What's Up Little Haiti

Détails: Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti; Création : 3 aout 2016

THE FINANCING OF THE ELECTIONS IS A DONE DEAL

The temporary Haitian President Jocelerme Privert lifted any doubt about the financing of the elections, and stated that his government has already mobilized the 55 million dollars necessary for the task.

He made this announcement at a conference for the diplomatic project managers in Haiti, which was held last week in Port-au-Prince.

"It is not the money which will prevent the holding of these elections in the country. With the national financing, we were able to identify the necessary resources for that purpose", he declared.

For the Head of State, it is a question of getting back the national sovereignty.

The Head of State wanted to put an end to all the unfriendly remarks of his detractors, which speculated relentlessly on his incapacity to obtain the amount of money necessary to have the elections.

To solve the political crisis, which has been raging in the country for a few years in the country, Privert is pleading that there be credible, honest and democratic elections.

The announcement was welcomed by the temporary electoral Council.

TO CURB THE ACTIONS OF MOTORCYCLE RIDERS WHO MURDER CITIZENS AND FLEE WITHOUT LEAVING A TRACE

The Head of the Haitian National Police decided to set up a set of security measures, on the entire territory in order to better protect the population.

These measures will first come into effect at first in the metropolitan zone, and later spread over the whole country.

Michel-angel Gédéon, the Managing Director of the PNH, asks all motorcycle owners to stop by the Municipalities offices where they live, to declare any recently purchased motorcycles, and to register those already in circulation.

The Municipalities directly affected by these new measures are: Port-au-Prince, Pétion-ville, Delmas, Carrefour, Cité Soleil, Tabarre and Croix-des-Bouquets.

Punishing Strike by Resident Doctors Grinds on in Haiti

ASSOCIATED PRESSPORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Jul 25, 2016

Empty halls buzz with flies. Rats scamper through the wards at night. The emergency room is empty except for four shackled prisoners, watched over by relatives and missionaries rather than medical personnel.

The Hospital of the State University of Haiti, the largest and most important public medical facility in this troubled country, is at the epicenter of the most punishing strike by Haitian medical workers in memory.

"We've been left to rot," said Alme Cesar, one of the shackled prisoners, who was brought to the hospital months ago for treatment that has yet to materialize. "I would have died here without my wife coming to care for me."

Young doctors and interns walked off the job in March to protest chronic shortages of basic medical supplies, dismal pay and working conditions so unsafe that relatives of patients routinely threaten them, even storming into operating rooms with handguns.

Nurses and support staff soon joined the walkout. Then waves of strikes spread to 12 other government-run hospitals across Haiti, crippling a severely under-resourced health system that struggles to cope during the best of times.

Health Ministry authorities say four state hospitals are closed and others hit by strikes are functioning at diminished capacity.

They claim hospitals are gradually reopening.

But Associated Press journalists visited one hospital identified as open in the capital's Delmas district and found it barely scraping along. While a couple of specialists did scheduled consultations, the hospital was nearly empty and support staff sitting at the entrance turned away people seeking treatment.

"I heard this hospital was open. But they just told us to go somewhere else," Macula Josephe said as she and her sister helped her grandfather into a pickup truck in the hospital's parking lot.

The government-run hospitals that cater to Haiti's poorest citizens frequently lack basic supplies like surgical gloves, gauze, antiseptics and sometimes even water. Power outages force night-shift doctors to use light from their cellphones to finish operations.

The director general of the Health Ministry, Dr. Gabriel Thimothe, said public hospitals have been badly underfinanced for many years. The Haitian government devotes 4.7 percent of its budget to health care and has called for increasing the share to nearly 10 percent next year under a proposed budget.

Thimothe said many of the striking resident doctors are "radicals" who trained in Cuba.

"We're open to negotiations. But we can't give everything they demand due to the economic situation of the country," he said.

Since 1996, resident doctors in Haiti have been paid $120 a month, a paltry salary that has been eroded further by the rising cost of living.

After initially demanding $500 a month, striking residents now say they will accept $360. They recently rejected a government offer of roughly $200 monthly to return to work.

Dr. Vanessa Mehu, a third-year anesthesiology resident, said the strike would not stop until all their demands were met. While salaries are a major sticking point, she said doctors need systemic changes to a public health system that has long been unable to give adequate care to many.

"People were dying for nothing. People were dying because they didn't have money to buy gloves. People were dying because they didn't have money to buy some serum, syringes," Mehu said.

Thimothe said at least three deaths, including a pregnant woman who died outside the State University hospital's gates, have been attributed to the strike.

Haiti's longest health walkout comes as a political impasse between feuding factions shows no sign of ending, leaving the poorest citizens suffering most amid Haiti's latest leadership drift.

Interim President Jocelerme Privert, whose term ended last month but remains in office as divided lawmakers delay a vote on his fate, has threatened to strip hospital residents of their medical licenses. The threat has inflamed tensions.

"He's just trying to intimidate the residents," said Dr. Joseph Herold, a third-year resident in obstetrics and gynecology.

Recently, specialist physicians tried to report to work at the State University hospital but they were driven away by striking residents.

A hospital strike is the last thing Haiti needs.

Life expectancy has long been the shortest in the Western Hemisphere. Mosquito-borne diseases, measles, meningitis and other scourges are common. Malnutrition and stunted growth are widespread. Cholera has killed at least 10,000 people since 2010, when it was introduced into the country, likely by U.N. peacekeeping troops.

Few patients can afford prescription medicines, and private care is out of reach for many. Those with means seek treatment in Miami or the neighboring Dominican Republic.

About 50 percent of total health care expenditure in Haiti is provided by NGOs, according to the World Bank. Clinics and hospitals run by foreign NGOs such as Doctors Without Borders have been swamped with patients amid the strike.

On a recent afternoon, dozens of poor people trying to get on waiting lists camped outside the Mirebalais public-private hospital created by Boston-based Partners in Health. The well-equipped hospital opened in 2013.

Asania Sineus was in her sixth day outside the teaching hospital's doors as she waited for her mother to get treated for injuries from a motorbike crash. She first took her mom to a public hospital in Gonaives but it was closed.

"Having to travel here is not good for us. But what else can we do?" the 20-year-old student said from her camp of piled blankets.

At Port-au-Prince's State University hospital, which was supposed to be rebuilt by now with $83 million from international donors, Penina Pierre sat alone in a dermatology ward. Visiting missionaries are keeping her fed since she has no family.

"Maybe someday the doctors will come back," said Pierre, the skin around her bandaged foot discolored and inflamed.

———

New Road Being Built Between Furcy and Kenscoff

Last Friday, a delegation of the Dr. Louis G. Lamothe Foundation (FLGL), accompanied with executives from the Haitian firm GS Group, completed a second inspection of the construction of 2.6 km of an agricultural road between Furcy and Kenscoff, which started on July 6^th.

This road which will facilitate the opening up of this community and the development of its infrastructures, is being built by GS Group and financed by the Digicel Foundation at request of the FLGL.

The visit to the construction site confirmed the need to install a water evacuation system to protect the road with the heavy rains which affect the region.

To the approval of the population, motorcyclists have already begun to use the first completed kilometer of the road.

Venezuela first lady’s nephews admitted drug smuggling

Washington (AFP) – Two nephews of Venezuela’s first lady admitted being part of a cocaine smuggling scheme in a US sting operation before their arrest last year, according to recently filed court documents.

Details of the alleged confessions by Efrain Antonio Campo Flores and Francisco Flores de Freita were recounted in documents US prosecutors filed Friday in the US federal court in Manhattan.

The two — sons of brothers of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s wife Cilia Flores — were arrested in Haiti in November 2015 and flown to New York by US Drug Enforcement Administration agents.

The pair are accused of plotting to smuggle at least five kilos (11 pounds) of cocaine into the United States. They were also accused of taking part in meetings to plan a shipment of cocaine to the United States via Honduras.

The newly released court documents show how Campo and Flores and others worked together to try to send hundreds of kilograms of cocaine from Venezuela to Honduras so that the drugs could be imported into the United States.

The drugs were purportedly to be bought by Mexican drug traffickers, who were in fact sources acting under instruction from the DEA.

During recorded meetings in Venezuela, Honduras, and Haiti, the defendants discussed transporting multiple loads of cocaine via private aircraft, the papers said.

The defendants understood that the narcotics would end up in the US in transactions “that they hoped would generate millions of dollars in proceeds.”

US officials believe much of the cocaine produced in Colombia passes through Venezuela before being transported to the United States and Europe.

During an October meeting with DEA sources, Campo described connections to the Venezuelan government and later stated, “we’re at war with the United States… with Colombia… with the opposition,” according to the documents.

The defendants, rather than the DEA, initiated the drug trafficking activities at issue in the case, prosecutors said.

The two men were arrested in Haiti at the request of the DEA, and taken into custody by the agency.

During the November 10 flight to the US, Campo and Flores waived their rights to remain silent “and confessed to participating in a conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States,” the papers said.

The Spanish-speaking defendants have argued that their post-arrest statements were involuntary and the result of an impermissible interrogation because they did not fully understand their US rights.

Campo and Flores are scheduled to stand trial on the charges on November 7. If convicted they face up to life in prison. They have pleaded not guilty.

UnitedHealthcare and Jessie Trice Community Health Center Inc.

Promoted Community Health at Miami Family Event

Liberty City event offered access to annual checkups, mammograms, immunizations, dental screenings and other health services

MIAMI – UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Florida and the Jessie Trice Community Health Center, Inc., hosted a local health fair on July 23, 2016, providing medical and dental screenings for residents in the Liberty City community of Miami.

Florida State Rep. Cynthia A. Stafford, D-Miami, attended the event, joining the UnitedHealthcare Community Plan team members and Jessie Trice Community Health Center medical staff to promote community health.

Annual checkups, mammograms, immunizations, dental screenings and other services were available for people enrolled in UnitedHealthcare plans. UnitedHealthcare also provided the public with free repellent and educational materials to aid in the prevention of a variety of mosquito-borne illnesses, including the Zika virus, West Nile, various encephalitis viruses, and less common viruses including dengue and chikungunya.

“When people are proactive about getting health exams and tests on a regular basis, they can find out about medical issues early and often boost their chances of successful treatment,” said Michael Lawton, CEO of UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Florida. “By providing resources and working closely with care providers, we believe we can make an impact on disease prevention and patient care, while helping people live healthier lives.”

The health fair, which took place at the Jesse Trice Community Health Center on Northwest 22nd Ave., provided the public with music, activities for children, a visit by UnitedHealthcare mascot Dr. Health E. Hound and a summer grill-out lunch.

“We are fortunate to have a partner in UnitedHealthcare and feel it’s important to get the word out to residents about getting the necessary health screenings. We are honored to serve as a partner in this crucial effort,” said Dr. Joycelyn Lawrence, chief medical officer of the Jessie Trice Community Health Center.

UnitedHealthcare serves more 330,000 Floridians though Medicaid plans statewide and employs more than 10,000 people throughout the state serving UnitedHealthcare’s employer-sponsored, individual, Medicare, Medicaid and Military and Veterans plans.

Détails: Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti; Création : 9 aout 2016

THE HAITIAN FLAG FLIES IN RIO

August 5^th in the Olympic village marks the official participation of the Haitian delegation in the 2016 Olympics. The Haitian, Abdias Dolcé, carried the Olympic flame to Manaus.

With the national anthem playing, the blue and red flag rose slowly. A large opening ceremony and a welcome reception took place at the flag square of the Olympic Village of Rio.

The mayor of this village, the former Brazilian basketball player Janeth Arcain, who holds two Olympic medal a silver from the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 and a bronze in Sydney 2000, welcomed the Haitian delegation.

It should be reminded that the Haitian delegation consists of ten athletes. Three in track and field (Darrell Wesh, 100 and 200 meters, Jeffrey Jilmus, 100 m / hurdles and Murlern Jean, 400 m / hurdles), two in swimming (Naomy Hope Grand Pierre, 50 and 100 meters freestyle and Mike Dorsainvil in 50 meters freestyle) one in judo (Josué Deprez 73kg), one in tae kwon do (Aniya Necol Louissaint 67 kg), one in wrestling (Asnage Castelly 75 kg, who carried the flag), one in boxing (Richardson Hitchins 64 kg) and one weightlifting (Édouard Joseph 52 kg).

Haitian Politician Admits Receiving Dominican Bribes

Port au Prince, Aug 4 (Prensa Latina) The confirmation that a Haitian politician has received bribes has turned around the investigation being carried out by the anti-corruption senate committee, headed by Youri Latortue.

The general secretary of the Association of Progressive National Democrats, Mirlande Manigat, has confessed to having received 550,000 dollars from the construction companies owned by Dominican Senator, Felix Bautista.

According to Manigat, these funds were used in the election campaign, to buy posters and to hold events in the provinces. Campaign contributions from locals and foreigners are not prohibited in Haiti.

However, the amount the presidential candidate obtained was higher than permitted by law, which caps each donation at two million gourdes (US $31,300).

In addition, Manigat also violated Haitian law, because she did not declare, to the Permanent Electoral Council, the donation, which was higher than the 100,000 gourdes (1,565 dollars), established by law, according to the newspaper La Nouvelliste.

The politician's confession comes as former President Michel Martelly was also summoned by the Senate to testify on funds received from these same companies.

The investigation, opened by Latortue, is trying to discover what the last two Haitian governments did with the funds from the PetroCaribe agreement, which disappeared without being used for social projects or the improvement of living standards, as established by the agreement.

HAITI PETROCARIBE: MICHEL MARTELLY RESPONSE: “I STRONGLY PROTEST THE INSINUATIONS CONTAINED IN YOUR LETTER”

Following the correspondence from Ronald Lareche, President of the Senate to former President Michel Martelly, as part of the legislative investigation into the management of the PetroCaribe funds, the Secretariat of Martelly said it was dismayed in its response letter, by the insinuations made against the 56th President of the Republic.

Response letter from the Secretariat of Martelly:

"Port-au-Prince, on 1 August 2016

Mr. Ronald Larèche,

Senator President of the Senate of the Republic

In its offices

Mr. President of the Senate,

The Secretariat of the 56th President of the Republic received with surprise and dismay your correspondence dated 28 July 2016 relating to a Senate investigation on the management of the PetroCaribe funds. It reiterates that the rules dictated by the Constitution does give the President of the Republic any State funds management assignment.

The Secretariat of the 56th President of the Republic strongly protest against the insinuations contained in your letter to the effect that the latter could have received any amount of natural and legal persons to which you refer. It contests such allegations detrimental to the personality and reputation of President Martelly and emits all its legal reservations.

The Secretariat believes that the noble and necessary approach, initiated by the Upper House, through the Commission of Inquiry will be conducted with objectivity and in compliance with standards and procedures. The public interest requires that the work of the Senate Commission of Inquiry hovering over partisans mobiles.

The 56th President of the Secretariat of the Republic of Haiti ask you to accept, Mr. President of the Senate, the expression of its sincere and patriotic greetings."

THE TRUMPETER JONATHAN LAURINCE WINS THREE AWARDS IN LOS ANGELES

The singer, trumpeter Jonathan Laurince who lives in Florida, won three awards at the Akademia Music Award 2016 which took place at Rose Bowl in Los Angeles, California on Thursday, April 21st, 2016.

The talented Jonathan Larince who is thriving in the gospel music world, collected three awards: Best Gospel Music Video for “Will Bless the Lord"; Best Contemporary Christian song; and Best Christian Music Video for "Now the time has come." He said he is thrilled to get recognized and to receive honors that will help his musical career. "This is very satisfying to me, after so many years in this industry,” he said. These awards represent a big step towards success and make me realize that all my years of hard work were not in vain,” Laurince added. This shows me that I am on the right track, and it allows me to see that my music is appreciated and recognized by international and American music executives," said the artist.

Disruptive protests. Crippling strikes. Chronic labor unrest.

Businesses in France are more likely to be disrupted by civil unrest than in any other developed economy, according to a new report from Verisk Maplecroft.

The risk consultancy cited frequent disruptions to France's transportation infrastructure, resistance to labor law reforms and frequent protests as reasons for the high risk rating.

"While France has an active civil society and trade unions, these actors tend to encourage demonstrations, as protest and industrial action are key facets of the country's political culture," the report says.

Power

France is ranked 17th on "The Civil Unrest Index," meaning it is considered riskier than Haiti, The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia. Most of the ranking's top 10 slots are occupied by countries that are politically unstable, or mired in conflict.

The index takes inflation, marginalized groups, the frequency of unrest, and the damage to businesses into account. Mitigating factors, such as a history of stable labor relations, are also considered.

Already this year, the French government was forced to scramble in order to keep gas stations from running dry and cities powered after workers at oil refineries and nuclear plants walked off the job.

Transport workers also protested against labor law reforms in the run up to the Euro 2016 football tournament, launching a strike against railroads and airlines.

Verisk Maplecroft said that France has experienced "significant protests" on a weekly basis in 2016. Similar events occur in Germany and the U.K. only twice a year, it said.

The most colorful episode of French labor unrest in recent memory took place in 2015, when a group of Air France workers reacted to job cuts by ripping the shirts off a pair of airline executives. Some managers were forced to escape the protest by scaling a fence

HUNDREDS OF HAITIAN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS BLOCKED IN COLOMBIA

Several hundred migrants with irregular immigration status, most of whom are Haitian and Cuban, are blocked in Turbo, a border town between Colombia and Panama. According to local estimations 3% of them are children, 23% are women and 74% are men.

These migrants, whose numbers vary every day, face great difficulties to survive. They are in temporary housing; some are sick and most are hungry.

The Haitian nationals have fled from the political situation and the high unemployment in Brazil to try to reach the United States to find better living conditions. But they found themselves blocked on their journey due to the recent decision by Panamanian President Juan Carlos Varela to close the border between his country and Colombia.

Disturbing reports, indicate that migrants are crossing the borders of Ecuador, Venezuela and Brazil, via more complex and dangerous roads such as the Columbian territories at war in the departments of Shock ó and of Antioquia. Others are using more precarious means to reach their destination, heading on the coast or in the forest of Darien to continue towards Central America and eventually towards the United States.

40 ILLEGAL HAITIAN ARRESTED IN ECUADOR

Within the framework of the fight against migrant trafficking by "Valle del Cauca," the Ecuadorian military authorities stopped during several operations, 40 people of Haitian origin, among them three minors, who illegally entered the border between Colombia and Ecuador.

Colonel William Lopez, specified that 6 illegal Haitian migrants had been arrested in the section of road Cali-Andalucía, sector of the toll of Cerrito, having no immigration documents, providing an account of their time on the Colombian territory. Twenty-five other Haitian were arrested at two hotels while 9 others were intercepted during an immigration control, while they were aboard a vehicle on the road of Pasto-Medellín.

These illegal migrants, will be expelled from Ecuador and put back in the hands of the Colombian migratory authorities.

THE JURIST WILLHELMS EDOUARD WAS BURIED LAST SATURDAY IN CORAL SPRINGS, FL.

Willems Édouard, one of the most brilliant attorneys regarding copyright laws in Haiti, was murdered on July 8^th in Pétionville. His funeral took place at the First United Méthodiste Church in Coral Springs according to AlterPresse.

Édouard, was shot dead, at the age of 51.

After earning his degree from the State University of Law and Economics of Haiti, he specialized in the field of copyright.

He also earned a graduate diploma in cultural management (Paris-III Sorbonne Nouvelle/Fic Nouvelle/Fic). He was managing director of the National Press of Haiti from 2004 to 2011 and a consultant to the Haitian Copyright Office.

During his time at the national Press, he helped strengthen the documents that are part of our national heritage. He also helped the publication of diverse documents about the history of Haiti.

Édouard is the author of a collection of poems entitled "temporary Wounds," published in 2005 by Mémoire d’Encrier

One of his last public interventions took place on Wednesday, June 15^th, 2016, in Port-au-Prince, during a workshop on the "role of the broadcasting in the socioeconomic development" in Haiti, organized by the National Council of Telecommunications (Conatel).

Détails: Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti; Création : 24 aout 2016

Haiti’s Sunrise Airways Launching More Caribbean Flights

Haiti-based Sunrise Airways is planning to launch a host of new flights around the Caribbean from Jamaica.

The company’s proposed flights will connect all three of Jamaica’s international airports with destinations in Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

“We see tremendous potential for growth along all of our proposed lines of flying, especially the Jamaica–Cuba routes,” said Philippe Bayard, president of Sunrise Airways. “We’re committed to serving more of Cuba from more of Jamaica than any other airline, creating valuable links for foreign commercial and cultural exchange, as well as unique leisure travel options enabling vacationers to experience the best of both countries in a more seamless fashion.”

Sunrise will utilize its ATR 42-320 aircraft on all of the Jamaica routes.

The company said it expected to receive final clearance from the Jamaica Civil Aviation Authority by Sept. 1. for a fall launch.

ZIKA

Officials identify Miami's South Beach as second site of Zika virus transmission

As Florida health officials Friday confirmed five new Zika cases in the tourist hotspot of South Beach, the CDC issued a warning to pregnant women not to travel to the area.

The five cases follow the previous identification of Miami's art district of Wynwood as an infection zone and bring the state's total number of non-travel related Zika cases to 36.

"Today the department of health has learned through one of their investigations that five individuals that have already been confirmed as cases of local transmission of Zika are connected to the Miami Beach area," Florida Gov. Rick Scott said at a press conference in Miami.

The news prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to expand its Zika travel warning for pregnant women to the new area, which covers less than 1.5 square miles.

It also has advised pregnant women not to visit the Wynwood arts district.

In a statement to FoxNews.com, the Florida Department of Health declined to specify how many pregnant women reside in Miami-Dade County and may be at risk of contracting Zika. It also declined to disclose whether any of the non-travel-related Zika cases in the county were pregnant women.

The Zika virus has been linked to more than 1,700 cases of microcephaly in Brazil, raising alarm among public health officials globally about its spread. The virus can also be spread through sex, making it unique among known mosquito-borne illnesses.

Scott said two of the South Beach cases involved Miami-Dade County residents, and three involved tourists from New York, Texas and Taiwan. He did not say whether mosquito bites caused the infections.

Miami-Dade County has begun an aggressive mosquito eradication plan in the city of Miami Beach, the governor said. The popular tourist haven saw 15.4 million holiday revelers flock to its beaches in 2015 alone, with the latest Zika news potentially threatening the region's $24 billion-a-year tourism industry.

Officials had been trying to halt the virus from spreading beyond a 1-square-mile section of Wynwood, an arts hub in the county just north of downtown Miami, since identifying local transmission there on July 29. Wynwood marked the first zone of ongoing Zika transmission in the continental United States.

Scott has mandated the department of health offer hotels and other tourist attractions in Miami-Dade mosquito spraying and related services for free.

But officials said Friday that containing the virus in Miami Beach may prove difficult due to the area's numerous high-rise buildings and strong winds, which make it senseless to spray the neighborhood by air.That method helped cut Wynwood's mosquito population by up to 90 percent.

"Miami Beach does have a series of characteristics that make it particularly challenging," CDC director Tom Frieden told reporters Friday.

Officials plan to deploy door-to-door ground spraying in Miami Beach to try to eradicate the area's mosquito population.

Three vacuum trucks purchased to help Miami Beach fight rising sea levels have been used since the beginning of the year to drain water in low-lying areas where mosquitoes could breed, said Roy Coley, the city's infrastructure director.

The city also has been sending workers to fill potholes collecting water in alleys and fix leaky beach showers, in addition to applying pesticides to the area's many construction sites and flood-prone residential streets, Coley said.

"Our call volume has increased significantly," Coley said.

Because the virus only causes mild, flu-like symptoms in most people, confirming local transmissions has been difficult, the CDC said.

"For this reason, it is possible that other neighborhoods in Miami-Dade County have active Zika transmission that is not yet apparent," the CDC's statement said.

Reuters and the Associated Press

Thousands of illegal migrants of Haitian origin en route for countries in North America, mainly the United States, are blocked for several months in several countries

Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Panama and Brazil among others. Our compatriots languishing in improvised spaces, suffering from hunger and disease, exposed to acts of violence, extortion and rape, there are also victims of smuggling and human trafficking...

Many of these migrants trying to flee unemployment, poverty, insecurity in Haiti choose to travel via clandestine routes more dangerous in countries with various tensions, even armed conflict in search of a better life...

Several reports indicate an intensification of the movement of migrants from Haiti. A report released by the Chilean Police demonstrates the urgent need for the Haitian authorities act to control this flow

This reality is not different from that prevailing in Colombia, where the phenomenon of irregular migration has experienced a large increase especially in the border area of Turbo-Antioquia

UN makes first public admission of blame for Haiti cholera outbreak

Human rights group hail statement by international body about ‘its own involvement’ in crisis which experts say still has not received proper attention

Ed Pilkington in New York

@edpilkington

Thursday 18 August 2016

Human rights groups working with thousands of victims of cholera in Haiti have reacted with jubilation to the United Nation’s first tacit admission that it was to blame for the devastating outbreak of the disease that has claimed as many as 30,000 lives and infected more than 2 million people.

For the past six years, the world body has doggedly refused to address the issue of how its own peacekeepers, relocated from Nepal to Haiti in 2010 in the wake of a major earthquake, imported the deadly cholera bacterium with them. Studies have found that the UN troops could have been screened for the illness, and the disaster averted, for as little as $2,000.

In a statement first reported by the New York Times, the office of the secretary-general of the UN, Ban Ki-Moon, said that the organization had decided to step up its efforts to fight back cholera in one of the world’s poorest countries. “Over the past year the UN has become convinced that it needs to do much more regarding its own involvement in the initial outbreak and the suffering of those affected by cholera,” said Farhan Haq, Ban’s deputy spokesman.

The reference to the UN’s “involvement in the initial outbreak” was greeted as a breakthrough by groups working with cholera victims. “This is a groundbreaking first step towards justice,” said Beatrice Lindstrom of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), which is pursuing a class-action lawsuit against the UN to try to force it to accept responsibility for the disaster and to pay compensation.

The world body has consistently refused any claim for compensation, claiming it is immune from legal action.

Linstrom added that the real test of the UN’s intentions was what comes next. “The UN must follow this announcement with action, including issuing a public apology, establishing a plan to provide compensation to the victims who have lost so much, and ensuring that cholera is eliminated in Haiti through robust investment in water and sanitation infrastructure. We will keep fighting until it does.”

The UN’s top diplomat appears to have been bounced into making a clearer recognition of responsibility than ever before by the advent of a new draft report from one of its own special advisers looking into how the UN handled the crisis. According to the New York Times, the draft report states directly that the cholera epidemic would not have happened without the actions of the world organization.

The author of the report, Philip Alston, the UN’s special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, was one of five experts working for the UN who earlier this year wrote a heavily critical letter to Ban in which the secretary-general’s resistance to accepting any responsibility was torn apart. The five special rapporteurs accused the UN chief executive, in essence, of stripping hundreds of thousands of Haitians of their right to justice.

In his statement, the UN’s deputy spokesman said: “The UN has been heavily engaged in cholera eradication since the 2010 outbreak.” But that claim conflicts with the testimony of health experts who say that the world organization has consistently dropped the ball over the cholera epidemic.

Dr Renaud Piarroux, a pediatrician who was among the first to sound the alarm over the outbreak of cholera, recently visited the country and reported that the incidence of the disease and the lack of any infrastructure to deal with its spread were still alarming.

Piarroux’s report concludes that Haiti’s cholera epidemic is by far the largest the world has faced in recent decades, and yet there has been no concerted effort to eradicate it by the UN or any other international body. “That the current response is not up to the challenge is an understatement,” writes Piarroux, whose work in exposing the UN’s role in bringing cholera to Haiti and the world body’s efforts to cover up its complicity is profiled in the book Deadly River by Ralph Frerichs.

The French epidemiologist goes on to say that “neither local politicians nor the international community seem to have taken the measure of the seriousness of the situation”.

Détails: Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti; Création : 7 septembre 2016

America threatens money transfers to Haiti

Last Friday, following the decision of American authorities to slow down any transfer of money beginning in November, 2016 if corrective actions are not taken concerning money laundering, the Ministry of Justice together with the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH, central bank) organized a meeting and debate on the "economic and financial stakes against the laundering of assets and the financing of terrorism," to estimate the risks that Haiti might incur.

Camille Junior Edouard, Minister of Justice, tried to reassure the population and called upon the players by asserting, "We shall do everything in our power so that the nation does not have to pay this heavy burden and we call upon the responsibility of all the players of the economic and judicial system in this battle against the plague of laundering assets."

To respond to the threats which are hovering over the future of the Haitian banking sector, Minister Edouard is doing his utmost to prevent the execution of such a decision through which Haitian banks could no longer transfer money with their corresponding American banks.

Secretary Edouard also announced the publication of the law of 2013 on the laundering of assets as soon as possible and the implementation of a unit of the Ministry of Justice and Law and order in Port-au-Prince that will work on this file.

This initiative aims at avoiding a wave of panic from bankers and at reassuring the economic forum of the private sector. The Minister of Justice is confident that the publication of the law on laundering will translate the will of the Haitian government to fight against tax evasion and money laundering.

HL / HaïtiLibre

Disappointment of a Haitian immigrant in Brazil

The disastrous sociopolitical situation in Haiti forced Atilia and her three daughters to immigrate in Brazil in February, 2016. After six months, her illusions of a new life in Brazil, faced with unemployment and an economic crisis, were transformed slowly into nightmare. Disappointed, she is hoping to return to her native country. She implores upon Haitian authorities to offer opportunities to young people in order for Haitian citizens like her and her daughters, who are victims of the Brazilian crisis, feel compelled to leave the country.

U.S. Representative Alcee L. Hastings advises President Obama to visit Haiti before October 9th

Washington, Friday, August 26th, 2016 – A member of the House of Representatives, Alcee L. Hastings, addressed a letter to president Barack Hussein Obama, asking him to go to Haiti before the first round of the presidential elections planned for October 9th. The congressman indicated that it would be in the interest of both countries, and for Haiti to emerge from the current difficulties with a strong, legitimate democracy. The political strength of the US president would help encourage the Haitian people to continue to believe in the virtues of democracy.

Several events have been planned at the UNESCO in Paris from August 28th till September 30th, 2016 for the 18th "International remembrance of the slave trade and its abolition ".

In the night of 22 to 23 August 1791, men and women, torn from Africa and sold into slavery, revolted against the slave system to obtain freedom and independence for Haiti, gained in 1804. The uprising was a turning point in human history, greatly impacting the establishment of universal human rights, for which we are all indebted.

Haiti honored by the United Nations for its role in the eradication of slavery

“The courage of these men and women has created obligations for us. UNESCO is marking International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition to pay tribute to all those who fought for freedom, and, in their name, to continue teaching about their story and the values therein. The success of this rebellion, led by the slaves themselves, is a deep source of inspiration today for the fight against all forms of servitude, racism, prejudice, racial discrimination and social injustice that are a legacy of slavery.”

The history of the slave trade and slavery created a storm of rage, cruelty and bitterness that has not yet abated. It is also a story of courage, freedom and pride in newfound freedom. All of humanity is part of this story, in its transgressions and good deeds. It would be a mistake and a crime to cover it up and forget. Through its project The Slave Route, UNESCO intends to find in this collective memory the strength to build a better world and to show the historical and moral connections that unite different peoples.

In this same frame of mind, the United Nations proclaimed the International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024). UNESCO is contributing to it through its educational, cultural and scientific programs so as to promote the contribution of people of African descent to building modern societies and ensuring dignity and equality for all human beings, without distinction.

More than 2,000 cases of Zika have already been reported in Haiti

The Zika virus is gaining ground in Haiti; the Ministry of Public Health (MSPP) has listed 2,984 cases in the country during the period between February to August 13^th.

According to Dr. Jean Frantz Lemoine, Coordinator of the Malaria, Zika and Filariose programs for the MSPP, the Western department (with city capital, Port-au-Prince) is the most affected with 1,045 cases, followed by the North with 583 cases.

"The virus reached its peak at the beginning of 2016 with 305 cases during the 7^th week," declared Dr. Lemoine.

Today the trend is showing a decline, with only 15 cases for the 32^nd week, he indicated.

Pregnant women remain the most vulnerable to the Zika virus because of the consequences which the infection can have on their baby. Still today, the ministry has confirmed only one case of microcéphalie due to the Zika virus. However other suspected case are listed, according to Dr. Lemoine.

Meanwhile, the MSPP is pursuing its fumigation campaign, but also encourages citizens to take measures to prevent the multiplication of mosquitoes responsible for the transmission of the Zika virus in particular.

Puerto Rico officials struggle to translate Zika virus fears into action

A quarter of the population may have the disease by the end of mosquito season, but efforts to control it have been thwarted by apathy and misinformation

Jessica Glenza in San Juan, Puerto Rico

@JessicaGlenza

Tuesday 23 August 2016

Every time it rains in San Juan, Dr Brenda Rivera-García walks around her home emptying containers of standing water, probably wearing long sleeves, and almost certainly wearing mosquito repellent. Rivera-García is the state epidemiologist in Puerto Rico, a woman tasked with tracking every single Zika-infected pregnant woman in the US territory.

Less than two weeks after the US health and human services administration declared the spread of Zika on the island an epidemic, Rivera-García said it’s not frustration or anger that overtakes her when she adds a new woman’s name to a list of roughly 700 confirmed to be infected with the disease.

It’s sadness.

“Every time I have to add a pregnant woman to that list, I just think of what’s going to be of this pregnancy,” she said, her eyes visibly wet. “What’s going to be of this child later on, and, it’s, it’s – it breaks my heart.”

As much as 25% of the island’s population could have the disease by the end of mosquito season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, and up to 50 pregnant women each day are infected on the island.

A recent study projected as many as 270 babies could be born with the debilitating birth defect microcephaly, between now and mid-2017. In a normal year, doctors expect 16.

The defect causes infants of mothers infected with the virus to be born with abnormally small heads, and suffer lifelong developmental disorders. Some will have trouble walking. Others may have hearing or vision loss, trouble swallowing or seizures. Many are likely to have shortened life expectancy.

But health officials have had difficulty translating those projections into urgency among many Puerto Rico residents, who have been dogged in the past by tropical diseases with more apparent symptoms, such as dengue and chikungunya. Indeed, the government’s efforts to control the virus seem hampered at every turn, thwarted by apathy, lack of trust, misinformation, insecticide resistance and even architecture.

“The system doesn’t work so of course people are going to be skeptical,” said Joe Torra, 40, a professional driver in San Juan.

Referencing colonialism, Torra said: “The best way to control minds is to control bodies.”

Denisse Velázquez, 36, stood under the shade of a tree in Old San Juan, one of the hardest-hit municipalities, as she said that the government “created false alarms”.

Juan Martínez, 43, said that with “all these diseases we have seen, it’s something normal”, referring to periodic outbreaks of dengue the island has struggled with since the 1980s, and the recent chikungunya outbreak. “In the Caribbean there has always been mosquitoes.”

Even tourism officials have reinforced the view that the Zika risk has been overblown.

“From the very beginning the numbers that were given were based on projections. The reality is that as of today, less than half of 1% of the population has the virus,” Clarisa Jiménez, CEO of the Puerto Rico Hotel and Tourism Association, told CNBC’s Squawkbox. “The only issue here is if you’re pregnant.”

Jiménez focused on the roughly 10,600 Puerto Ricans who had, at the time, been diagnosed with Zika by the CDC. The figure is an underestimate, because four out five infected people have no symptoms and probably do not know they have the virus.

Now, near the end of August, the health department of Puerto Rico and the CDC have diagnosed 12,800 Zika infections, including more than 670 in pregnant women, believed to represent only a fraction of actual cases.

So far, only one child has been born with microcephaly. But experts expect that number to increase dramatically in coming months, particularly from September to December.

Health professionals believe the most dangerous time for a pregnant woman to be infected is in her first trimester, though more research is needed. Those pregnancies are expected to begin coming to term this fall.

“Right now, most of the births we have seen are among second and third trimester infections,” said Rivera-García. “For us, it’s not just a number. There’s a family behind that number.” Doctors suspect that even these cases, which are less dramatic in appearance, could result in problems that won’t manifest until much later.

The island’s timetable of epidemic infection is about one year behind Brazil’s. In December 2015, as cases of microcephaly began to surge in Brazil, cases of locally acquired infections were just beginning to show up in Puerto Rico.

Détails: Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti; Création : 8 septembre 2016

17 Haitian scholarships winners are going to study in Taiwan

Seventeen Haitian scholarship winners, who are going to study in Taiwan, were honored last Thursday before Minister of Education Jean Beauvois Dorsonne, Minister of Foreign Affairs Pierrot Délienne, and Tsai-Chiu Hwang, the Ambassador of the Republic of China in Haiti.

These 17 scholarship winners, who were selected through competition and who originate from all of the country’s departments, are leaving for Taiwan to pursue five years of higher education in diverse fields such as electrical engineering, information technology, civil engineering, tropical medicine and renewable energy.

In his speech, Minister Dorsonne encouraged the scholarship winners to be diligent in their studies and to salute "in the name of the Haitian government and of the educational community, this support by the Taiwanese government in the field of the education."

Taiwanese Ambassador, Tsai-chiu Hwang, indicated that these scholarship exchanges are within the framework of the bilateral cooperation between Haiti and Taiwan, which has last lasted in harmony for more than 50 years.

Chancellor Délienne greeted proudly these 17 young people, whom he said, "are going to acquire new knowledge and return to put it to use toward the development of their country."

The Haitian Studies Institute opens its doors at Brooklyn College

In the presence of academics, politicians, and members of the private sector, the Haitian Studies Institute opened its doors in the heart of "Brooklyn College" recently.

It is thanks to the tireless efforts of New York State Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte, who is of Haitian origin, that this project, which initially did not have the necessary political support, came to fruition.

Peter Helder Bernard, the general consul of the Republic of Haiti in New York, was unable to hide his emotions regarding the choice of "Brooklyn College", where he attended 23 ago, to permit this Institute to help popularize Haitian culture.

Dr. Jean Eddy Saint Paul, who is of Haitian origin, was chosen as first Director of the Institute. In his speech, he shared his vision, to create a research center on a national scale, a modern international website, as well as the realization of key research on Africa-Haiti relations.

Haiti-Cuba: towards the creation of a sports educational college

Last week while at the Multi-purpose Training Center of Croix-des-Bouquets, Abel Nazaire, Minister of Youth, Sports and the Civic Action (MJSAC) hosted Naima Ariatne Trujillo Bareto, Director of the University José Marti Perez de Santi Espiritu, Cuba, regarding the creation of a sports college in Haiti.

At this meeting, during which Franck Charles, Director of Renaissance University of Haiti, Auguste D' Méza, Assistant Director of Academic Affairs and Luis Eyen Reina Garcia, Assistant to Director Bareto, Minister Nazaire praised the virtues of the Cuban sports model which has allowed Cuba to take its place among the best sports nations of the world. Minister Nazaire also showed great interest in this project which would allow Haiti to have sports technicians trained in the country.

A work schedule is going to be established between the MJSAC, the University of the Renaissance of Haiti and the Cuban University to finalize this project, in order to allow Haiti to have the necessary tools essential to the development of sports in the country. (Haiti Libre)

The Superior Court building will cost approximately 27 million US dollars

The new building that must accommodate the Superior Court of the Accounts will cost Haiti approximately 27 million US dollars. It will be financed by funds from the cancellation of the debt of Haiti by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to HPN.

Opening of the first symposium for small and medium-sized enterprises

Allowing institutions to have access to financing by trying to bridge the existing gap between finance companies and small to medium-sized enterprises was the objective of a symposium last week organized by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MCI), with the support of the BID and of (PANSEH), an organization that helps support and structure Haitian entrepreneurship.

"We have to prepare the economy of tomorrow with the actions of today by creating better opportunities," declared Minister of Justice Camille Edouard Junior at the opening of the symposium.

Approximately 300 participants from throughout the country were expected at this event. Among them were the heads of 200 small and medium-sized enterprises, 40 representatives of financial institutions, and 40 representatives of organizations that support small and medium sized enterprises. According to the organizers, the event’s main goal was to allow companies to have access to the services or technical support of the MCI.

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