Détails: Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti; Création : 10 octobre 2022

Haiti at breaking point as economy tanks and violence soars

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you.

National Center of Haitian Apostolate

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@StateDeptSpox

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

Détails: Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti; Création : 20 septembre 2022

USA-HAITI

Statement from the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince on the Recent Civil Unrest in Haiti

U.S. Mission Haiti

The right to gather and protest is fundamental in any democracy. However, the United States strongly condemns the acts of violence, looting, and destruction that have recently occurred in Haiti and those who instigated these events for their own ends. We call on Haitians to express their views in a peaceful manner that respects humanitarian actors and law enforcement and allows unfettered access to Haitians in need in order to provide food, water, and medical care.

Since December, international partners and organizations have mobilized more than $294 million in new commitments for Haiti; however, additional support is urgently needed, including contributions to the UN Security Basket Fund recently established by Canada.

We continue to encourage Haitian interlocutors to reach agreement on an inclusive political accord that will allow elections to take place as soon as conditions permit. Haitians throughout the country and across the social spectrum need to create the conditions that will allow a democratically elected government to take office as soon as possible.

The United States remains a steadfast partner to Haiti and we remain committed to supporting the Haitian people during this challenging time.

By | 18 September, 2022 | Topics: Press Releases

New York Public Official Dreams of Being President of Haiti: Jude Elie Wants to Rebuild His Long-Suffering Country

September 17, 2022July 6, 2022 by americanpost

After years on the executive desks of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and the MTA, civil engineer Jude Elie The 51-year-old, dreams of being president of Haiti, his native country, the most troubled in the Western Hemisphere.

He is not scared by the immense challenges on the Caribbean island plagued by extreme poverty, poor health, illiteracy, weak institutions, fragile communication and road infrastructure, natural disasters, corruption, and the assassination of Jovenel Moïse exactly one year ago. Weeks later, Elie was in Port-au-Prince and felt firsthand the devastating earthquake of August 14, another constant in Haiti.

In that political and humanitarian crisis of the summer of 2021, Elie said he felt more inspired to join the presidential race. However, even today, there is no clear date for new elections. “The fact that no election date has been set for almost a year shows how sick, disorganized and corrupt my country is. The sooner, the better to finally give power to the people.”

According to his biography, one of his goals is to bring the diaspora from all areas of the world back” to rebuild Haiti together, enjoy freedom and prosperity.”

Like many, he emigrated due to economic pressures, but Elie is from the outset a Haitian well above the average of his compatriots: his family background allowed him to graduate from the second oldest engineering school in the US (New York University Tandon School of Engineering), with a Master of Science, after studying at Université GOC Haiti.

“The corruption of the so-called political elite generates violence, extreme poverty, murders. I could not say that Haiti is a “Banana Republic” because I do not want to insult the banana growers…”

Jude Elie, candidate for the presidency of Haitinone

He has also specialized as an engineer at Florida Atlantic University, State University of New York (SUNY), and Political Science at the famed Sorbonne University in Paris. In the labor market, he has years as a public executive in New York, between NYCHA, NY Department of Transportation, NYC Transit, and Long Island Railroad/MTA.

-How could that experience be useful in Haiti, being so different from New York? -The people and my country are suffering. The corruption of the so-called political elite generates violence, extreme poverty, and murders. I couldn’t say Haiti is a “Banana Republic” because I don’t want to insult the banana growers. Only honesty, real democracy, transparency, and international support can save my beloved country. I can do it through my studies, work experience, and international relations. I am truly pleased with my varied experiences at NYCHA and New York’s transportation systems. Thanks to these experiences, I will be able to completely modernize Haiti’s transportation so that people can travel safely and comfortably. From NYCHA, I will bring New York’s knowledge and care for its people to build back a better Haiti and provide adequate housing for all.

-Haiti has a long history of instability and tragedy. What would a different president make of you? Do you have specific solutions for the main problems of the country? -Restore law and order. End of corruption, more security, a strong royal state, and a decent economy. No more gangs, a strong and non-corrupt police and army.

-He has lived abroad for many years. How would he respond to those who say he is not connected to the difficult daily life in Haiti? -Haiti is my mother. I am a son of Haiti. My heart was always in Haiti. Now I live there and feel the incredible pain of the people. I will help Haiti to be radiant again. My experience and relative success will help people. I currently live between Haiti, New York, Florida, Los Angeles, and Canada, looking for opportunities for my country. My base is Haiti.

-How to reverse the high rate of emigration from Haiti? -The answer is obvious: making a more prosperous country where people finally have a good life. They deserve it. It is also to generate massive employment and create a body of young people to be involved in their country’s development. We must take full advantage of all new and advanced technologies and implement them in Haiti.

-You have lived in New York, where Dominicans are a large community. But the Dominican Republic has had a dramatic history against Haiti, its only border neighbor. How to improve that? -Haiti imports $2.4 billion in goods yearly from the Dominican Republic. There is a close symbiosis between the two countries. We are meant to live and grow together. The sooner we put aside past differences and negotiate a win-win modus vivendi, the better for everyone involved. We share the same island. We will be brothers again if Haiti is finally a democracy without corruption.

– Do you think the US and the former colonizer France would support you as president of Haiti? -I’m a Haitian. I am inspired by the independence gained by Toussaint Louverture, a great Haitian whom I venerate. I am free from any foreign country, and my motto is “Haiti first!” However, the United States can help us economically due to its power and proximity. France has long-standing cultural relations with Haiti. Let’s develop it for the good of Haitian society. Let’s make Haiti strong.

As Haiti descends into chaos, Dominican president brings concerns to Washington

Odelyn Joseph
September 14, 2022 8:50 AM

Haitians make their way around burning tires during a protest to demand that Prime Minister Ariel Henry step down. It happened in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. AP

Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader is in Washington this week and he has one issue that is top of mind — Haiti.

The two countries share the island of Hispaniola and ever since last July’s

assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, Abinader has been on a mission to get the United States and others in the international community to do more to address Haiti’s ongoing multidimensional crisis. This includes taking concrete measures to curb migration and supporting a multinational strike force to go in and tackle Haiti’s kidnapping gangs.

Sources familiar with the president’s visit to the Organization of American States on Thursday won’t say much other than he plans to discuss the need for more regional involvement before the hemispheric body. His visit comes ahead of an appearance on Sept. 22 before the United Nations General Assembly, where he is expected to go on the offensive and demand a regional solution to Haiti’s potentially explosive social, economic and political crises.

Haiti’s deepening political instability and gang orchestrated violence, Abinader and his representatives have argued before the OAS and UN, present “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the Dominican Republic’s national security, foreign policy and its economy.”

Despite this, the Dominican Republic has struggled to win support on the international stage for an outside force to go into Haiti and help stabilize the country. In June, the country’s representative to the United Nations called on the UN Security Council to support another U.N.

Instead, members voted unanimously on to extend the mandate of the U.N. Integrated Office in Haiti. The resolution was drafted by the United States and Mexico, and included a compromise proposed by China to address the illegal sale of arms and munitions to Haitian gangs.

But the agreement doesn’t’ go far enough for the Dominican Republic, which wants a more robust security security plan to address the gang violence and instability.

Last week, Abinader listed the names of a dozen prominent Haitian gang leaders who are not allowed to enter his territory. He also added to the list Haiti’s former foreign minister and interim prime minister, Claude Joseph. The communique warning Dominican immigration officials not to allow Joseph into the country did not explain the reasons for the ban. Dominican officials contacted by the Miami Herald have declined to elaborate.

Joseph, who was prime minister at the time of Moise’s shocking assassination, did not respond to a Herald inquiry about the listing.

The appearance by Abinader at the OAS on Thursday comes as Haiti descends further into chaos An increasing scarcity of fuel, devaluation of the local currency, the gourdes, coupled with higher food prices, a lack of U.S. dollars and an announced price hike on gas, propane and diesel have all helped intensify anti-government tensions this week.

On Tuesday the French Embassy announced it was closing its doors until further notice. Later that evening, Spain’s embassy also announced that given the demonstrations in Port-au-Prince its embassy will remain closed on Wednesday.

In June, the Dominican’s representative to the United Nations, Ambassador José Blanco Conde, told the United Nations Council meeting a new peacekeeping mission was needed for Haiti. Then, last month as Haiti’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Victor Généus, laid out the challenges being faced by interim Prime Minister Ariel Henry during a special session of the OAS, the Dominican Republic responded that what the world was watching a “terrible spiral of violent chaos.”

“Kidnappings, massacres, murders, and the control imposed by armed gangs on some territories,” Josué Fiallo, the Dominican Republic’s representative to the OAS, said, adding “the progressive deterioration and instability afflicting Haiti undermine the dignity of all its people, regional security and the shared values of solidarity and cooperation.”

He acknowledged the historical tensions between the two countries, including a 1937 massacre of thousands of Haitians and dark-skinned Dominicans, ongoing deportations and the retroactive stripping of citizenship from anyone born after 1929 who doesn’t have one parent of Dominican blood. Nonetheless, Fiallo said, “we want to be optimistic and see this crisis as an opportunity to move forward.”

“It is urgent to collaborate with your government to restore security, stabilize Haiti, address the humanitarian crisis, promote democracy, and demonstrate commitment to all the values of this organization.” he said. “If no action is taken, the multidimensional crisis will deepen.”

The intervention at the OAS comes after Secretary General Luis Almagro accused the international community of abandoning Haiti and being responsible for its ongoing crises due to decisions taken over the past 20 years.

In a follow-up meeting requested by Haiti, representatives of several countries in the hemisphere disagreed with the assessment and defended their support over decades. Canada’s representative, Hugh Adsett, specifically took issue with Almagro’s criticism and told him he should be more of a mediator than a critic where Haiti is concerned.

Détails: Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti; Création : 5 septembre 2022

Haitian prosecutor’s office investigates officials accused of corruption

Port-au-Prince, Aug 30 (Prensa Latina) The capital’s government commissioner, Jacques Lafontaine, announced today that the files of former officials suspected of corruption indicated in a government report are being investigated.

These are the cases of Magreth Fortune and Serge Merger, former directors of the State Lotteries, as well as the former head of the Industrial Development Fund, Edgard Judy.

These officials were mentioned in a report submitted last week by the Unit for the Fight Against Corruption (ULCC), according to which the state was charged 500 million gourds (just over $4 million) for acts of embezzlement, illegal acquisitions, mismanagement of public property. ) was damaged. Abuse of authority and other offenses in cases such as the police, local councils, educational centers and even judicial institutions.

In Fortune’s case, ULCC indicated that a concession contract under his management generated losses equivalent to 269 million gourds (about $2 million), in addition to the embezzlement of 40 million 940 thousand gourds allegedly in association with his brother. (about $350,000) did. ,

The agency also found irregularities in the administration of Leon Charles, the former Director General of Police, who left 18 million gourds (over 153 thousand dollars) short of payments to soldiers who had already retired or laid off in three months.

However, Lafontaine indicated that the file in Charles’ case is on hold “because there is not enough material to process it,” he assured at a press conference on Tuesday.

The prosecutor also said that the prosecution of former deputies who did not declare their assets would be done before the reform court.

According to the ULCC investigation, 50 of 44 deputies of the legislature “deliberately” chose not to declare their assets, which according to the entity is a serious offense.

jcm/ane

The World’s 50 Most Beautiful Countries (You Won’t Believe Where The U.S. Ranked)

Laura Begley Bloom06:00am EST

Who doesn’t look at travel photos on Instagram and fantasize about visiting the most beautiful country in the world? But what defines beauty? A new study from the website money.co.uk aims to rank the 50 most beautiful countries in the world by analyzing the amount of natural wonders in each location, from coral reefs and tropical rainforests to volcanoes, glaciers and more.

“While beauty is ultimately subjective, it’s clear that these countries have a lot to offer visitors, whether you prefer adventuring in the mountains or relaxing by the coast,” says Sal Haqqi, personal finance editor at money.co.uk.

Coming in at the top of the list as the most beautiful place on earth is Indonesia, which has a natural beauty score of 7.77 out of 10. Indonesia is home to more than 17,000 islands. “And just off the shores of these islands, you’ll find over 31,000 square miles of coral reef, teeming with life, much of which can be explored from the popular province of Bali,” says Haqqi.

A view of Raja Ampat island in Indonesia, which was named the world's most beautiful place.

getty

Some of the other natural attractions that helped propel Indonesia to the top of the list include Komodo National Park (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), Sumatra (which is covered with tropical forests) and Kalimantan (home to an orangutan reserve).

Second on the list of the world’s most beautiful places: New Zealand, which has a natural beauty score of 7.27 out of 10 and is known for its mountain peaks, rolling hills and a number of glaciers and active volcanoes. It’s no surprise that so many movies—including The Lord of the Rings—have been filmed here.

Next up is Colombia, which scores 7.16 out of 10 on the natural beauty scale. Like Indonesia and New Zealand, Colombia has a long coastline. It also has varied landscapes, from the Amazon to the Andes.

Despite its long Pacific and Atlantic coastlines, as well as its myriad natural attractions and national parks ranging from the Grand Canyon to Yellowstone, the United States didn’t make it into the top 10. With a score of 6.04 out of 10, the country ranks number 12. Countries besting the U.S. range from Mexico (at number 5) to France (at number 8).

Read on for the list of the 50 most beautiful countries in the world. How many have you visited?

National Center of Haitian Apostolate

TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Sept 4, 2022)

Wisdom 9, 13-18b; Ps 90; Phil 9-10, 12-17; Luke 14, 25-33

https://youtu.be/kDRu12cpJZU

Msgr. Pierre André Pierre

We are being reminded today that if we want to be Jesus’ disciples, we will need to be radically detached from all our possessions. He must have the First Place in our lives. The disciple of Jesus needs to know from the start that he is called to a great mission. He cannot be half-hearted, a joker or a liar. He is called to carry a Cross. Yet, no need to be frightened!

For, fullness of life and joy are Jesus’ promise to his followers. Nothing can be preferable to his offer. Two short stories or parables provide brighter colors to the teaching:

a) A man who builds a tower should not start his work unless he possesses all the money needed to complete the job. Hence, when receiving communion, we commit ourselves to follow Jesus all the Way. Communion is a lie when we hypocritically persist walking in our sinful ways.

b) A king cannot go to war against an enemy who possesses an army twice as large as his own. From the first day we must possess God’s Grace, the needed power to defeat the enemy.

Likewise, we should not accept baptism or communion when we are not determined to give up sin in all its forms. Too many Christians are half-way Christians. Our Church history is replete with martyrs who preferred to die rather than deny their faith. We are challenged to imitate them.

Jesus calls us to be born again, to reject sin even when it requires costly sacrifices. We are called to be heroes, to participate in the birth of a new mankind. That task is not easy. Our Church history shines with model men and women who have consented to great sacrifices for the sake of the Kingdom. Peace of mind on earth and Heavenly glory are the rewards reserved for the faithful disciple. You too, strive to be, right now, a genuine, courageous yet joyful witness of Jesus!

Détails: Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti; Création : 24 aout 2022

Two Haitian Americans seek seats on Broward County Commission

BY ASHLEY MIZNAZI AUG. 18, 2022

The Haitian Times

A Haitian American could hold a seat on the Broward County Commission for the first time after Tuesday’s election. Two Haitian American candidates — Guithele Ruiz-Nicolas and Aude Sicard — are among those running for seats 8 and 9 on the redistricted commission comprising nine members.

Broward is Florida’s 7th largest county with a population of 1.94 million, including a large contingent of Haitians. The exact figures are not available, but they are among the 228,000 people of Haitian ancestry that the Migration Policy Institutereports live in South Florida.

In the County Commission race, all the candidates are Democrats. Early voting ends Sunday, Aug. 21, and Election Day is Tuesday, Aug. 23.

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How U.S. gun laws and South Florida ports help fuel Haiti’s escalating gang violence

By Jacqueline Charles and Jay Weaver |

Updated August 16, 2022 7:39 PM

When the cargo ship “Miss Lilie” left Miami one recent afternoon and pulled into port along Haiti’s northwest coast, it had all the markings of a legitimate government operation.

Men in canoes waited until nighttime to unload the freight and stash it on a nearby island. Armed anti-drug trafficking officers showed up at the wharf and claimed they were sent to take the cargo, while vehicles with official state and police plates waited to transport the load along a perilous, gang-controlled road.

But the cargo was far from legal. It contained 120,000 high-power rounds — a deadly cache outlawed under U.S. law. And that’s not all. The rounds were bound for senior political officials in Port-au-Prince, according to two police reports obtained by the Miami Herald.

Haiti does not manufacture ammunition or weapons, and its poorly equipped security forces are subject to U.S. arms restrictions in place since the late 1990s. Yet the volatile nation, which is being terrorized by kidnapping gangs and other politically connected criminals, is awash in hundreds of thousands of firearms and ammunition — with the vast majority of the illegal weapons coming from South Florida.

“Today the trafficking of guns, the trafficking of ammunition and kidnapping appear to have supplanted drug trafficking,” said Gédéon Jean, a lawyer who runs the Center for Analysis and Research in Human Rights in Port-au-Prince, which monitors kidnappings. “The money that used to be made in Haiti in the trafficking of cocaine is now being made in these other types of trafficking.”

Among the Haiti-bound weapons that were recently seized in South Florida: military-grade .50 caliber assault rifles that use bullets “the size of a Tabasco bottle,” according to a senior Haitian police official with knowledge of the seizure.

Still, stopping the flow is nearly impossible, say experts, who cite Haiti’s deeply rooted drug trade, smuggling networks, systemic corruption and lucrative black-market firearms profits — along with the United States’ lax gun laws.

“The United States is the biggest gun store in the Western Hemisphere — by volume, by manufacturing, by culture,” said Carlos A. Canino, a former Special Agent in Charge of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives field offices in Miami and Los Angeles.

Smuggling operations out of South Florida and seizures at regional ports have spiked — along with the caliber of weapons.

“It’s disturbing the amount [of firearms] and increase in firepower we are seeing being sent down there,” said Anthony Salisbury, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations office in Miami.

While HSI has seized weapons going to Haiti before and investigated a number of cases involving the Caribbean region along with certain countries in Latin America, Salisbury said federal agents are “seeing an uptick.”

“There’s definitely an increase in the flow of weapons in both numbers and types of the firepower” to Haiti, he said, adding that “there is an increase in activity and seizures.”

Half of all weapons-exports investigations in Caribbean

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, which collaborates with other federal agencies including HSI, says that since 2020 about half of all firearms-export investigations have been concentrated in the Caribbean region — a top smuggling destination fueled by the demand of drug traffickers and huge black-market markups on U.S.-made guns. The other 50% are scattered throughout other parts of the world.

The most popular firearms for illegal exports from the U.S. are pistols: the Taurus Model G2C, the Micro Draco 5.5, which can fire rifle rounds, and 9mm Glocks. Body armor and ammunition are also popular black-market exports.

Commerce-BIS and the State Department, along with other federal agencies, are responsible for enforcing two main laws: International Traffic in Arms Regulations and the Export Administration Regulations. Commerce-BIS regulates “commercial grade” firearms up to .50-caliber that are semi-automatic and other types such as lever action, bolt action or revolvers; Commerce also controls higher-caliber rifles that are for big-game hunting, but they are not typical of the smuggling trade. The State Department regulates “military grade” firearms that are fully automatic.

But the rampant sale of firearms in Florida and other states makes enforcing those federal export laws difficult, according to experts and former law enforcement officials.

In Florida, buyers of weapons at federally licensed firearms stores must go through a criminal background check and fill out a form saying they are the actual purchasers. (Background checks and other paperwork are not required at private gun shows.) But “straw” buyers with no criminal history can easily pass a background check and declare that they are the actual purchasers. While making multiple purchases, they claim on a federal form that they are buying the weapons for themselves when in fact they are amassing them for shipment or sale to someone else in the U.S. or abroad.

However, there’s a loophole in Florida law for anyone buying ammunition. Although the law prohibits anyone who can’t buy or possess a firearm from purchasing ammunition, licensed vendors aren’t required to run background checks on buyers of bullets to make sure they’re allowed to do so. In addition, the buyers don’t have to fill out a federal form declaring they’re purchasing the ammunition, so there’s no way to trace the transaction.

A black market for weapons

There are several ways in which traffickers hide and ship firearms and ammunition. Federal agents have seen instances in which traffickers have tried to hide both “in massive amounts of goods,” like consignment shipments of used clothing and donations of toys.

The weapons, which are sold for hundreds of dollars each in the U.S. market, are then resold for thousands of dollars each in the Caribbean.

“There are huge markups on the black market,” a Commerce-BIS enforcement official said.

For example, because of their name-brand popularity, 9mm Glock pistols can sell for $400 to $500 each at a federally licensed firearms store or private gun show in South Florida, but can be resold for $2,000 to $5,000 in St. Thomas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and then fetch as much as $10,000 in Jamaica, Trinidad or Haiti.

In Haiti, where police have seized hundreds of weapons in recent months, automatic rifles like AK47s, the Israeli-made Galil and military-grade rifles also fetch high prices. The latter is already in the hands of some gangs, according to an individual who has knowledge of gang armaments.

Almost 200 percent spike in kidnappings

Gangs have been part of the Haitian landscape for more than 20 years. But a year after the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse, gang violence has soared and the interim government led by Ariel Henry, a neurosurgeon, seems unable to stem the tide or the country’s free fall.

Between January and July 1 of this year, there have been 1,207 homicides and 787 kidnappings, according to statistics provided to the United Nations by the Haiti National Police and other sources. The kidnappings represent an increase of 193.7%, while killings represent an increase of about 27.5% compared to the similar period last year.

The escalation, blamed mainly on violent gangs, has made tackling the illegal flow of weapons to the country “an urgent problem,” according to several Haiti experts.

Haiti observers and federal authorities say stopping the escalating cycle of violence in the Caribbean nation is only possible if the U.S. government steps up efforts to block the exports of illegal weapons through U.S. ports.

“If you can really squeeze this flow, it would make a huge impact on so many different issues in Haiti, on so many problems,” said William O’Neill, a security expert and international human rights lawyer who was involved in helping rebuild the country’s fledgling police force when he worked for the U.N.

Earlier this year, Homeland Security opened a permanent office at the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince. Salisbury, who heads HSI’s office in Miami, said as a result of the expanded presence, there’s going to be “an increased effort to stop the flow of weapons to Haiti,” which could lead to more arrests and prosecutions in South Florida.

Despite their limitations, Haitian police have stepped up efforts to go after armed gangs using lethal force — and to crack down on the illegal trafficking of arms and ammunition.

Police have seized 250 guns as of July, with the overwhelming numbers being pistols. Last year, they seized a total of 401 firearms.

The bulk of the illegal weapons, while not always destined for gangs, do eventually find their way into their hands. Once estimated at less than 100 just a few years ago, gangs now number up to 200, with over “3,000” soldiers, according to some international observers.

They are not only carrying out attacks in mostly poor, working-class neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince, but they also sow other kinds of chaos in crisis-wracked Haiti.

In June, armed members of a gang known as “5 Seconds,” employing drones and heavy artillery, took over the Palace of Justice in downtown Port-au-Prince, where the country’s main courthouse is located, and destroyed evidence and files on multiple massacres committed since 2018. A month later, suspected members of the 400 Mawozo gang set fire to a courthouse in the Croix-des-Bouquets region east of the capital.

The head of the National Human Rights Defense Network said gangs are responsible for at least 17 documented massacres and armed attacks over the past five years, including two this year.

The vicious cycle of gangs, trafficking, kidnapping

Previously, a few dozen armed groups were used by politicians to help get them into office or to keep them there. Now, the number of gangs has escalated as the political and economic elite turn to them to do their bidding while young people seek them out for jobs.

It’s all part of a vicious cycle, said Jean, the human rights lawyer in Port-au-Prince..

To afford firearms and ammunition, gangs need cash, he said. To acquire the cash, they kidnap, demanding tens of thousands of dollars in ransom payments that are later used to purchase guns and bullets from highly connected individuals with the ability to pay off customs officials, police officers and sometimes government authorities.

Jean, however, cautions that those behind the emerging criminal enterprise are not the gangs per se.

“They are being used,” he said, accusing Haiti’s traffickers, politicians and elite of provoking the deadly clashes so they can reap the financial benefits. “For the guns to sell, for the bullets to sell, they always have to create conflict, to make the gangs fight so that they would unload their bullets.”

Jean said two recent seizures at the ports in Port-de-Paix and in Port-au-Prince have shown that the individuals involved in the illegal gun trafficking in Haiti “are people in sectors that you would have never thought of.”

In July, the Port-de-Paix smuggling case implicating “Miss Lilie” led to the arrests of an acting state prosecutor, Michelet Virgile, and the secretary general of the Federation of Bars of Haiti, Robinson Pierre-Louis. Haiti National Police accused them of using their authority to get two weapons-smuggling suspects, the Lilie boat captain and an associate, released from jail.

Pierre-Louis, who was an adviser in the justice ministry, is accused of calling Virgile, and demanding that the prosecutor release the boat’s owner, Jonas Georges, who is from Miami, and the associate, Fritz Jean Relus, accused of transporting some of the ammunition and firearms to the home of an accused trafficker. They were released without the Haiti National Police’s approval, but their whereabouts are unknown.

Less than two weeks later in July, scandal struck again. This time, it involved shipping containers that came in the name of the Episcopal Church from Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale into Port-au-Prince.

The arrival of the containers coincided with ongoing gang warfare in Cité Soleil. As police approached the port, about a mile away from the fighting, the “5 Seconds” gang traveling in a boat fired on the cops to stop the search of the illicit shipment.

Eventually, police officers made it inside the port. The containers, marked as “Donated goods,” held 22 firearms, including 19 assault rifles, 140 magazine cartridges of different calibers, nearly 15,000 rounds of ammunition and $50,000 in counterfeit dollar bills. The Episcopal Church, which has had 105 containers arrive in its name between October of last year and June, according to shipping records, has denied any wrongdoing in both a statement put out by a spokesman and its lawyer.

“The criminals are operating with impunity and with money to spend for arms,” said Canino, who retired from ATF in 2020 after 30 years. “Sit down and do the math. How many freighters are coming in? How many freighters are going out? Whether you’re talking about the Miami River, Port of Miami or Port Everglades, that’s a lot of freighters and they’re not going to be easy to stop.”

Canino said straw buyers with clean records can pass the scrutiny of criminal background checks on multiple gun purchases at federally licensed firearms stores and then resell the weapons on the black market to criminals here or overseas. Moreover, thanks to the internet, buyers can go to any private gun show in Florida and buy weapons without going through a criminal background check.

“Now you buy high-capacity semi-automatic weapons, you can buy military grade rifles — something that will take down an airplane, a helicopter and armored personnel carrier. Add the internet to it,” Canino said. “In the old days, you had to buy it from a federally licensed firearms store, but with the use of technology, you have more access to more people. You can hit all the gun shows in Florida.”

Canino also said that no matter how many federal resources and agencies are thrown at the problem, the stream of weapons will continue to flow, despite higher numbers of seizures in South Florida.

“Even if this is a priority, no matter what you do you can’t stop it all,” Canino said. “It’s impossible.”

This story was originally published August 16, 2022 5:44 PM.

The Assumption of Hope- From Fr. Rick

sam. 20 août 2022)

To: Archbishop Thomas Wenski <Cette adresse e-mail est protégée contre les robots spammeurs. Vous devez activer le JavaScript pour la visualiser.;

Subject: The Assumption of Hope- From Fr. Rick

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"The poor will have hope, and the evil one will be made to shut his mouth."

(Job 5:16)

Dear family and friends,

I know that news of Haiti is rare.

It is probably just as well, or you would be even more saturated by bad news than you already are.

In recent years, many people live with a heaviness from pandemics, public shootings, global warming, wars, nuclear arms proliferation, hostile nationalism, fragile world economies, and other threats to existence.

It is not easy to imagine a hopeful future.

This also generates anxiety about what the future holds for our children and grandchildren. They deserve a better world than the one we are giving them.

The situation in Haiti unravels at a cruel and unrelenting pace.

In just the last few weeks we witnessed widespread gang wars, a massacre in Cite Soliel, the burning of the Cathedral, the burning of the Judicial Court, the closing of a major bank, the kidnapping of four of our staff, thousands more internal refugees.

Civilization and it's symbols- community, cohesion, transcendence, justice, economy-

are being wiped out.

As priest and physician, our work puts me daily into direct encounter with the physical, emotional, and spiritual wounds of those torn to shreds by tragedy.

I am often asked if my faith in God has suffered from witnessing so much suffering.

I used to answer that I have more trouble believing in people than in God.

People are without any doubt the cause of most of the horrors we have seen.

But I hesitate to say that now, even with things much worse.

God's belief in the human family has been sorely tested from the time of Adam,

but God's belief in us stands firm.

We believe in God. God believes in us.

It is still the magnificent equation.

In the Scriptures and tradition, there is the persistent idea that a handful of good people can save the world.

There is also the persistent idea that you won't know who they are.

They are humble, reverent, hardworking, good and anonymous.

In Jewish mysticism the number is thirty six.

Maybe you remember hat Abraham, trying to save Sodom and Gomorrah, bartered it down to five.

When I make in my focus to look around for those five people, I noticed that every time I am ready to condemn the human race, someone else wonderful shows up.

Many of them are total strangers, most of them are without titles or diplomas or roles. They are just phenomenal people who show up at the just right time, with just the right word, to generously help in any way they can.

Tom Powers comes to mind right away.

You can't possibly know of him.

He was one of the millions of decent and hard working people

who have graced our planet, with an ordinary and steady way of living out a quiet heroism.

He was a mailman, and with his hands and feet he delivered news, bad or good, which he did not author.

In so doing, he marched his gruff goodness through many a neighborhood and over many a year, delivering envelopes and packages. He also delivered, with a quick Irish wit and to anyone who would listen, a word of encouragement or piece of advice which he did author.

When he was advancing in years, and was "under the knife" too many times to remove a newest cancer, he said to his well studied priest son,

"Did you know you can go to heaven in pieces?"

This is great theology.

Deeper than the his cancer, deeper even than his physical body, he achieved the sureness about love and its Author, that enabled him to laugh at the downside of ascending to God.

Tom was not victorious over cancer, but like Job, he did shut its mouth.

Cancer could not speak to him of emptiness, cynicism, or despair.

Within the last fortnight, and for a second time, our orphanage for special needs children was raided by armed bandits, and four young female staff were kidnapped.

Kenson, the director, said to me the night we released the four kidnapped staff,

"I don't know for how much longer I can take this.

Every time this happens I die a little."

Tom's testimony is about the soul becoming radiant as the body fades.

Kenson's is about the very fading of the soul.

Tom's comment shows soul vibrancy,

Kenson's comment shows the soul becoming sick.

How can we not get sick, if we open our hearts to a wounded and sick world?

To fierce dynamics that lay heavy burdens, destroy and tear down?

Hope is the best guarantee for the health of soul.

Hope takes the hit in soul sickness.

Yet there are some dynamics that work against the healing of hope.

One is, we can get used to bad news, addicted to bad news, and eventually prefer bad news.

Sounds strange, but the same giddy feeling that can make a deadly blizzard become the joy of snow day,

or can make a movie about a horrendous murder become satisfying entertainment,

can suddenly flip us into having a continual preference for a world that is always full of imminent danger.

Snow days and horror movies do have their place in life.

They help us face the fear of chaotic forces, which we cannot control, from a safe distance.

They are evolutionary "try-outs" for when real tragedy hits.

But we can dangerously become addicted to bad headlines, become internet ambulance chasers, filling ourselves with more and more of what is terrible, for a strange satisfaction that gives us- at the expense of hope.

Heightened fear of what is dangerous and terrifying releases actual chemicals in our body, causing the energy rush of adrenaline and the satisfying high of "morphine like" endorphins, by which our bodies prepare us for injury from a grave danger. These drugs can become addictive.

Media outlets understand the chemical power of the shocking news grab.

Another danger to the healing of hope is when there is an absence of hope in the spirit of the times. At this moment in our history, hope is not "in the air," lifting us upwards in wholesome optimism.

By contrast, there are times when a whole family, a whole country, a whole world, is so high on hope you would have to be totally dour not be swept up by it.

I remember the time of folk music proliferation and "hootenannies" when airways and parks were filled with sung poetry, lyrical determinations to create peace and end war.

I remember "We are the World", a world wide chant against hunger in Africa and Ethiopia, and against apathy to human suffering anywhere in the world.

We are not in such a time, and so we need to create our own hope, and to seek out other hopeful people.

Rather that getting swept up, we need to be the protagonists of hope.

This is why it is very valuable, when thinking about the human race, to start noticing how many humble, genuinely good people there are in every direction, holding the world together.

When hope is not in the air, you find it underground, deeply rooted.

Like a treasure.

You don't just grab it in the air.

You need to dig.

You need to work for it.

In the same way that vast networks of roots enable trees in a forest to communicate with each other, warn each other, to nourish each other, we need to meet each other through the treasures of our rootedness.

When walking though the burned Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption after the fire, with the charred sacred artifacts crunching under my boots, I wondered how would we ever celebrate the feast day on August 15.

Yet, the hundreds of people still coming for daily mass in the shadow of the burned cathedral, and under the heavy fire of war size weapons, show how deeply they are rooted in hope.

The priests of the Cathedral, who will not abandon their people, show how deeply they are rooted in hope.

Their witness makes it so very evident that while bandits and fires can destroy a building, the cannot destroy faith, or meaning, or worship. They cannot destroy hope.

The Cathedral feast can and will be celebrated, even without a Cathedral, because of the depth of its roots.

The feast of the Assumption of Mary proclaims the high dignity of the human body, equally destined for heaven with the soul, in the fullness of time.

On the streets just blocks away, those killed by bandits are set on fire and burned.

This burning speaks of total loathing and disdain of the human being.

A total contrast to the resounding proclamation of the meaning of Assumption.

To come back to Kenson, who dies a little with every attack on our children and staff, you have to also know that he enters the arena of engagement even with his wounds, into the jaws of the lions even if diminished, to liberate our four friends from human bondage.

His fading hope gets revitalized by his heroic sacrifice.

This is a final element of hope we must understand.

An instruction from the Book of Wisdom reveals to us that night of the Passover was made known before hand to give the courage and strength needed to survive that violent night.

We are also told that the "children of the good" were paving the way of the coming deliverance, by their quiet good works and sacrifices.

The teaching is that from the deepest roots of our hope, in spite of our wounds, when we keep doing what is right and just without counting the cost, hope flourishes within and paves the way for goodness.

When we do this, the evil which threatens our very hope, and would lead us to cynical mindsets and self destructive behavior, must shut its mouth.

It is totally within our power, at every moment, to think the good thought, to say the good word, to do the good deed.

This is how to keep our soul healthy, our hope rooted, and how to pave the way for the next "passover deliverance", which will come at the proper time.

We stand on this promise.

The deplorable violence can't make any of us stop our work.

It can only make us do it a different way.

At least for now.

"Consult not your fears but your hopes and dreams." (Pope John XXIII)

Thank you as always for your support for our work in Haiti, which enables hope to take action.

May God bless you and your families,

May God bless us all.

Fr Richard Frechette CP DO

Port au Prince

August 15, 2022

Détails: Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti; Création : 18 aout 2022

Gangs gain the upper hand in war with Haitian police

Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) — The rounds bounced off the armored vehicle, as police carried a limp civilian to the sidewalk -- another victim of the brutal, daily shootings that plague the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince and the surrounding area. Here, inside the gang-held territory of Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti's SWAT team has driven into a gunfight that has already torn up a civilian bus.

"Can you see where it came from?" the SWAT members breathlessly asked each other inside the armored vehicle. It provides only a tiny sliver of a window onto the streets outside, which at one moment appear deserted, the next teeming with civilians trying to flee to safety.

In the past 72 hours, police have killed a leader of the 400 Mawozo gang and rescued six hostages from them, they say. But the gang - one of dozens terrorizing the capital - have not been dislodged from these streets.

"Can you see that red sign 'SMS'? That's them," said a SWAT officer, indicating the gunmen's position. Like his team, he did not want to be named, citing their safety. He pointed down the road towards a small shack, as dozens of people flooded from a side-alley into the street.

"Get away," he said to the crowd, over the armored car's loudspeaker. "You're too exposed. It's dangerous."

The officer ordered the vehicle to move into a new position. "When we get to the spot, open up on anything that moves," he said. Heavy gunfire between police and gang members followed.

It is a common scene of injury, gunfire and panic in one of the dozens of neighborhoods controlled by gangs as Port-au-Prince appears to descend into a full-blown war between police and increasingly well-equipped and organized criminal groups.

And this is a familiar routine: Police probe into gang areas to show their reach, and gangs respond with intense volleys of bullets.

In the area of Cité Soleil, ten days of violence in July left more than 470 people dead, injured or missing, according to the UN, after the G9 gang tried to expand its reach in the area, taking territory from rival gangs.

Social media video from inside the area shows gangs using a bulldozer covered with steel plates to act as armor demolishing homes, presumably those of rivals. Other houses had been burned, with other video showing dozens of locals fleeing the area on foot at night, during the peak of the fighting.

Civilians who fled Cité Soleil found little respite, with dozens receiving food handouts from the World Food Programme and sheltering in the open air of the Hugo Chavez recreational park.

Flies blanket the rain-sodden concrete floor of the sporting amphitheater stage, where children as young as four months struggle to sleep, exposed to the elements. One has bruises from a fall, another a painful and ugly rash, but they are alive.

Here, Natalie Aristel angrily shows us her new, unpalatable home.

"Here's where I sleep in a puddle," she said, pointing at the water. "They burned my house and shot my husband seven times," she says, referring to gang members.

"I can't even afford to go see him [in hospital]. In this park, even if they brought some food, there's never enough for everyone. The kids are dying."

Others are missing. "I have four kids, but my first is missing and I can't find him," another woman said. "We've been totally abandoned by the state and have to pay to even use a toilet," another added.

A young boy added: "My mother and father have died. My aunt saved me. I want to go to school but it was torn down."

Locals speak of a perfect storm of calamities -- and warn the country increasingly feels on the verge of societal collapse.

People in this neighborhood built a wall on a public road last month to keep out gangs who were kidnapping residents for ransoms.

What remains of the country's emergency interim government, created last year after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, is beginning to crumble and steeped in accusations of inactivity. His successor, Prime Minister Ariel Henry, has pledged to combat insecurity and hold new elections, but so far shown little progress toward either goal.

Meanwhile, analysts calculate inflation in the country at 30%. Gas is scarce and the subject of angry queues at stations. The UN has warned gang violence may put the youngest children in areas of active fighting at risk of imminent starvation, as their parents cannot access food or go to work.

One Haitian security forces source speaking to CNN estimated that gangs control or influence three quarters of the city.

Frantz Elbe, Director General of the Haitian National Police, rejects the assertion. "It is not a general problem in the metropolitan area," he told CNN, declining to give a percentage.

Yet it is indisputable that vital parts of the national infrastructure are now entirely in criminal hands. The city's vital port -- Haiti's main -- is controlled by gangs, who dominate the road outside. So is the main highway to the country's south, which means the fragile part of the country that was hit by an earthquake last year has been effectively cut off from the capital. Gangs are also expanding their control in the city's east, where Croix-des-Bouquets lies, and in the north, around Cité Soleil, observers said.

Kidnappings are rampant and indiscriminate -- one of few thriving industries in Haiti. Seventeen American and Canadian missionaries were kidnapped last year after visiting an orphanage in Croix-des-Bouquets, and only released after a ransom was paid to the 400 Mawozo gang.

Police, often outgunned, are doing what they can, Elbe tells CNN.

"The gangs are changing the way they fight. It used to be with knives, and now it is with big weapons. The police need to be well-equipped. With the little we have, we will do what we can to fight the gang members," he said.

The challenge they face is exposed by a brief checkpoint set up in Croix-des-Bouquets, where a truck has been dragged across a main road by the gangs, and torched.

Police bring in an armored military bulldozer to push the wreckage to the roadside, which is already littered with other truck carcasses. The bulldozer operator, asked if he works under fire, replies: "Often."

SWAT police set up a perimeter, scanning nearby rooftops. Locals and the vehicles they travel in are stopped and checked. One man says the situation is "bad, very bad," before another gives him a stern glance.

He suddenly changes tone: "We know nothing."

Fear is the currency of this war, though it is unclear if he fears speaking to the press, or the police, or what the gang may learn he said later.

To flee this fear, however, requires enduring more. A short boat journey from the mainland is the island of La Gonave, a hub for human traffickers.

The lackadaisical tempo and blue water of one tiny inlet on La Gonave belies its poverty. Heat, trash, hunger and the business of leaving dominate this world.

One, a smuggler who introduced himself as Johnny, calmly explained how his business works.

The journey is often one-way for the boat, so each endeavor requires the boat to be bought outright, at a cost of about US $10,000, he says. To cover that cost, Johnny needs at least two hundred customers, who will huddle in its disheveled hull.

Shreds of netting appear to plug any gaps between in the hull, and loose wooden planks will make up the boat's interior. Johnny shows where the pump and motors will eventually go.

"If we die, we die. If we make it, we make it," he said.

He added he hoped to pack his boat with 250 passengers, as he considered it in "good" condition.

The ultimate destination is the United States, with Cuba and the Turks and Caicos islands sometimes accidental stops along the way.

And it is from these three places that the International Organization for Migration has reported surging numbers of forced repatriations of Haitians in the first seven months of this year, with 20,016 so far, compared to 19,629 for all of 2021.

…

National Center of Haitian Apostolate

TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (Aug. 14, 2022)

Jer. 38, 4-6. 8-10; Heb. 12, 1-4; Lk. 12, 49-54

https://youtu.be/EhXufsAIZ_s

Msgr. Pierre André Pierre

Jesus, the Prince of peace, constantly calls his followers to reconciliation, forgiveness, and the victory of peace. Today surprisingly we hear him saying that He came to bring division. Is there a contradiction?

Jesus is not contradicting himself. He is simply warning us that many people will violently reject the truth of His Gospel. The call to repentance will be welcomed by some but will infuriate those rooted in evil ways. Jesus went on to compare His message to a cleansing fire that purifies sinners and produces newness in individual hearts and in society at large. Yet it will be a disturbing message to the wicked.

This message will have the good effect of raising us from sleep. Some of us tend to be tepid and cowardly. The Gospel of Jesus is something that demands determined and courageous disciples quite capable to stand in front of opposition and suffering. The true believer will not allow himself to be surprised or discouraged by the hostility unleashed by the “enemies of the Cross.”

The example of Prophet Jeremiah in the 1^st reading illustrates the theme. He was thrown into a muddy pit by his enemies but ultimately rescued. In the 2^nd reading, Saint Paul asks us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus who endured tremendous sufferings in the hands of sinners but ultimately rose from the dead.

The lesson for all of us is this: As his disciples of Jesus, we must expect to endure hardships without ever “growing weary and losing heart.” We have to run with perseverance the race we have started, with our eyes fixed on our goal, Jesus.

US to issue ID to migrants awaiting deportation proceedings

August 6, 2022 / 11:37 AM

By CBS Miami Team

MIAMI - U.S. immigration authorities are planning to issue photo ID cards to immigrants in deportation proceedings in a bid to slash paper use and help people stay up-to-date on required meetings and court hearings, officials said.

The proposal from Immigration and Customs Enforcement is still being developed as a pilot program, and it was not immediately clear how many the agency would issue. The cards would not be an official form of federal identification, and would state they are to be used by the Department of Homeland Security.

The idea is for immigrants to be able to access information about their cases online by using a card rather than paper documents that are cumbersome and can fade over time, officials said. They said ICE officers could also run checks on the cards in the field.

"Moving to a secure card will save the agency millions, free up resources, and ensure information is quickly accessible to DHS officials while reducing the agency's FOIA backlog," an ICE spokesperson said in a statement, referring to unfulfilled public requests for agency documents. Homeland Security gets more Freedom of Information Act requests than any other federal agency, according to government data, and many of those involve immigration records.

The proposal has sparked a flurry of questions about what the card might be used for and how secure it would be. Some fear the program could lead to tracking of immigrants awaiting their day in immigration court, while others suggest the cards could advertised by migrant smugglers to try to induce others to make the dangerous trip north.

The Biden administration is seeking $10 million for the so-called ICE Secure Docket Card in a budget proposal for the next fiscal year. It was not immediately clear if the money would cover the pilot or a broader program or when it would begin.

The administration has faced pressure as the number of migrants seeking to enter the country on the southwest border has increased. Border Patrol agents stopped migrants more than 1.1 million times from January to June, up nearly one-third from the same period of an already-high 2021.

Many migrants are turned away under COVID-19-related restrictions. But many are allowed in and either are detained while their cases churn through the immigration courts or are released and required to check in periodically with ICE officers until a judge rules on their cases.

Those most likely to be released in the United States are from countries where expulsion under the public health order is complicated due to costs, logistics or strained diplomatic relations, including Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

At shelters, bus stations and airports along the U.S.-Mexico border, migrants carefully guard their papers in plastic folders. These are often the only documents they have to get past airport checkpoints to their final destinations in the United States. The often dog-eared papers can be critical to getting around.

An immigration case can take years and the system can be confusing, especially for immigrants who know little English and may need to work with an array of government agencies, including ICE and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which issues work permits and green cards. U.S. immigration courts are overseen by the Justice Department.

Gregory Z. Chen, senior director of government relations at the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said migrants have mistakenly gone to ICE offices instead of court for scheduled hearings that they then missed as a result. He said so long as immigrants' privacy is protected, the card could be helpful.

"If ICE is going to be using this new technology to enable non citizens to check in with ICE, or to report information about their location and address, and then to receive information about their case - where their court hearings might be, what the requirements might be for them to comply with the law - that would be a welcome approach," Chen said.

It was not clear whether Homeland Security's Transportation Security Administration would accept the cards for airport travel or whether private businesses would consider it valid.

The United States doesn't have a national photo identification card. Residents instead use a range of cards to prove identification, including driver's licenses, state ID cards and consular ID cards. What constitutes a valid ID is often determined by the entity seeking to verify a person's identity.

Talia Inlender, deputy director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at University of California, Los Angeles' law school, said she was skeptical that using a card to access electronic documents would simplify the process for immigrants, especially those navigating the system without a lawyer, and questioned whether the card has technology that could be used to increase government surveillance of migrants.

But having an ID could be useful, especially for migrants who need to travel within the U.S., Inlender said.

"Many people are fleeing persecution and torture in their countries. They're not showing up with government paperwork," Inlender said. "Having a form of identification to be able to move throughout daily life has the potential to be a helpful thing."

That has some Republican lawmakers concerned that the cards could induce more migrants to come to the U.S. or seek to access benefits they're not eligible for. A group of 16 lawmakers sent a letter last week to ICE raising questions about the plan.

"The Administration is now reportedly planning yet another reckless policy that will further exacerbate this ongoing crisis," the letter said.

The CBS Miami team is a group of experienced journalists who bring you the content on CBSMiami.com.

First published on August 6, 2022 / 11:37 AM

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