Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 9 septembre 2015

 The construction project for the Royal Decameron Hotel is progressing nicely

An official visit of the building site of the Royal Decameron - Indigo Beach Resort and Spa, the first all-inclusive hotel in Haiti, took place on Monday, August 31^st in Montrouis on the Arcadins Coast.

According to information available on the site of the Ministry of Communication, Minister of Tourism and Creative Industries, Madam Stéphanie Balmir Villedrouin, led this important delegation consisting, among others, of the President of Decameron, Leonardo Gonzalez, Secretary of State of fiscal reform, Ronald Décembre and the Managing director of Haitian Customs, Victor H. Saint-Louis to the sites of the first all-inclusive Haitian hotel- a product of an agreement between the hotel group Decameron and the owners of the Indigo Club.

Royal Decameron Indigo Beach Resort and Spa will add 400 rooms of European standard to the Haitian hotel market. This large-scale tourist complex on the beach will also include 3 restaurants and 2 outside swimming pools, in which more than 800 customers can be accommodated. It will also include 2 gyms, a spa, a marina and aquatic attractions.

"All the suppliers who are going to furnish the Royal Decameron Hotel - Indigo Beach Resort and Spa will come from outof Haitian companies. The hotel is also going to generate 420 new local jobs," announced the executive team of the chain.

Decameron, subsidiary of the Colombian group Terranum and the main hotel administrator of Latin America, finalized in March, 2015 the terms of an agreement of operation of the Indigo Club of Haiti (formerly Club Med).

Completion of construction of this hotel is planned for next November.

KENNETH MERTEN TOOK OFFICE ON AUGUST 17TH AS SPECIAL COORDINATOR FOR HAITI AT THE U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT

Kenneth Merten's missions abroad include the embassy of the United States in Paris, the Mission of the United States to the European Union in Brussels, the embassy of the United States in Bonn during the period of the Germanunification, and three appointments to the embassy of the United States in Port-au-Prince, in Haiti. His work experience in Washington includes two missions at the center of Operations of the State Department which addresses international crises, ensure that top state employees of the State Department are kept informed about the latest events, and supports the daily duties and the travels of the Secretary of State. He also worked at the Office of Economic and Commercial Business, and at the office in charge of questions related to Cuba, as well as for the special councilors (advisers) on Haiti from 1993 till 1994.

Kenneth Merten holds a Bachelor's degree from Miami University in Ohio, and a Master's degree in public administration from American University in Washington, DC. Studies at the University of Aix-Marseille in France and at Karl Franzens Universität in Austria complete his academic curriculum. He presented a conference before an audience of more than 10,000 at the University of Miami in May, 2010 and also received an honorary doctorate of them. In July, 2012, Ambassador Merten was decorated by Haitian president Michel Martelly with the Big Cross of Honor and Merit, the fourth foreign diplomat to received this award in the 200 years of Haitian independence.

Ambassador Merten was born in Saint Louis, Missouri and considers Hudson, Ohio, as being his home town. He is married to Susan Greenman Merten and has two children.

NEW AMBASSADOR OF BRAZIL IN HAITI

On Friday, the President of the Republic of Haiti, Michel Martelly, received the letter of credentials of the new Ambassador of Brazil to Haiti, Fernando de Mello Vidal.

The new Ambassador renewed the commitment of his country to stand by President Martelly in his efforts to improve the living conditions of the Haitian people.

For his part, the Head of State reassured him of his commitment to work to strengthen the bonds of friendship and cooperation between Haiti and Brazil.

Afterward the new Ambassador of the Federative Republic of Brazil in Haiti offered a floral arrangement to the Museum of the Haitian National Pantheon (MUPANAH) in honor of the Fathers of the Nation. Then, Mrs. Michèle Frisch, the Director of the Museum, invited the new Brazilian diplomat to visit the rooms of permanent and temporary exhibits at the museum.

At the end of his visit, Ambassador Fernando Vidal expressed his satisfaction to have been able to learn about Haiti’s rich history, a country so similar to his.

OPERATION FREE SMILE

What you need to do:

Friends, listen. Operation Smile is an organization that does free operations for people with split lips or cleft pallets. They were here in 2008.

This year once again, with the support of the Public Health Ministry, Operation Smile is coming to operate on patients on the ship USNS Comfort.

. Call toll free (4891-2597) or send a text to (509-3915-3477).

. You will need to go to the Grace Hospital in Lamentin 54 Carrefour, Port-au-Prince.

. After you first make an appointment, you will come for a consultation on eitherthe first day, Friday, September 11 or on the second day, Tuesday, September 22^nd.

. Share this message.

4891-2597 / Call the office of Operation Free Smile.

Dominican Republic: UN experts warn against deportations, racial profiling of people of Haitian descent

July 28, 2015 – United Nations human rights experts today called on the Government of the Dominican Republic to take steps to prevent arbitrary deportations and to adopt measures to address allegations of racial profiling during deportations of people of Haitian descent.

“No one should be deported when there are legal and valid reasons to stay,” human rights expert Mireille Fanon Mendes-France, who currently heads the UN Working Group of Experts of People of African Descent, said in a news release.

“Migrants are entitled to protection and Dominicans of Haitian descent have the right to reside safely in the territory, as well as children born in the Dominican Republic who are legally registered,” she stated.

Some 19,000 people have reportedly left Dominican Republic for Haiti since June 21 due to fear and amidst concerns that there will be violations when deportations officially start in August.

“The Dominican Republic cannot violate international norms or those of the inter-American system of human rights protection, and especially not violate its own Constitution,” the expert emphasized.

According to the expert panel, the difficulties in obtaining necessary documents to register for the naturalization and regularization process, the lack of information on the deportation plan, and the deportations “have instilled fear, resulting in a situation whereby people of Haitian descent without documents are also leaving to avoid abrupt deportations.”

The Working Group today reiterated its call on the Dominican authorities to put in place effective and transparent legislation and other measures to successfully fight the discrimination and social exclusion faced mostly by Haitian migrants and people of Haitian descent in the country.

“The Dominican Republic does not recognize the existence of a structural problem of racism and xenophobia, but it must address these issues as a matter of priority so the country can live free from tension and fear,” Ms. Mendes-France added.

The Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council's independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world.

Special Procedures' experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

Kerry’s aid sought in Dominican Republic citizenship crisis

Seven US senators, including the pair from Massachusetts, urged Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday to intercede in the citizenship crisis in the Dominican Republic, expressing concern that thousands of Dominican-born people of Haitian descent still are not recognized as citizens.

In a letter to Kerry, Senators Edward J. Markey, Elizabeth Warren and five other Democrats said the Dominican government proposed a “fair solution” by creating a path to citizenship after a 2013 court ruling stripped birthright citizenship from the children of unauthorized immigrants, mainly from neighboring Haiti. But, the letter said, less than a third of the 210,000 Dominicans eligible for that citizenship applied for it.

Critics of the citizenship program have said the requirements are so cumbersome that many cannot gather the hospital records and other documents needed to apply.

“In this context, we respectfully ask that you work with the Dominican government to ensure that the process is timely, efficient, and inclusive of everyone who was born in the country,” the senators wrote in the letter, adding that it was crucial that undocumented citizens “are provided a solution that guarantees their right to live in the only country they have known since their birth.”

Last month Kerry said through a spokeswoman that he was monitoring the situation and had stressed the importance of upholding human rights for all involved.

The senators also expressed concern for some 36,000 people of Haitian descent who have voluntarily left the Dominican Republic in recent months, an exodus they said has “overwhelmed” authorities in Haiti, one of the hemisphere’s poorest nations.

Dominican officials have said that they will not deport anyone who is entitled to Dominican citizenship, but they say the government also must properly screen applicants before granting them citizenship.

Ambassador Jose Tomas Perez said in a statement that his government was determined to act transparently and was looking “forward to a substantive dialogue with members of Congress and the State Department on this important matter.’’

He said the Dominican Republic is committed to working with the international community “to implement a regularization program and immigration policies that aim to give a regular status to everyone in the Dominican Republic.’’

The ambassador added “our government is implementing the same immigration rules that exist in any society governed by the rule of law, while recognizing each individual’s human rights.’’

The issue has drawn international attention, including in Massachusetts where immigrants from Haiti and the Dominican Republic are some of the largest groups of foreign-born residents in the state.

Also signing the letter were senators Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Bill Nelson of Florida, Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, Christopher Coons of Delaware, and Sherrod Brown of Ohio.

Maria Sacchetti can be reached at Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser..

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 17 septembre 2015

 Voodoo priests' leader Max Beauvoir dies in Haiti

The Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Voodoo chief Max Beauvoir has died in his homeland of Haiti, where the mixture of beliefs from West Africa and Catholicism is recognized as an official religion. He was 79.

A government statement said Beauvoir died Saturday in Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince after an illness. The cause of death was not immediately known.

On his Twitter account, President Michel Martelly described Beauvoir's death as a "great loss for the country."

Born in 1936, Beauvoir was a biochemical engineer who earned degrees abroad and became a Voodoo priest when he returned to his Caribbean homeland in the 1970s.

He became Voodoo's supreme chief, or national "ati," in 2008 and led Haiti's main priests' organization. Beauvoir was widely known as a passionate guardian of the Voodoo faith, which has often been sensationalized and misunderstood.

Voodoo, or Vodou as preferred by Haitians, evolved in the 17th century when colonists brought slaves to Haiti from West Africa. Slaves forced to practice Catholicism adopted saints to coincide with African spirits. Followers believe in reincarnation, one God and a pantheon of spirits.

Many of Haiti's 10 million people consider themselves followers of both Voodoo and Catholicism.

LAUNCH OF THE MISSION OF THE HOSPITAL SHIP THE USNS COMFORT

On Friday, September 11th an official ceremony took place to launch the humanitarian medical mission of the American Hospital ship the "USNS Comfort" in Haiti, at the Haitian Coastguard Naval base Amiral-Killick situated to Bizoton.

The mission "Keeping Promises" of the hospital ship enters within the framework of the continuous support of the American government for the Haitian people, in association with the Ministry of Health and the Population.

The hospital ship arrived in Haiti on Thursday, September 10th and will leave the bay of Port-au-Prince Sunday, September 18th, 2015.

Free medical care will be supplied in Port-au-Prince at the Amiral-Killick naval base of the Haitian Coastguards (in Bizoton), and at the Saint Luc Hospital (in Tabarre 41), from September 11th at 8 am in the morning and until September 18th. Every day, patients will be examined on first come, first served basis, until the hospital ship reaches its capacity.

The medical care will include general, pediatric care, dental, ophthalmological, orthopedic and other treatment. The Comfort’s team will also assist their Haitian partners at the level of the veterinary services and with projects of engineering, and will also participate in medical exchanges.

Amnesty International honors Human Rights Prize at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival 2015 (TTFF/15)

For the second year in a row, Amnesty International will award a human rights film prize at the Trinidad+Tobago film festival (TTFF), which runs from September 15–29.

Established in an effort to support the promotion of human rights in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean, the Amnesty International Human Rights Film Prize will be awarded to the maker of the feature-length Caribbean film screening at TTFF/15 which best highlights a human rights issue.

“We are enthusiastically continuing our cooperation with the Trinidad+Tobago Film Festival this year as we remain convinced that films and filmmakers play an important role in promoting human rights,” said Chiara Sangiorgio, thematic adviser at Amnesty International.

“What may seem a remote and abstract UN instrument can suddenly become a close reality when analyzed through the camera lens—something affecting a friend, a neighbor, our country. Through this prize we wish to more formally acknowledge the efforts of filmmakers and activists in the Caribbean to raise awareness about human rights in the region.”

This year four films—all documentaries—will be in competition for the prize, one more than last year. They are:

Casa Blanca

Director: Aleksandra Maciuszek

Country: Cuba

Citizens of Nowhere

Directors: Regis Coussot and Nicolas Alexandre Tremblay

Countries: Dominican Republic, Haiti

The Last Colony

Director: Juan Agustín Márquez

Country: Puerto Rico

My Father’s Land

Directors: Miquel Galofré and Tyler Johnston

Countries: The Bahamas, Haiti

“We are pleased to see more films selected for this year’s Festival grappling with human-rights issues,” said Jonathan Ali, Editorial Director of the ttff. “The range of issues considered is also noteworthy. Both Citizens of Nowhere and My Father’s Land deal with the status of Haitians and people of Haitian descent in the Caribbean, a timely subject. The Last Colony considers the sovereignty issue in Puerto Rico, also timely, given the economic crisis there. And Casa Blanca is an intimate look at the status of the elderly and the mentally disabled in Cuba.”

The winning film will be chosen by a three-person jury. This year’s jury comprises Blanca Granados, Head of Industry at the Cartagena International Film Festival in Colombia; Jason Nathu, an attorney-at-law responsible for the Human Rights Law Clinic at the Hugh Wooding Law School in T&T; and Chiara Sangiorgio, Amnesty International’s London-based coordinator of the campaign for the abolition of the death penalty.

In addition to receiving a trophy, the winning filmmaker will also be given a cash prize of TT$5000. The ttff and Amnesty International will also assist the winning film in getting screened as widely as possible throughout the region.

Last year’s winning film was The Abominable Crime, a documentary directed by Micah Fink, about Jamaica’s LGBT community. Since then, Amnesty International USA has supported the screening of The Abominable Crime at the Pulitzer Center in New York City. There was also a screening of the film in Mexico City to celebrate the opening of Amnesty International’s regional office for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, and both the film and associated tools have been promoted through Amnesty International’s activists.

Amnesty International is a global movement of more than three million members, supporters and activists in over 150 countries and territories. The organisation exposes human rights violations and campaigns for justice around the world. It is independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion, and is funded mainly by its membership and public donations.

Convicted cocaine trafficker running for parliament in Haiti

Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.

 A candidate headed into next month’s runoff for Haiti’s parliament was convicted of cocaine trafficking in Miami-Dade County, the Miami Herald has learned.

Ernst Jeudy, 58, who is seeking to represent one of Haiti’s most lucrative tax bases, the city of Delmas, was charged with cocaine trafficking and possession with intent to distribute after Miami-Dade police said he checked in a tote bag at Miami International Airport. The controlled substance — nearly a half-pound of cocaine — was detected by a dog.

“The above defendant was taken into custody,” said the police report obtained by the Herald. “The defendant was found guilty...sent to 3 1/2 years.”

Jeudy’s 1987 guilty plea for cocaine trafficking, escaped Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council. The council, known as the CEP, qualified Jeudy along with 1,845 other candidates to run for 139 legislative seats in last month’s violence- and fraudmarred Aug. 9 vote.

Jeudy’s conviction and presence in the race is yet another example of Haitian officials’ failure to require a police background check. The oversight, human rights advocates and others say, contributed to the attack of polling stations during the vote and could lead to a parliament of legal bandits.

“The legal department of the CEP didn’t do its job,” said Pierre Esperance, the executive director of the National Human Rights Defense Network, which published a report earlier this year questioning the moral characters of 31 candidates who were “in conflict with the law.”

Asked about Jeudy’s case, Pierre-Louis Opont, the president of the elections council, told the Herald that officials received a document on Monday regarding the case indicating that Jeudy had been convicted in the U.S. for drug trafficking. The document was accompanied by a letter from Jean Martin, the Fanmi Lavalas challenger who finished behind Jeudy with 9.8 percent of the votes.

“The CEP is currently checking this information with representatives of the U.S. government in Haiti,” Opont said.

With more than 6,000 elective posts up for grabs and 41,000 candidates, elections officials cannot research everyone, he said, adding that “the CEP cannot ask for what the law doesn’t require.”

Leading political party pulls out of Haiti's legislative elections

Reuters - A leading political party in Haiti announced on Tuesday that it was pulling out of next month's legislative elections, saying it was the primary victim of violence during the first round of voting in August.

It was not immediately clear whether the pullout would disrupt the second-round runoff on Oct. 25, when Haitians are also due to cast ballots for a new president.

But the move was seen as another setback for stability in the impoverished Caribbean country, long rocked by political turmoil.

The Vérité (Truth) Party, which announced its boycott of the upcoming poll, is widely seen as a leading political threat to President Michel Martelly's Haitian Tet Kale (Bald Headed) Party, which takes its name from Martelly's trademark shaved scalp.

It cited violent attacks on polling stations in the capital of Port-au-Prince and about 50 of 1,500 voting centers around the country on election day on Aug. 9 as the reason it was withdrawing from the next round.

Party leaders have been seething, however, ever since an earlier decision by Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) to strike Vérité presidential candidate Jacky Lumarque from the October ballot.

Lumarque, the rector of Quisqueya University, one of the country's top educational institutions, was barred from the presidential race when the CEP determined he did not have the legal document, known as a "discharge," required of public officials to show they did not misuse public money while in office.

Lumarque was a member of a presidential commission on education under former President Rene Préval. His supporters say he did not distribute any money and thus did not need a discharge.

Haiti's highest court, the Court of Auditors, agreed but the CEP still moved to sideline Lumarque from the presidential contest.

He had been seen as a top contender for the presidency, alongside Jovenel Moise of Martelly's Tet Kale. Martelly himself cannot run for re-election.

Haiti's parliament dissolved in January after scheduled legislative elections in 2011 and 2014 were canceled. Since January, the 119-member Chamber of Deputies has sat empty and the Senate, with only 10 of its 30 members, has failed to hold a quorum.

AGRITRANS EXPORTS IN GERMANY ITS PREMIERE CARGO OF BANANAS

The first cargo of bananas of the project Agritrans, based in the Northeast of Haiti, was headed to Germany last Tuesday before President Michel Martelly and Prime Minister Evans Paul.

More than a hundred tons of organic bananas will be exported according to the new project manager.

A contract was signed recently with the German company Mark Port for 93 million euro for a duration of three years. This contract anticipates the export of 160 thousand metric ton of bananas a year.

President Martelly greeted the work of the group Agritrans which benefited from a 6 million dollar loan from the government to realize the project.

For the Head of State this is a glimmer of hope for the country, which must be repeated.

The project was launched in November, 2013, at the University Henry Christophe (Limonade) and has brought together more than 3,000 farmers from various associations.  Its aims is to produce organic bananas intended for export. Two million seedlings will be planted on thousands of hectares, for this initiative.

In order to reach its goals, the FEPA / Agritrans consortium will use modern farm equipment, pumps for irrigation, and an artificial lake with a capacity of 700,000 gallon. The project is projected to create approximately 3,000 jobs.

JUSTICE

Clifford Bandt will be judged following the reopening of the Courts

The Highest Court of Appeal transferred Clifford Brandt's file to the county court of Port-au-Prince, announced Dean Bernard Saint-Vil.

During an interview Bernard Saint-Vil specified that the case is currently at the public prosecutor's office before being transferred to the court for trial.

The dean Bernard Saint-Vil also specified that Clifford Brandt will be judged after the reopening of the courts.

The Protestant sector now has two candidates!

Last Tuesday, dissatisfied with the decision of the Mediation Commission, which had appointed the journalist Clarens Renois as the only candidate to the presidency for the Protestant sector, more than 150 Protestant leaders, managers of missions, churches, schools, organizations, leagues of ministers and Christian institutions came together at the Plaza Hotel Plaza to overturn this decision.

During this meeting, these leaders approved by a large majority Pasteur Jean-Chavannes Jeune and challenged Clarens Renois whose talent they recognize as former journalist, but whose commitment to Christianity and its beliefs they questioned.

Sheets of paper were distributed to the audience as ballots, containing the names of 9 candidates for the presidency: Amos André, Jean-Claude Rénold Bazin, Nelson Flecourt, Jean-Chavannes Jeune, Maxo Joseph, Jephté Lucien, Jean Palème Mathurin, Clarens Renois and Jacques Sampeur.

At the end of the vote Jean Chavannes Jeunes was elected, as expected, as the only candidate for the presidency to represent the protestant sector in the next elections. Out of the nine candidates, Pasteur Young person obtained 95 of the votes and Clarens Renois received 0 votes.

According to these religious leaders the Pasteur Chavannes Jeune, the candidate for the presidency running for the "CANAAN" party was chosen because his personal experience, his commitment to God and tireless work for 40 years in the church, as well as for his accomplishments: building schools, churches, hospitals among others...

The participants promised to pray for all the candidates and to support Jean Chavannes Jeune by any means, in order to help him be successful.

It should be noted that the members of the Mediation Commission did not answer the invitation of this group of Protestant leaders and none of the candidates was present at this meeting, having not been invited.

Clarens Renois and Chavannes Jeune have thus been appointed by two groups from the Protestant sector, as the only candidates to the presidential election... Note that the withdrawal of the other candidates to the presidency of this sector, was not requested by either of the two groups.

The United States is against the "establishment of a transition government in Haiti”

In a note Pamela White, the Ambassador of the United States to Haiti said she didn’t support having a transition government in Haiti, a demand made by several opposition parties.

"The Government of the United States considers that elections on October 25th and December 27th will open the way to the political predictability. We cannot go back, because it would be ' lava men siye ate.”

I know that there are many groups that want to stop the elections, and want the resignation of the CEP (Electoral Council) and that are pressing for a 'transitional government.” But this country needs a real government. Private enterprises are not attracted by transitional governments which do not offer long-term stability. This country needs a president, a parliament and mayors democratically elected. The American government has already financed 25 million dollars of the electoral process and recently committed an additional 5 million dollars for the second round.

We encourage all the political parties to respect the superiority of the law, and to stop causing disorder in the street."

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 23 septembre 2015

 Sophia Martelly in Texas

On Saturday, by invitation from the George W. Bush Institute, Haitian First Lady Sophia Martelly left the country and headed to Dallas, Texas to participate in the "Global Women Network/Women Initiative" summit which was scheduled to take place on September 22nd of this year.

This summit was created for first ladies and women leaders, and aimed at addressing women’s issues worldwide. It was also designed to promote the role of First Ladies as an answer to these problems in their respective countries.

During this occasion, Sophia Martelly was to meet with a panel of representatives of organizations who work to improve women’s lives in the areas of economics, education and health.

During her stay, Mrs. Martelly will also travel to the United Nations in New York, to participate in two high-level activities for the wives of the heads of state and government regarding education for sustainable development and women’s challenges.

The OAS wants to initiate negotiations between the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) and the leaders of political parties demanding the departure of the CEP and the cancelation of the elections of August 9th

The Organization of American States (OAS) wants to take the initiative of starting negotiations between the electoral council as well as candidates and political parties from the opposition. An electoral crisis persists in Haiti since the publication of the preliminary results of the ballot of August 9th, 2015.

An envoy of the hemispherical organization was expected in Port au Prince recently. Gerardo de Lcaza, the Director of the Department for the Cooperation and the Electoral Observation, tried to bring closer the positions of the political actors and the electoral advisers regarding the pursuit of the electoral process. He had working sessions with the leaders of the political parties which are demanding the resignation of the president of the CEP, Pierre Louis Opont, and the cancellation of the first round of the general election.

The definitive results of the first round of the general election, which were disrupted by violence, have not been published more than a month after the elections.

Officially the General Secretary of the OAS, Luiz Almagro, supports having the first round of the presidential election on October 25th of this year.

On a different note, the OAS advised that the head of the Electoral Observation Mission, former Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs Celso Amorim, was scheduled to take a preliminary evaluation trip to Haiti on September 21. The OAS’s Observation Mission recently transmitted to Haiti the an electoral authorities recommendations regarding the progress of voting operations. These recommendations are to contribute to the strengthening of the electoral machine before holding the first round of the presidential election.

Haiti Border Crisis Grows as Dominican Republic Expels 'Migrants'

New York Times, ANSE-à-PITRE, Haiti — Every morning, Gustavo Adolfo wakes up in a migrant shelter in Haiti, treks across a field of burnt brush where men make charcoal, and crosses a river into the Dominican Republic, a country he left in fear three months ago.

With a machete strapped to his waist, Adolfo is joined by others each day in a desperate effort to make a living. They cross the border into the wealthier Dominican Republic under constant threat of arrest or expulsion.

"I can make 200 pesos ($4.50) a day working in the fields there," said the middle-aged Haitian as he swatted away a swarm of mosquitoes.

Dominican officials last month began implementing a controversial immigration program targeting Haitian migrants and Dominican-born people of Haitian descent.

The program centers on round-ups and deportations that have triggered concerns about a slow-growing border migration crisis in the poorest country in the Americas.

So far about 1,500 people have been deported at a pace of 50 to 100 per day, according to relief officials with access to records supplied by the Dominican government. The officials asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to discuss the number of deportees.

Thousands more have fled the Dominican Republic out of fear of arrest or harassment, scared by neighbors, bosses, coworkers and police or immigration officials.

More than 27 percent of those crossing into Haiti say they were born in the Dominican Republic, according to Amnesty International. But they lack documents to prove residency or citizenship, and many are undocumented immigrants who say they have lived most of their lives on the Dominican side of the border.

The Dominican Republic, which has a population of about 10 million, has long complained of illegal migration of Haitians, even as it benefits from a steady source of cheap labor for construction, agriculture and domestic work.

The Dominican government declined repeated requests for comment on its immigration crackdown. But the issue touches a centuries-old xenophobic nerve in the country, stemming from its occupation by Haiti in the early 19th century.

Four informal settlements have sprung up in southern Haiti for people affected by the deportations. They now house between 2,500 and 3,000 people, according to the Jesuit Refugee Service.

The Haitian government began a relocation program at one settlement camp, Tête à l’Eau, last month. But the program, including $30 in assistance for deportees, was suspended due to a lack of funds, according to Frantz Pierre-Louis, a top regional Haitian government representative.

A United Nations human rights official in Haiti, Gustavo Gallón, this week urged the government to establish health facilities and deliver drinking water to the camps.

"The conditions are horrible there, I don't know how people are living," he said.

The U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in Haiti is seeking $6.9 million in emergency assistance for the country but it is unclear how much of it would be used to improve conditions in the migrant camps.

Camp residents complain they lack basic essentials and receive little or no help from the Haitian government.

"People come all the time and take our information but they never give us anything! We need food," yelled Manuel Amadice, a rail-thin man in his 50s wearing worn flip-flops.

Amadice left Haiti as a child but said he lacked the required documents to apply for residency in his adopted homeland.

The migrant crisis stems from a 2013 constitutional change that stripped citizenship away from the Dominican-born children of foreign parents - mostly of Haitian origin. The ruling was applied retroactively to 1929, sparking an international outcry that it would leave thousands stateless.

Under a separate law all "migrants" were required to apply for temporary residency by deadline of June 17, or face deportation.

Dominican officials have said 78,000 out of 289,000 applicants for residency were denied. It remains unclear how many of those may face expulsion.

"I was born in the Dominican Republic and my mom died when I was 7. I never had a birth certificate," said Pablito Felix Ramirez, a resident of one settlement camp called Parc Cadeau.

Ramirez, 24, who fixes motorcycles at his cardboard and stick shack, said he is legally Dominican, but the Dominican government sees him as Haitian.

He has no family in Haiti and added that he had been unable to get a Haitian identity card or birth certificate, making him a man without a country.

"Wherever I can make 50 pesos ($1), I'm happy," Ramirez said.

(Editing by David Adams and Tom Brown)

Cuban and American doctors lavish care at a hospital of Port-au-Prince

Port-au-Prince, September 16th, 2015 - (AHP) - Such a collaboration has not taken place since decades.

American doctors who were in Haiti within the framework of the humanitarian mission of the hospital ship USNS Comfort, worked last Thursday with Cuban doctors to supply care to Haitian patients at a private hospital in the capital, said the spokesman of the American embassy, Karl Adam.

This historic initiative which occurred in Haiti, is part of the framework of the warming of relations between both countries, after they were broken in 1961.

Last Thursday the Ambassador of Cuba, Ricardo Garcia Napoles and a group of Cuban doctors joined officials from the American embassy in Tabarre to the Saint Luc Hospital, which will benefit from this collaboration.

The Cuban and American doctors got together then started to look after the sick.

The latter received general, pediatric care, dental, ophthalmological and orthopedic treatment.

Two days earlier, American doctors from the Comfort had visited The Renaissance Clinic, where Cuban doctors work in the district of the Belle Air.

Earlier, Ambassador Napoles and a group of Cuban doctors participated in the ceremony marking the arrival of the USNS Comfort at the Admiral Killick Naval Base in Bizoton, said the spokesman of the U. S. Embassy.

The initiative between the Americans and Cuban doctors marks a new stage in the resumption of the relations between both countries, introduced on December 17^th by the American president, Barack Obama, and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro.

President Obama maintains Haiti on Black List

Obama maintains Haiti on his "black list" of drug trafficking for 2016

In a memorandum signed by U. S. President Barack Obama, for the Secretary of State, regarding the presidential determination on the major transit of drugs or the main producing countries of illicit drugs for the 2016 fiscal year, it states, "… I undersigned to identify the following countries as countries that are major transit countries for drugs and/or main producing countries of illicit drugs: Afghanistan, the Bahamas, Belize, Bolivia, Burma, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Jamaica, Laos, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Peru and Venezuela.

The presence of a country on the list is not a reflection of its government’s efforts to fight drugs or its level of cooperation with the United States.

Seven nations in Central America and four of the Caribbean are included in the determination

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 1 octobre 2015

 Don Bohning, who spent 3 decades as a Latin America correspondent, editor for the Herald, dies

By Glenn Garvin

Don Bohning, who spent three decades building up the Miami Herald’s Latin American coverage, died early Saturday after a long battle with cancer. He was 82.

From the mid-1960s to the turn of the century, there was scarcely a war, coup, revolution, massacre, assassination, volcanic eruption, hurricane or other act of political or environmental mayhem that Bohning didn’t cover. And when he couldn’t get there himself, he was editing copy from an all-star cast of reporters he assembled that won two Pulitzer Prizes under his command.

“In the early 1980s, when the country suddenly woke up to the importance of Latin America, the Herald’s Latin Desk was a Murderer’s Row of great correspondents: Guy Gugliotta. William Montalbano. Juan Tamayo. Bill Long. Sam Dillon,” said Tim Golden, a Herald foreign correspondent of that era, ticking off a list of reporters who were the elite of American foreign correspondents.

“And Don was the anchor of that lineup — the player-coach, the mentor, the wise man who knew every layer of the story and every good source. He was also the teacher who made sure that lineup remained strong for years and years, even after so many of those reporters went off to the foreign staffs of other papers.

…

He wasn’t one for flashy scoops — though he certainly produced some — or frilly writing. “He worked hard and wrote fast,” observed University of Miami journalism professor Joseph B. Treaster, a former colleague, offering the highest praise known to their generation of reporters.

Bohning concentrated more on stories that explained why things happened and what their impact would be on common people. “He had a little bit of Ernie Pyle about him,” said a friend, longtime Time magazine correspondent Bernard Diederich, citing the World War II combat correspondent famous for preferring to share foxholes with GIs over cocktails with generals. “He never was too busy to talk to a taxi driver or a market lady and get their thoughts.”

SIGNATURE OF AN AGREEMENT TO FIGHT AGAINST THE FORGERY OF TRAVEL DOCUMENTS

Last Thursday in an agreement signed by Mr. Pierre-Richard Casimir, Minister of Justice and Brian Shukan, a representatives of the U.S. Embassy in Haiti, agreed on behalf of both governments, to create a joint mission to fight against the forgery of visas, passports as well as other travel document. This agreement also plans to investigate related crimes affecting both countries.

The Ministry of Justice, as regulatory body of the national police force of Haiti, made a commitment to strengthen the security of American visa applicants, in particular due to their proximity to the American Embassy and to protect them against the counterfeiters.

With this agreement, the Ministry intends to respond to the complaints of the Haitian citizens who are victims of fraud because of swindlers who are pretending to be representatives of the American Consulate.

KENNETH MERTEN IS WORRIED ABOUT THE ELECTORAL PROCESS

The new Special Coordinator for Haiti at the State Department, Kenneth H. Merten, was on official visit in Haiti for five days recently. The U. S. Embassy provided a summary of Merten's first visit as special coordinator of the Haiti case in the State Department.

The electoral crisis is the main concern of the senior official at the State Department. Merten, who knows Haiti’s political figures relatively well, had working sessions with the main figures among whom were President Michel Martelly, Prime Minister Evans Paul, members of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), representatives of the United Nations and representatives of human rights organizations.

The American diplomat expressed the United States’ desires regarding the need for the electoral process. America expects the Haitian authorities to respect the 2015 electoral calendar 2015 reiterating that it can bring "long-term, viable economic growth in Haiti ".

During the previous week, the American administration had threatened to suspend its cooperation with Haiti if the ballot of October 25th had been postponed. However numerous political party leaders from the opposition demanded the cancellation of the August 9^thballot and the resignation of the electoral advisors.

Washington implores the political figures and the people in charge of the electoral body "to work together to solve the defects observed during the elections on August 9th, to assure that the elections of October 25th and next December 27th take place in a peaceful and credible way."

THE HAITIAN GOVERNMENT FORBIDS THE ENTRY OF 23 PRODUCTS ON THE HAITIAN TERRITORY THROUGH GROUND TRAVEL

Many are concerned about this measure.

The former president of the Dominican Senate, Reinaldo Pared, indicated, last Thursday, that the decision of the Haitian government to forbid the entry of Dominican products by ground travel to Haiti is "silly and nonsense" by the Haitian government, and it is going to hurt the Haitian people the most, according HPN.

He also announced a 40 percent increase on the prices of these 23 products which from now only can enter Haiti by sea or by air travel.

However representatives of the Haitian private business sector (Réginald Boulos and Gregory Brandt) contradict these statements, saying that these measures will produce no price increase, something that Haitian Minister of Finance, Wilson Laleau also confirmed.

Nevertheless, the Dominican government is still angry. "Enough silliness and nonsense from the Haitian government," shouted Pared.

On a different angle, the current president of the Senate and the Dominican Congress, Crisitina Lizardo, asserted that the tolerance of the Dominican government toward Haiti had reached its limits, according to a quote in Dominican Today.

She asked the Dominican president and high-ranking diplomats to look for other measures, including other markets to sell the national products.

The Association of the Dominican exporters (ADOEXPO) indicated, on Thursday, that because of the measures of the Haitian government, the losses to the Dominican Republic are estimated at 200 million dollars.

EU official: Haitian ban on Dominican goods will be costly

 SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — A European Union official warns that an upcoming Haitian ban on some Dominican Republic products will drive up prices in the impoverished country.

Alberto Navarro, head of the EU delegation in the Dominican Republic, said Tuesday that wheat, corn, bread and other affected goods could become up to 40 percent more expensive in Haiti.

Haiti's government says it is banning 23 Dominican goods from crossing the border of the island it shares with the Dominican Republic to improve tax collection. The goods will be allowed to enter Haiti by boat or plane.

The goods represent some $500 million in sales a year and make up 6 percent of all Dominican exports.

The ban comes amid growing tensions between the two countries as the Dominican Republic steps up deportation of Haitians.

JACMEL: WHEN THE IRON MARKET BE REBUILT?

HPN learned that the inhabitants of Jacmel, are demanding for the restoration of the iron Market to in order to transform the Bel-Air and offer more leisure activities to the visitors and to the local youth.

Nevertheless, the state of decay of the iron market didn’t draw the attention of any authority, in particular not the ISPAN, the city hall, nor the delegation of the Department of Tourism designated to protect the historic buildings in the city.

Built by Bruges studios in Belgium, imported by the municipal administration headed by Alcius Charmant, the iron Market was built in 1895 by the engineer Alcibiade Pommayrac. Once the work was finished, the iron Market was officially submitted to the Haitian government on December 9^th, 1895.

Over the years, the pillars have been eaten away by rust and salt, certain parts of the roof even collapsed creating hazardous areas. Furthermore, certain pilasters were removed from the ground and the iron constructions which dominate the roof, intended formerly for storage, were partially attacked by rust.

To avoid any further decay, a mission made up of executive such engineer of the company Eiffel, an architectural leader in the city of Strasbourg had traveled to Jacmel in August, 1998 as part of a French cooperative mission to analyze the technical feasibility of repairing of the market whose architectural interest justifies the preservation.

This study which resulted with the necessity of reconstructing the building as before rather than repairing it because of its state of advanced degradation, was submitted to the city hall of Jacmel.

Seventeen Years later, no repairs have been made. Instead, a new municipal market was built in the locality of Beaudouin, the temporary leaders at that time proceeded with moving the merchants on Monday, 23 Mars 2015.

The ruins of this big building became, to the great displeasure of the population, an open-air dump.

Haiti World Bank report: Time for a social contract

Haiti’s presidential campaigning slowly gains momentum amid continuing uncertainty about the fate of the country’s scheduled Oct. 25 elections, a new World Bank report calls for a social contract to improve the lives of all Haitians.

The report notes that natural disasters and political instability have greatly affected Haiti’s anemic economy and contributed to the 6 million Haitians living in poverty on less than $2.25 a day. At the same time, a bad business environment has not encouraged private investments, while insecurity in the urban centers has sharply increased with the crime rate in metropolitan Port-au-Prince reaching critical levels.

“Policies to ensure more inclusiveness are needed,” the report said.

Growth is faltering and will not be sufficient for Haiti to achieve its vision of becoming an emerging economy by 2030 Mary Barton-Dock, World Bank Special Envoy in Haiti

The call comes as the International Monetary Fund estimates that the Haitian economy only grew between 1 and 2 percent this fiscal year, and Haiti’s Finance Minister Wilson Laleau concedes that it has been difficult to finance the upcoming budget. Foreign assistance is down to less than $500 million from $1.5 billion, Laleau said, and there is less available financing under Venezuela’s PetroCaribe discounted-oil program because of low oil prices.

“These allotments have really tightened the budget constraints of the government,” said Raju Singh, a World Bank economist and author of the Haiti: Toward a New Narrative report unveiled Tuesday. “One big challenge for the future government is to deal with a tighter budget envelope without jeopardizing the progress that the previous governments have achieved to improve human indicators.”

Areas of economic opportunity for Haiti include in agribusiness, light manufacturing and tourism.

Those improvements are in the areas of poverty reduction, primary school enrollment and access to water. Those living on less than $1.25 a day in extreme poverty, for example, has dropped from 31 percent in 2000 to 24 percent in 2012, according to a Bank study.

“These could be jeopardized if suddenly the budget leads to cuts in programs in social areas,” Singh said.

I am confronted by my poor minister of health or my poor minister of education and frankly I have no clue as to how these people could do their job; 60 or 80 percent of the services are done outside their control Raju Singh, World Bank economist

Bank officials say the report is intended to promote a debate around a new social contract for Haiti to dig itself out of poverty and head to sustainable and inclusive economic growth. But that contract requires the government, to among other things, identify a single vision and program, and do more to finance public spending.

“Government says, ‘Please pay your taxes. In return, I will improve my services, I will provide security. I will improve my fiscal transparency of reporting,” Singh said. “In Haiti, this social contract has either disappeared, never been built or has to be revamped.”

The level of insecurity has increased in Haiti’s urban centers, particularly in metropolitan Port-au-Prince where the crime rate has reached critical levels

Singh said officials didn’t plan for the report’s release to coincide with the electoral cycle, but Port-au-Prince based economist Kesner Pharel says its timing offers an opportunity for the presidential, legislative and local candidates “to better understand the great social and economic challenges, and how difficult it will be to lead and manage this country.”

Anybody comes here, builds a hospital and expects the government to staff it or pay for power or to build a road. It's a nightmare Raju Singh, World Bank economist

So far, candidates have largely concentrated on the problems rather than proposal for tackling them. The report, meanwhile, highlights three key areas for growth: tourism, agriculture and light manufacturing.

“Following the earthquake, Haiti experienced its best performance in decades with a real growth rate averaging 3.3 percent from 2011 to 2014, partly spurred by high levels of reconstruction aid. However, this growth is faltering and will not be sufficient for Haiti to achieve its vision of becoming an emerging economy by 2030 and improve life for its poorest citizens,” said Mary Barton-Dock, World Bank Special Envoy in Haiti.

But faster economic growth alone will not be enough to bring significant improvements in the living standards of most Haitians, the report said.

Areas of economic opportunity for Haiti include in agribusiness, light manufacturing and tourism.

“There are a lot of people who are active in Haiti. The issue is how do you improve the earnings of these people?” Singh said.

“We have to be disciplined to sit around the table and say what is our vision? What is the vision of the authorities, of the government, of the population of Haiti in health, in education, in key sectors? And we all share the same vision and we all try to finance the same vision instead of having a piecemeal approach that doesn’t work,” he said. “On the donor side, we have to finance a single vision, a single program of the government; not a hospital here, a school there.”