A new air line will serve the Port-au-Prince airport
Inter Caribbean Airways announced the beginning of its new services without layover to and from Kingston, Jamaica and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, to Port-au-Prince.
Inter Caribbean Airways was scheduled to begin its regular services on December 13th, between the Norman Manley International Airport of Kingston and Port-au-Prince, as well as from Port-au-Prince to the international airport of Santo Domingo, in only one hour.
In cooperation with Stéphanie Balmir Villedrouin, Minister of Tourism and Creative Industries, to increase the flights and build Haiti as a pleasure destination, these new services will widen the travel options for visitors from nearby islands interested in traveling to Haiti.
Sale and the reservations of tickets from intercaribbean.com can be made at airports and travel agencies.
Thomas Shannon in Haiti
The State Department Advisor, Ambassador Thomas A. Shannon, took a trip to Haiti from December 10 – 12, 2014 at the request of Secretary of State of the United States, John Kerry.
According to a press release from the U.S. Embassy in Haiti, Shannon met with President Michel Martelly, Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe, representatives of the Parliament, leaders of political parties of the opposition, and members of the international community.
Shannon was impressed by the progress realized since his last visit, and was particularly happy to notice advances in political dialogue managed by Haitians.
Shannon was anxious to thank all those who took time to speak to him, and appreciate their commitment to the future of Haiti, according to the press release.
"The United States continues to support an inter-Haitian solution with the aim of holding fair elections which will put the country on a path to democracy, stability, and sustainable economic growth," the release added.
Secretary of State John Kerry visit Peru and Colombia.
Secretary of State John Kerry did not end up going to Haiti. On a tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Summit of the Americas, he ended up in Peru and in Colombia.
The visit of the Secretary of State to Haiti had never been announced officially. It has been postponed to a later date.
The message of President Martely to the nation
"I agree with the report. I agree with its recommendations."
These words ended the era of Laurent Lamothe - the Prime Minister, whose resignation the advisory committee’s report recommended. "The only thing which seems complicated to me is following the timetable," continued Martelly.
This message from the Head of State to the nation was aired on Friday, December 12th, on TNH, the country’s National Television.
Two days later, on December 14th, the Prime Minister presented his resignation
It was two o'clock in the morning when the television viewers, who had waited since 8 in the evening, following a scrolling on the TNH screen, finally saw an appearance from Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe.
Bowing to pressure, Haiti Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe resigned Saturday, paving the way for a new government to lead the country into long overdue legislative and local elections.
Lamothe announced his resignation in a speech that was recorded shortly after 11 p.m., but did not air until almost 2 a.m. Sunday because of technical difficulties, “Despite all of these accomplishments, if this is what can truly unblock the political crisis, I’ve decided,” he said, “to hand President Martelly my resignation and that of the entire government.”
TheLamothe government resignation came on yet another day of tense anti-government protests, which also spread to the cities of Cap-Haitien and Gonaives. In Port-au-Prince, protesters accused police of killing an unarmed demonstrator who had a visible bullet wound in his chest.
During the demonstration, people strongly condemned former U.S. President and U.N. Haiti Envoy Bill Clinton for his recent defense of Lamothe in a Miami Herald interview.
“Bill Clinton says that this is ‘the most consistent and decisive government’ he has ever worked with, yet you have thousands of Haitians in the streets, who are hungry and protesting because they are not happy with the situation,” Assad said. “Yet he’s clapping, ‘Bravo.’ Economic interests are at play here, not Haitian interests. We are defending Haiti’s interests.”
Negotiations on a new prime minister and government more reflective of the political parties in parliament, per the commission’s recommendations, are expected to begin on Monday. Historically these have been protracted political battles in Haiti, where the departure of a prime minister in the past has sometimes left a months-long political void and created further instability, to the frustration of the international community.
Former U.S. President and Haiti Envoy Bill Clinton defends Prime Minister Lamothe
The push to remove Haitian Prime Minister Lamothe could erase the gains Haiti has made in the last four years, former President Bill Clinton said Thursday in an exclusive interview with the Miami Herald.
“He’s done a really good job,” Clinton said on the margins of his one-day Future of the Americas summit at the University of Miami. “The one thing that Haiti doesn’t want to get out of this process is looking like ‘Ok, we had four great years, we were growing like crazy so you think we’ll throw it all away and go back to the old ways. It won’t be good for the country. ”
Clinton, who served as U.N. Special Envoy to Haiti after the country’s devastating Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake, is the most prominent person yet to weigh in on a series of far-reaching recommendations by a Haitian presidential commission calling for the resignations of Lamothe and other key government appointees, including members of the provisional electoral council, to ease rising political tensions in Haiti.
The commission, made up of 11 respected members of Haitian society and appointed by President Michel Martelly, released their recommendations this week. Martelly is expected to address the nation on Friday about whether he will fire Lamothe, his friend and confidante.
“No experience I’ve ever had in Haiti has been free of political complications; it’s a complicated country,” Clinton said, turning his attention to Lamothe, who became prime minister in May 2012.
“This is the most consistent and decisive government I’ve ever worked with across a broad range of issues. And I think if you look at the sheer volume of investments they’ve attracted, everything from hotels to clean energy to healthcare, you have to ask yourself, ‘Why is this being done?’ ” he added.
Lamothe supporters say he’s the target of special interest groups who don’t take kindly to his going after major drug traffickers.
“He has never been part of the problem and will always be part of the solution,” Lamothe’s spokesman Michel Brunache told the Herald.
Opponents, however, disagree, saying Lamothe has not run a tight financial ship. They say he and Martelly have intentionally delayed elections to allow Martelly to rule by decree starting in January, easing Lamothe’s expected presidential bid.
Clinton said Lamothe’s political fate isn’t up to him. But if he were the one making a decision, Clinton said, he would do it “in a way that would keep the doors to Haiti open and keep people wanting to be part of Haiti’s future.”
“They have to realize that the trust of other people, the support of other people and the involvement of other people is not a limitless commodity that is immune to what happens there,” he said. “We’ve gone through several governments, several incarnations. I’ve seen some changes happen, some I agreed with, some I disagreed with. But after every one, you could still see a path forward to build a country.”
A presidential commission calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe and his government
An 11-member Haiti presidential commission charged with helping stave off a deepening political crisis is calling for sweeping changes, including the resignation of Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe and his government, the head of the country’s supreme court and members of the body charged with organizing delayed elections, according to a copy of the report obtained by the Miami Herald.
The commission also is asking for the release of several people who have been arbitrarily arrested and deemed by human rights groups as political prisoners as part of what it is calling, “calming measures” intended to show the will of Haiti’s leaders to reduce the tensions dividing the country.
The opposition also has a role to play, the commission said. The report calls for a truce by the opposition, whose political parties have amplified their street demonstrations in recent weeks with appeals for Lamothe and President Michel Martelly to resign. The truce is necessary to achieve a political agreement for Haiti’s long-delayed local and legislative elections to occur, members agreed.
“The Commission believes that to avoid a worsening of the current situation, ‘the most credible solution to the crisis’ should allow a return in a reasonable time, to constitutional normalcy and well-functioning institutions democratic and republican,” the 10-page report states.
The far-reaching recommendations, signed by all 11 members and handed to Martelly late Monday, comes amid intensified anti-government street protests demonstrating Haitians’ growing discontent, a depreciation of the local currency and concerns by the international community that all of Haiti’s democratic gains in recent years could quickly erode.
Announced by Martelly on Nov. 28 at the end of a day of violent street protests, the commission was charged with looking at five issues that arose during more than two months of talks that Martelly held with political parties and civil society.
“My gosh,” Martelly said during the brief Nov. 28 nationwide address after naming the commission, “the country is divided. The problems are many. The problems are complicated.”
Martelly and the opposition have been at a stalemate over an electoral law with six opposition senators blocking the vote on constitutional grounds and a lack of confidence in the provisional electoral council (CEP), which is charged with staging the vote. The lack of a law has further delayed the local and legislative elections, which should have taken place in 2011.
Both sides have accused the other of not wanting elections to take place. “It has been 254 days since the Senate held a quorum,” Martelly tweeted Monday night, “vote the electoral law.”
One thing the report does not recommend is an extension of the terms of parliament, which means that absent a compromise, Martelly will rule by decree beginning Jan.12 until elections can take place. But the commission is asking Martelly to commit not to rule by decree except for the issuing of the electoral law.
“The President of the Republic,” the report says, should “acknowledge that the country is experiencing a serious situation that requires acts of patriotic grandeur, inviting even his political opponents to join the executive, and formally committing to take no decree except those linked to elections during the parliamentary vacuum period.”
On Monday, commission member and former senator Gabriel Fortune told a morning radio talk show that the commission’s role is to create the political space for negotiations to take place.
Martelly will officially receive the report during a 4 p.m. ceremony Tuesday on the grounds of the National Palace. It remains unclear if he will heed any or all of the commission’s many recommendations, including working with the political parties to form a more representative government.
The commission wrote that in meeting with Lamothe, he said he would resign should Martelly ask him to do so.
A close friend ofMartellywho helped bankroll his 2010 presidential campaign,Lamothebecame prime minister in May 2012. But his jet setting, rising profile and schedule, which reflects a Hillary Clinton-like method of raising a future presidential candidate’s profile without officially announcing for office, has enraged opposition groups.
“The commission offers a way out of the crisis if Michel Martelly accepts all of its recommendations; but then we will deal with new complicated negotiations about the new electoral council, the new prime minister and the new head of the Supreme Court,” said Robert Fatton, a Haiti expert at the University of Virginia who has been following the crisis. “The commission’s work is a first and perhaps major step in defusing the crisis, but there is no guarantee that the conflicting sectors will ultimately reach a compromise.
“There is room for major miscalculations, but the commission gives some hope that things may not fall apart,” he added. “Finally, it remains to be seen what will be the role of the international community, mainly the U.S. and Brazil in helping Haitians find a Haitian solution to their immediate problems. Here, too, miscalculations can have very negative consequences.”
Both the U.S. and Brazil have been increasingly concerned about the deteriorating situation in Haiti, where there is talk about a visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday. Martelly has officially asked for a postponement of the visit, which has yet to be confirmed.
During the past eight days, commission members examined all issues that have been feeding the crisis, including the lack of confidence in the country’s Supreme Court after several questionable appointments to the bench, including that of the head judge, and in the Haitian National Police.
“The perception of politicization of the Haitian National Police (HNP) creates distrust and doubts about the possibility of holding the country democratic elections free, fair and inclusive,” the report said.
Haiti, the report said, “is facing an economic and structural crisis.”
That solution, outlined in the report, aims to serve several objectives, members agreed: to establish a permanent dialogue between the three branches of government, particularly between the executive and the legislature; allow for a historic compromise between political forces; the formation of a consensus government with the political parties, particularly those represented in parliament; the creation of a climate for holding inclusive, credible and fair elections and restoring public confidence in the judiciary and the police force.
“The deterioration of the political and social environment requires several calming measures and recovery before Christmas,” the report said. “It is therefore imperative to find a political compromise before Jan. 12.”
The report also calls on the public and opposition parties to do their part, including ending calls for Martelly’s resignation.
“Respect the constitutional legitimacy of the President of the Republic,” the report said, while calling on the opposition to accept Martelly’s invitation to negotiate without preconditions.
The Haitian people, the commission said, must “recognize that the situation is serious and that everyone must make his contribution to building a more just and equitable society.”