Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 22 avril 2015

 Cocaine: Jacques Ketant to be freed from prison in Miami

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A onetime Haitian cocaine kingpin who had accused former President Jean Bertrand Aristide of accepting drug-related bribes will soon be released from a U.S. prison after helping prosecutors convict a dozen fellow traffickers, government officials and police officers in a long-running case that exposed Haiti as a “narco-state.”

Beaudouin “Jacques” Ketant saw his 27-year sentence chopped in half on Friday by a federal judge after the U.S. attorney's office in Miami recommended that reduction because of his “substantial assistance” as a witness in other successful prosecutions.

Ketant, 52, has been held at a low-security federal correctional institution in Louisiana and will soon be transferred to immigration authorities. He plans to fight his deportation because of the potential danger that might await him if he returns to his homeland, where Aristide's former bodyguard was recently killed — possibly for cooperating with U.S. authorities after serving a three-year prison sentence in this country.

Haiti: $3 million cocaine, heroin shipment seized

Written by Staff Writer on 15 April 2015.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (sentinel.ht) - The Haitian Brigade Fighting against Drug Trafficking, with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and UN Police on Tuesday seized 77kg of cocaine and 10kg of heroin from a ship at a local port. The bust has a value of about $3 million [US]

The arrest comes days after US Marshals arrested the Haitian adjoint Director of PIHDH, Limongy Jean, a former deputy of the 48th Legislature. PIHDH is a program tasked with providing identification documents to Haitians living in irregular circumstances in foreign countries. Jean is said to have been found in possession of an official Haitian diplomatic passport and his capture as well as this massive drug bust, is fueling much speculation in Haiti.

Radio hosts believe a shipment of that size cannot be transported without a great level of coordination from people of influence.

U.N. calls for swift investigation in death of Chilean peacekeeper in northern Haiti

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04/14/2015 1:34 PM 04/14/2015 4:15 PM

U.N. officials are calling on Haitian authorities to conduct a “swift investigation” into the death of a Chilean peacekeeper who died of injuries from a gunshot wound Monday in the northeast region of Haiti.

Rodrigo Andrés Sanhueza Soto was on his way to administrative duty when his vehicle came under fire in the northeast city of Ouanaminthe near the Haiti-Dominican Republic border. He is a second sergeant serving in the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti known by its French acronym, MINUSTAH.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his sincere condolences to the family of the peacekeeper as well as to the government and the people of Chile.

“The Secretary-General calls for a swift investigation and urges the Haitian authorities to do everything possible to bring those responsible to justice,” the U.N. said in a statement.

The incident was also condemned by the members of the Security Council. Members said they too look forward “to the completion of a full and comprehensive investigation to determine the facts and circumstances of the incident.”

A U.N. team was dispatched to the area soon after the incident. Ban’s special representative in Haiti, Sandra Honoré, equally condemned the violence and killing, and has offered UNPOL support to Haitian authorities in order for the “perpetrator to be brought to justice without delay.”

“Armed violence is a criminal act, which not only endangers people’s security, but also the gains in peace and stability that the Haitian population has achieved so far,” Honoré said. “The mission continues to urge all Haitian stakeholders, civil society, political, religious and community leaders to continuously work against violence in all its forms.”

The violent demonstration, which was over a lack of electricity, comes as Haiti enters the electoral period. The country is scheduled to hold the first round of legislative elections for two-thirds of the Senate and the House of Deputies on Aug. 9. Legislative runoffs and local elections will be held alongside presidential elections on Oct. 25. If no one wins the presidency outright, a runoff will be held Dec. 27.

Last week, registration opened for legislative candidates. Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) has approved 166 political parties and platforms to participate in the balloting.

Jet Blue Airways throws (launches) its direct flight from Port-au-Prince to Boston

The discount carrier, JetBlue Airways, confirmed that on Wednesday, June 17th, 2015, it will launch a new seasonal flight without layover from Boston to Port-au-Prince. In preparation for this launch, Maryse Noel, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of  Tourism, accompanied by Pascale Hilaire of the Promotion Department and Samuel Daméus, who heads the Communication Department, received company representatives at the ministry as special guests. Representing Jet Blue were Elsa España, who manages marketing in Latin America and the Caribbean and Elsy Viala Générale Manager for the company in Haiti. It should be noted that Jet Blue Airways has offered air services to Haiti since December 5th, 2013 with flights connecting Fort Lauderdale and New York in Port-au-Prince.

Everything is ready for the deportations of citizens living in the Dominican Republic in irregular status…

In honor of the 6th anniversary of the foundation for the executive office of  Dominican Immigration, Jose Ricardo Taveras, the Director of Immigration, declared that everything was ready to begin deportation procedures of the foreigners (of any nationality) with irregular status in the Dominican territory, according to the law, following the completion of the National Plan of Regularization of Foreigners (PNRE) on June 17th of this year.

"The law is there, and its implementation will be at the appropriate time." As for the necessary financial resources for the application of immigration policies starting in mid-June, he indicated that the executive office was waiting for the intervention of President Danilo Médina" but what I can assure you, is that the President is going to help us in this respect."

He explained, in order to clear up any misunderstanding, the deportation will not be about the hunting of, or the persecution of, people in illegal situations. He specified that no deportation will take place within 24 hours, but that it will be a process supported in time, with respect for dignity and for human rights. "At first, the foreign citizens who are in the country will be invited to leave voluntarily. Secondly, if they do not leave voluntarily, through diverse mechanisms set up by the law, they will be sent back to their country of origin ".

André Navarro, the Minister of Dominican Foreign Affairs, also announced that the process of eviction, in particular for Haitian nationals in illegal situation (who) represent most of the concerned foreigners), will begin on a national scale, next June. He indicated that this process will be negotiated with the nearby authorities within the framework of the Bilateral Joint committee.

Dominicans lift suspension of freight trucks into Haiti

Written by Staff Writer on 15 April 2015.

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (sentinel.ht) - Less than 24 hours after announcing the suspension of freight trucks into Haiti, due to alleged acts of violence and looting, the Dominican National Federation of Transportation (Fenatrado) said transports would be resumed Wednesday morning.

Fenetrado Secretary General, Geovanny Escotto, said that Haitian and Dominican officials held a meeting at the provincial governor's headquarters and pledged to compensate for the merchandise said to have been lost by four trucks. These losses are estimated at about $90,000.

Escotto also said that the Haitian National Police recovered some of the stolen merchandise. He said a judge and a prosecutor are currently performing an inventory of the losses.

Fenetrado says provincial governor Ramona Rodriguez, and CESFRONT Chief Brigadier General Carlos Aguirre Reyes, are engaged in following up on the situation.

The Dominican military authorities ordered a strengthening of surveillance at the border of this province with Haiti to prevent further unrest. Every Monday and Friday, traders Dominican and Haitian celebrate binational Mercano in which several millions of pesos are mobilized.

It should be noted, on the Haitian side, many seem unaffected by Fenetrado's suspension, believing that unfair trade policies exist and a boycott of Dominican products should be in effect.

Mogul predicts ‘development boom’ along Haiti-Dominican border

Santo Domingo.- Vicini group executive Juan B. Vicini on Monday said potential areas to invest in have been identified along the border with Haiti and forecasts around US$3.0 billion to develop projects.

He said renewable energy and agribusiness projects can be developed in several strategic points which he affirms can transform the border and include Manzanillo port in Montecristi province, Lake Azuey and the Artibonite river basin.

Vicini said an agro project and an energy storage system could be developed on the river basin and next to the lake.

The sugar cane mogul noted that the port doesn’t require a large investment and stressed that it’s the closest point to the US Eastern Seaboard, with a high return on investment. "What we’re trying to create is a development boom in that area so it becomes an attractive spot for the population."

Interviewed on Sol de la Mañana radio program, the business leader said the viable projects will be announced here and in Haiti through universities and other organizations to engage stakeholders. He said they’ll also integrate the community in the areas where the initiatives will have an impact, with a guaranteed "to give participation.”

Vicini said developing the border area is the ideal way for the Dominican Republic to contribute to solve Haiti’s economic and social crisis, by creating jobs and attracting investment, in addition to the benefits for both nations. "When you join resources from one country with another on a border for a common good (...) it bolsters investment. It’s possible to seek harmonious solutions."

Haiti is going to chair a forum on health in Cuba

The Secretary of Public Health and the Population, Florence Duperval Guillaume, will chair from April 20, till 24,  2015, a Forum  called "Cuba Health 2015," at the Palace of Conventions  in Havana, learned HPN.

The Haitian delegation will consist of Dr Nancy Larco, Alfred Patrick and Palau Brunache, as stated on the official site of the ministry of the External Affairs of Cuba.

In a press release, the Cuban government informed that this event will aim at facilitating the exchange on the current and future challenges of public health in the world. The Haitian delegation will have the opportunity to discuss topics of interest for the benefit of the Haitian population.

The Secretary of Public Health visited Cuba repeatedly, and had exchanges with her Cuban counterpart - Roberto Morales Ojeda and other state employees of the Ministry of Health.

In addition, it has been recognized during the international forums the important role played by the Cuban medical staff in Haiti, concluded the press release.

Three artists on tour thank the MNUSTAH to encourage a peaceful society for the country …

For the first time in Haiti, from April 16th till May 17th, 2015 the caravan "Vwa Ayiti Pou Lapè" will bring 3 renowned Haitian artists: James Germain, Emeline Michel and Beethova Obas, to meet young talent from 10 Haitian cities, in order to entertain musical creation workshops and offer mini-concerts under the theme of peace and nonviolence.

" I requested Minustah to realize and finance a national tour which will offer workshops to the young musicians coming from vulnerable communities throughout the country," explained James Germain "The campaign Ann Chwazi Lapè, has the real logic and it is good to set up something significant with a clear message. "

" The antidote to violence, is peace,” reminded Beethovas Obas who wishes through this tour to make their contribution to the consolidation of a peaceful climate in Haiti.

The three artists will work from April 16th till May 17th, 2015 with the selected artists (singers, musicians and composers) who will propose collective concerts for peace and nonviolence.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 2 mai 2015

Published on April 21, 2015

PETIT PORT A PIMENT, Haiti -- A Dutch couple aboard an Australian flagged boat en route from Cuba to Ile a Vache, Haiti, was anchored at Petit Port a Pimient, Haiti, when it was boarded overnight by six armed men last week, Caribbean Safety and Security Net (CSSN) reported.

The couple cooperated with the pirates and offered everything, but they were nevertheless violently attacked. The captain was tied to the rail on deck and beaten badly, resulting in broken bones and machete wounds. His wife sustained machete injuries also, both were hospitalized. 

Stolen items included cash, solar panels, computers, navigation electronics, etc.

Embassy officials have become involved and are providing assistance.

While confirming details of the incident of piracy/assault last week, CSSN said it became aware of another such incident in Haiti earlier this year.

On January 20, a French couple and their children had anchored overnight between Corail and Pestel, Haiti. At 3 am they were boarded by 12 men armed with machine guns and machetes. The leader of the group was in uniform. The boat was “inspected” for 2-1/2 hours, rummaging through drawers, lockers, etc. The roller furling and main sheet were deliberately damaged. 

The men were aggressive, with much yelling and arm waving, but the crew cooperated. They forced the boat to go two miles back to Corial at first light after taking all the cash on board ($1,000), laptops, diving equipment and some other gear from the captain. The official then “allowed” the boat to depart to go onward to Pestel, Haiti, the next planned stop. 

It is unlikely a police report was made, CSSN said.

Haitian marine biologist wins environmental activism prize

(Reuters) - A Haitian marine biologist who successfully fought to create a national park to protect a large swath of Haiti's north coast has won a prominent U.S. environmental activism prize.

Jean Wiener was awarded a Goldman Environmental Foundation prize for his efforts to establish the Caribbean nation's first Marine Protected Areas while working with local communities to promote sustainable fishing practices and preserve mangrove forests.

In awarding the $175,000 prize, the Goldman foundation highlighted Wiener's efforts in overcoming extreme poverty and political instability in Haiti, a country with few full-time environmentalists and almost no government programs to protect natural resources.

Wiener, 50, is being honored along with five other prize winners at a ceremony in Washington on Wednesday for a campaign he led to create the Three Bays National Park, covering 30,000 square miles (75,000 sq km) stretching from the city of Cap Haitien to the border with the Dominican Republican.

The park, created in 2014, protects the vulnerable eco-system of over-fished waters in the bays of Limonade, Caracol and Fort Liberté.

The area includes Haiti's second-largest mangrove area, as well as one of its longest barrier reefs and important seagrass beds. That trifecta of coastal eco-sytems "makes it probably Haiti's most productive coastal system in terms of marine life and fish nurseries," Wiener said in a phone interview.

The Fort Liberté bay had been targeted for port development by a U.S. government-backed project which was scrapped last year over environmental concerns and lack of investor interest.

A schoolteacher in Port-au-Prince, Wiener studied biology at the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut. He is the founder of the Marine Biodiversity Protection Foundation (FoProBiM), Haiti's only nongovernmental environmental organization focusing on coastal and marine areas.

Funded by the United Nations and the U.S. Agency for International Development, FoProBiM works with community groups to preserve natural resources, including fishing waters, endangered coral and mangroves which are cut down for charcoal.

"It's been over-fished to a point where the fishermen are catching almost nothing except juveniles," Wiener said.

Despite tough regulations, "there's no throwing anything back," he said. "The rules need to be updated and more importantly enforced. There's barely a Coast Guard."

The other Goldman prize winners for 2015 are from Myanmar, Canada, Scotland, Honduras and Kenya.

The prize, created in 1990 by Richard and Rhoda Goldman to encourage environmental protection, has been awarded to activists in more than 80 countries. 

Justice Minister appeals Sonson Lafamila ruling

Written by Staff Writer

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (sentinel.ht) - Minister of Justice Pierre Richard Casimir submitted an appeal to the Haitian Supreme Court for a reconsideration of the ruling on the case of Woodly Etheart alias Sonson Lafamilia and Renel Nelfort alias Renel Le Recif.

The appeal was submitted before the Tuesday deadline and if the court of appeals chooses to accept it, the two previously indicted, murderer-kidnappers, close to President Michel Martelly, may be returned to prison.

Minister Casimir's appeal comes after the Obama administration expressed "concern" of the speed at which the case of Sonson Lafamilia was thrown out by the embattled Judge Lamarre Belizaire.

Tuesday tweets from the Ministry of Justice account said the government was not okay with decision on Sonson Lafamilia and an earlier tweet said it would exercise the power of appeal.

Over the weekend, Casimir dismissed the Government Commissioner of Port-au-Prince Kerson Darius Charles for his performance in prosecuting the case.

U.S. ‘concerned’ about ruling in Haiti kidnapping case

By Reuters

PORT-AU-PRINCE, April 20 (Reuters) – The Obama administration said it was “concerned” about the speed of a court ruling in Haiti that saw charges suddenly dropped in the indictment of an accused kidnapper with close ties to the family of President Michel Martelly.

On Friday, the judge freed Woodly Ethéart and Renel Nelfort, two leaders of the so-called Galil Gang, who had been indicted a month earlier for masterminding a host of violent crimes, including murder, money laundering and more than a dozen kidnappings.

Two days later, the Minister of Justice sacked the prosecutor, saying his deputies asked the judge to free the men, arguing they could not win a conviction.

“We are concerned about the ruling, including the speed in which it was made,” a State Department spokesman said in an email on Monday in response to a request for comment.

“This is an ongoing case in the Haitian courts, and we understand the ruling could be appealed.

Ethéart, who is a friend of Martelly’s brother-in-law, Charles Saint-Rémy, is known by the street name ‘Sonson Lafamilia,’ and is the former owner of one of Haiti’s fanciest restaurants, La Souvenance.

“The prosecutor in Port au Prince was removed because the government was not satisfied with the performance at the trial,” Peguy Jean, spokesman for the Ministry of Justice said on Monday. “At the end of the trial, the prosecutors asked the charges to be dropped.”

The release of Ethéart immediately raised questions about the handling of the case, with some Haitians suggesting he was let off because of the close relationship with the president’s family.

“The move (to free them) absolutely came from the top,” argued Pierre Esperance, the executive director of the National Human Rights Defense Network. He accused the judge, Lamarre Bélizaire, of corruption, saying he frequently rules in favor of the Martelly government.

The Galil Gang made nearly $2 million dollars from kidnapping ransoms in a two year period, said lawyer Newton Louis Saint-Juste, who testified in the case.

“Of course I’m scared. This exposes all the victims and all the witnesses to the Galil Gang,” said Saint-Juste, an outspoken critic of the Martelly government.

Martelly’s spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

The Ministry of Justice has until Tuesday to appeal the tossed indictment. If no appeal is filed, government critics say it will be a sign the Ministry of Justice is doing favors for the president. (Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed in Washington. Editing by David Adams and Christian Plumb).

The Focus On Haiti Initiative is proud to publish our Voices of Haiti’s Voiceless: Post-Earthquake Aspirations & Achievements symposium

The Focus On Haiti Initiative and the U.S. Department of State will host Voices of Haiti’s Voiceless in Washington, D.C. on Friday, May 1, 2015. The symposium will discuss Haiti’s fundamental development challenges and progress toward meeting them in the post-quake period, focusing on the aspirations of the country’s under-represented population as presented at the March 31, 2010 post-earthquake UN-sponsored Donors’ Conference in New York.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 5 mai 2015

 Haiti - Economy: investments of the Diaspora in Latin America and in the Caribbean

For the first time, the Association of the American Chambers of Commerce of Latin America and the Caribbean (AACCLA) will hold its annual regional conference, "Business Future of the Americas," in Haiti, from June 15 till 17, 2015. The event will take place at the hotel Marriott of Port-au-Prince. The theme will be "Investments by the Diaspora in Latin America and in the Caribbean." This conference is organized with the support of several Haitian companies: Brana, Digicel, Marriott, Decently, Delta, DHL, Groups Accra, Dagmar, Access Haiti.

This event will offer opportunities to exchange with a network of more than 300 business managers from the United States, the Caribbean, Brazil and several other countries of the region. With world-famous speakers, companies and organizations strategically based at the heart of the Caribbean, this conference will allow Haiti and Latin America to distance themselves from their emergent status in the global economy. "The emphasis put on the Diaspora and its driving role in investments seems to us particularly interesting for Haiti, and we hope that this conference will be a meeting place for our Haitian businessmen from the diaspora, who are the best placed to do business and to work in the region," explained Régine René Labrousse, President of the Steering committee of the conference.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Haiti (AmCham) will give to this annual conference a wider reach by adding to its conference one day to discuss "Doing business in Haiti." The panels which will be held at this event will give an additional insight into the challenges identified in terms of investments and the available solutions. "Business-to-Business Meetings" (B2Bs) will be also planned throughout the day.

The Diaspora has a new Secretary for Haitians Living Abroad

His name is Robert Labrousse and he was installed in his post last Wednesday, April 29th. In his speech, Secretary Labrousse [who replaces Olicier Pieriche] asserted, “I shall be a Secretary of dialogue and openness. We all know that the mission of the MHAVE is to allow Haitians living abroad to maintain the link with their homeland. Roots, attachment, link, connection, all these words bring [us] to the same concept, the unity of Haitians, whether it is from the inside or from the outside!

He replaces Olicier Pieriche who was appointed in January, 2015.

Robert Labrousse is a businessman who occupied the post of external Secretary of State for Overseas Development within the government of Evans Paul. He is a treasurer and founder of the Pink and White Foundation of President Michel Martelly and his wife Sophia St Rémy.

He was a vice-president of the chamber of commerce and industry.

Pieriche had to resign at the request of Prime Minister Evans Paul, after having made a diplomatic passport for the Assistant General Coordinator of the Program of Identification and Documentation of Haitian Immigrants (PIDIH), the ex-deputy of Petit-Goâve Jean Limongi. The latter was arrested at the beginning of April in Florida and charged with drug trafficking.

Deportations: june is getting near

It is the month chosen by the Dominican Republic to deport Haitian citizens living in the Dominican Republic but having no documentation allowing them to stay in the country.

The deportations, however, have already begun, and every week we learn that a new contingent of Haitian-Dominicans has arrived in Haiti.

We are talking about hundreds of thousands of Haitians who are in this situation. While those who were authorized to legalize their papers by obtaining birth certificates and passports from the Haitian government are few, due to the slowness of Haitian authorities to supply them this documentation.

On the Haitian side, no preparations have been made to welcome these fellow countrymen. What are the possibilities for them to find employment in a country already known for its very high unemployment? Will there be enough schools for their children? What about hospitals, when sanitary services are clearly insufficient in the country?

When we are considering that these compatriots don’t even speak French nor Creole, having been born in the Dominican Republic, we easily understand the extent of the problem.

But nothing has been done to welcome them and it is without a doubt that their arrival will increase the number of people living in the capital or other large cities in the country, building a place to live wherever they can, even in ravines along major roads. This will only increase the number of shanty towns.

MOVIE: “Sweet Micky for President”

“That’s how things were happening to us — to the point where if you really look at the movie, it feels like a narrative,” admitted former Fugees rapper Pras Michel, who never expected the experience to become a film. “How it was going down was how it was captured and then we went back and went ‘Wow, this really feels like a movie.’”

Since his days as one-third of Grammy-winning group The Fugees, Michel has been “loving the film aspect” of his career as much as making music. Having produced documentaries like 2007’s Skid Row (where he masqueraded as a homeless person) and a long-awaited project about Somali pirates, these days he’s certainly more filmmaker than Fugee.

“I’m catching the buzz and I’ve got a couple more narrative projects that I’m developing,” said Michel. “We want to make things that are avant-garde (and) interesting but at the same time, get to the core of the issue.”

“Sweet Micky for President” will have its Canadian debut next Wednesday at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in Toronto.

Lessons Nepal can learn from its tragic twin Haiti

Nepal faces a Himalayan task: it must overcome the aftershocks of history just as much as the effects of Saturday’s calamitous earthquake. As with Haiti, also a historically impoverished, poorly governed country hit by a devastating quake, Nepal may find it a struggle to “build back better.” Bill Clinton crafted the memorable slogan after the “goudo goudo” – the onomatopoeic Creole name the Haitians gave the 2010 quake in memory of its frightening rumble. Now, Clinton’s phrase is used wryly, if not in outright jest.

Unsurprisingly, development do-gooders are cautious about suggesting Nepal build back better, even at this point, [a few] days after the quake, when the world feels its pain most acutely.

For, the slow, ineffective – in some cases, even impossible –search for survivors in Nepal’s remote, hardest-hit western regions illustrates the massive fault lines of its entrenched problems: acute poverty, political dysfunction, rampant corruption and a deep fatalism that inhibits planning.

Those infuriatingly inaccessible western districts were the ones that suffered such prolonged government neglect that the violent Maoist insurgency first took root there nearly 20 years ago. And it says a great deal that those areas still remain so cut off from Kathmandu that earthquake relief packages cannot reach them, and there seems to be no way to assess deaths and damage. The Maoists, supposedly the party of the poor, have been elected – and rejected. The monarchy has been swept away. Nothing has changed and nothing works. For Nepal, its worst earthquake in 80 years has been “an acute-on-chronic event”, to quote Harvard doctor and Haiti champion Paul Farmer on the Haitian catastrophe.

The two countries make for a tragic twinning. Until this earthquake, perhaps the only time the words “Haiti” and “Nepal” appeared in one sentence was in reference to the cholera epidemic unwittingly introduced by Nepalese United Nations peacekeepers stationed in Haiti. It seemed an excessively cruel twist to a pathetic story – dirt-poor Haiti, leveled by a devastating earthquake and infected by soldiers from an equally poor faraway land. But now, the two earthquakes – five years apart – may have created discouragingly new parallel lines of protracted woe. The Nepalese quake was 16 times stronger than that in Haiti. More than 200,000 people died in Haiti; what will be the final toll in Nepal?

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 13 mai 2015

 The French President on visit in Haiti during the day of May 12th. 

The French President, François Hollande, was scheduled to begin a five day visit in the Caribbean on Friday. This will take him to Haiti on May 12^th. He was also scheduled to travel to Martinique, Guadeloupe and Cuba.

The French Head of state was accompanied by an important delegation of French businessmen. 

Immediately upon landing, François Hollande, who will also be accompanied with a significant press corps, will be welcomed by Michel Martelly and driven to the National Palace, then to the MUPANAH – National Museum of Pantéon. 

François Hollande will lay a floral wreath in front of the monument dedicated to the precursor of Haiti’s Independence - Toussaint Louverture, whose symbolic remains rest at the base of the Pantheon in Paris. 

François Hollande and the delegation accompanying him are set to fly back in the evening.

New American ambassador in Haiti. He replaces Pamela White who has been in office in Haiti since 2012

Last Wednesday, Barack Obama appointed Peter F. Mulrean as new Ambassador in Haiti. After ratification by the American Senate, he will replace Pamela A. White, who presented her credentials to the Haitian Government on August 3rd, 2012. At this time, no official starting date for Mulrean has been communicated.

Peter F. Mulrean, a career member of the Foreign Service, class of Counselor, is the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, a position he has held since 2012.  Previously, Mulrean served as Director of Interagency Provincial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan from 2011 to 2012, Counselor for Refugee and Migration Affairs at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva from 2008 to 2011, and Regional Director of the Middle East Partnership Initiative at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia from 2004 to 2008.  He also served as Deputy Director of the Office for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy at the Department of State from 2002 to 2004, Deputy Political Counselor at the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels, Belgium from 1999 to 2002, and Exchange Diplomat at the European Commission in Brussels from 1998 to 1999.  Prior to joining the Foreign Service, he was an English teacher in Japan and China and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco. Mulrean received an A.B. from Harvard University.

Judge in Haiti dismisses abuse case against US citizen

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A judge in Haiti has dismissed the case against a U.S. citizen who was accused of abusing residents of an orphanage that he has run for three decades in the Haitian capital.

Michael Geilenfeld, who had been in custody since his Sept. 5 arrest, was released Wednesday after a brief trial before a judge in Port-au-Prince.

Five former residents of the St. Joseph's Home for Boys had accused Geilenfeld of physical and sexual abuse. None of the alleged victims, all adults now, testified at the trial.

Defense lawyer Alain Lemithe said the accusations were vague and unsubstantiated.

"They had nothing against him," Lemithe told The Associated Press on Thursday. "They had no proof whatsoever so he has been released."

Manuel Jeanty, a lawyer for the victims, said neither he nor any of his clients attended the proceeding because they weren't notified in advance that it would be taking place. He said he planned to file an appeal.

"The justice system is not working," Jeanty said.

Geilenfeld, 63, founded the St. Joseph's Home for Boys in 1985. His charity grew to encompass three homes, a guest house for missionaries and a dance troupe that toured the U.S. and Canada to promote the organization.

In February 2013, Geilenfeld and Hearts with Haiti, a North Carolina nonprofit group that raises money for the orphanage, filed a defamation suit against Paul Kendrick, an activist in Maine who had publicized allegations of child sexual and physical abuse at the facility. The suit called the charges "false and heinous" and said they had been investigated and determined to be false.

Geilenfeld said in a deposition filed in the civil case that an email and blog campaign by the activist had cost his organization more than $1.5 million in donations.

He denied ever engaging in a sexual act with anyone under age 18. "I have devoted my life to enriching the lives of children in Haiti, the United States and abroad," he said in the deposition.

Associated Press writers Ben Fox in Miami and David Sharp in Portland, Maine, contributed to this report.

Haitian-Montrealers want more time before deportation moratorium lifted Ottawa lifted the ban on deportations to Haiti last December

Members of Montreal's Haitian community are asking the federal government for more time to apply for permanent resident status.

Ottawa lifted the moratorium on deportations to Haiti and Zimbabwe in December. The moratorium in Haiti was originally put in place because of political violence and conditions in Haiti following the devastating earthquake in 2010.

Now, many Haitians fear they could soon face deportation.

Marjorie Villefranche, director of Montreal's Maison d'Haiti, said the six-month window Ottawa provided isn't long enough. 

"So that's why we are asking them, asking the government to give us three more months," she said.

Federal Immigration Minister Chris Alexander says the country has been generous to Haitians and Zimbabweans for more than a decade.

Alexander says the temporary ban on deportations has been lifted because he believes the uncertainty in those countries has ended.

HAITI CHILDREN - Unicef: Nearly half of Haitian children under 5 suffer malnutrition

EFE | PORT-AU-PRINCE

Nearly one in two Haitian children under 5 suffers from malnutrition, the Unicef office in Port-au-Prince said Tuesday.

In an article signed by the Unicef chief of communication in Haiti, Cornelia Walther, the U.N. Children's Fund says the malnutrition of Haitian minors is due, among other causes, to poverty, disease and poor nutritional practices.

Several stars of National Football League (NFL) were scheduled to travel to Haiti from May 6 to May 11, while on a visit, to gauge business opportunities in Haiti

This visit is held through the initiative of the Jack Brewer Foundation with the support of the Ministry of Tourism and the Creative Industries (MTIC), according to a ministry press release. 

Two American television channels SPIKE TV/NBC led by André Berto will produce reports on the trip, Haitian sports in general, and boxing in particular, explained the press release.

The ministry also informed that other big names such as Clinton Portis, Ramses Barden, Tommi Harris or models of from the Wilhelmina models agency will also make the trip for this EducTour.

For the tourist and sports promotion of Haiti …

The Canadian boxer of Haitian origin, Adonis Stevenson, will be in Haiti during September, to compete for a fight. This project is organized the Group Yvon Michel (GYM), learnt HPN.

GYM would want this event, "to demonstrate the tourist qualities of Haiti," declared Yvon Michel in the Canadian newspaper, “The Press.”

"There is a strong political will over there, but we are starting from behind. In all the history of the country, there has been never an international sporting event broadcasted to the outside," he explained.

The president of GYM underlines that "… When we go on holiday in the Caribbean, we always think of Cuba or of the Dominican Republic. But nobody considers going to Haiti. […].

Through this initiative, the organizers think of using Adonis as inspiration for the Haitians, to show them that one of their own reached the highest summits, reports the newspaper.

Because of this event, Adonis Stevenson will not fight in the Centre Bell on June 27th of this year. The boxer instead wants to concentrate his efforts to prepare for the fight in Haiti, specifies GYM.

For this fight, Stevenson Adonis 37 years (26-1, 21 K-O) could face the 27-year-old South African Thomas Oosthuizen (24-0-2, 14 K-O). The evet would be aired on Showtime and offered à la carte in Quebec.