Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 29 mars 2017

 The President of Chile was scheduled to arrive in Haiti on Monday, March 27^th

The President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet was expected in Haiti on Monday, March 27^th.

This official visit will be the first one by a head of state with President Jovenel Moïse and it will take place within the framework of an 80-year relationship between both countries.

During her visit, the Chilean President also intended to confirm the departure of Chilean troops that are part of the MINUSTAH (UN peacekeeping mission). Yet she also planned to reaffirm Chile’s commitment to work for social and economic development in Haiti, thanks to its contributions in various domains.

On the itinerary, President Bachelet was scheduled to meet with Chilean troops based in Cap-Haitian and in Port-au-Prince, as well as tour the National School of the Republic of Chile, which was completely rebuilt after the earthquake of January 12^th, 2010, thanks to Chilean cooperation.

Mrs Bachelet was also to meet with Sandra Honoré, Special Representative of the United Nations General Secretary and Head of the MINUSTAH, in the context of coordinating the withdrawal of Chilean troops planned for April 15^th.

Before leaving, President Michelle Bachelet was also to sign a bilateral agreement related to education.

THE ‘SIMAN LAKAY’ PROJECT RESURFACES

It has been a long time since anyone has heard about this project, which consists of the construction of a cement factory in the City of Gonaïves.

The cement plant "Siman Lakay" with a capacity of close to 2 million tons of cement a year, will be built by Belgian firms TSE and TPF Engineering. They will invest U.S. $300 million and will fill a big portion of Haiti’s cement need, estimated at 4.5 million tons annually. This factory should create more than 2,200 jobs on the main production site (workers, staff, and various executives with different expertise). They will benefit from continuous training.

After a long silence, Artibonite Senator Carl Murat Cantave restored hope to residents of Gonaïves by sharing that he recently attended meeting at the National Palace where a representative of the Belgian firm (TSE) was present. He stated that the Belgian company would present a calendar of execution for this vast project in a few days.

TWO BANDITS ON THE RUN WERE ARRESTED IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Last Saturday, following a request by the Head office of the Criminal Investigation Department (DCPJ), and within the framework of a special mission, the Dominican police, accompanied with agents from the Haitian National Police force (PNH), led an operation during which two Haitian nationals were arrested. The two are suspected of kidnappings in Haiti, and have been wanted for some time.

During this operation, Edner Comé, a former police officer also known as Jackson Travelino, the second in command of the gang managed by Clifford H. Brandt, was arrested, after several years on the run. He had taken refuge in the Dominican Republic, very probably after Clifford Brandt's arrest, and had been wanted since 2012.

A second individual was also arrested. He is believed to be Gérald François, a member of the Gang Galil, which has been implicated in at least 17 kidnappings.

These two criminals should be transferred to Haiti soon, in order to appear before the courts of their country.

Author Celebration

Caribbean Studies Association 42^th Annual Conference,

Nassau, Bahamas, June 5-10, 2017

Members of the Caribbean Studies Association (CSA) who have published books during 2016 and 2017, and who will attend the 2017 conference, are invited to participate in the Author Celebrations. A highlight of the annual conference, the Author Celebrations are a series of short events held throughout the week of the conference that will not only celebrate our colleagues’ publishing achievements, but ensure maximum publicity for individual authors. The sessions will comprise of brief introductions of each book followed by open discussions with the authors.

Do make note of the following guidelines:

• Authors must be present at the conference, and books must be presented by a colleague; authors cannot introduce their own books.
• Presenters will be allotted 3 minutes to introduce each book.
• Authors are encouraged to bring copies of their books for display or sale during their respective sessions. We also ask authors to bring one copy of their book for the CSA Executive Board to donate to a local library at the end of the conference.

To submit a work for inclusion in the sessions, please send us your name, affiliation, book title, a scanned image of the front cover of your book, the publisher and publication date, and the name and contact information of the colleague who has agreed to introduce your book.

The information provided by the authors will be printed in the conference program once we have confirmed with the author and presenter. [Any changes to the information should be communicated as soon as possible. Authors who cannot be present at the conference should inform us so that we can remove their names from the program. In addition, if the chosen presenter is unable to attend, please choose another presenter and inform us in time to change the program.] 

Submissions must include the following and be submitted via the CSA website by April 21, 2017:

https://www.eventsforce.net/csa/frontend/reg/tAbsSubmitterLogin.csp?pageID=4931&eventID=6&eventID=6

 Kamille Gentles-Peart, Roger Williams University                                                          

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Karen Flynn, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

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Sheri Lewis, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

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Ref: PIO/CG-PR 04/2017

 PRESS RELEASE

The “Core Group: welcomes the assumption of office of the new Government 

Port-au-Prince, 22 March 2017- The Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the other members of the “Core Group” (the Ambassadors of Brazil, Canada, France, Spain, United States of America, the European Union and the Special Representative of the Organization of American States) welcome the confirmation by Parliament of the government programme and Cabinet of Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant and the assumption of office of the new Government.

In congratulating the Prime Minister and Government, the “Core Group” looks forward to working closely with them and with all elected officials as they address the most pressing challenges facing the country. The “Core Group” reiterates its full support to the consolidation of stability, democracy, including the rule of law and development in Haiti.

MORE THAN A HUNDRED HAITIANS HAVE TAKEN REFUGE IN A CAVE SINCE HURRICANE MATTHEW

The organization "Food For The Poor Haiti" informed that since the passage of the Hurricane Matthew, more than a hundred Haitians (men, women and children) have survive in a cave situated in Fond Rouge. These victims of Matthew lost everything and are left to their own devices, in what they call "the hole"

Jean Berlin Depeine who has assumed the role of ‘leader’ for these stricken families, explained with a lot of sadness that they do not know what to do anymore to survive. Living for the most part of agriculture, the hurricane destroyed all of their harvests, flooded their gardens and destroyed their houses.

He explained that families have been able to eat for 6 months, thanks foods donations made by two ministers, because they do not have any other assistance, nor do they have a way to get out of this terrible situation, in which the Government seems to have abandoned them...

Grand’Anse is within an inch of an alert famine …

Le Nouveliste - Some people say that it is already a reality in the mountainous regions of Grand’Anse. For this department, which made up at least 25 % of  agricultural production of Haiti before the hurricane Matthew, the famine alert could be launched at any time.

Silence is not option for this community. More than five months after this disaster, "We are not far from an alert because of famine in Grand’Anse," said Monode Joseph, the president of the Chamber of commerce and industry of Grand’Anse. People are hungry. Plots of land blocked by tree trunks are not cultivated. In cities, like Jérémie for example, we observe an increase in population.

The exodus of victims in the rural sections has intensified, explained Joseph. He believes that an intervention is needed to allow the inhabitants of department to survive. "In conjunction with the emergency food aid, efforts are needed to clear fields, distribute seeds of pea, corn, tomato, of kalalou. Plowing tools are needed, as are farming tractors.” In the next four months we want to reduce the dependence of the victims, explained Joseph Monod.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church in the department is not less worried. "There is a very big food precariousness in Grand”Anze," announced the bishop of Jérémie, Joseph Gontrand Décoste.

AMERICAS

After Bringing Cholera to Haiti, U.N. Can’t Raise Money to Fight It

Leer en español

By RICK GLADSTONEMARCH 19, 2017

A clinic in Rendel, Haiti, was overflowing with cholera patients in October. The disease has killed nearly 10,000 people in Haiti since it was introduced there in 2010 by a United Nations peacekeeping force. 

When the leader of the United Nations apologized to Haitians for the cholera epidemic that has ravaged their country for more than six years — caused by infected peacekeepers sent to protect them — he proclaimed a “moral responsibility” to make things right.

The apology, announced in December along with a $400 million strategy to combat the epidemic and “provide material assistance and support” for victims, amounted to a rare public act of contrition by the United Nations. Under its secretary general at the time, Ban Ki-moon, the organization had resisted any acceptance of blame for the epidemic, one of the worst cholera outbreaks in modern times.

Since then, however, the United Nations’ strategy to fight the epidemic, which it calls the “New Approach,” has failed to gain traction. A trust fund created to help finance the strategy has only about $2 million, according to the latest data on its website. Just six of the 193 member states — Britain, Chile, France, India, Liechtenstein and South Korea — have donated.

Other countries have provided additional sources of anti-cholera funding for Haiti outside the trust fund, most notably Canada, at about $4.6 million, and Japan, at $2.6 million, according to the United Nations. Nonetheless, the totals received are a fraction of what Mr. Ban envisioned.

In a letter sent to member states last month, Mr. Ban’s successor, António Guterres, asked for financial commitments to the trust fund by March 6. He also appeared to raise the possibility of a mandatory dues assessment if there were no significant pledges.

The deadline came and went without much response.

Mr. Guterres has not stated publicly whether he intends to push for a mandatory assessment in the budget negotiations now underway at the United Nations. Privately, however, diplomats and United Nations officials said he had shelved the idea, partly because of strong resistance by some powerful members, including the United States.

Diplomats said part of the problem could be traced to simple donor fatigue, as well as to many countries’ reluctance to make financial commitments without certainty that the money will be used effectively.

The donor challenge was acknowledged by Dr. David Nabarro, a United Nations special adviser who rose to prominence running its mobilization to fight the Ebola crisis in West Africa, and who has been leading its fund-raising efforts for Haiti as he seeks to become the next director general of the World Health Organization.

“Donors will respond, but they need to be convinced that they’re going to be given a good proposition for what’s done with their money,” he said in January at the World Economic Forum. “The Haiti cholera story is not actually a very good one, in that it’s taken us a rather long time to get on top of it, and still the problem is persisting.”

The fund-raising effort has been further complicated by the Trump administration’s intention to cut spending on foreign aid. The United States, historically a leading source of Haiti’s foreign aid, is also the biggest single financing source for the United Nations, which may now confront painful choices over how to allocate reduced revenue.

Ross Mountain, a veteran United Nations aid official who is its senior adviser on cholera in Haiti, said that a number of ideas concerning the financing were under discussion. And, he said, while “$400 million is not a very large sum, considering the circumstances, we are all very aware about the competing demands.”

Mr. Mountain also conceded that “on the financial side, we have not moved further ahead.”

Mr. Trump’s new United Nations ambassador, Nikki R. Haley, who has called the cholera crisis “nothing short of devastating,” did not respond to requests for comment about the funding problem. But in her Senate confirmation testimony in January, Ms. Haley said, “We’re going to have to make this right with Haiti, without question, and the U.N. is going to have to take responsibility.”

Cholera, a waterborne bacterial scourge that can cause acute diarrhea and fatal dehydration if not treated quickly, has killed nearly 10,000 people and sickened nearly 800,000 in Haiti, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country, since it was introduced there in 2010 by infected Nepalese members of a United Nations peacekeeping force. This year, as of late February, nearly 2,000 new cases had been reported, amounting to hundreds a week.

Studies have traced the highly contagious disease to sloppy sanitation that had leached fecal waste laced with cholera germs from latrines used by the Nepalese peacekeepers into the water supply.

“We still have the biggest outbreak of cholera of any country anywhere,” said Dr. Louise Ivers, a senior policy adviser at Partners in Health, an international medical aid organization that has long worked in Haiti. “Here we are, nearly seven years later, and it’s still a big problem.”

Compared with other disasters confronting the United Nations, like the Syria refugee crisis and famines threatening 20 million people in Yemen and parts of Africa, the Haiti crisis may not loom as large. But unlike the others, the direct cause in Haiti was traced to the United Nations.

This fact weighed on Mr. Ban until near the end of his tenure. He finally acted after the organization’s independent investigator on extreme poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, said in a scathing report that the United Nations’ failure to take responsibility for the cholera crisis was “morally unconscionable, legally indefensible and politically self-defeating.”

Understand the world with sharp insight and commentary on the major news stories of the week.

But Mr. Ban’s apology for Haiti’s cholera epidemic also clearly reflected an assumption that all members were responsible for the success of the new strategy to defeat it. “For the sake of the Haitian people, but also for the sake of the United Nations itself, we have a moral responsibility to act,” he told the General Assembly on Dec. 1. “And we have a collective responsibility to deliver.”

Advocacy groups that had been somewhat heartened by Mr. Ban’s words have grown increasingly anxious not only about the lack of money, but also about the lack of clarity in how the “material assistance and support” part of the plan, which represents half of the $400 million goal, will be used.

Two leading advocacy groups for Haitian cholera victims, the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux and the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, sent a letter on Thursday to Mr. Guterres, requesting a meeting and expressing concern that “the current trajectory of fund-raising and elaboration of the New Approach is betraying the U.N.’s promises of a meaningful and accountable response in Haiti.”

Lawmakers in the United States critical of the United Nations’ response in Haiti have also put pressure on the organization.

“While the U.N. has admitted to wrongdoing and promised to create a fund to provide restitution to the people of Haiti victimized by cholera,” Representative John Conyers Jr., Democrat of Michigan, said in a statement last week, “they have failed to make good on these promises.”

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 25 avril 2017

 RARA: The Haitian Rara: a social-cultural and mystical manifestation

In Haiti, after the carnival period is over, it is the time of festivities called Rara.

 Whether in Léogane, Paillant or other cities, residents overwhelmingly participate in the activities surrounding this popular event

To identify the roots of Haitian Rara, vaudou priest Lionel Dupont and sociologist Jean Marie Désire provided updates on the topic.

Rara festivities are celebrated during the Easter period. Thousands of Haitians attach great importance to this ritual. Jean Marie Désiré, public relations manager of the “Prix Flower,” a rara band in Léogane, explains that the phenomenon of the Haitian Rara originated in pre-Columbian times, but it developed more during the period of slavery, particularly in the context of the maroons.

At the time, it was a Rara without drums and bamboo but had a revolutionary impact, he said. This band consisted of maroon, then known as Chanpwèl, he said.

AMERICAS

U.N. Votes Unanimously to End Peacekeeping Mission in Haiti

UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously on Thursday to end its 13-year-long peacekeeping mission inHaiti, and replace its blue-helmeted soldiers with police officers.

The mission, often a source of embarrassment to the world body, landed inHaiti in 2004, after a rebellion led to the removal of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It became arguably best known for introducing a deadly cholera strain to the country — and then refusing for years to take responsibility for it.

The cholera outbreak, which began in 2010, has killed at least 9,500 people so far and infected hundreds of thousands of Haitians. The United Nationsapologized last year and proposed to compensate affected Haitians, but hasyet to raise money for the effort. Of the $400 million that the United Nations says it needs, it has received $2.66 million, from only six countries — Britain, Chile, France, India, Liechtenstein and South Korea, according todata posted on its website.

The mission has also recently been troubled by allegations of sexual abuse. A sex ring, operated by Sri Lankan soldiers who were posted there from 2004 to 2007, exploited at least nine children, according to an internal United Nations report, The Associated Press reported this week.

The American ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki R. Haley, referred to the sexual abuse allegations in her brief remarks in the council chambers on Thursday. “The United States has made it clear to the U.N. and all troop-contributing countries that these abuses must stop,” she said.

She did not address the cholera outbreak, nor how the United Nations can compensate survivors.

The Haiti drawdown, which was recommended by the secretary general, António Guterres, comes amid pressure by President Trump’s administration to review each of the organization’s 16 peacekeeping missions. The United States is the United Nations’ largest financial contributor; it funds about 28 percent of the world body’s $7.87 billion budget, and Trump administration officials have said they want to bring that down to a maximum of 25 percent. The American contributionamounts to less than 0.1 percent of the federal budget.

In Haiti, the roughly 2,300 soldiers are scheduled to leave gradually by October. Seven United Nations police units will remain for an initial period of six months to train Haitian police officers.

The decision to close the Haiti mission represented a rare moment of unity on the Security Council, with the world powers agreeing that the country had reached a new level of stability.

Ms. Haley called the drawdown “a success story.”

.

FIVE NOBEL PEACE PRIZES WINNERS LAUNCH AN URGENT CALL TO THE UNITED NATIONS, ASKING IT TO PAY ITS DEBT TO HAITI

On the eve of a meeting of the Security Council where the decision to end the MINUSTAH took place- a very criticized mission which has been in Haiti since 2004 - the five Nobel Peace prizes winners have appealed to the United Nations asking it to repair the wrongs caused in Haiti, which consist mainly of human rights violations committed by its troops.

Adolfo Perez Esquivel, Jody William, Rigoberta Manchu Tum, Shirin Ebadi and Betty William thus wrote to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to express their profound concern about the total lack of justice and the merits of the requests of the Haitian people demanding repair for the wrong caused to the victims of the MINUSTAH in some of its actions.

"Thousands of women and children were raped or exploited sexually, and several of them abandoned with children”, recalled those who signed the letter.

They also pointed to a report of the UN which recognized that CHOLERA was introduced into the country by MINUSTAH troops from Bangladesh. This caused the death of thousands of victims, perhaps even three times more than the official count of 9,483.

"It is urgent and essential that United Nations does everything to repair the damage it caused to the people of Haiti”, stated the Nobel prize-winners... The attitude of the MINUSTAH is inadmissible and does not correspond to the objectives set up by the Security Council.

They proposed that the situation be addressed and that certain rich countries participate in the creation of peace missions by granting financing which would be used to repair the wrongs caused and which would be paid to the country according to a quota corresponding to the damage caused in the country.

Even the General Secretary had denounced the absence of funds for programs proposed by the United Nations to compensate the victims, for the eradication of the cholera and for the completion of programs to install drinking water throughout the country. 80 % of the population of Haiti is deprived of drinking water. The costs could be covered by what was paid for operations of the MINUSTAH during the past 13 years.

The 5 Nobel Prize winners expressed their total agreement in the ending of the MINUSTAH’s mission, which in reality was only an extension of the hundred years of American occupation. Such is the opinion of organizations in Haiti, Latin America, the Caribbean and throughout the world

A final petition was handed to hundreds of entities of the United Nations and to South American governments such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay, who had sent the troops which constitute the MINUSTAH.

The letters also ask for reparations for the damages caused.

What Haiti needs is cooperation, not a guardian, and even less an occupation, concluded the Nobel Prize winners.

"The People of Haiti have the right for respect and support… in its struggle to assure its safety, its determination to enforce its rights, which also includes controlling its essential resources for its survival and welfare.

The credibility of United Nations is at stake, said those who signed the letter. First, for causing the disaster, then secondly,for denying any responsibility for it for six long years while the cholera epidemic raged throughout the country.

U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Visits PEPFAR Partner GHESKIO

on World Health Day

Port-au-Prince, April 7, 2017 – In recognition of World Health Day 2017, American Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Brian Shukan and members of the U.S. Government health team visited the GHESKIO National Institute of Laboratory and Research (INLR) in Port-au-Prince. GHESKIO (Groupe Haïtien d’Étude du Sarcome de Kaposi et des Infections Opportunistes/Haitian Group for the Study of Kaposi’s Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections) has been a U.S. Government partner since 1983 and is one of the largest providers of TB/HIV diagnosis and treatment in the Americas. GHESKIO has received U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funding since the beginning of the initiative in 2004, and is implemented by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Agency for International Development. 

Chargé Shukan was greeted by GHESKIO Deputy Director Dr. Marie Marcelle Deschamps who briefed the Chargé on GHESKIO’s history, the vast set of health and support services the organization provides, and the state of healthcare in Haiti. Chargé Shukan had the opportunity to tour several of GHESKIO’s PEPFAR-funded clinics to observe the innovative work the organization is undertaking.

With PEPFAR funding, GHESKIO provides life-saving antiretroviral treatment (ART) free of charge to more than 25,000 patients annually. During the site visit, Chargé Shukan toured GHESKIO’s ART clinic and learned about new approaches to improve patient care – such as multi-month scripting of ART and a “rapid pathway” intervention aimed at reducing patient wait times. At GHESKIO’s pediatric unit, the largest pediatric AIDS clinic in Haiti, Chargé Shukan met with Dr. Vanessa Rouzier to discuss how PEPFAR is supporting HIV exposed infants to receive HIV treatment and care for TB. 

PEPFAR also works with GHESKIO to provide integrated services to victims of gender-based violence (GBV) and to identify and refer victims of GBV through a network of community health workers. Chargé Shukan met with representatives of the program to learn about the prevalence of GBV in Haiti and how PEPFAR is supporting GHESKIO to care for victims of violence. Chargé Shukan toured GHESKIO’s vocational school – a training workshop for victims of GBV designed to promote resiliency and economic independence – and spoke with participants in the program. 

GHESKIO remains one of PEPFAR-Haiti’s longest-standing and highest-performing partners. Chargé Shukan commended the GHESKIO staff on their tireless efforts to deliver quality services to the people of Haiti noting that “GHESKIO has shown its profound dedication by providing outstanding health services for over 35 years. It is impressive to see such a comprehensive program that responds to the service delivery needs of the community.”

Approximately 58,000 Haitian migrants in the US who have been protected by the Temporary Protection Status (TPS) are now under the threat of deportation, according to GARR.

Tens of thousands of Haitians living in the United States are afraid that the Temporary Protection Status (TPS) from which they had benefited under the Obama administration may not be renewed. This status allowed them to become established in the US following the earthquake of January 12^th, 2010. It expires on July 22^nd, 2017.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 26 avril 2017

 U.S. immigration services recommend the end of TPS

James McCamen, Acting Director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), recently recommended an end to the program Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in January, 2018. This program benefits about 60,000 Haitians by authorizing them to stay in the United States.

It should be remembered that the Obama administration had offered the TPS to Haitians, following the devastating earthquake of 2010. This protection was repeatedly extended and its current expiration date is July 22^nd, 2017.

In its letter, McCamen underlines that the conditions in Haiti have improved enough to end the "Temporary Protected Status" (TPS) for Haitians. He proposes an extension until January, 2018, only to allow a "period of orderly transition", and expects that this program should not be extended beyond that date.

However, the final decision on the fate of Haitians will be made by Secretary John Kelly of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), who has not yet made a decision on this subject, according to spokesman David Lapan.

Twenty French Companies are on their way

About twenty French companies will soon be in Haiti. Last Friday, Pierre Marie Du Meny, Minister of Trade and the Industry, met a French delegation linked to the cooperation between France and Haiti. France aims to be more active on the economic plan in Haiti, and with the support of the French-Haitian Chamber, about twenty French companies will soon be in Haiti for a forum around the economy and the business, has indicated Secretary Du Meny.

Rebuilding the National Palace

A meeting took place recently regarding the rebuilding of the National Palace of Haiti. The famous building was demolished by the earthquake of January 12^th, 2010. Since then, announcements about its reconstruction were made by France, and also by the American actor Sean Pean.

Seven years after the earthquake,  it’s the first meeting taking place about the rebuilding of the palace. It brought together around President Jovenel Moïse, architects who specialize in the reconstruction of historic monuments, such as Patrick Delatour, Patrick Durandis, and Sabine Malebranche to name only a few.

Leading the group is Engineer Clément Bélizaire, also Executive director of the Unity of Homebuilding and Public Buildings (UCLBP). He promised to offer to the nation a Palace worthy of the name.

The Committee’s responsibility is to deal with this reconstruction. But already Mr. Jovenel Moïse stressed that the new construction will have to respect the outside of the previous palace which should not be changed. The Committee will have to deal with the reconstruction of the interior of the building.

U.S. Department of Justice

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Southern District of Florida                                                                Special Counsel to the U.S. Attorney

99 N.E. 4 Street                                                                                   Sarah J. Schall

Miami, FL 33132                                                                               (305) 961-9377

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NEWS RELEASE:

Haitian National Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Launder Money

Derived from Drug Trafficking

                  A former high-ranking Haitian National Police officer pleaded guilty today in the United States to a money laundering charge in connection with an international narcotics scheme.

 Benjamin G. Greenberg, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Adolphus P. Wright, Special Agent in Charge, United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Miami Field Division; Matthew G. Donahue, Special Agent in Charge, DEA, Caribbean Division; and Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.

 Guy Philippe, 49, of Haiti appeared before U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga of the Southern District of Florida, where he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering stemming from his receipt of cash payments derived from the proceeds of narcotics sales that occurred in Miami, Florida and elsewhere in the United States in the late 1990s and early 2000s.  Philippe faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment.  The defendant is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Altonaga in Miami on July 5, 2017 at 9:30 a.m.

 "After evading law enforcement for over a decade, Guy Philippe's guilty plea demonstrates the unrelenting commitment of the U.S. government and our foreign counterparts to disrupt and dismantle transnational narco-trafficking and money laundering organizations,” said Acting United States Attorney Greenberg. “Philippe cast aside his duty to protect and serve the people of Haiti.  Instead, he abused his position of authority as a high-ranking Haitian National Police Officer to safeguard drug shipments and launder illicit trafficking proceeds.  The prosecution of those who abuse the public’s trust to facilitate criminal conduct remains a top priority for the U.S. and our Haitian law enforcement allies.” 

                  “In addition to its other pernicious effects, drug trafficking corrupts public officials and important government institutions that form the foundation of every democracy.  Philippe – a former high-ranking official in the Haitian National Police – was on the payroll of the drug traffickers for years, receiving more than $1.5 million in bribe payments for protecting drug shipments,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Blanco.  “The department’s investigation and prosecution of this case for more than a decade demonstrates its commitment to prosecuting all of those who facilitate the international drug trade, including the corrupt officials on the take, and that there is no place to hide from the U.S. justice system."

        “It is important that Philippe accepted responsibility for his criminal offenses against the United States and the people of Haiti for his involvement in criminal activities associated with drug trafficking,” said Adolphus P. Wright, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Miami Field Division, also adding “With the increased strength of our law enforcement partners, both in the United States and abroad, DEA will never abandon nor ever give up on seeking and bringing to justice those responsible for drug trafficking and the laundering of drug money, no matter how many years they attempt to evade capture.”     

 “This international investigation demonstrates the possibilities of success in identifying and producing significant prosecutorial evidence against members of drug trafficking organizations, money laundering organizations and corrupt public figures,” stated Matthew G. Donahue, Special Agent in Charge, DEA, Caribbean Division.  “Guy Philippe violated public trust and the confidence of the Haitian people and others throughout the Caribbean Region and the United States, by supporting and benefiting from drug trafficking organizations.   The arrest of Guy Philippe is a testament to the collective mission of our federal agencies and exceptional Foreign Police Units.  The Haitian Police, La Brigade de Lutte contre le Trafic de Stupéfiants (BLTS), is commended for their continued hard work, dedication and assistance provided to the international law enforcement community.  This investigation sends a strong message to criminal organizations globally, that the law enforcement partners throughout the Eastern Caribbean Region will not rest until these violators are brought to justice.”  

Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), said, "Today Mr. Philippe admitted to accepting bribes while employed as a high-ranking Haitian National Police Officer and to assisting a drug operation that brought cocaine into Miami. IRS-CI is pleased this longtime fugitive has admitted his role in the money laundering conspiracy and will now face the consequences of his actions. IRS-CI will continue to work alongside our global law enforcement partners and provide our financial investigative expertise to dismantle these international drug and money laundering organizations."

 According to admissions made in connection with the plea, beginning in the late 1990s, Philippe knowingly using his position as a high-ranking Haitian National Police Officer to provide protection for the shipments of drugs and drug proceeds arriving into Haiti in exchange for cash payments.  Philippe admitted that from approximately June 1999 to April 2003, he received between $1.5 and $3.5 million in bribes from drug traffickers, knowing that the payments he received constituted proceeds of cocaine sales that occurred in Miami, Florida, and elsewhere in the United States.  Philippe also admitted that he shared a portion of these payments with Haitian National Police officials and other security personnel to ensure their continued support for future drug shipments arriving into Haiti.  Philippe used these payments to purchase a residence in Broward County, Florida; and to support himself and to support his family in the United States.

                  In addition, Philippe wired proceeds derived from the sale of cocaine, in the amount of $376,000, from banks in Haiti and Ecuador to a joint bank account in Miami.  To avoid detection, Philippe used the names of others to wire the funds to his account.  Philippe further admitted that he arranged for over $70,000 in drug proceeds to be deposited into his account that were conducted in a series of deposits each less than $10,000 to avoid the U.S. federal reporting requirements. 

 The DEA and IRS-CI investigated the case. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, DEA Port-au-Prince Country Office, Caribbean Field Division, U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations, and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Miami Office of Field Operations provided assistance in this matter. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lynn M. Kirkpatrick and Andy R. Camacho of the Southern District of Florida and Senior Trial Counsel Mark A. Irish of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section are prosecuting the case.

 The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our federal partners commend the Government of Haiti, including the Ministry of Justice, Haitian National Police, and La Brigade de Lutte contre le Trafic de Stupéfiants (BLTS) for upholding the rule of law and assisting U.S. counterparts.

 This case is the result of the ongoing efforts by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) a partnership that brings together the combined expertise and unique abilities of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, dismantle and prosecute high-level members of drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations and enterprises.

 Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

After eluding the feds for a decade in Haiti, Guy Philippe plans to plead guilty in Miami

According to the Miami Herald, Guy Philippe has apparently run out of moves in his quest to outfox the U.S. government. The former Haitian national police commander, who led a revolt against this nation’s president in 2004, and got elected to the Senate last year, has agreed to plead guilty on Monday to a drug-related charge, according to a notice filed in Miami federal court on Friday.

It is not clear from the notice whether Philippe, 49, will plead guilty to a principal conspiracy charge of smuggling cocaine from Colombia via Haiti to the United States, or to a secondary conspiracy offense of money laundering in an indictment dating back to 2005. The drug trafficking charge carries up to life in prison and the money – laundering offense up to 20 years.

In exchange for agreeing to plead guilty to avoid the risk of trial in early May and possible conviction on the main drug-conspiracy charge, it is likely federal prosecutors have offered Philippe a deal that sends him to prison for many years but not for the rest of his life.

Philippe’s defense attorney, Zeljka Bozanic, confirmed Saturday that “There is a favorable plea agreement in place” that allows him to avoid a life sentence but she declined to provide details. The U.S. attorney’s office could not be reached for comment.

The Dominican Republic was ranked at the top of a list of countries that must be visited in 2017

After Canada, which ranked first place of “must see” countries for 2017, Colombia came in second place in the prestigious classification by Lonely Planet, one of the most renowned travel guides of the world. The guide is one of the most reputable resources for millions of travelers all over the world. As a result, there is a strong likelihood the South American country will become the tourist destination of excellence in a few years.

Here is the complete ranking: 

1-     Canada

2-     Colombia

3-     Finland                  

4-     Dominican Republic

5-     Nepal

6-     Bermuda

7-     Mongolia

8-     Oman

9-     Burma

10-  Ethiopia

Signing of an agreement to build a road connecting Hinche and Saint Raphael

Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant and the European Commissioner for Development, Neven Mimica signed an agreement for 45.3 million Euros concerning the construction of a section of main road No. 3 connecting Hinche and Saint Raphaël, according to a press release from the Office of the Prime Minister. 

The works will be executed by the Haitian firm Vorbe and Sons, and the French firm Razel BEC. It is scheduled to begin in a month, and it will last 24 months.

At the end of the signing ceremony, the head of the government thanked the European Union, especially for funds available, notably 35 million Euros, following the passage of Hurricane Matthew, as well as the disbursement of 14.5 million Euros in the form of budgetary support for the government and for the consolidation of the Haitian state.

A SITE OF HAITI AMONG 20 NEW WORLD RESERVES OF BIOSPHERES

The International Co-ordinating Council of Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme of UNESCO, added 20 sites to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves during its meeting in the capital of Peru on 18 and 19 March. The newly adopted sites include 18 national sites and one transboundary site shared between Spain and Portugal. The Council also approved 9 extensions to existing Biosphere Reserves. Following the withdrawal of two sites at the request of Austria, this brings the total number of biosphere reserves to 669 sites in 120 countries, including 16 transboundary sites.

The site of La Hotte joined the World Network of Biosphere Reserves:

Located in the south-east of the country, the biosphere reserve encompasses both terrestrial and marine areas. The region is considered a biodiversity hotspot due to its wide climate range: from humid to subtropical dry. The reserve covers six mountain peaks culminating at 2,347m, as well as a coastal and marine ecosystem in the north (Iles Cayemites) and south (Ile-à-Vache). It is home to more than 850,000 inhabitants, whose main economic activities are farming, agroforestry, fishing, commerce, and handcrafts.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 3 mai 2017

 Haiti leader pleads guilty to money laundering in drug case

Monday, April 24, 2017

MIAMI, Florida (AP) — A former Haitian coup leader and recently elected senator in that country pleaded guilty Monday to a US drug money-laundering charge under a deal that should allow him to avoid a potential sentence of life in prison for cocaine trafficking.
Under the plea deal, the recommended prison sentence for Guy Philippe is nine years and the drug trafficking charge would be dropped. He also faces a US$1.5 million fine at a sentencing hearing July 5.
"You understand I am under no obligation to impose that sentence?" asked US District Judge Cecilia M Altonaga, noting that the maximum potential sentence is 20 years.
"Yes, your honour," said Philippe.
Philippe, 49, led a 2004 Haitian uprising that ousted then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and was indicted along with several others on US drug charges in 2005. He managed to elude capture for more than a decade, including at least 10 attempts to arrest him in Haiti that involved a military operation and a foot chase through the countryside.
Philippe was elected to the Haitian Senate in November but was arrested while giving a live radio interview in the capital of Port-au-Prince in January and whisked immediately to the US Altonaga rejected his claim of immunity as an elected Haitian official. The judge noted even if immunity applied, Philippe had not yet been officially sworn in.
There was no immediate comment about the guilty plea from the many members of Haiti's parliament who questioned the legality of swiftly flying Philippe to Florida on the same day of his arrest in the capital's Petionville district.
The remote, mountainous town of southwest Haiti where Philippe ran a virtual fiefdom was also quiet on Monday, local residents said. The town of Pestel was one of many communities on Haiti's remote southern peninsula struggling with flooding following heavy rain.
Philippe admitted Monday in court that, as a high-ranking Haitian police commander in the city of Cap-Haitien, he accepted between US$1.5 million and US$3.5 million from drug smugglers from 1999 to 2003. Prosecutors say Philippe and other police officers took the money in exchange for ensuring safe passage for cocaine shipments from Colombia and other countries that went through Haiti on their way to Miami and other US destinations.
"Philippe cast aside his duty to protect and serve the people of Haiti," said Acting US Attorney Benjamin Greenberg. "Instead, he abused his position of authority as a high-ranking Haitian National Police officer to safeguard drug shipments and launder illicit trafficking proceeds."
Philippe attorney Zeljka Bozanic said taking the potential life sentence off the table was the key to the plea agreement, especially considering there are few witnesses and documents available to mount a credible defence.
"We're happy that's going to be the result," she said. "Hopefully he'll still be a relatively young person walking out of there."
About US$376,000 of the illicit cash was wired to a Miami bank account from Haiti and Ecuador and used by Philippe to purchase a house in the Fort Lauderdale area, according to court documents.
There was a series of protests in Haiti when Philippe was arrested in January, with some supporters calling it an illegal kidnapping. Several dozen people demonstrated outside the Miami courthouse at one of his earlier appearances, but there was no such show of support Monday.
"It is important that Philippe accepted responsibility for his criminal offenses against the United States and the people of Haiti," said Adolphus Wright, chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration's Miami office.

Haiti PM's motorcade hits 2, killing 1 near flooded zone

Monday, April 24, 2017

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A motorcade carrying Haiti's prime minister struck two teenage boys, killing one, as officials drove into the country's third largest city on Monday to see flood damage left by heavy rains.
Serge Daniel, a government delegate who was traveling in Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant's motorcade, said one of the vehicles accidentally struck two adolescents who darted into the road on a motorbike.
The motorcade continued on to its destination as the badly injured teenagers lay on the road, sparking a tire-burning protest by furious locals in the southwest city of Les Cayes.
Les Cayes police spokeswoman Guerline Dimanche said officers rushed the boys to a public hospital, where one was declared dead on arrival.
Mayor Jean Gabriel Fortune said Lafontant, a physician who was approved last month as Haiti's No 2 official, agreed to put the survivor on a government helicopter for treatment in the capital of Port-au-Prince.
It was not clear if the motorcade was speeding or if the boys were driving recklessly.
Monday's trip was meant to show government solidarity with victims of downpours that have saturated much of Haiti, triggering flooding in low-lying areas and causing at least two deaths in the struggling southwest region that was slammed by Hurricane Matthew last year.
Interior Ministry spokesman Guillaume Albert Moleon said that a 19-year-old man in Camp Perrin was swept away when he tried to cross a rising river with his motorbike. The other death was an elderly resident of Port Salut whose shack was destroyed by a torrent of water.
Even moderate rain in Haiti can lead to flash floods carrying mud and debris and authorities have urged people near surging rivers to be vigilant.
A trough bringing wet weather has drenched swaths of the Caribbean in recent days, with some flooding reported in the neighbouring Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Puerto Rico.

Haitian TPS

The Trump administration should extend Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for all qualified Haitians. Failing to do so will complicate the delicate and fragile situation in Haiti.

However, we need to think beyond the Band-Aid of TPS and seek long-term solutions to Haiti’s continuing crisis. Haitians are found in just about every country in our hemisphere as unwanted migrants.

The United States is uniquely placed to innovate by working with Haiti’s Moise/Lafontant administration, the large, and largely successful, U.S.-based Haitian diaspora, and the Haitian private sector, to channel some USAID funds into an investment fund with strict oversight and management structure to facilitate direct investments in key sectors in Haiti.

Keeping displaced Haitians here is the right thing to do, but it does not address the continuing factors that have made the average Haitian youth dream only of a visa or an illegal trip to seek a better life elsewhere.

JEAN D. VERNET, II,

BROOKLYN, NY

APRIL 27, 2017

“You Live Under Fear”: 50,000 Haitian People at Risk of Deportation

by DARLENE DUBUISSON – MARK SCHULLER

 “With TPS, it’s like you live under fear,” thirty something aspiring nurse Michaëlle explained. “You don’t know what’s going to happen. I live with stress because of that.”

Michaëlle’s situation just got worse on April 20, when Trump’s immigration agency recommended ending Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for 50,000 Haitian people living in the U.S.

After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, President Obama granted temporary relief status to undocumented Haitians who had arrived in the U.S. before 2011. Given the slow pace of recovery efforts and subsequent disasters – notably the cholera epidemic that has killed over 10,000 and counting, and Hurricane Matthew that hit Haiti last October – TPS has been extended several times. The latest TPS is set to expire on July 22, 2017.

In essence, the Trump administration’s policy would amount to kicking out 50,000 people who have, despite their fear, put their faith in the U.S. government to legalize, like fifty something child care provider Wideline. She recalls that “[We were told to] tell all fellow Haitians they don’t need to fear because they are going to give Haitians who are illegal in this country papers so they can work.”

Wideline specifically acknowledged fear that TPS would become, in effect, a pipeline to deportation: “people spread fear, arguing that the papers were so that the U.S. government can identify Haitians living in the country in order to deport them. And this is why some people didn’t do it.”

Given the switch in administration, TPS, like registering for DACA for many undocumented Mexican families, has meant that it places a target on people’s heads. TPS, like DACA, makes people visible to the State and thus more “deportable,” like undocumented rights activist Jeanette Vizguerra, who sought sanctuary in a Denver church this February.

While this particular threat to the Haitian American community has gone largely unreported, it represents a betrayal for some. Unlike Mexican Americans, specifically targeted by then-candidate Trump, Haitian Americans, particularly in Florida, were actively courted by Republican strategists and Breitbart News.

In 2000, the fate of the free world hung on 537 dimpled chads in the Sunshine State, home to an estimated 424,000 people of Haitian descent per the 2010 Census. This number is low not only because of undocumented but because people have to self-select as “Haitian.”

Many Haitian community leaders and organizations were solid and early backers of Obama, the country’s first African American president. Compared to the Cuban community in South Florida, the Haitian Diaspora wields less political power because of the lack of dual citizenship. As the first and only slave revolt to beget a free nation, Haiti has long symbolized Black pride. As scholars such as Nina Glick Schiller and Georges Fouron and others argue, Haitian Diaspora keep their Haitian citizenship while sending remittances, representing athird of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

Following the earthquake, organizations within the Haitian Diaspora such as the Haitian Congress to Fortify Haiti pushed for both TPS in the U.S. and dual citizenship in Haiti. Both were won in 2011.

Why would this solid Democratic voting bloc help push the needle towards a candidate who openly expressed hostility toward immigrants?

While the Haitian community is large and diverse, and therefore complex, an important factor was the role the Clintons – the “king and queen of Haiti” – played following the earthquake.

On April 11, the United Nations announced the end of its controversial military force. MINUSTAH belatedly apologized for infecting Haiti with cholera, but it was too little, too late. And the UN is still attempting to dodge responsibility for a rash of sexual assault cases. The Clintons were involved in no-bid contracts for shoddy homes,high-end tourism, an apparel factory outside of Port-au-Prince, andgold prospecting.

Some in the Haitian community might have forgiven this disaster capitalism if Haiti was “built back better” as Bill Clinton promised.

It wasn’t.

However, at least in the capital of Port-au-Prince, an argument can be made for at least some economic institutions and physical infrastructure being rebuilt. Much of this is unrecognized initiative by Haitian people themselves, such as in Canaan, an informal settlement created to house the displaced after the earthquake.

Following Trump’s election, proponents for ending TPS suggest that Haiti has recovered enough to support the return of these undocumented.

It seems that yet again when officials speak of Haiti, they mean Port-au-Prince, where recovery efforts have been targeted. But Port-au-Prince is not Haiti. And Haitian TPS holders have origins all over the country, including the Grand’Anse that is still reeling from Hurricane Matthew. But people living outside of the capital are moun andeyò,“outsiders.” As the lackluster international response suggested, these people who live far from the NGO offices and high-end hotels don’t count. Their lives don’t matter.

Like many community leaders here legally, people like Michaëlle who don’t have legal status define both as “home.” Professors Shannon Gleeson and Kate Griffith at Cornell University lead a study of TPS holders in NYC. This research documents that Haitian TPS holders tend to have significant ties to this country, not the least having had children and raising them here.

Of the 30 respondents in the Cornell study so far, most report being in the U.S. for decades, particularly beginning in the late 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. Being Haitian in the 1980s was to endure ridicule and stigma, as Haiti was incorrectly blamed for AIDS. U.S. actions like the destruction of local pigs, rural bank accounts, as well as free-trade policies it imposed destroyed Haiti’s economy, triggering this migration in the first place. These actions benefited large U.S. agribusiness and other corporations.

The people in the Cornell study tend to have children here, and some report having left children back in Haiti. Many people report having worked in the undocumented labor force, but after receiving TPS they could apply for better paying jobs, albeit still below minimum wage. But these jobs require that their TPS be current, which costs $400 every eighteen months.

Ending TPS would cause a deep wound in the Haitian community, ripping apart families, and punishing people who endure sub-minimum wage jobs because they believed the government would be fair.

Especially because of the causes of the migration – not to mention exploitative working conditions –benefit U.S. companies in the first place, justice demands that the U.S. own its accountability to these temporary status holders.

But TPS also affirms humanity and human decency. Michaëlle reported “I feel grateful because I am in this country. I have the ability to go to school and to work.”

Michaëlle, like other TPS holders from Haiti, Honduras, and El Salvador, contribute to this country through their labor and the pursuit of their dreams.

The least we can do is act, before the final ruling on TPS is handed down. There is a petition calling for Secretary Kelly to renew TPS.

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