Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 16 novembre 2022

 
HAITIAN POLICE BRIEFLY LOSE CONTROL OF ARMORED CARBy Evens Sanon And Megan Janetsky | AP
November 11, 2022 at 4:56 p.m. ESTThe Washington PostPORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Just weeks after the United States and Canada sent a fleet of armored vehicles to Haiti to keep gangs at bay, Haitian police briefly lost control of one of the cars in an incident that left at least two people dead, officials said.The incident speaks to the difficult path ahead for the Caribbean country paralyzed by gang warfare and struggling with its worst crisis in years.A police station in the south of Haiti was overtaken by gangs Thursday morning, police said in a local radio broadcast. When authorities sent reinforcements in armored vehicles to control the gangs, police claim one of the vehicles broke down.
But officials within Haiti with direct knowledge of the situation said the car got caught in a sand trap and was assaulted by minors wielding Molotov cocktails, said Renata Segura, deputy director of Latin America and Caribbean for International Crisis Group.Segura, who tracks Haiti for the nongovernmental organization that tries to prevent or resolve conflict, said she was not authorized to reveal the identity of the official.Police fled the vehicle in an attempt to avoid an armed conflict, she said, and a video confirmed by The Associated Press shows young men surrounding the tan vehicle labeled “POLICE” while firing automatic weapons in the air, cheering and recording video on their phones.The armored vehicle was part of a fleet sent by the U.S. and Canada last month after being purchased by Haitian officials for an unconfirmed amount. It was part of an effort by the two countries that Secretary of State Antony Blinken said would help “cut the insecurity knot” that has allowed gangs to create a humanitarian crisis in Haiti.Police eventually regained control of the vehicle and the police station later in the day, but it ended in two alleged gang members dead and two police officers shot.The incident comes a few days after the country’s biggest gang and its leader Jimmy Cherizier, a former police officer nicknamed “Barbecue,” lifted a blockade of the country’s main fuel depot in Port-au-Prince.The blockade deepened turmoil in Haiti, which has been reeling since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. The chaos has spurred on a huge migratory exodus from the island._Associated Press journalist Megan Janetsky contributed to this report from Havana._https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/haitian-police-briefly-lose-control-of-armored-car/2022/11/11/49f8df52-61f9-11ed-a131-e900e4a6336b_story.html

Haiti under gang rule: How to break the grip of lawlessness

11/11/2022 - 20:11

45:45

THE DEBATE  © France 24

How does a nation teetering on the brink of becoming a failed state restore its legitimacy? Welcome to a special edition of The France 24 Debate. Fed-up Haitians have been speaking out in the streets and on social media about gang rule in the Americas’ poorest nation. Citizen journalists and our fact checkers from France 24’s Observers website have put together a short documentary that we’re going to show you. 

Why have the kidnappings for ransom and turf wars spiraled since the July 2021 assassination of the country’s president Jovenel Moise? Why are ordinary citizens rejecting the current prime minister’s call for outside intervention? How does Haiti restore its dignity?

Produced by Alessandro Xenos, Juliette Laurain and Samy Vicente Lacerda.

Our guests

• Derek THOMSON, Editor-in-chief, The FRANCE 24 Observers
• Widlore MERANCOURT, Editor-in-Chief, Ayibopost
• Jean-Marie THEODAT, Lecturer, Panthéon Sorbonne University
• Velina ELYSEE CHARLIER, Member, Nou pap dòmi

National Center of Haitian Apostolate 

THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME  (November 13, 2022)

                                                https://youtu.be/6Dr8VEGhmGg

Mal. 3, 19-20a; Ps 98; 2Thes 3, 7-12; Luke 21, 5-19

Next week will be the Feast of Christ the King, the festivity that marks the end of our current Liturgical Year. The following Sunday will be the first Sunday of Advent the beginning of another Church year.

No wonder today’s theme focuses on the mystery of the last day of human history. It will be a day of victory for those who FEAR THE LORD AND HAVE PERSEVERED to the end when the SUN OF JUSTICE WILL ARISE UPON THEM WITH ITS HEALING RAYS. At the same time, it will be a day of UNDESCRIBABLE HORROR FOR THE PROUD AND THE EVIL DOERS. We are taught therefore that human history is a journey toward an end. Opposite fates await the righteous and the wicked. Be on your guard! PERSEVERE in your commitment to the Lord. He is the Lord of History!

The Gospel text gives a stern warning about the trials, wars, and calamities that will plague mankind during its long journey through time. Christians will have to expect constant persecution because of their attachment to the name of Jesus. Yet, in the midst of it all, the faithful should have no fear.

The Lord will be on his side to give him strength. PERSEVERANCE to the end is the key to Victory.

The Lord comes to rule the world with justice and the people with equity! Sing praise to the Lord with the harp and melodious songs. Sing joyfully before the king the Lord. Let the sea and what fills it resound! The world and those who dwell in it! Let the rivers clap their hands, and the mountains shout with joy with them! The Lord comes to rule the world in justice and its people with equity! In other words, the second coming of Jesus is GOOD NEWS for us. Let us prepare it through our good deeds!

 Sending Troops to Haiti Would Make a Bad Situation Worse

Already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is on the brink of social collapse. At least 40% of the country’s 11.5 million people are suffering from acute hunger. Gang warfare and rolling antigovernment protests have blocked the distribution of food, fuel and water. A cholera outbreak has killed dozens and sickened many more. Surging murders, kidnappings and rapes have caused tens of thousands to attempt to flee, compounding the region’s migration crisis.

At the request of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, the US and its regional partners have been exploring a possible armed intervention to restore stability and deliver humanitarian aid. They should think twice. Haiti’s rich neighbors must do more to help, but sending foreign troops into such a chaotic environment risks an even greater disaster.

Haiti has long suffered from lawlessness, drug trafficking and corruption, in addition to a string of devastating natural disasters. Those chronic sources of instability have been exacerbated by a political crisis sparked by the assassination last July of then-president Jovenel Moise. At least 40 suspects have been arrested in connection with the crime, but the investigation has failed to resolve whether government officials were involved. (Despite allegations that Henry was in contact with a suspect in the case, he has denied any involvement.)

Meanwhile, Henry has refused to set a timetable for new elections, adding to public anger over food shortages and rising gas prices and further weakening the government’s authority. It’s estimated that gangs control more than half of the country, including its main ports.

Last month, the US co-drafted a resolution seeking United Nations authorization for an international security mission to Haiti. In hopes of limiting the involvement of US troops, President Joe Biden’s administration has proposed that a “partner country” lead the effort. Possible candidates include Mexico and Canada.

The US and its partners have an interest in preventing Haiti’s collapse. But under the current conditions, any foreign military intervention would likely do more harm than good. There’s little chance the operation would remain limited and “carefully scoped,” as the US intends; a previous UN peacekeeping mission to Haiti lasted 13 years and was ridden with scandals. Attempts to secure ports, roads and warehouses to enable the flow of humanitarian relief will inevitably produce clashes between foreign troops and heavily armed local gangs. And because the international force would be acting on behalf of a government that lacks popular legitimacy, its ability to earn the trust and cooperation of the Haitian people would be compromised from the start.

Better to focus on building the capacity of Haitians themselves. The State Department has pledged $48 million in assistance this year to Haiti’s 14,000-person national police force, which is a good start. The US should expand similar programs that have shown promise, such as a joint effort with France to train anti-gang SWAT teams, and press partner governments to increase contributions to a UN fund focused on bolstering Haitian law-enforcement capabilities. More humanitarian relief should be provided directly to government agencies with a proven record of distributing funds effectively.

In response to Henry’s request for an international security mission, meanwhile, the Biden administration should rule out putting US boots on the ground, but offer to deploy additional maritime assets to Haiti’s ports to curb drug and arms smuggling. In return, Henry should commit to hold new elections; bring opposition groups into the government; and work with business leaders, labor unions and other civil-society groups to develop plans for an orderly democratic transition.

The world can’t ignore the suffering of the Haitian people — but it’s imperative that outsiders avoid making a bad situation worse. Sustained diplomatic engagement and security assistance, not military intervention, holds the best chance for success.

Criminal Charges Unsealed Against Haitian Gang Leaders For Kidnappings of U.S. Citizens

State Department Offers $3 Million in Rewards for Capture of Three Defendants

The Department of Justice today announced the unsealing of criminal charges against seven leaders of five Haitian gangs, including gang leaders involved in the armed kidnappings of 16 U.S. citizens in the fall of 2021. 

“When a U.S. citizen is kidnapped abroad, the Justice Department will bring to bear the full reach of our law enforcement authorities to ensure their safe return home and to hold accountable those responsible,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “As these charges demonstrate, we are committed to working alongside our interagency and international partners to disrupt these kidnapping-for-ransom schemes that endanger the lives of American citizens and that fuel the violent gangs harming the Haitian people.”

Among the charges unsealed today were federal indictments charging three Haitian nationals with conspiracy to commit hostage taking and hostage taking for their roles in the armed kidnapping of 16 U.S. citizens in Haiti in the fall of 2021. The victims were Christian missionaries serving near Port-au-Price, Haiti, and most of them were held captive for 61 days before escaping. The group included five children, one as young as eight months old at the time of the kidnapping.

Contemporaneous with today’s announcement, the U.S. Department of State is announcing a reward of $3 million ($1 million per each of the three defendants charged in the kidnapping of the missionaries) for information leading to the capture of the three defendants, who are believed to be in Haiti. The reward is being offered under the Transnational Organized Crime Rewards Program.

Those three defendants, who are charged in separate indictments filed in the District of Columbia, include Lanmo Sanjou, aka Joseph Wilson, 29 and Jermaine Stephenson, aka Gaspiyay, in his late 20s, both current leaders of the 400 Mawozo gang, and Vitel’homme Innocent, 36, leader of the Kraze Barye gang. The 400 Mawozo gang, which operates in Croix-des-Bouquets area to the east of Port-au-Prince, claimed responsibility for the missionaries’ kidnapping. The Kraze Barye gang operates in the Torcelle and Tabarre areas of Haiti. According to the indictment, Innocent worked together with 400 Mawozo in the hostage taking.

In addition to the indictments for the kidnapping of the missionaries, the Department of Justice announced charges against four other Haitian nationals who are leaders of three other gangs for two other kidnappings of U.S. citizens in Haiti.

“The charges unsealed today are a reminder of the FBI’s ability to reach criminal actors overseas when crimes are committed against U.S citizens,” said FBI Director Christopher Wray. “The FBI, with our federal and international partners, will continue to pursue anyone who targets Americans for hostage taking or other violent crimes – wherever they are.”

“We stand with the people of Haiti, whose country has been ravaged by violent gangs impacting every facet of society,” said U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves for the District of Columbia. “We are committed to using all tools available to prosecute these gangs in order to disrupt their unlawful activities in Haiti and bring justice for our victims.”

“FBI Miami has extraterritorial responsibility for the Caribbean, Central and South America,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Robert M. DeWitt of the FBI Miami Field Office. “When crimes against U.S. Citizens occur in Haiti and throughout this region, we will not relent. The FBI’s full investigative capability will be brought to bear to identify those responsible.”

The investigation involving the Oct. 16, 2021, kidnapping of the missionaries has also led to additional charges. Two alleged leaders of the 400 Mawozo gang previously were charged with the crimes. Joly Germine, aka “Yonyon,” 30, and Jean Pelice, aka “Zo,” 27, were charged by superseding indictment in July 2022. Both have pleaded not guilty to charges. According to court documents, Germine, who was in a Haitian prison at the time of the kidnapping, directed and asserted control of 400 Mawozo gang members’ kidnapping operations, including ransom negotiation for the hostages’ release. One of the gang’s stated goals in holding the hostages was to secure from the Haitian government Germine’s release from prison. Germine is alleged to have been in regular contact with other 400 Mawozo leaders about the hostages’ kidnapping, captivity, and ransom. Two of the hostages were released on or about Nov. 20, 2021, and three more were released on or about Dec. 5, 2021. The remaining hostages escaped captivity on or about Dec. 16, 2021. 

Additionally, charges also were unsealed today in cases involving three other Haitian gangs:

• The leader of the gang Gran Ravine, Renel Destina, aka Ti Lapli, 40, was indicted on charges of hostage taking. Gran Ravine controls areas to the southwest of Port-au-Prince. The indictment charges the gang with kidnapping a U.S victim in February 2021, holding the victim for approximately 14 days, during which time the victim was threatened daily at gunpoint, while his family scrambled to secure funds for release. The victim was finally released on Feb. 16, 2021, after a ransom was paid.
• A leader of the gang Village de Dieu, Emanuel Solomon, aka Manno, in his 30s, was charged in a criminal complaint for kidnapping a U.S. citizen in January 2021. The Village de Dieu gang controls areas to the southwest of Port-au-Prince. The victim was taken hostage at gunpoint and held for approximately 11 days until his family and friends in the United States sent a ransom payment to Haiti for his release. The gang kept the victim’s car and two phones, and finally released the victim on Jan. 23, 2021. Manno and fellow gang leaders are active on social media, posting about the gang’s exploits.
• Two leaders of the gang Kokorat san Ras, John Peter Fleronvil and Jean Renald Dolcin, were charged by complaint for kidnapping at gunpoint three U.S. victims in July 2022. Two victims, a married couple, were held for six days and released following a ransom payment made by a family member. A third victim was taken captive the day after the other two U.S. victims and held for approximately six days while a family member negotiated for his release; that victim was also released following a ransom payment to the gang. The victims were all held together at the same location. Fleronvil and other Kokorat san Ras gang members were arrested on Sept. 11, by Haiti law enforcement officials while preparing to cross the border to the Dominican Republic.

Destina, Solomon, and Dolcin also are being sought.

The charges are merely allegations, and every defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. If convicted of any offense, a defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court based on the advisory Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI’s Miami Field Office investigated the cases, with valuable assistance from the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service. The Haitian National Police also provided valuable assistance.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen P. Seifert, Jack Korba, and Brittany Keil for the District of Columbia prosecuted the cases with assistance from Paralegal Specialist Jorge Casillas and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Beau Barnes for the District of Columbia.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 26 octobre 2022

 UN demands end to violence in Haiti, sanctions gang leader

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Friday demanding an immediate end to violence and criminal activity in Haiti and imposing sanctions on individuals and groups threatening peace and stability in the Western Hemisphere’s poorest nation — starting with a powerful gang leader.

The sanctions were the first authorized by the U.N.’s most powerful body since 2017 and the resolution’s approval by all 15 council nations, whose divisions have been exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, demonstrated a rare sign that council members can work together -- at least on some global crises.

“We are sending a clear message to the bad actors that are holding Haiti hostage,” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said after the resolution’s approval. “The international community will not stand idly by while you wreak havoc on the Haitian people.”

Mexico’s U.N. Ambassador Juan Ramon De La Fuente Ramirez praised the council’s unity on a complex issue. “In this crisis, the Security Council has given a clear signal that violence has to stop and it cannot go unpunished.”

The United States and Mexico, which drafted the 10-page resolution, had delayed the vote from Wednesday so they could revise the text to gain more support.

The U.S. ambassador said the resolution was an important first step by the Security Council to help Haitians who want action against criminals, including gangs and their financiers. She said a second resolution, which the U.S. and Mexico are working on, will help restore security and allow the delivery of desperately needed humanitarian aid by authorizing “a non-U.N. International Security Assistance Mission.”

The form of that help might take has been controversial among some council members and Haitians who are wary of foreign military involvement in the country, especially by the United States.

Friday’s text eliminated an earlier reference to an Oct. 7 appeal by Haiti’s Council of Ministers for the urgent dispatch of an international military force to tackle the country’s violence and alleviate its humanitarian crisis. It also dropped mention of an Oct. 8 letter from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres outlining options to help Haiti’s National Police combat high levels of gang violence.

Thomas-Greenfield said Friday the next resolution will be a response to those requests. She didn’t say when it would be circulated or put to a vote though diplomats said it could happen next week.

The sanctions resolution named only a single Haitian — Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier, whose gang has blocked a key fuel terminal, aggravating severe shortages. Cherizier, a former police officer who leads an alliance of gangs known as the G9 Family and Allies, will now face a travel ban, asset freeze and arms embargo.

Political instability has simmered in Haiti since last year’s still-unsolved assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, who had faced protests calling for his resignation over corruption charges and claims that his five-year term had expired. Moïse dissolved Parliament in January 2020 after legislators failed to hold elections in 2019 amid political gridlock.

Daily life in Haiti began to spin out of control last month just hours after Prime Minister Ariel Henry said fuel subsidies would be eliminated, causing prices to double. Cherizier’s gang blocked the Varreux fuel terminal to demand Henry’s resignation and to protest a spike in petroleum prices.

Haiti already was gripped by price inflation that put food and fuel out of reach for many and by protests have brought society to the breaking point. Violence is raging, making parents afraid to send children to school. Hospitals, banks and grocery stores struggle to stay open. Clean water is scarce and the country faces a cholera outbreak.

“Cherizier and his G9 gang confederation are actively blocking the free movement of fuel from the Varreux fuel terminal — the largest in Haiti,” the resolution said. “His actions have directly contributed to the economic paralysis and humanitarian crisis in Haiti.”

It also said he “has planned, directed, or committed acts that constitute serious human rights abuses.”

While serving in the police, it said, Cherizier planned and participated in a November 2018 attack by an armed gang on the capital’s La Saline neighborhood that killed at least 71 people, destroyed over 400 houses and led to the rapes of at least seven women.

He also led armed groups “in coordinated, brutal attacks in Port-au-Prince neighborhoods throughout 2018 and 2019” and in a five-day attack in multiple neighborhoods in the capital in 2020 in which civilians were killed and houses set on fire, the resolution said.

In a video posted on Facebook last week, Cherizier called on the government to grant him and G9 members amnesty. He said in Creole that Haiti’s economic and social situation was worsening by the day, so “there is no better time than today to dismantle the system.”

He outlined a plan for restoring order in Haiti. It would include creation of a “Council of Sages,” with one representative from each of Haiti’s 10 departments, to govern with an interim president until a presidential election could be held in February 2024. It also calls for restructuring Haiti’s National Police and strengthening the army.

The Security Council resolution establishes a committee that can impose sanctions on other Haitians and groups who threaten peace, security or stability by crimes, violence, arms trafficking, human rights abuses and obstructing aid deliveries.

Haiti’s U.N. Ambassador Antonio Rodrique welcomed the resolution’, saying, “There is no doubt whatsoever that these measures will contribute to bringing an end to the violent and deadly activities of these armed groups marauding in the country and causing numerous victims and mass population displacement.”

But Robert Fatton, a Haitian politics expert at the University of Virginia, said sanctions won’t solve anything and it makes no sense to impose them on Chérizier because he very likely has his cash in Haiti.

“Sanctions have been imposed before, but they don’t have the real threat of military intervention,” he said. “I don’t think it will have any impact.”

Russia’s Deputy U.N. Ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said that despite Moscow’s support for the resolution, “We are not convinced that international restrictive measures will be an appropriate response to the whole raft of complex problems in Haiti.”

He called for a long-term solution through “eradicating poverty and inequality to ensure a strengthening of state institutions in the country, without external dictates.”

Some council members were more hopeful.

China’s deputy U.N. ambassador, Geng Shuang, said “Haiti is at the brink of collapse” and Beijing hopes the resolution will send “a clear signal” to criminal gangs “to stop their evildoing and harming of their people” and to political parties to “immediately stop their collusion with criminal actors” and reach consensus on solving the crisis.

The resolution expresses “grave concern about the extremely high levels of gang violence and other criminal activities, including kidnappings, trafficking in persons and the smuggling of migrants, and homicides, and sexual and gender-based violence including rape and sexual slavery, as well as ongoing impunity for perpetrators, corruption and recruitment of children by gangs and the implications of Haiti’s situation for the region.”

It demands “an immediate cessation of violence, criminal activities, and human rights abuses, which undermine the peace, stability and security of Haiti and the region.” And it urges “all political actors” to reach agreement on allowing legislative and presidential elections to be held “as soon as the local security situation permits.”

AP writer Danica Coto contributed from San Juan, Puerto Rico.

HAITI Exclusive: U.S. will support sending ‘multinational rapid action force’ to Haiti

BY MICHAEL WILNER AND JACQUELINE CHARLES UPDATED OCTOBER 14, 2022

The United States has drafted a United Nations Security Council resolution that will encourage the “immediate deployment of a multinational rapid action force” to Haiti to address the nation’s worst security and health crisis in decades, according to a copy of the resolution obtained by McClatchy and the Miami Herald. The draft resolution, confirmed by multiple U.S. and U.N. officials, comes in response to a call by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres last week for the establishment of a rapid reaction force to assist the Haitian National Police. Over the past four weeks, powerful armed gangs have all but sent the country into anarchy, blockading the country’s largest fuel terminals and cutting off its critical roadways. It is the first public indication so far that the Biden administration is willing to participate in a military force in Haiti — although the resolution does not specify what role various nations would play. A U.S. source familiar with the drafting of the resolution said the multilateral force would not be under the supervision of the U.N. or assembled under Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter, which endorses the use of force for the maintenance of peace. Last week, Guterres proposed that Haiti and other nations or transnational organizations deploy a rapid response-force, to be followed in the medium-term by a U.N.-led force. It remains unclear who would lead the rapid-action force, but the United States, Canada and France — three countries with a long history of involvement in Haiti — have all expressed skepticism in recent days. Get unlimited digital access Subscribe now for just $2 for 2 months. CLAIM OFFER But the violence and lack of governance in Haiti have led to a shortage of potable water and a burgeoning cholera outbreak, alarming the international community and forcing the Biden administration — long reluctant to intervene in Haiti militarily — to acknowledge last week that the status quo has become untenable. If the draft resolution remains unchanged, and the Security Council adopts it, the U.N. would encourage “the immediate deployment of a multinational rapid action force to support the [Haiti National Police] as recommended in the Secretary-General’s letter,” according to the draft. It is still unclear whether China or Russia, two permanent members of the Security Council, will support the resolution. China has been critical in recent months of the international community’s approach to Haiti and has called for a stronger arms embargo on the Caribbean nation. The United States is also seeking a U.N. mechanism that will levy international sanctions against Haiti’s gang leaders. This week, the U.S sent an elite disaster assistance response team to Port-au-Prince, deployed a major Coast Guard vessel to patrol the Haitian coast and issued visa restrictions on prominent Haitians involved in the violence. On Saturday, flights from both Canada and the U.S. are expected to land at the Port-au-Prince airport carrying critical security assistance, including armed vehicles ordered by the Haitian police, according to two sources familiar with the matter. This story was originally published October 14, 2022 8:08 PM.

Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article267336107.html#storylink=cpy

Linda Thomas Greenfield - UN Security Council

That is why the United States and Mexico have worked closely to draft two new resolutions – resolutions we hope this Council will unanimously support.

The first resolution would impose financial sanctions on criminal actors that are inflicting so much suffering on the Haitian people. It is time to hold them accountable for their actions. It would target those responsible for gang violence, for trafficking arms, for attacking UN personnel, for kidnapping innocent citizens, and for human rights abuses and sexual and gender-based violence. And it would go after individuals blocking Haiti’s ports and the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the Haitian people. The UN sanctions regime aims to stop these criminal actors from having access to reputable financial institutions. And it would work to freeze their assets and prohibit their international travel.

Additionally, its arms embargo provisions would prevent the direct or indirect supply, sale, or transfer of arms to criminal gangs and their leaders, as designated by this Council. The draft resolution specifically lists Jimmy Cherizier – also known as “Barbeque” – as the subject of such sanctions. He is directly responsible for the devastating fuel shortage that is crippling the country. By passing this resolution, we would take concrete actions to hold him – and so many other violent criminals – to account.

The second resolution we’re working on would authorize a non-UN international security assistance mission to help improve the security situation and enable the flow of desperately needed humanitarian aid. This reflects one of the options that the Secretary-General recommended the Security Council consider. This is also a direct response to Prime Minister Henry’s and the Haitian Council of Ministers’ request for international assistance to help restore security and alleviate the humanitarian crisis. And we have also consulted broadly with other stakeholders in Haiti, including civil society and the private sector.

This resolution will propose a limited, carefully scoped, non-UN mission led by a partner country with the deep, necessary experience required for such an effort to be effective. At the United Nations and across the United States government, we will work with partners and other Council members to set defined and specific parameters for the mission, and the United States will consider the most effective means to directly support, enable, and resource it.

This non-UN international security assistance mission would operate under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. And it would facilitate international support to the Haitian National Police, as well as the Coast Guard. By helping improve the security situation on the ground, the delivery of desperately needed aid could reach those in need and address the ongoing cholera crisis. Ultimately, such a mission will rely on support from UN Member States, and this draft resolution explicitly asks for contributions of personnel, equipment, and other resources.

 REFLECTIONS ON THE READINGS OF THE 30^TH SUNDAY OF THE CHURCH YEAR (October 23, 2022)

                                                                          https://youtu.be/MYZUEUVfD6M

Sirach 35, 12-14 +16-18; Psalm 34; 2 Timothy 4, 6-8 + 16-18; Luke 18, 9-14  

Last Sunday, the Scripture readings stressed the importance of perseverance in prayer. Today the accent is placed on the attitude we must bring to prayer. The short story of the Pharisee and the tax collector who both went "to the temple to pray" brings forth the lesson.

The Pharisee boasts of his great virtues and of his faithfulness to the Law. He also declares himself superior to the poor tax collector. The latter in contrast simply says: "Lord be merciful to me a sinner."  

Jesus concluded: "The tax collector went back home justified but not the Pharisee, for whoever exalts himself shall be humbled and the one who humbles himself will be exalted." Hence, Jesus teaches us to be humble when we approach him in prayer. The poor tax collector was honest. He admitted his sinfulness. As Ben Sirach says in the first reading: "The prayer of the lowly pierces the sky." On the contrary, the Pharisee displayed an attitude of arrogance, pride, and contempt for his Neighbor.

The genuine Christian acknowledges the radical poverty of every human being and at the same time the surpassing mercy of our God. We are saved by grace not by our deeds. Therefore, we must never forget that everything we have comes from the Father of all mercies. Before Him, all bragging is out of place.

"Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the Lord who made us!" (Ps 95).

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 19 octobre 2022

 
The U.S. and Canada sent armored vehicles and supplies to Haiti to help fight a gang

By The Associated Press

Sunday, October 16, 2022 • 1:23 AM EDT

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The U.S. and Canada sent armored vehicles and other supplies to Haiti on Saturday to help police fight a powerful gang amid a pending request from the Haitian government for the immediate deployment of foreign troops.

A U.S. State Department statement said the equipment was bought by Haiti's government, but it did not provide further details on the supplies flown on military aircraft to the capital of Port-au-Prince.

A spokesman for the U.S. military's Southern Command said he could not provide further details on the supplies sent, though he added it was a joint operation involving the U.S. Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force.

"This equipment will assist (Haiti's National Police) in their fight against criminal actors who are fomenting violence and disrupting the flow of critically-needed humanitarian assistance, hindering efforts to halt the spread of cholera," the State Department said.

The equipment arrived more than a month after one of Haiti's most powerful gangs surrounded a fuel terminal and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry. Demonstrators also have blocked roads in major cities to protest a sharp rise in fuel prices after Henry announced in early September that his administration could no longer afford to subsidize fuel.

Since then, gas stations have closed, hospitals have cut back on services and banks and grocery stores open on a limited basis as fuel, water and other supplies dwindle across Haiti.

The owners of the fuel terminal announced Saturday that armed men had attacked their installations for a second time and fled with more than 28,000 gallons of petroleum products after overpowering surveillance and emergency personnel at the facility.

It was the second time this week that armed men broke into the terminal, which stores more than 10 million gallons of gasoline and diesel and more than 800,000 gallons of kerosene.

Related Story: The history of U.S. intervention in Haiti is stopping U.S. officials from intervening

The Pan American Health Organization said there are more than 560 suspected cases of cholera …

some 300 hospitalizations and at least 35 deaths, with experts warning the numbers are likely much higher than what i's being reported.

Coast Guard cutter patrols near Port-au-Prince, Haiti

MIAMI — The Coast Guard diverted one of its major cutters to patrol near Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, at the request of the government of Haiti and in close coordination with the U.S. okay Department of State.

USCGC Northland (WMEC 904) was diverted to Haiti as a clear sign of U.S. resolve in support of the Government of Haiti and its people, and to rendezvous with the Haitian Coast Guard for training in the area.

Northland was previously patrolling within the Windward Pass under the direction of the Coast Guard’s Seventh District, headquartered in Miami, in support of Operation Vigilant Sentry, a standing maritime law enforcement operation.

“The U.S. Government has a vested interest in regional security throughout the Caribbean Sea and is aware of the ongoing situation of civil unrest and gang violence within Haiti,” said Rear Adm. Brendan C. McPherson, commander of the Seventh Coast Guard District. “The Coast Guard is one part of a whole-of-government approach to assist the Haitian government with security and stability throughout Haiti, especially as it relates to the deterrence and prevention of dangerous, irregular maritime migration.”

The Coast Guard has a longstanding relationship with the Haitian Coast Guard. In January 2010, USCGC Forward (WMEC 911), a 270-foot Famous-class medium endurance cutter, was the first U.S. asset to respond and render humanitarian aid and assistance following a 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti. In August 2021, the Coast Guard was among the first U.S. agencies to respond with humanitarian aid following a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Haiti.

In August 2022, USCGC Robert Yered (WPC 1104), a 154-foot Sentinel-class fast response cutter, delivered firefighting equipment sourced as a donation from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue to better equip the Haitian firefighting department at Port-au-Prince-Toussaint Louverture International Airport. In September 2022, the Coast Guard’s international training team visited Haiti to facilitate the second of two iterations of small boat operations training with the Haitian Coast Guard to ensure uniform and repeatable training standards for the maintenance and safe operation of the Haitian Coast Guard’s surface fleet.

The Coast Guard continues to patrol the Caribbean Sea to deter undocumented migration by sea. In fiscal year 2022, the Coast Guard interdicted 7,173 Haitian migrants attempting to enter the United States illegally by sea.

Northland is a 270-foot Famous-class medium endurance cutter homeported in Portsmouth, Virginia. Northland’s missions include law enforcement, search and rescue, drug interdiction, fisheries enforcement, migrant interdiction, homeland security and defense operations, international training, and humanitarian operations. Northland patrols the offshore waters from Maine to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, the Eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

REFLECTIONS ON THE READINGS OF THE 29TH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR (October 16th, 2022)

Exodus 17, 8-13; Psalm 121; 2 Timothy 3, 14-4, 2; Luke 18, 1-8

Msgr. Pierre Andre Pierre

The message today stresses the overwhelming power of persistent prayer. Jesus teaches us perseverance in prayers.

The story in the first reading beautifully illustrates the point. Moses sent Joshua, his helper, to defend Israel against the hostile army of the Amalekites. During the fighting, Moses went to a mountain and raised his hands in prayer. As long as his hands were raised in prayer, Joshua’s army gained ground. But when a tired Moses dropped his arms and sought rest, the Amalekites prevailed.

Joshua finally won the battle when Aaron and Hur held up ceaselessly the arms of Moses in prayer. Thus, the victory is won not through Joshua’s sword but through Moses’ prayers.

Likewise, in the Gospel Jesus used a short story to show how persistence or perseverance in prayer brings good results. A poor widow pressed in vain an unjust and careless judge to listen to her plea for justice. The judge at first ignored the complaining widow but in the end became so annoyed by her stubborn persistence that he granted justice to her.

From that story Jesus drew the conclusion. “If an unjust judge finally yields to the request of a poor widow, how much faster will a merciful God respond to his chosen ones who cry out to him day and night?”

Jesus’ teaching invites us to trust in God, our guardian. “He slumbers not, he who guards you; he sleeps not the guardian of Israel. He will not suffer your feet to slip. He is beside you at your right hand” (Psalm 121.) He will bring you speedy help.

                                   Let us learn to pray ceaselessly without ever stopping!

CARICOM Statement on Haiti

https://caricom.org/caricom-statement-on-haiti-2/

Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) received a letter from the Prime Minister of Haiti, Dr Ariel Henry, calling for solidarity and requesting assistance to alleviate the deepening humanitarian, security, political, and economic crises in Haiti.

The actions of criminal gangs have resulted in the complete cessation of fuel distribution in several parts of the country forcing the closure of hospitals and schools and the shutting down of water pumps prohibiting the provision of clean water. The water shortage also has exacerbated the resurgence of a cholera epidemic particularly in poor neighbourhoods.

Heads of Government condemn the callous and inhumane actions of the armed gangs responsible for the roadblocks limiting movement of the Haitian people and of goods, the destruction of life and livelihoods and the deprivation of the basic needs of the people.

Heads of Government call upon all stakeholders in Haiti to come together with urgency at this critical juncture in the country’s history to bring an end to the protracted political stalemate in the interest of the people of the country and choose nation above self-interest.

Heads of Government reiterate their willingness to facilitate meaningful dialogue and consensus building among Haitian stakeholders to support efforts at resolving the political stalemate. The proposed assistance includes institution building, implementation of free and fair elections when the required enabling conditions are met, and the establishment of a framework for long-term social and economic development.

However, they recognise that these initiatives could not be effectively realised until the security situation is addressed. In that regard Heads of Government take note of the appeal by Prime Minister Henry for the urgent assistance of Haiti’s international partners for short term assistance to address the security and humanitarian crises.

Opinion Yes, intervene in Haiti — and push for democracy

Editorial Board / Wahington Post

After 15 months of Haiti’s convulsive descent into pandemonium following the assassination of its president, there is at last serious discussion of international intervention to prevent a humanitarian disaster in the tormented island nation. U.N. Secretary General António Guterres on Sunday, the Associated Press reported, proposed that one or more countries deploy a rapid action force immediately in response to Haiti’s own plea for help to break the paralyzing grip of violence and the accelerating breakdown of infrastructure and public order.

That’s a step in the right direction, but it comes with a critical asterisk: Any move to put international boots on the ground to restore a semblance of stability in Haiti risks additional bloodshed, at least in the short term — and will fail if it props up the current government, which is widely despised.

Largely owing to Washington’s puppeteering, Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry was sworn in in July 2021 after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. His unelected, illegitimate government has been a predictable disaster. It has either enabled or promoted the country’s dissolution into criminal gang fiefdoms allied with the country’s elite. It has made no serious attempt to prepare the country for elections, nor undertaken good-faith negotiations with Haitian political parties and civil society. It has demonstrated its impotence by ceding control of the capital, Port-au-Prince, to mounting violence.

The result is dire. Water and fuel supplies have been blocked, schools are closed, grocery stores are mostly shuttered, and a resurgence of cholera is taking its toll.

In a letter to President Biden last week, a group of Democratic lawmakers provided additional detail about the Henry government’s failures. The letter also noted that even as Haiti’s turmoil has deepened, the Biden administration has failed to replace its special envoy to the country; the previous one resigned a year ago.

The Biden administration’s heedlessness has been compounded by its ongoing campaign of deportations; to date, it has flown more than 26,000 Haitian border crossers back to their native country, in most cases without allowing them to apply for asylum. It is unconscionable for the Western Hemisphere’s richest country to saddle the poorest with a stream of migrants amid an economic, humanitarian and security meltdown.

No one should take lightly the prospect of an international intervention in Haiti. Such efforts in recent decades, by the Clinton administration and the United Nations, have provided few long-term improvements. A U.N. peacekeeping force that was deployed for 13 years, until 2017, provided a modicum of stability but was responsible for introducing what became one of the world’s worst recent outbreaks of cholera. Some of its troops sexually abused Haitian girls and women.

That’s a cautionary tale. Yet weighed against the cratering prospects of a failed state whose main export is asylum seekers, many Haitians would support — if with misgivings — the chance at restoring some semblance of normal life. For an intervention to succeed, however, it’s not enough to suppress the chaos. New hope for Haiti must involve a path toward democracy — and a transition toward a legitimate government with popular support.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 10 octobre 2022

 Haiti at breaking point as economy tanks and violence soars

PORT-AU-PRINCE – Daily life in Haiti began to spin out of control last month just hours after Prime Minister Ariel Henry said fuel subsidies would be eliminated, causing prices to double.

Gunshots rang out as protesters blocked roads with iron gates and mango trees. Then Haiti’s most powerful gang took it a step further: It dug trenches to block access to the Caribbean country’s largest fuel terminal, vowing not to budge until Henry resigns and prices for fuel and basic goods go down.

The poorest country in the Western hemisphere is in the grips of an inflationary vise that is squeezing its citizenry and exacerbating protests that have brought society to the breaking point. Violence is raging and making parents afraid to send their kids to school; fuel and clean water are scarce; and hospitals, banks and grocery stores are struggling to remain open.

The president of neighboring Dominican Republic described the situation as a “low-intensity civil war.”

Life in Haiti is always extremely difficult, if not downright dysfunctional. But the magnitude of the current paralysis and despair is unprecedented. Political instability has simmered ever since last year’s still-unsolved assassination of Haiti’s president; inflation soaring around 30% has only aggravated the situation. 

“If they don’t understand us, we’re going to make them understand,” said Pierre Killick Cemelus, who sweated as he struggled to keep pace with thousands of other protesters marching during a recent demonstration.

The fuel depot blocked by gangs has been inoperable since Sept. 12, cutting off about 10 million gallons of diesel and gasoline and more than 800,000 gallons of kerosene stored on site. Many gas stations are closed, and others are quickly running out of supplies.

The lack of fuel recently forced hospitals to cut back critical services and prompted water delivery companies to shut down. Banks and grocery stores also are struggling to stay open because of dwindling fuel supplies — and exorbitant prices — that make it nearly impossible for many workers to commute.

A gallon of gasoline costs $30 on the black market in Port-au-Prince and more than $40 in rural areas, Desperate people are walking for miles to get food and water because public transportation is extremely limited. 

“Haiti is now in complete chaos,” said Alex Dupuy, a Haiti-born sociologist at Wesleyan University. “You have gangs basically doing whatever they want, wherever they want, whenever they want with complete impunity because the police force is not capable of bringing them under control.”

Henry’s de-facto government “doesn’t seem to be fazed at all by the chaos and is probably benefiting from it because it allows him to hold on to power and prolong as long as possible the organization of new elections,” Dupuy said.

Gangs have long wielded considerable power in Haiti, and their influence has only grown since the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.

Gangs control more than 40% of Port-au-Prince, the U.N. has estimated. They are fighting to control even more territory, killings hundreds of Haitians in recent months — including women and children — and driving away some 20,000 people from their homes. Kidnappings have spiked.

Henry has pledged to hold elections as soon as it’s safe to do so, writing in a speech read at the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 24 that he has “no desire to stay in power longer than necessary.”

“My country is going through a multidimensional crisis whose consequences threaten democracy and the very foundations of the rule of law,” he said. He condemned widespread looting and violence, and said those responsible "will have to answer for their crimes before history and before the courts.” 

U.S. President Joe Biden, also speaking at the U.N., said Haiti faces “political-fueled gang violence and an enormous human crisis.”

From 2004 until 2017, U.N. peacekeepers bolstered the country's security and helped rebuild political institutions after a violent rebellion ousted former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. But for now, any foreign intervention in Haiti is off the table. Local political leaders have repudiated the suggestion of outside help, noting that U.N. peacekeepers in Haiti sexually abused children and sparked a cholera epidemic more than a decade ago that killed nearly 10,000 people.

The first round of protests in mid-September prompted France and Spain to close their embassies and banks to shut down in the capital of Port-au-Prince. Protesters attacked businesses, the homes of well-known politicians and even warehouses of the United Nations’ World Food Program, stealing millions of dollars’ worth of food and water.

Protests have since grown bigger. Tens of thousands of people recently marched in Port-au-Prince and beyond, including the cities of Gonaives and Cap-Haitien in the north. They waved leafy green branches and chanted, “Ariel has to go!”

Primary school teacher Jean-Wilson Fabre joined a recent protest as he ducked into a side street to avoid a cloud of tear gas thrown by police trying to control the crowd.

“He’s not doing anything,” he said of the prime minister. 

The 40-year-old father of two sons lamented the lack of food and water, the rise of kidnappings and the growing power of gangs: “No one is crazy enough to send their kids to school in this situation. They will not be safe.”

Fabre is one of millions of parents who refused to send their children to school even though the government announced an Oct. 3 return to class as scheduled in an attempt to restore some normalcy amid an increasingly unstable situation.

Haiti’s courts also were slated to reopen on Oct. 3, but the country’s Bar Federation rejected an invitation from the prime minister to talk about the issue days before, noting that gangs still occupy a main courthouse in Port-au-Prince, among other problems.

“Under Ariel, things have gotten worse and worse,” said Merlay Saint-Pierre, a 28-year-old unemployed mother of two boys who joined a recent protest wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a middle finger.

Hundreds of people have spent hours in line each day just to buy buckets of water. Delivery trucks cannot go into neighborhoods because of roadblocks.

“I’m scared of this water,” said 22-year-old Lionel Simon, noting he would use it to wash clothes and add chlorine before drinking it.

At least eight people have died of cholera in recent days and dozens more have been treated, according to local health officials who urged protesters and gang leaders to allow fuel and water to flow into neighborhoods.

But Simon was not worried about cholera. His biggest concerns are gangs and an increase in young children carrying guns.

“We don’t know if life will go back to normal," he said. "If you die today, you don’t even know if you’re going to make it to a morgue. You could be left in the street for dogs and animals to eat you. This is how crazy the city has become.”

Dupuy, the Haitian expert, said it’s unlikely Henry would step down since there is no international pressure for him to do so. He worried there is no clear solution as the situation spirals: “How much more boiling point can there be?”

Secretary Antony J. Blinken at OAS General Assembly First Plenary Session

SECRETARY BLINKEN:  Thank you.  Buenos dias, bom dia, bonjour, good afternoon to everyone.  It’s wonderful to be with all of our colleagues here today.

And I’m especially grateful that we’ve been able to hold the OAS General Assembly in person for the first time since 2019, and I want to start by again thanking our hosts here in Peru for the wonderful hospitality, the wonderful organization.

Since the last time we met in person, I think it’s fair to say that our hemisphere has faced no shortage of challenges.  No region in the world has been harder hit by the pandemic or its economic consequences.

And then just as we were beginning to recover, we ran into new headwinds – rising food and energy costs, which have been worsened by President Putin’s unprovoked and unjustified war on Ukraine.

What we’ve also experienced is that the consequences have fallen disproportionately on communities that have historically been marginalized or underserved.  People of African descent, and other racial and ethnic minorities.  Indigenous communities.  Women and girls.  People with disabilities.  LGBTQI+ people.

The recent headwinds have been compounded by longstanding, pre-existing challenges across the region: a chronic lack of economic opportunity; an accelerating climate crisis; endemic corruption, all of which are driving people to leave their homes in unprecedented numbers, despite knowing the serious risks of the journey.

Citizens across our hemisphere are looking to their governments – to us – to help address these problems, to create the conditions, and give them the tools they need, to actually improve their lives.  So it’s one of the greatest tests that our nations face – indeed have faced since we came together in Lima to adopt the Inter-American Democratic Charter on that indelible September 11 day in 2001.

We believe strongly that we can meet this test if – if we come together to close two gaps between what our democracies promise and what they deliver.

First, we can address enduring inequities in access to opportunity, which have for too long prevented communities from reaching their full potential.

This social compact has been at the heart of the OAS since its conception.  Under President Biden’s leadership, we are committed to partnering with countries across the region to deliver solutions to challenges affecting all of our people – challenges that no country can solve alone.

In the Caribbean, where today, two-thirds of the people are experiencing food insecurity, we’re partnering with CARICOM to combat hunger and malnutrition, but also giving farmers the tools they need to boost productivity and adapt to the growing effects of climate change, so that communities can actually feed their own people as well as others.

Together with partners, we’re working to meet the commitment we made at the Summit of Americas in June to train and equip half a million local health care workers across the hemisphere, so that more people can get the quality care that they need in their own communities.  This initiative in and of itself can help revolutionize access to health care and the quality of health care.

Through the efforts of Vice President Harris, we have raised $3.2 billion in investment commitments from more than 40 companies to promote broad-based economic opportunity in El Salvador and Guatemala and Honduras – from expanding access to rural broadband to helping create good-paying jobs in manufacturing to providing small, minority and women-owned businesses with access to credit.

Across these efforts and others, we focused on empowering communities that have experienced systematic marginalization over the years because it’s the right thing to do.  Because when all communities have equal access to development, all of society benefits.  And because more equal democracies tend to be more stable and secure partners.  That’s the spirit of the Lima Declaration – “Together Against Inequality and Discrimination” – that we will collectively adopt tomorrow.

A few days ago in Colombia, I had the honor of formally committing the United States to be the first international accompanier of the Ethnic Chapter of the country’s 2016 peace agreement.

This is a visionary document because it recognizes that a lasting peace cannot be achieved without making strides toward greater equity, justice, and inclusion for the country’s Afro‑Colombian and Indigenous communities who suffered disproportionately during the country’s conflict.

Advancing equity is also crucial to building durable democracy – not just in Colombia, but across our hemisphere.  Including the United States, where we have our own deep history of discrimination, which is still felt in our society.  That’s why President Biden has made the fight for equity and racial justice a priority for our administration – at home as well as around the world.

I have to tell you it’s been one of my highest priorities at the State Department, because we know that the incredible diversity of our country is one of our greatest strengths, including in our foreign policy.  It makes us stronger.  It makes us smarter.  It makes us more creative.  It gives us the plurality of voices and views and visions that are vital to our own democratic experiment and to being a better partner to fellow democracies across the hemisphere.  I appointed the Department’s first chief diversity and inclusion officer to help drive progress toward a more diverse institution that actually looks like the country it represents and, as well, our first Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice, Desiree Cormier Smith, who is part of our delegation to the General Assembly to help us promote these efforts around the world.

So that’s one big piece.  The second is this:  We believe that we have to recommit to delivering on the core principles of our OAS and Inter‑American Democratic Charters.  There are so many ways member states can help make real the commitments embodied in those charters.

We can unequivocally condemn the authoritarian regimes in our region and take collective steps to hold them accountable.

In Nicaragua, the Ortega-Murillo regime is shamelessly flouting virtually every principle of the OAS and Democratic Charters – arbitrarily locking up its political opponents, brutally cracking down on protestors, committing flagrant election fraud, attacking and imprisoning journalists and human rights defenders.

The Cuban regime continues to imprison hundreds of people unjustly detained in the July 11th, 2021 protests for the supposed crime of coming out into the streets to peacefully call on their government to meet their basic needs, and for demanding human rights.  Some of those incarcerated are minors; others were sentenced to decades in prison just for speaking their minds.

Meanwhile, in Venezuela, the Maduro regime has repeatedly denied the Venezuelan people’s right to pick their own leaders, caused a humanitarian catastrophe that’s displaced more than 6 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants toward whom Venezuela’s neighbors have shown extraordinary generosity.  All OAS member states should be able to come together to support a negotiated solution that leads to free and fair elections in Venezuela in 2024.

We can further reaffirm our commitment to the OAS and Democratic Charters by defending their principles around the world, as our member states did when the OAS became one of the first multilateral bodies to condemn President Putin’s brutal war on Ukraine and then subsequently suspended Russia’s membership as a Permanent OAS Observer.

It’s crucial that we stay united by condemning Russia’s sham referenda as a violation of international law, and unequivocally rejecting any attempts to illegally annex Ukrainian territory.  And I think the statement that member states signed on to today led by Guatemala demonstrates that.  And we hope that countries will similarly support the UN General Assembly resolution that is expected to come up in the next week or so.

We can help our fellow democracies that are struggling most to meet their citizens’ basic needs.  That’s why we co-sponsored the resolution before this General Assembly on Haiti, which supports solutions driven by Haiti’s government, political parties, civil society, diaspora, and private sector to address the country’s deteriorating security situation, to restore its democratic institutions, to foster conditions so the Haitian people can finally realize their full potential.

Finally, we can speak up when democratically‑elected leaders in our region borrow from the playbook of autocrats to try to stay in power and erode checks and balances, like passing legislation that grants the government overly broad powers to crack down on the media and civil society, extending term limits; harassing, persecuting, or firing independent government officials like prosecutors and judges for doing their job.  We’re seeing more leaders taking these anti‑democratic steps – often under the false justification that they enjoy popular support.

We will work to bring more partners into this effort: civil society organizations, the private sector, youth groups, and other parts of our governments, which is why the United States is pleased new text – is pleased to present, excuse me, new text, for this assembly calling for more robust inter‑parliamentary engagement on issues of common concern.

But I want to be very clear that this is not about picking sides between left and right or between liberal and conservative.  It’s about putting our shared commitment to democracy above loyalty to ideology or to party.  It’s about defending the rights and aspirations of people across our hemisphere.  It’s about standing up and giving meaning to the words that we all signed on to in the charters and indeed in the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Ultimately, I’m confident that we will be able to meet this moment because while citizens may not be satisfied with the way their democracies are working, most still think it’s the best way to tackle the everyday problems they face and actually improve their lives in tangible ways.

Citizens still believe.  And if they believe and are willing to engage to be our partners across this hemisphere in improving democracies from within, then there is no challenge that we cannot overcome if we do it together.  That’s the spirit that the United States brings to our common enterprise and to this hemisphere that we share.

Thank you.

National Center of Haitian Apostolate 

REFLECTIONS ON THE READINGS OF THE 28^TH SUNDAY OF THE CHURCH YEAR C (October 9, 2022)

2 Kings 5, 14-17; Psalm 98; 2 Timothy 2, 8-13; Luke 17, 11-19                  

Ten lepers implore Jesus for their healing. Jesus sends them away to see the Priests and on the way, they realize that they are healed. One of them, a Samaritan, joyfully returns to Jesus to thank him. Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has saved you.”

The other nine did not think of returning, because basically, all they were looking for was the healing of their flesh. The Samaritan obtains for him in addition the salvation of his soul. Great was his reward!

It is quite legitimate to worry about the body. But we humans enjoy a richness that our cousins in the animal kingdom do not have. We are endowed with an immortal soul. All the bodily blessings we enjoy are meant to turn to Him who bestows them from His heavenly throne. Spiritual blessings are far more precious. This is what the Samaritan understood.

Let's not make the error of the nine short-sighted lepers. They did not understand that the physical benefits, which quickly vanish, are only the signs of more precious riches, the spiritual riches of grace. This world is passing. Jesus opens up to us a perspective of eternity.

The story of the ten cured lepers resounds like the sound of the alarm. Jesus gives more than bodily favors. Eternal salvation is first of all what he offers us. Happy, those who understand it!

Let us be inspired by the example of Naaman, in the first reading. This pagan general, once cured of his leprosy at the prayer of Elisha, the prophet, suddenly embraced faith in the God of Israel.

Let's not be like the snake that crawls in the mud without vision and without hope. In all circumstances let us remember that God has destined us for Salvation in Christ Jesus!

LET'S NOT MISS OUR HUMAN VOCATION, THE ETERNAL DESTINY!

@StateDeptSpox

The United States remains concerned about the worsening health and security situation in Haiti, and actions by criminal actors that impede access to life-saving resources for the Haitian population. We will work with international partners to determine how best to assist.