifer Sidney, who has friends and family in Haiti.
"I have a friend, she has to sleep on her belly because gunshots are shooting everywhere."
Another friend's husband, she said, lost his restaurant when rioters lit it ablaze. The same thing, she added, happened to a different friend who lost her dance school to arson.
"Completely burned," she said.
"It's really sad what's going on there. But in the same way, it's like a sign of transition. The Haitian people, what they're screaming, is that, 'enough is enough.' They are tired of this profound misery."
Sidney said she feels powerless watching the turmoil unfold, but she is doing what she can for her friends and family there.
The hike in gas prices, he said, was the final straw as frustrations have been growing for some time.
Kevin Calixte, a Montreal visual artist who is involved in the local Haitian community, agrees.
He told CBC News protests were inevitable in Haiti considering the majority of its citizens are struggling to survive.
"It's a reality that happens every day in Haiti," he said. "The gas price was only the right stuff for the balloon to explode."
With files from CBC Montreal's Daybreak and Antoni Nerestant