Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 14 janvier 2015

 Statement of the US Embassy in Haiti on the Political Impasse

The U.S. Government strongly supports the efforts by President Martelly to arrive at a global political consensus to resolve the political impasse in Haiti.  The U.S. Government notes with grave concern that despite the President's wide-ranging concessions, parliament has not voted an electoral law to allow for 2015 elections.  In the short time remaining before the constitutionally mandated end of the current parliament on January 12, we urge all parties to agree on a framework for parliamentary mandates, a new Provisional Electoral Council, passage of amendments to the electoral law, and the formation of a government of consensus.  The USG strongly urges the parties to find a solution which ensures continuity of Haiti's republican institutions in accordance with the Constitution.  However, if such a solution cannot be reached by January 12, the U.S. will continue to work with President Martelly and whatever legitimate Haitian government institutions remain to safeguard the significant gains we have achieved together since the January 12, 2010 earthquake.  The Haitian people have the right to elect their leaders, and in these circumstances the U.S. would expect the President to use his executive powers responsibly to organize inclusive, credible and transparent elections, in an expeditious manner.

UN Security Council heading to Haiti to press for elections

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council is heading to Haiti later this month with a message for President Michel Martelly: It's past time to urgently organize credible elections.

Chile's U.N. Ambassador Cristian Barros Melet, the current council president, told reporters Monday that elections must take place "in order to normalize the legislative process and the presidential process."

Haiti faces an uncertain political future in upcoming months, with Senatorial seats expiring on Jan. 12, exactly five years after a devastating earthquake struck the nation of 10 million people. If the election isn't held in the next week — which is virtually impossible — Martelly will rule by decree.

During the Security Council's Jan. 23-25 visit, Barros Melet said the unanimous message from the 15 members will be that "the priority of the president of Haiti should be to develop a credible electoral timetable — a timetable that is also feasible and can be implemented."

Martelly's administration was supposed to call elections in 2011 for 20 seats in the 30-member Senate, all 99 seats in the lower Chamber of Deputies and 140 municipal positions. He has blamed legislators for blocking a vote that would lead to approval of an electoral law.

Martelly, who is to leave office in 2016, could sign a decree allowing Haiti to hold elections in the first half of the year.

Barros Melet said the council will also be visiting the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti, which is being reduced from its current strength, which at the start of November stood at nearly 5,000 troops and 2,300 police.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY KERRY

January 9, 2015

Marking Five Years Since the 2010 Earthquake in Haiti

Haiti and the world mark on Monday five years since the devastating 2010 earthquake hit Haiti. On January 12, 2010, our close friend and neighbor suffered an unimaginable blow: The earthquake left an estimated 230,000 dead, 300,000 injured, countless homes and businesses leveled, and 1.5 million Haitians homeless. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their loved ones they left behind. 

After the tremors stopped, Haitians worked tirelessly to rebuild their nation. Their progress is remarkable.  Rubble no longer impedes reconstruction. The number of displaced persons in tent camps is down more than 90 percent. Basic health indicators are improving. More children are attending primary schools. New jobs are created every day. And Haiti has achieved positive economic growth for each of the past four years.

I’m proud that millions of Americans generously donated to Haiti’s relief, including Len and Cherylann Gengel – two Massachusetts natives who opened an orphanage in Grand Goave in honor of their daughter, Britney, who died in the earthquake. The United States Government, too, has worked closely with the Haitian government, NGOs, and the Haitian people to help make a difference. Over the past five years, the United States has made available $4 billion for relief and longer-term reconstruction efforts. That support ensured 70,000 Haitian farmers have higher crop yields and incomes; 328,000 displaced Haitians found alternative shelter; nearly half of all Haitians can access basic health services at a U.S. supported facility; 3,300 new police officers were trained and commissioned; and some 5,000 jobs to date were created at the Caracol Industrial Park. Despite this progress, much remains to be done. The years ahead will demand sustained international support for Haiti’s development.

But, first and foremost, Haiti’s success requires greater political stability. As the world reflects on this somber anniversary, I urge Haiti’s leaders to do what is right for their people’s future.  Only with increased stability, including the holding of free and fair elections, now overdue, can Haiti ensure the rights of its citizens and attract the foreign investment needed to create economic opportunity and reduce poverty. The example of President Martelly, who is working hard to make real compromises, is one to emulate.  I call on Haiti’s leaders to settle outstanding issues blocking the organization of parliamentary elections as soon as possible.

Today – just as we did five years ago – the United States stands firmly with the Haitian people in their efforts to forge a more prosperous, secure, and democratic future. Together we can achieve these goals, because, in the words of Haiti’s motto and coat of arms, l’union fait la force – unity makes strength.

Pope names new envoy to Haiti on 5th anniversary of devastating quake

Published January 10, 2015Associated Press

VATICAN CITY –  Pope Francis has named a new envoy to Haiti as he emphasized that much work still needs to be done to rebuild the country five years after the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake.

The Vatican announced Saturday the appointment of Archbishop Eugene Martin Nugent as papal nuncio to Haiti. Nugent has been the church's nuncio to Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles, as well as apostolic delegate in the nearby Comoros Islands.

The pope earlier addressed a meeting on Haiti organized by the pontifical commission for Latin America, expressing gratitude "to all those who in numerous ways came to the aid of the Haitian people" after the quake.

The pontiff noted that while much has been done to rebuild Haiti, "we cannot ignore the fact that much remains to be done."

Haiti 5 years after quake, still troubled

DAVID McFADDEN

Jan 10th 2015 12:26AMPORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- Before the earth shook and turned their lives upside down, Rosena Dordor was like millions of poor Haitians, living with her family in a cramped home with no running water or sanitation, struggling to get by and fearing the next rent increase would force them out.

Today, nearly five years after the devastating 7.0 earthquake, Dordor has a new place to live with her husband and five children: a one-room shack with a plastic tarp for a roof and walls made of scrap metal and salvaged wood. It's perched on a cactus- and scrub-covered hillside, a long walk from the nearest source of water, and meals are cooked over fire pits.

Life is still a struggle in Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, but Dordor's new settlement does offer a measure of freedom because there is no landlord for her family or for the tens of thousands of other homesteaders who rushed to stake a claim in arid hills after the government expropriated a barren zone of 18,500 acres (7,500 hectares) just north of Port-au-Prince following the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake.

"We love this place because we have made it our home with our own hands and hearts," Dordor said on a recent morning while shucking castor beans for a hair product she sells to neighbors. The area was initially only meant to house those stuck in tent shelters considered most at risk for floods or landslides, but it is growing so fast that U.S. State Department officials say the settlement could soon be considered Haiti's second largest city.

The country's complicated housing problems are perhaps the biggest drag on an uneven recovery that has nonetheless improved the lives of many poor Haitians, who say they prefer their living situations now compared to before the quake.

The disaster prompted a huge influx of international assistance, with governments and aid groups arriving to offer both immediate help and long-term development. One of the worst natural disasters of modern times, the quake killed an estimated 300,000 people, damaged or destroyed more than 300,000 buildings in densely packed Port-au-Prince and largely obliterated the government, toppling nearly all ministry buildings. Prisons and police stations crumbled into ruins.

Officials repeatedly said they would be "building back better," and in many ways they have made progress toward that goal.

The two-lane highway running nearly 100 miles from Port-au-Prince to Gonaives is a smooth river of asphalt, not the bone-jarring, off-road experience it was before the quake. There's a new international airport in Cap-Haitien, and hundreds of new schools. Several new hotels have opened, including known brands such as Best Western for the first time in decades. Direct foreign investment in Haiti reached $250 million last year, up from $4 million in 2001, according to the government.

Today, work crews in downtown Port-au-Prince are raising frames for new government offices. The rubble of the national palace has been removed. The wrecked historic Iron Market was rebuilt by Haiti's biggest employer, mobile phone company Digicel. The grim camps and shantytowns that once sheltered some 1.5 million people now hold about 80,000, and the government says they will all be moved out by mid-2015. The police force is being professionalized while growing from about 8,000 officers to roughly 12,000.

Yet the recovery has been uneven at best, plagued by poor planning and accusations of graft. And a worsening political standoff is one sign that progress since the disaster is tenuous.

President Michel Martelly, a former pop star who took office in May 2011, has been embroiled in a stalemate with lawmakers over parliamentary elections, delayed for over three years. Many fear a failure to resolve the gridlock could plunge the country back into familiar chaos.

Critics, meanwhile, say the construction of new slums is not an answer to Haiti's many problems.

"If the international community wants to pat itself on the back for building new Haitian shantytowns, with the collusion of the Martelly government, fine. I don't see evidence of sustainable change for the better," Amy Wilentz, author of "Farewell, Fred Voodoo: A Letter from Haiti," and other works about the Caribbean nation, said via email.

Many poor Haitians say their lives have been complicated by a rising cost of living and lack of jobs, and they put the blame squarely on the government for failing to create opportunities.

"I love my country but it's still struggling thanks to our politicians," said Genyca Wilhelm, a former math teacher who hopes to find work by training to be a car mechanic. "Our international friends have been helping us, yes, but Haiti will always be Haiti. That is good news and bad news."

More than $12.4 billion in humanitarian and development aid and debt relief was pledged by more than 50 countries and international agencies, with at least 80 percent of that disbursed, according to the United Nations.

The U.S., the largest individual donor, provided $1.3 billion in humanitarian aid and committed an additional $2.7 billion for longer-term reconstruction and development, nearly two-thirds of which has been disbursed. American aid has been channeled toward rebuilding the infrastructure and economy, improving health care and law enforcement. It included developing an industrial park in northern Haiti as part of a strategy to encourage development outside Port-au-Prince.

Economic growth is what Haiti needs most, said Thomas C. Adams, the State Department's special coordinator for Haiti.

The economy has had modest growth since 2011 and if the country can keep that pace for 25 years or so, it could become a middle-income country like neighboring Dominican Republic, Adams said.

"Whether they can continue depends on whether they can maintain stability and attract foreign investment, because foreign aid by itself is not enough to fix everything in Haiti," he said.

Some Haitians dared to dream that the aid flowing in after the disaster would make their lives dramatically better. Etienne Edeva, who lives a short drive from Dordor's homestead in a planned area known as Camp Corail, now says it was unrealistic to expect so much change for troubled Haiti.

"We're living in darkness here, but miserable or not we're getting by and making the best of it," said Edeva, who runs a bakery out of her home.

On the sunbaked hillsides north of the capital, Haitians are taking care of things on their own even as the government asks for U.S. help in planning the growing towns. Though poor, Haitian families here remain hopeful and, happy with the bit of progress they've made, they have no desire to return to the Port-au-Prince slums where landlords kept jacking up rents.

Modest businesses have opened in the settlements: barber shops, food stalls, lottery shops, hardware stores selling rebar and wood. Small scrapwood churches and enterprising Voodoo priests bring in the faithful. The wealthiest homesteaders have graduated from homes of tarp and timber to cinderblock.

Outside her hillside shack, Dordor says she has no plans to live anywhere else

"It's either God or death that will move me from here," she said. "In the name of God, we will build a concrete house here someday."

With her children gathered around her, a gust of wind shook the tarp ceiling of their crudely made but cherished home.

Associated Press writer Ben Fox in Miami contributed to this report.

Haiti protesters rally to demand president's departure as political stalemate continues

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Protesters burned tires and threw rocks at police during the latest anti-government demonstration in Haiti's capital amid a bitter political stalemate over long-delayed elections.

The gathering of mostly young men reached a peak of about 1,500 Saturday as protesters called for the departure of President Michel Martelly.

Riot police fired tear gas and sprayed water from an armored vehicle, dispersing the crowd near where the National Palace stood before it collapsed in Haiti's 2010 earthquake.

There has been no letup in violent protests since last month's resignation of Martelly's prime minister and other concessions aimed at resolving the stalemate holding up legislative elections.

Haiti faces an uncertain political future in coming days with Senate seats expiring Monday. If a last-minute agreement isn't reached, Martelly will soon rule by decree.

There is no Ebola case in Haiti, says acting PM

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti (CMC) — Health officials have dismissed reports that a case of Ebola has been detected in the country.

On Saturday, Dr Florence D Guillaume, minister of public health, told the Haitian Caribbean News Network that the reports of an Ebola case being detected in the vicinity of Petite Riviere de l'Artibonite, in the northern region of the country were totally false.

"There are ill-intentioned people spreading such rumours," said Guillaume, the acting prime minister

According to Guillaume, the depoliticisation of the health sector was "an essential principle for the restoration of trust and confidence in the response to provide to individuals who require care and services for prevention, maintaining or the restoration of their health in case of illness".

The Ministry of Health has, meanwhile, called on the population "to remain calm and to respect all disclosed prevention regulations while making the duty, if any were needed, to reassure every one of the effectiveness of the vigilance system in place to reduce significantly the risk of contamination of our country".

Ebola is an infectious and generally fatal disease marked by fever and severe internal bleeding, spread through contact with infected body fluids.

There is no known cure for the Ebola virus which has killed more than 7,000 people, mainly in West Africa.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 20 janvier 2015

 US Vice President’s Call with Haitian President Michel Martelly

The Vice President spoke today with Haitian President Michel Martelly, continuing their dialogue on the United States’ long-term support for Haiti’s reconstruction, development, and democratic progress. The Vice President commended President Martelly for his efforts to reach a negotiated agreement with the Haitian parliament and political parties to allow Haiti to hold elections. The Vice President recognized that President Martelly made several important concessions in order to reach consensus, and expressed disappointment that Haiti’s Parliament did not pass an electoral law before lapsing on January 12. The Vice President reiterated the support of the United States and the international community as President Martelly works to organize timely elections this year to permit Haitians to exercise their democratic right to choose their representatives. He also reaffirmed that the United States remains Haiti’s committed friend and partner and looks forward to deepening bilateral cooperation as President Martelly’s Administration works to build a more prosperous and secure future for the Haitian people.

Dominican Republic “seals” border on Haiti turmoil

Santo Domingo - Dominican Republic’s Defense Ministry has "sealed" the border on Haiti political instability, with heightened patrols by highly trained troops, ready to act against any adversity.

Haiti opposition groups on Wednesday (January, 14) called for civil disobedience, which further jeopardizes President Michel Martelly’s Administration.

The measure however doesn’t include additional troops, according to Border Security (CESFRONT) director Carlos Aguirre, who affirmed that there are enough soldiers to patrol and deal with any problems that could emerge in the heels of the call.

He did confirm constant patrols along the entire 370 kilometer border, which in his view has attracted the attention of many people.

The official said the implementation of ‘Operation Shield’ has halted the illegal entry of more than 15,000 Haitians or nearly 1,000 daily, just in the first two weeks of January.

Aguirre added that the forces deployed are well equipped to patrol the area and affirmed that precautions have been taken to avert any regretful situation at the border.

Every Haitian detained while trying to enter illegally is subjected to a thorough background check to determine their true identity and arrest Haitian fugitives, a Defense Ministry source told diariolibre.com.do.

Dominican Republic arrests prosecutors, 21 cops after 1 ton of seized cocaine disappears

SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC (AP) – A court in the Dominican Republic has ordered the arrest of three prosecutors and 21 police officers accused of not reporting drug seizures involving more than a ton of cocaine that has since disappeared.

Among those accused is the former director of an anti-narcotics unit, who is among the dozen of suspects that have been arrested. Authorities are still seeking to arrest the remainder.

"In one way or another they became drug traffickers," said General Prosecutor Francisco Domínguez. "This type of situation is unacceptable."

One of the three drug seizures occurred in September near Santo Domingo, where 950 kilograms (2,000 pounds) of cocaine were discovered but never turned over to authorities, he said.

Domínguez said he believes some of the drugs were sold, adding that some suspects have turned over the cash from the alleged transactions. Authorities are still investigating whether some of the drugs were returned as part of a bribe.

The investigation began in December after Police Chief Manuel Castro noticed the missing drugs.

The arrests are the latest in an ongoing crackdown on corruption in the Caribbean country's police force.

A 2011 Amnesty International report found that some 12,000 police officers were accused of corruption between 2007 and 2010. It is unclear how many of those cases were tied to drug trafficking.

Help could have been better

(THE ECONOMIST)

In future disasters the West should not treat the victims or the government like bystanders

FEW countries have suffered an earthquake so devastating, or have been less prepared for such a calamity. The quake that struck Haiti on January 12th 2010 killed perhaps 200,000 people—no one is sure how many—left 1.5 million homeless and caused economic damage equivalent to 120% of the country’s GDP. A cholera epidemic compounded the misery. These disasters called forth the biggest-ever outpouring of humanitarian relief, worth some $9.5 billion in the first three years after the quake. The well-wishers vowed, in the words of Bill Clinton, who helped co-ordinate their early efforts, to “build back better.” Yet five years later, the country is little better off than it was before the disaster—and in some ways it is worse.

The most visible devastation has largely been cleared away. Only about 85,000 people are still stuck under plastic in displacement camps. But many of the rest have moved to makeshift dwellings in slums without sanitation. Port-au-Prince, the overcrowded capital of an over-centralized country, is more jammed than ever. If another earthquake hits, the death toll might be even higher. Corruption, shoddy infrastructure and political instability discourage private investment, which Haiti desperately needs to bring down unemployment and raise its pitiful wages. A ferocious battle between the president, Michel Martelly, and the opposition came to a head on January 12th, when parliament’s mandate expired. This leaves Martelly free to govern by decree, which will do nothing to reassure Haitians or investors.

How did so many humanitarians bearing so much cash accomplish so little? The failure to “build back better” contains lessons for those who would rush to help when disaster strikes an impoverished country.

Haiti before the quake, though not quite a failed state, was a fragile one. A tortured history has stunted its institutions. It took a slave revolt and payment of crippling reparations to free Haiti from France. America marched in to enforce payment of debts in 1915 and did not fully withdraw until 32 years later. Many senior officials died in the quake that flattened the capital in 2010, further enfeebling the state.

But the rescuers did little to build up Haiti’s capacity to govern itself. Less than 10% of spending for relief and recovery went through government agencies. That is chiefly because many officials were corrupt and obstructive. The government demanded big fees to allow in medicines, vehicles and other relief supplies, for example. Local NGOs received even less. Foreign aid agencies set up a logistics compound where they held meetings in English. That helped them co-ordinate with one another but left Haitian organizations in the cold.

This spurning of Haiti’s institutions came at a high cost. Eager to impress donors at home, aid agencies built clinics, but the government was left without money to pay doctors and nurses. Foreign contractors saw far more of their money than did local businesses. The mistrust of officialdom was understandable, but experience in other poor countries shows that it is possible to funnel money through governments while strengthening their ability to monitor how it is spent.

It could have been better

“Non-traditional” donors such as Venezuela did not circumvent Haiti’s government. Some of the money from its PetroCaribe program, which lets participants buy oil with credit on subsidized terms and invest the profits from reselling it, was usefully spent on infrastructure. But this encouraged Haiti to accumulate debt. Should Venezuela, whose economy is suffering from the slump in oil prices, withdraw its subsidy, Haiti now risks disaster. The country needs grants, not more debt.

The progress from being a fragile state to becoming a functional one is inevitably slow. The World Bank reckons that even the fastest reformers require 15-30 years to move from Haiti’s level of institutional development to Ghana’s. Yet today’s political crisis suggests that Haiti may be moving in the wrong direction. Outsiders can do little to stabilize democracy in the country. But the 2010 tragedy could have been an opportunity to work through its institutions rather than around them, making them stronger. Unfortunately, Haiti’s friends did not make the most of it.

Earthquake: Warning for the region

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – The Seismic Research Centre (SRC) of the University of the West Indies (UWI) is warning the region to “move expeditiously” towards building resilience amid predictions of the Caribbean being hit with an earthquake with a magnitude of eight or larger.

“We must develop, legislate and enforce Building Codes using up-to-date seismic hazard maps based on the latest available science. Preparedness measures at the individual levels are insufficient and greater efforts are needed to facilitate self-resilience,” the SRC said in a statement as it marked the fifth anniversary of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that rocked Haiti in 2010, killing an estimated 300,000 people.

The SRC said that the earthquake in Haiti “should have been the wakeup call for a fundamental shift in regional mechanisms for coping with seismic hazards”.

It said major earthquake disasters around the world have stimulated similar shifts and resulted in greater resilience to seismic hazards in these regions.

“This has not happened in the Caribbean and the region continues to be extremely vulnerable to seismic events,” the SRC said, adding “research suggests that the region is capable of generating an earthquake of magnitude 6.0 or larger every 3-5 years.

“Of more concerns, we are long overdue for a magnitude 8.0 earthquake, which has 32 times more energy than the Haiti event. In light of these sobering facts, it is imperative for the region to move expeditiously towards building resilience to such events,” it added.

The SRC said that while there have been advances in many areas, “the effectiveness of the implemented strategy from country to country still needs to be measured.

“The need for broad based impact assessments for seismic hazards and risks is now greater than ever with clearly established short term and long term objectives. Every year that passes without the necessary measures being in place is a year closer to a repeat of the Haiti disaster. Now is the time to be ready,” the SRC added.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 27 janvier 2015

 New French ambassador in Haiti

Elisabeth Beton-Delègue was appointed as the new French Ambassador to Haiti in order to replace Ambassador Patrick Nicoloso, who was accredited in Haiti on June 29th, 2013, but was recently called to other functions.

Leonela Relys Díaz has left us

Last Saturday, the author Leonela Relys Díaz who was also an educator and the creator of the program to eliminate illiteracy "Yo, í puedo" (Wi mwen kapab), died of cancer. Her program broadcasted in Haiti, and later in the Dominican Republic, help hundreds of thousands of people learn how to read and write.

Did you know?

Ten percent of the richest Haitians possess 70 percent of all of the country’s income. While two out of three Haitians live on less than two dollars a day, 82 percent of those are in rural areas.

The disparities on the island are going to continue to increase, experts said.
During the First "Forum of the Dominican diplomacy" which ended last Friday, Temístocles Montás, Dominican Minister of the Economy, Planning and Development declared to the diplomatic corps, that Haiti was the highest priority for his country’s foreign policy, "Not only because of the importance in economic terms but especially for the implications of the migratory pressure on the Dominican nation and the implementation of big national development objectives."
In his speech, he declared, that according to the projections of "The Millenium Project: Latinoamérica on 2030" and of the "Frederick S. Pardee Center for International Futures" of the University of Denver, the disparities between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, are going to increase on the horizon of 2030, "When the objectives fixed in the national Strategy of development (of the RD) will be reached."
The Secretary indicated that according to these reports, in 2030, the population of the island will reach 25 million inhabitants. The Gross domestic product per capita (GDP) in Dominican Republic will be at $12,000 in 2030, compared to $5,296 in 2010.  Whereas for Haiti it will be at $1,043, compared to $720 in 2010. "It means that the income gap between the two countries will increase if the current trends remain. The GDP per capita in Haiti represented 13.6 percent of the Dominican GDP in 2010, and would represent no more than 9 percent in 2030. Temístocles Montás underlined that the migratory pressure from Haiti towards the Dominican Republic, will increase compared to the current migratory flow.

Haiti minister at U.N. asks world to support new government

(Reuters) - Haiti's foreign minister on Monday asked the U.N. Security Council and the rest of the world to continue supporting the impoverished Caribbean nation after President Michel Martelly named a new cabinet to end street protests.

Martelly announced his cabinet choices via Facebook late on Sunday night, keeping the ministers of defense, foreign affairs, health, tourism, education and public works in their jobs and appointing allies to the key positions of planning minister and secretary of state for public security.

The announcement was part of an attempt to end a wave of street demonstrations against Martelly's rule.

"We'd like the Security Council as well as all of our partners in the international community to continue to back the government and people of Haiti as they move toward shoring up the rule of law and democracy," Haiti's Foreign Minister Duly Brutus told the 15-nation council.

He added that Haiti "has overcome successfully the crisis which was threatening to undercut the achievements and results of the stabilization program undertaken over the past decade."

Brutus was speaking at a special Security Council session on the connection between development, peace and security.

Haiti has a long history of coups, uprisings and dictatorships and the dissolution of parliament raised fears that it is again on a slippery slope toward violent unrest.

Although Martelly is barred from re-election, his opponents accuse him of engineering the current crisis in order to promote his own candidate to succeed him in election late this year, possibly even his wife, Sophia Martelly.

Haiti is struggling to overcome decades of instability. It is recovering from a devastating 2010 earthquake and a cholera epidemic that has killed thousands and is widely blamed on U.N. peacekeepers.

The United Nations has not accepted responsibility for the cholera outbreak.

Commercial activities on the Haitian-Dominican border have been paralyzed

The market of Jimani / Malpasse was again surrounded on Tuesday, January 13th, 2015 because of an imposed 2,500-peso tax demanded by Dominican authorities to Haitian students and vendors who spent more than 30 days in the Dominican Republic.

The union members of the Association of the Carriers and Workers of Malpasse (ATTM) in Founds-Parisien began a strike since Monday, January 12th, to demand that Dominican authorities cancel this measure, which they declared illegal. They also intend to denounce the mass repatriations of Haitian that begun on January 2nd, according to GARR.

On January 12th and 13th, 2015, vendors and customers who had come to do business at the border market of Jimani, had to turn back because commercial activities were paralyzed, according to eyewitnesses.

Romain Dérissaint, who heads the ATTM, denounced the decision taken by the Dominican authorities which requires every Haitian vendor present a valid passport in order to have access to the border market of Jimani.

The union activist also denounced the ill-treatment subjected to Haitian migrants during repatriations.

In only one day (January 12th, 2015), 43 Haitians among whom 13 women and 8 children were repatriated at the border of Jimani / Malpasse. These repatriated people were intercepted in the streets of the Dominican Republic whereas they attended to their ordinary activities.

"I work as cleaning lady for Dominican woman. I was quite surprised when immigration agents picked me up at my home with my 4 children and brought me to the Jimani border," confided a woman to two GARR representatives who were on site.

It should be highlighted that since the signature of the draft agreement on the mechanisms of Haitians' repatriations signed on December 2nd, 1999 by Haitian and Dominican authorities, GARR always denounced its violation during repatriations. GARR has continued to plead nonstop for its effective application.

A binational meeting during which representatives of the Haitian and Dominican National police force participated, as well as transportation union representatives, and the general of the Dominican Armed forces took place at the Jimani border in the afternoon of January 12th, 2015. At this meeting, no decision favorable to the resolution of this conflict was taken. Another meeting took place on Friday, January 16th with the aim of the freeing up commercial activities on Jimani / Malpasse border.

Belgium will still not have a Haitian ambassador

Belgium has been waiting since the last fall for Haiti to appoint another ambassador. Since his arrival in 2013, the current appointee never received the approval of the Belgian and European authorities, according to the publication “La Libre Belgique.”

On his Wikipedia page, Josué Pierre-Louis appears as "the extraordinary messenger and the authorized agent of Haiti with the European Union and with the Kingdom of Belgium." Actually, he was never recognized as ambassador since he arrived in Brussels in 2013.

"We refused the approval, and we would like him to leave,” summarized a Belgian diplomat. In a letter to Haitian authorities last fall, Brussel asked that a new ambassador be appointed. To date, according to this diplomat, no replied to this letter has been received.

The European Union (EU), following Belgian’s decision, also refused to accredit him in the second half-year of 2013. "It is a rather exceptional procedure ", a European state employee recognized. " There are cases of ambassadors to a country that topples over during a coup d'état. These people find themselves suddenly on the other side of the regime. But here the man was sent by his own country".

Josué Pierre - Louis's reaction

Mr. Pierre-Louis will be next week in Brussels. For the moment he is in Haiti, explained his secretary, following phone calls from of “Libre Begique.”

He hopes that Belgium is going to reconsider its position and asserts that the new Haitian government will address this case as soon as a Parliament will have been formed.

How to bring the Brazilian companies in Haiti?

The Inter-American Development Bank (BID) in partnership with the Center for Facilitation of Investments (CFI), and the Association of Haitian Industries (ADIH) organized a workshop under the theme "How to bring Brazilian companies to Haiti?" The event focused on the possibilities of inter-cultural management, as well as development strategies for the assembly sector between Brazil and Haiti. This workshop was managed by Xavier S. Casademunt, director of the Business Administration School of Brazil (ESADE) and professor-partner in the Internationalization of "ESADE Business School."

Mass visitors

Members of the United Nations Security Council arrived last Friday to Port-au-Prince for a three day visit. They were scheduled to have discussions with the highest authorities of the country including President Michel Martelly in particular on the question of holding elections.

Meanwhile, a delegation of the Madrid Club is expected, on January 27th, 28th and 29th in the capital to also discuss the case for elections. It will be led by former Mexican president, Luiz Felipe Calderon and former Bolivian president Jorge Kiroga.

Demonstrations against the French weekly magazine Charlie in Niger: five people were killed

The final count on the violence in Niamey amounts to five deaths, said the president of Niger Mahamadou Issoufou in a speech to the nation, last Saturday evening. Four people died in church fires, and the fifth one in a bar, specified the head of state.

The persecution of churches continued for the large part of the day. Many of them, in particular the church Saint Augustin of Niamey, in the city’s outskirts, was left in smoke. All in all, about twenty Christian places of worship and churches were set on fire. Out of the approximate fifty churches in Niamey, very few of them today have been left in good condition.

As for the main cathedral of Niamey, It was secured early on by security forces and its priests were evacuated under cover, according to sources close to the church. The most significant damage was caused by groups of young people on motorcycles, carrying Molotov cocktails that were thrown in churches, bars, restaurants and hotels.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 11 février 2015

 Protesters march in Haiti capital to demand lower gasoline prices, call for president's ouster

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – At least 6,000 protesters marched through Haiti's capital Saturday to demand lower gas prices and the ouster of President Michel Martelly.

The protest in Port-au-Prince remained peaceful overall although police briefly threw tear gas and dispersed a crowd that had thrown trash and tires in the street to block traffic.

The protest, which diminished in strength as the afternoon wore on, was the latest in a series of demonstrations over recent weeks fueled by anger over gas prices.

The government recently lowered the price by about 25 cents to $4.50 a gallon and diesel prices dropped by about 20 cents to $3.55, but protesters say the reductions don't fully reflect the global drop in oil prices.

"The cost of living is too high," said Joel Pierre, a welder who joined Saturday's protest instead of going to work.

He said he also would join in a two-day general strike scheduled to start Monday that is aimed at forcing a shutdown of schools, banks and other institutions.

"We need to let the government know that this is serious," Pierre said.

Bus drivers struck for two days earlier in the week, stranding hundreds of thousands of workers and students.

Protesters also remain angry that President Michel Martelly began ruling by decree last month after parliament was dissolved. Long-delayed elections have not been held.

Haiti-Venezuela: the oil story

Venezuela has given Haiti tankers of oil under preferential financing terms for years. What’s not to love?

When Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez passed away earlier this year, Haiti announced a three-day period of national mourning for the man who had become “a great friend of Haiti.” One month later, President Michel Martelly’s administration announced that it would name Haiti’s second largest airport after the late Venezuelan leader.

The fêting wasn’t out of the blue. Back in 2007, thousands of Haitians spilled into the streets to welcome Chávez during a state visit that marked a new agreement with then-president René Préval. That deal has brought 26 million barrels of oil and other petroleum products to the country under preferential financing terms, which has also allowed Haiti to fund a host of other development projects. The conspicuous power plants and roads funded by the program are one reason that Haitians champion Chávez and his country so much.

Venezuela started PetroCaribe – part regional alliance, part bulwark against U.S. influence in Latin America – in 2005. The program now gives 18 countries access to oil under preferential financing terms. In Haiti’s case, it works like this: Venezuela sends the country petroleum products – a total of $2.8 billion-worth as of July 2013. (The oil accounts for 11,000 of the 12,000 barrels of oil Haiti uses each day.) Haiti then sells the fuel to local energy and petrol companies. The exact terms depend on international oil prices, but Haiti pays Venezuela for about 40 percent of the fuel imports up front. The remaining 60 percent is payable over the next 25 years at 1 percent interest, with a two-year grace period. In the meantime, that chunk of money can be used by the central government for other projects.

It’s a significant source of revenue. During a June visit from Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela’s new president, Martelly said that the program funded 94 percent of all current infrastructure, agriculture, and education projects. “The majority of reconstruction projects,” he said, “such as roads, housing, hospitals, squares, and public buildings currently running in the country are financed from PetroCaribe funds.” An airport runway in Cap-Haïtien was one such project, hence the Hugo Chávez International Airport moniker.

The de facto aid that comes via PetroCaribe goes straight into government coffers and can be used however the state sees fit. That sort of unrestricted and direct funding is a far cry from most external money Haiti receives. In the two years following the January 2010 earthquake, donors sent less than 1 percent of the billions in aid money to the Haitian government. Almost 80 percent of money sent by the U.S. government was awarded to contractors in the Washington, D.C., area.

Because the loan on the PetroCaribe money will ostensibly come due one day, the funds are supposed to be used in ways that will provide a return – “growth-enhancing investment projects,” as the International Monetary Fund puts it (p. 13). That’s one reason Parliament demanded an explanation from the Prime Minister’s office in May when it suspected mismanagement of the oil funds. But even setting aside those worries, the structure underpinning Haiti’s PetroCaribe system may be another cause for consternation.

Once local energy companies pay for the imported fuel, they transform it into power and then sell it right back to the state through Électricité d’Haïti (EDH), the national utility. EDH then distributes electricity to Haitian homes and businesses. But its grids have deteriorated over decades of neglect, its offices lack effective billing and collection systems, and thousands of DIY connections siphon electricity away illegally. The consequence is that EDH collects revenues for only 19 percent of the electricity it provides, Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe has said. The Haitian government has covered the shortfall with subsidies, recently to the tune of about $200 million in annual losses.

Not all Venezuelan fuel imports are burned to produce electricity. Some go to gas companies and, eventually, to power the vehicles of the drivers who clog Port-au-Prince streets nearly every hour of every day. Others wind up running the diesel generators that power pockets of the country during blackouts. The prices at the pump for gasoline, diesel, and kerosene haven’t changed in more two years (p. 12), even though world fuel prices and shipping costs fluctuate regularly. The pump-price stability is no accident; the Haitian government adjusts excise taxes and customs duties on fuel – it forgoes revenues, and sometimes provides outright subsidies – to keep the prices stable.

Giving electricity to people who would otherwise have none and cheap gas to everyone is good politics but terrible economics. The IMF notes that energy and fuel subsidies are expensive and inefficient ways to help the poor – and that every subsidy must be paid for by someone, somewhere, eventually. The rich use much more energy than the poor and therefore benefit the most, energy subsidies can crowd-out the very sort of ‘growth-enhancing’ public investment PetroCaribe is supposed to support, and fuel subsidies encourage overconsumption and increase pollution. Haiti’s years-long Venezuelan-fuel bender is more than enough to give pause to anyone whose parents ever told them not to buy gas or groceries on a credit card.

As inflation, slow growth, and product shortages plague Maduro’s people at home, Venezuela has recently decided to double PetroCaribe interest rates for some countries. Haiti’s rate remains unchanged so far.

Perhaps the Haitian debt that is slowly snowballing under PetroCaribe will never actually come due. Venezuela already canceled the $395 million that was owed under the program after the 2010 earthquake. Haiti has accumulated more than $1.1 billion in PetroCaribe debt in the three-plus years since the quake, but as the least-well-off country in the program, it may receive more grace than the other 17 members. Or, with a joint Venezuela-Haiti entity in the works that will soon assume responsibility for the account – and its debt – maybe the Haitian government will be able to distance itself from the fallout of any possible future default. In the meantime, Haiti’s administration has asked to pay part of its bill with crop exports, including coffee and mangoes. They will amount to an estimated $12 million yearly, perhaps enough to cover a month’s-worth of oil repayments.

Haiti has deep ties to Venezuela; heads of state from the two nations can hardly meet without rehashing the story of early–19th-century Haitian President Alexandre Pétion providing Simón Bolívar with sanctuary and military aid in his quest to win Latin American independence from Spain. The destiny of the oil deal and its aftereffects may write the next chapter of the two countries’ relations – and determine how Haitians ultimately view Chávez and his legacy to their country.

US PRESSING CUBA FOR DIPLOMATIC TIES…

(Reuters) - The United States is pressing Cuba to allow the opening of its embassy in Havana by April, U.S. officials told Reuters, despite the Communist island's demand that it first be removed from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.

A refusal by Cuba to allow the United States to quickly establish an official embassy for the first time in half a century could complicate talks between the Cold War foes, reflecting enduring mistrust as they move to end decades of confrontation.

Striking Cuba from the terrorism list could take until June or longer, although the White House is pushing officials to move quickly, said two U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the State Department's review to take Cuba off the list.

Washington is eager to re-establish diplomatic ties before a regional summit in Panama in April, when President Barack Obama will meet Cuban leader Raul Castro for the first time since 2013, the officials said.

The two leaders announced a historic deal on Dec. 17 to restore relations. U.S. and Cuban diplomats will meet this month or in early March in Washington for a second round of talks.

While renewing diplomatic relations could happen quickly, the process to normalize, including removing the U.S. trade embargo, will take far longer.

Cuba has not made removal from the list a condition for restoring ties, U.S. officials said. But Havana made clear during the first round of talks last month that it first wants to be removed from the terrorism list.

GETTING OFF THE LIST

For Cuba, which considers its designation an injustice, getting removed from the list would be a long-coveted propaganda victory at home and abroad.

Washington placed Cuba on the list in 1982, citing then President Fidel Castro's training and arming of Communist rebels in Africa and Latin America. The list is short: just Iran, Sudan, Syria and Cuba.

But Cuba's presence on the list has been questioned in recent years. The State Department's latest annual "Country Reports on Terrorism" says Cuba has long provided a safe haven for members of the Basque separatist group ETA and Colombia's left-wing FARC guerrillas.

But ETA, severely weakened by Spanish and French police, called a ceasefire in 2011 and has pledged to disarm. And the FARC has been in peace talks with the Colombian government for the past two years, with Cuba as host.

Even the State Department acknowledged in its report that Cuba has made progress. "There was no indication that the Cuban government provided weapons or paramilitary training to terrorist groups," it said.

As part of the U.S. shift in policy toward Cuba, the White House ordered a State Department review of Cuba's listing as a state sponsor of terrorism, the U.S. officials said.

A U.S. national security official said intelligence agencies were under pressure from senior Obama administration officials to complete their role in the removal process by March.

"The process is under way," said the official.

To finalize Cuba's removal, Obama would need to submit to Congress a report stating Havana had not supported terrorism-related activities for six months, and that Cuba has provided assurances that it will not support terrorism in the future. Cuba would be automatically dropped from the list 45 days later.

Getting the embassy open is also tricky.

Converting the six-story U.S. interests sections in Havana into a full-fledged embassy after 53 years would require ending restrictions on the number of U.S. personnel in Havana, limits on diplomats' movements and appointing an ambassador. It would allow the U.S. to renovate the building and have U.S. security posted around the building, replacing Cuban police.

Cuba also wants the United States to scale back its support for Cuban dissidents when the sides meet again. U.S. administration officials have stood firm both publicly and privately that they intend to keep supporting the dissidents.

"I can't imagine that we would go to the next stage of our diplomatic relationship with an agreement not to see democracy activists," U.S. negotiator Roberta Jacobson told a hearing chaired by Sen. Marco Rubio, a vocal Republican opponent of Obama's new Cuba policy.