Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 29 juin 2018

 Turks-et-Caicos Islands: 102 Haitian migrants intercepted

Last week, the marine branch of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force intercepted a boat of 102 people Haitian (74 men, 27 women and a child) off Providenciales. They were headed for the Turks and Caicos islands.

The migrants, who were undocumented, landed in the Port of South Dock, before being led to an administrative detention center, while waiting to be repatriated to Haiti a few days later.

Seized with more than 9,000 books(pounds) of smuggled garlic from Haiti

Members of the Agency Specialized in Ground Border Security (CESFRONT) and the Dominican Republic’s Intelligence Service intercepted a home-made boat from Haiti, which was transporting more than 9,000 pounds of smuggled garlic.

The garlic was found in 414 bags aboard a home-made boat, which was intercepted in Playa Grande in the maritime zone of the Province of Montecristi (northwest).

The boat was seized and the goods transported to the inter agency of the CESFRONT in Dajabón.

Let us recall that from January, 2017 till February, 2018, the CESFRONT seized more than 205 thousand pounds of smuggled garlic from Haiti.

Migratory control on agricultural farms, 312 Haitians deported back to Haiti

Last week, the Head office of Migrations (DGM) simultaneously launched operations of migratory control on the border in the province of Dajabón.

The teams composed of agents, inspectors and supervisors of the DGM, supported by members of the Dominican Army from the 10^th Infantry Battalion and the Agency Specialized in Ground Border Security (CESFRONT), checked 576 Haitian, men, women and children near the border, in agricultural farms, on roads and in bus terminals.

After the inspection, 312 Haitian without the proper documentation, were transported to CESFRONT reception centers to be registered, before being deported to Haiti.

Dominican senator accused of ripping off Haiti sanctioned by Trump administration

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June 12, 2018 07:41 PM

A Dominican Republic senator accused of making millions of dollars from post-earthquake Haiti reconstruction projects that he never completed has been sanctioned by the Trump administration for engaging in corrupt acts related to the rebuilding of Haiti following the country's devastating 2010 earthquake.

Sen. Félix Ramon Bautista Rosario and five companies owned or controlled by him have been sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Treasury under the Global Magnitsky Act. The law allows the executive branch to administer visa bans and targeted financial sanctions against foreign individuals and entities responsible for committing human rights violations or engaging in corrupt activity. As a result, any assets that Bautista owns within U.S. jurisdiction will be blocked, and U.S. citizens are banned from doing business with him.

The administration’s move comes as Bautista remains under scrutiny in Haiti, where several of his companies are accused of corruption and failing to fulfill commitments. In March 2015, the Dominican Supreme Court dismissed charges against Bautista for "lack of evidence" after he had been publicly accused of money laundering and embezzlement.

Bautista has denied any wrongdoing in the Haiti corruption allegations. In earlier interviews with Dominican newspapers, he said the contracts were awarded legally.

“These actions are part of our continuing campaign to hold accountable government officials and other actors involved in human rights abuse and corrupt activities," said Sigal Mandelker, under secretary of the treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence. "Senator Bautista used his position to engage in corruption, including profiting off of humanitarian efforts related to rebuilding Haiti."

Following the 2010 Haitian earthquake, Bautista received more than $200 million in controversial no-bid contracts from the Haitian government for his firms to rebuild destroyed government ministries and construct housing. Few of the projects were delivered — projects fell behind schedule, workers delivered shoddy construction and the firms stopped work. In some cases, the government changed the scope of the projects, leading to finger-pointing among current and government leaders.

In one example, Bautista's construction firm Hadom was awarded a $14.7 million contract and was paid $10 million up front to construct the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, one of 40 government buildings that crumbled during the earthquake. The building was never built.

That lucrative contract is among several that are part of an ongoing probe by Haitian investigative judges into allegations that former Haitian government officials and heads of private firms embezzled $2 billion in Venezuelan oil loans.

In a press release on the sanctions, the Treasury department describes Bautista as having engaged "in significant acts of corruption in both the Dominican Republic and Haiti."

"Bautista has reportedly engaged in bribery in relation to his position as a senator, and is alleged to have engaged in corruption in Haiti, where he used his connections to win public works contracts to help rebuild Haiti following several natural disasters, including one case where his company was paid over $10 million for work it had not completed," the release said.

Beauplan's commission recently released a 656-page report on the management of $2 billion in loans that Haiti received as part of Venezuela's PetroCaribe discounted oil program. As a result of these actions, any property, or interest in property, of those designated today within U.S. jurisdiction is blocked. Additionally, U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with blocked persons, including entities 50 percent or more owned by designated persons.

t José A. Iglesias; edited by Justin Azpiazu Miami Herald

Principales milmillonarios latinoamericanos 2018

PRNEWSWIRE NUEVA YORK, 25 de junio de 2018 - /PRNewswire/ -- La revolución tecnológica está mostrando sus efectos en la lista de Principales Milmillonarios Latinoamericanos de Latin Trade. Carlos Slim y el cofundador de Facebook Eduardo Saverín encabezaron esta tendencia hace algún tiempo. Posteriormente, se les unió Marcos Galperín, fundador de Mercado Libre, el gigante argentino de e-commerce. Este año, el brasileño Luis Frias, presidente de PagSeguro Digital se sumó al grupo. Esta tendencia con seguridad va a continuar, y cambiará los nombres y modificará la composición industrial de la lista de las personas más ricas de Latinoamérica.

Otra forma en la que está cambiando la lista de milmillonarios es la participación de mujeres. Actualmente, 12 de las 90 personas más ricas son mujeres. Son accionistas de compañías en sectores tan diversos como la salud y la minería.

Finalmente, y en contra de la creencia popular, la mayoría de los más ricos de la región se han hecho a sí mismo. Su fortuna no fue herencia familiar, sino que se generó con empresas que iniciaron o adquirieron.

Los 90 milmillonarios latinoamericanos de la lista tienen una fortuna combinada de US$ 411.200 millones en 2018, equivalente a casi cinco años de ventas de Petrobras, la compañía más grande de la región.

Vea la lista completa, que incluye los siete nombres nuevos de este año, en Latin Trade.

Acerca de Latin Trade

Latin Trade es un proveedor líder de información y servicios empresarios para compañías que operan en Latinoamérica. Publica contenidos galardonados en español y en inglés para su distribución en toda Latinoamérica, el Caribe y los Estados Unidos, a través de medios impresos y online. Latin Trade edita la revista Latin Trade y Latintrade.com.

Contacto con los medios: 
David Buchanan 
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FUENTE Latin Trade

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 12 juillet 2018

 Haiti suspends fuel price hike after protesters riot

By The Associated Press

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Jul 7, 2018,

https://abcnews.go.com/ International/wireStory/ protesters-riot-best-western- hotel-haitis-capital-56428142

The Haitian government suspended a fuel price hike Saturday after widespread violence broke out across the capital and in the northern city of Cap-Haitien.

Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant had originally said the country needed to raise prices to balance the budget and gave no indication he would back down.

But his administration bowed to pressure after demonstrators took to the streets in protest.

A journalist from The Associated Press reported seeing several hundred people on Saturday attack a Best Western Premiere hotel in Petion-Ville, one of the capital's wealthiest neighborhoods. Guests were forced to remain inside as rocks were hurled through windows around 10 a.m. local time.

Security manned the building, but rioters shattered the main entrance before moving to another hotel.

No injuries or deaths were reported during the day's incidents, but at least three people were killed Friday as protesters used burning tires and barricades to block major streets. At one point they attempted to set a gas station on fire but were held off by police.

The demonstrations began after the Commerce Ministry and Economic Ministry issued a joint statement announcing an increase of 38 percent to 51 percent for gasoline, diesel and kerosene.

Government officials agreed to reduce subsidies for fuel in February as part of an assistance package with the International Monetary Fund. The agreement also included increased spending on social services and infrastructure and improved tax collection in an effort to modernize the economy of one of the poorest nations in the Western Hemisphere.

After the Bullet

The injury follows its course,

first the shock, then a slow,

tranquil pause during which

one feels almost nothing,

but afterwards, in a lover's

arms, or alone, any

ordinary Independence Day,

death comes along.

Indran Amirthanayagam, c) July 4^th, 2018

As violent protests continue over gas prices, U.S. airlines cancel all flights to Haiti

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES

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July 07, 2018 02:01 PM

Updated 21 minutes ago

U.S. airlines canceled all of their flights to Haiti Saturday as the country’s embattled prime minister called for Haitians to stop blocking roads and burning tires amid a civil unrest being triggered by the announcement of a sharp hike in fuel prices.

At least three people have died as a result of the violence that erupted Friday afternoon, including a police officer and security guard for a former legislative candidate and opposition leader. Also, two police stations — one in the city of Gonaives and the other in Carrefour on the outskirts of metropolitan Port-au-Prince — were set ablaze. 

Spirit Airlines and JetBlue, which diverted its 1709 flight to Santo Domingo and then returned to Fort Lauderdale Friday night "due to the civil unrest," all announced flight cancellations Saturday to Port-au-Prince.

"Due to concerns over safety from unrest in the area, Spirit Airlines felt it necessary to temporarily suspend service to Port-au-Prince, Haiti," said spokesman Derek Dombrowski. "We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused, but the safety of our Guests and Crew is paramount. "

American Airlines canceled all of its flights including the one to Cap-Haitien in northern Haiti, spokeswoman Martha Pantin said.

“Anybody’s going to Haiti? All flights are canceled,” a Broward County Sheriff deputy at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport yelled as he walked near the Transportation Security Administration check-in line.

The attacks, which appear to have overwhelmed a poorly-resourced Haiti National Police force that for the first time does not have the backing of a U.N. peacekeeping force, continued with fury Saturday with helpless residents and tourists watching as angry crowds attacked luxury hotels and the businesses owned by high-profile Haitians while demanding that President Jovenel Moïse pull back the gas hikes or resign.

The call for a rollback was echoed by Lower Chamber President Gary Bodeau, who tweeted that he was giving "Guy Lafontant and the government a second chance to turn back" its decision.

Near the Toussaint Louverture International Airport a fiery barricade blocked parts of the road while an angry mob broke the front door of the Best Western hotel in Petionville with rocks. Outside, seven cars were set on fire. As black smoke billowed in the air, firefighters were no where to be found and the crowd of more than 300 men, holding machetes and batons, threatened more chaos. Elsewhere around the capital, businesses were pelted with rocks. Some were vandalized and looted.

"Every time you do it, the country becomes poorer," Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant said in a televised address early Saturday morning as he appealed for calm and patience from the population. "Every time you destroy a store, it's jobs that a Haitian will lose.

"Every time you do it, the country becomes poorer," Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant said in a televised address early Saturday morning as he appealed for calm and patience from the population. "Every time you destroy a store, it's jobs that a Haitian will lose.

"I'm asking you for patience because the administration's vision is clear," he said referring to him and President Jovenel Moïse who has been in office 17 months. "It has a clear program that it has continued to execute."

Describing the government's plans to bring 2,485 miles of roads and 24-hour electricity to the country, Lafontant sounded more like a politician still on the campaign trail than one with a grip on

the deepening crisis.

But as the crisis deepened Saturday, many wondered how long Lafontant had left in office. A vote of no-confidence on his government had been put on hold late last month amid questions about the legality of four of ministers who were appointed in a recent cabinet shake up.

Haitians trapped in the unrest describe it as spontaneous and symptomatic of a much deeper anger in the population with the increase in fuel prices being the last straw.

"Gas prices going up is not good for us and it's not good for you," one young man told a Haitian-American couple as they tried to negotiate their way through one of many road blocks in southern Haiti, trying to get to the outskirts of the town of Cavaillon.

On Friday, the Haitian government announced that fuel prices would be rising as of midnight. The increases were set at 38 percent for gasoline, 47 percent for diesel and 51 percent for kerosene, the country’s Commerce and Economic Ministry said in a joint statement.

The Ministry of Social Affairs also announced new fares for public transportation, with some routes now going up as much as 50 percent.

While the price hikes affects everyone from the struggling construction company owner whose weekly diesel costs will now up go from $1,310 to $2,034 for 500 gallons, to the school teacher who will see her grocery bill increase, the poor is especially affected. 

Since 2010, Haiti has lost nearly $770,750,000 in revenues by keeping gas prices low, government officials say.

"Only 25 percent of the population has benefited from the subsidization," Haiti's Finance Minister Jude Alix Patrick Solomon said Friday at a press conference about the fuel hikes. "It's difficult for you to be asking your international partners to give you budgetary assistance or support and at the same time you have revenue that you are not capturing."

The fuel hikes are part of an agreement that Haiti entered into with the International Monetary Fund. It has called on Haiti to make sweeping reforms in its public administration and raise gas prices in accordance with its 1995 law that calls for prices to be adjusted with every shipment. Failing to do the reforms can cost Haiti up to $9 million in budgetary support from international donors. 

A graphic of the hikes went viral shortly after 2 p.m. Friday as Haitians were watching Brazil lose to Belgium during the World Cup. Right after the game ended, the violence erupted with crowds in several major cities setting up fiery barricades with tires cutting off major roads. A lot of people got trapped in offices, in restaurants, hotel lobbies and on the streets. They either had to abandoned their car and walk home or take refuge at a hotel or friend's house.

In Petionville, roads leading to wealthier hillside communities were targeted. Cars were pelted with rocks as residents attempted to make their way home. Protesters even cut off a detour to Montagne Noire that had become popular in recent days after upset residents in the Pelerin 5 community started protesting the demolition of several houses in the vicinity of the president's private residence days earlier. 

The government claims the houses were the private property of the state, and they had to be demolished for security purposes. But residents objected saying they have had no due process.

In response to the violence, the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince warned U.S. citizens to avoid certain area and at the height of the violence on Friday issued a shelter in place order to embassy employees.

The true Haiti is safe and rich in culture

Our crime rate last year was significantly lower than those of the most popular tourist destinations in the region, writes Bocchit Edmond, Haitian ambassador to the UK

In a curious article by the comedian Romesh Ranganathan about a trip to Haiti to promote his BBC television show, he recounts unclothed babies, street gamblers, and dogs emerging from bushes to bark at unsuspecting tourists (Our man in Port-au-Prince: Wild dogs, voodoo potions, guns on the street and the threat of kidnap…, G2, 28 June).

And danger, apparently, lurks around every corner (despite the author never becoming victim to it – unless you count his incident with an ill-mannered dog).

Had Mr Ranganathan done his research, he would have known that Haiti is one of the safest countries in the Caribbean. Our crime rate last year was significantly lower than those of the most popular tourist destinations in the region, and we rank higher on the Global Peace Index.

Advertisement

If a travel writer touring, say, London intentionally chose to stay in and tour only high-crime neighbourhoods, readers would be left with a very different and very lopsided impression of London. Naturally, travel articles about London don’t do that, but this is precisely what Mr Ranganathan chose to do in Port-au-Prince.

His inaccurate depiction of our country and his narrow-minded caricature of the “bizarre natives” in their (by his account) dangerous and dirty land is a process of “othering” that goes beyond simple ignorance and traces back centuries.

It’s a shame that his viewers will learn about our country via cultural stereotype. But when the BBC is ready, we invite it to send a proper journalist to Haiti to show the country as it truly is: complex, dynamic, flawed and rich in culture and history.

That way, we can both understand one another better. 
Bocchit Edmond
Haitian ambassador to the UK

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Beryl bound for Caribbean islands, possibly as a 90-mph hurricane

BY JENNY STALETOVICH

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• July 06, 2018 07:51 AM

Updated July 06, 2018 11:07 PM

Beryl, a tiny, fast-moving storm, will likely be a hurricane when it reaches Caribbean islands over the weekend hit hard by Hurricane Maria last year.

In an 11 p.m. advisory, National Hurricane Center forecasters said the storm continued to intensify Friday with sustained winds reaching 80 mph. Earlier, they had expected strong wind shear to weaken the storm before it neared the Lesser Antilles. But it now looks like Beryl will maintain hurricane strength as it crosses the islands late Sunday or early Monday, they said.

Because the storm is so small — hurricane force winds extend just 10 miles from the storm's center — forecasters said it's too soon to tell what islands may get hit. By late afternoon, however, several islands were already bracing for potential strikes. Dominica was under a hurricane watch and several surrounding islands issued tropical storm watches, with the strong winds possible by Sunday evening.

A potential impact on Puerto Rico, still recovering after Maria's devastation, remained unclear. With the storm tracking a bit more to the south than expected, the NHC slightly shifted the cone away from the island, but that could change over the next few days. The projected wind speeds also came down a tad to an expected peak at 90 mph in two days, but forecasters stressed there was a lot of uncertainty surrounding Beryl.

At 11 p.m. Friday, Beryl was located about 890 miles east, southeast of the Lesser Antilles, moving west at 14 mph. Over the weekend, it's expected to speed up. 

The storm should begin to weaken once it reaches the eastern Caribbean on Monday. However, forecasters warned that may not occur in time to spare the Dominican Republic and Haiti, where storms often trigger dangerous mudslides and flash flooding.

Because the storm is so small, forecasters say they've been less certain about their projections. Small storms can morph quickly — Beryl flared up from a depression Thursday morning to a hurricane in less than 24 hours. The storms can just as quickly lose steam.

For the next day or so, forecasters say low wind shear will likely allow Beryl to continue strengthening, at least until it nears Hispaniola. 

Beryl is the easternmost hurricane to form from an African wave in July on record, according to University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy. Storms forming in the southern Caribbean, where waters are warmer, are far more common.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 18 juillet 2018

 Haiti to name new prime minister ‘as soon as possible’

By The Associated PressJuly 15, 2018

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s president says he will appoint a new prime minister as soon as possible following the resignation of the country’s second highest official.

President Jovenel Moise said late Saturday in a television broadcast that he will “form an inclusive government whose mission will be to alleviate the misery of the Haitian people.”

Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant resigned earlier in the weekend over his handling of a failed plan to raise the prices of gasoline, diesel and kerosene by 38 percent to 51 percent.

At least seven people were killed and dozens of businesses were looted during riots after the government announced the price hike.

Moise said he had spoken with protesters and international organizations to find a solution, but did not say if fuel prices would still rise.

Haiti's Prime Minister resigns amid deadly protests

By Amir Vera and Kay Guerrero, CNN

Updated 2241 GMT (0641 HKT) July 14, 2018

(CNN)Haiti's Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant resigned Saturday amid violent and deadly protests sparked by a proposed plan to raise fuel prices, according to President Jovenel Moise.

Lafontant resigned before Parliament, which was due to host a vote of no confidence, Yves Germain Joseph, the general secretary of the National Palace, told CNN.

Lafontant, who took office in February 2017, informed Moise of his resignation by letter. Moise accepted the resignation, Joseph said.

Moise said on Twitter he would address the country Saturday night "in a special edition on the National Television of Haiti."

"I take this opportunity to thank Mr. Lafontant and the members of the cabinet for the services rendered to the nation," Moise said on Twitter.

The controversial plan to raise fuel prices would increase the cost of gasoline by 38%, diesel by 47% and kerosene by 51%.

Since the protests started last week, two people -- a police officer and social leader -- were killed, Joseph said.

IMF: Haiti should cut fuel subsidies gradually, avoid unrest

• Jul 12, 2018 Updated Jul 12, 2018

 PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti should eliminate fuel subsidies but do so gradually and help cushion the effects to avoid the kind of unrest that erupted last week when abrupt price hikes were announced, an International Monetary Fund official said Thursday.

The Haitian government had agreed earlier in the year to eliminate the fuel subsidies as part of a broader agreement in which IMF member nations of would provide more direct assistance to Haiti, spokesman Gerry Rice told reporters.

Part of the plan was for Haiti to strengthen its revenues through increased tax collection and elimination of the fuel subsidies. That "would allow for the Haitian government to provide for badly needed public investment and a better social safety net," Rice said.

He said fuel subsidies "disproportionately benefit the well-off" and divert spending from health and education.

But Rice said subsidies should be withdrawn gradually and combined with "targeted" assistance such as transportation vouchers that would ease the effects to ease the transition.

Haitian officials announced July 6 that increases of up to 50 percent would take effect the following day, sparking protests throughout the country in which dozens of businesses were looted and several people killed as demonstrators clashed with police.

Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant abruptly canceled the increases but is facing calls for his resignation from members of parliament, threatening further turmoil for the country.

Haiti turmoil: Ex-president’s family flees to Dominican Republic

Barahona, Dominican Republic.- The family of former Haiti President Michelle Martelly arrived in the Dominican Republic via Maria Montez International Airport in Barahona (southwest), fleeing the violent protests in their country.

Martelly’s family arrived on Sunday afternoon (July, 8) on a helicopter from the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, said a source quoted by Listin Diario.

The source Matelly’s wife, Angela Pierre Jean-Baptiste, and the ex-president’s children, Michel Yani, Bianka Christy J., Michael Alexandre, Michael Olivier, Olivia Michael, Kahlil Michel-Olivier, and Melaika Martelly, arrived on the aircraft.

It emerged that airport authorities, civil and military security, as well as Customs have been placed on high alert, as the arrival of other prominent Haitian families is also expected, as well as officials of president Jovenel Moïse’s government.

Dominican Republic beefs up border on Haiti turmoil

Santo Domingo.-  Dominican defense minister Rubén Paulino on Sun. affirmed that the country’s embassy in Haiti isn’t in any danger as Dominican troops are guarding it.

“The ambassador is there, our consular staff is also there, we have no risk in our embassy, ​​you are aware of the disorder and looting and all the incidents that happened since Friday night,” the official said.

Paulino said according to his information, the incidents in Haiti have begun to subside since Sunday and it was decided to reinforce and place all border units on general quarter since Friday, both the Army and the Border Corps (CESFRONT), “but above all in the cities of Elías Piña and Jimaní, which are the two cities of the Dominican Republic that are closest to Port-au-Prince, which was where the major incidents originated.”

“The Armed Forces are always ready to respond to any emergency that arises and especially with people who try to cross our border,” he said quoted by Diario Libre.

New looting took place in Port-au-Prince on Sunday, as residents are trying to return to normal after two days of violent protests including widespread arson sparked by the announced jump in fuel prices, a measure the government was later forced to suspend.

Canada urged to put hold on sending asylum seekers back to Haiti amid violent protests

Montreal's Haitian community watch from afar as families and friends struggle to stay safe

A police officer looks on as a crowd enters the Delimart supermarket complex in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Sunday. Now local advocates say it is unsafe to send Haitian asylum seekers home. (Dieu Nalio Chery/The Associated Press)

As violent protests continue to roil Haiti, a Quebec-based coalition is calling on Ottawa to put a hold on sending asylum seekers back to the Caribbean nation.

"My concern is that the situation in Haiti is uncertain and there is big turmoil over there," Marjorie Villefranche, director general of Montreal's Maison d'Haïti, told CBC Montreal's Daybreak Wednesday.

"Now we are working with asylum seekers whose demand has been rejected and they have to go."

Haitian families being sent back to Haiti, she said, will face a dangerous situation and "you cannot do that." 

Calling it a humanitarian issue, Villefranche said the Haitian Coalition for Migrants, a provincial group formed last year to help migrants of all nationalities, is writing to the federal government today, demanding Canada put Haiti back on the list of countries that migrants cannot be sent back to. 

Deportation to Haiti was stopped temporarily after the 2010 earthquake and now, she says, it's time to stop deportations again.

There is a list of countries where you cannot be sent back there, and we want Haiti to be put back on that list," she said.

A request for comment from the Canadian government was not immediately returned Wednesday.

Protests spurred by gas price hikes

The recent protests were sparked by government's double-digit hike of gasoline, diesel and kerosene prices last week.

The government has since cancelled that hike, but the damage was done. Many are calling it the tipping point as tensions in the impoverished nation have been building for some time.

Thousands of Haitians, tired of living in poverty and struggling to survive, continued to march in the streets Wednesday, looting businesses, committing arson and battling with police.

There have been several deaths reported as protesters demand the current president, Jovenel Moïse, step down.

The Canadian government is cautioning citizens against non-essential travel to Haiti and several airlines have cancelled flights to the country.

The latest round of unrest in the country comes as thousands of Haitians are awaiting a decision about whether they will be allowed to stay in Canada.

According to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, of the 6,920 refugee protection claims processed between January and March 2018, 610 were Haitians. Of those claims, 471 were rejected.

More than 7,400 claims for asylum, many of which were made in 2017, were still pending as of March 31. 

Montreal's Haitian community watches the turmoil unfold

"The situation there is horrible," said Montrealer Jennifer Sidney, who has friends and family in Haiti.

"I have a friend, she has to sleep on her belly because gunshots are shooting everywhere."

Another friend's husband, she said, lost his restaurant when rioters lit it ablaze. The same thing, she added, happened to a different friend who lost her dance school to arson.

"Completely burned," she said.

"It's really sad what's going on there. But in the same way, it's like a sign of transition.  The Haitian people, what they're screaming, is that, 'enough is enough.' They are tired of this profound misery."

Sidney said she feels powerless watching the turmoil unfold, but she is doing what she can for her friends and family there.

The hike in gas prices, he said, was the final straw as frustrations have been growing for some time.

Kevin Calixte, a Montreal visual artist who is involved in the local Haitian community, agrees.

He told CBC News protests were inevitable in Haiti considering the majority of its citizens are struggling to survive.

"It's a reality that happens every day in Haiti," he said. "The gas price was only the right stuff for the balloon to explode."

With files from CBC Montreal's Daybreak and Antoni Nerestant

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 25 juillet 2018

 Chile: 46,000 Haitian are in process of regulating their papers

At this time in Chile, more than 46,000 Haitian have already submitted their documents to regulate their status.

The police of the municipality of Bio Bio presented its new figures in a report in which Haitians earned high marks. Indeed, Haitian nationals practically do not commit crime, according to the regional manager of law and order, Claudio Etchevers.

Only 4 of them were arrested since the beginning of the year. Haitians became the second group of foreigners to settle recently in a process launched by the Chilean government.

In this area, made up of Concepción's provinces, Arauco and Bío Bío, there were 3,774 cases of arrests in 2018, according to the data from the Center of studies and Data Analysis of the Undersecretary's office for crime prevention.

Claudio Etchevers lived the major part of his childhood in the Caribbean and understands the desire of Haitian citizens to want a better future in Chile.

It is in the region, in the zone of Coeemu, that three Haitian citizens were killed for having accidentally inhaled carbon monoxide. The incident happened on June 19^th of this year.

The USA: 32,000 Haitian threatened with repatriation

Currently, more than 32,000 Haitians living in the United States thanks to "Temporary Protected Status" (TPS), are threatened with deportation by Donald Trump's administration. The deadline of this temporary status will come to an end on July 22nd, 2019.

Florida: EAD extended for 4,650 Haitians

"Following our request, the American Department of Homeland security (DHS) has just announced that they extended the work authorization for all of the 4,650 Haitians of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) whose demands were still unsettled as of July 20^th,” announced Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson. It should be recalled that the automatic extension of "Employment Authorization Document" (EAD), given in January to Haitians with TPS, was set to expired on July 21^st.

Canada: Solidarity without border asks for a moratorium concerning the deportation of Haitians

Last Saturday, in front of the Canadian federal offices of the Agency of the Border Services (ASFC), on Saint Antoine Street, in Montreal, Solidarity Without Borders Network which is involved in the immigrant struggle and has been active in Montreal since 2003, organized a sit-in for several hours to ask for an immediate moratorium on the deportations of Haitians who arrived illegally in Canada.

Dozens of activists of the network denounced the federal Government which on one hand recommends that Canadians avoid any non-essential trips to Haiti because of its climate of insecurity, but on the other hand continues to proceed with the deportations of Haitians back to Haiti.

Dominican petition for the construction of a wall along the border with Haiti

During a press conference this week, Pelegrin Castillo, vice-president of the Progressive National Strength Party (FNP), a minority opposition party known for its radical nationalist positions on immigration and sovereignty, declared that the Dominican people had to unite and mobilize peacefully to remind to the world that the solution to the Haitian problems is in Haiti and that the Dominican Republic, if she can be an ally, will never serve as "pivot" to solve these problems.

"We have to mobilize, because human rights agencies cannot come here to react every time there is a crisis in the nearby country." He also asserted that the construction of a wall along the border with Haiti will send a signal to the world that the Dominicans cannot take care of the Haitian situation.

In addition, Pelegrín Castillo reminded that for 2 weeks, in January, 2016, the FNP launched an effort intended to motivate Dominicans to defend their national sovereignty. It began in Grand Santo-Domingo to collect signatures of the citizens worried by the peaceful and progressive occupation of the national territory by Haitians.

It should be reminded that in June, 2014, former Deputy Vinicio Castillo, current managing of the FNP, after several rejections of the wall project by the Government of Danilo Medina, suggested collecting more than 300,000 signatures as required by law, to propose a bill concerning the building of this wall. He also suggested having a national referendum, so that the Dominican people could express their vote on the construction of this wall.

If Haiti’s government does not confront poverty, corruption, more unrest will follow

BY BRIAN CONCANNON JR.

www.ijdh.org

July 17, 2018 06:00 AM

Updated July 17, 2018 11:55 AM

Saturday’s resignation of Haiti’s Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant, along with the suspension of controversial fuel price rises, will bring temporary respite from the latest social unrest in the country. But they will not resolve the problem underlying the protests — the Haitian people’s inability to demand better governance and basic services from its leaders.

In a 1962 speech to the Organization of American States, President Kennedy urged the United States and “those who possess wealth and power” in the hemisphere’s less wealthy nations to enact reforms to allow the people of the Americas “to hope for a suitable standard of living.” Kennedy famously warned that. “Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.”

We did not need last week’s images of angry protests and burning cars to know that, half a century later, a suitable standard of living is beyond most Haitians’ hopes. A drive through Port-au-Prince reveals shocking levels of poverty. In Haiti, 80 percent of the people live on less than $2 a day, which would buy a half-gallon of gas.

Haiti’s poverty, like the fuel-price increases, is the product of decisions made by those who possess wealth and power in Haiti and abroad — with a stunning absence of input from the majority of Haitians who are poor. The crippling fuel increases — between 38 percent and 51 percent — were imposed in February by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a condition of its bailout of Haiti’s government.

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The price increases came amid a long series of corruption scandals under current President Jovenel Moïse and his predecessor Michel Martelly that have diverted hundreds of millions from government services to the pockets of leaders and their associates.

A week before Moïse’s February 2017 inauguration, Haiti’s independent anti-corruption agency reported his frequent, large — $40,000 — and unexplained cash transactions that looked a lot like money laundering. Moïse illegally fired the agency’s head, which ended the inquiry. Revelations of up to $2 billion in theft from the PetroCaribe fuel assistance from Venezuela have rocked the country, with no visible consequences to the thieves. A few days before the massive protests, a prosecutor ordered the police to destroy houses —without the required court order — on land next to Moïse’s personal home where he wants to build an access road and helipad.

The United Nations refuses to fulfill its legal obligations to the victims of the cholera epidemic, introduced by its peacekeepers and that has killed more than 10,000 Haitians. Its own human-rights expert called the U.N.’s response “morally unconscionable, [and] legally indefensible.”

Fair elections, which should be Haitians’ best opportunity for peaceful revolution, are a fading memory. Martelly was elected in 2011, after the Electoral Council excluded Haiti’s largest party, Fanmi Lavalas, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton forced the Council (by threatening to cancel U.S. visas) to change the first-round results to move third-place candidate Martelly into the runoff. Martelly, after years of unconstitutional delay, presided over elections with enough violence, corruption and voter exclusion to reduce turnout to 21 percent for the 2016 presidential elections that Moïse, his protégé, won. In 2000, when Haitians voted enthusiastically — turnout was 68 percent — the results were overturned by the 2004 coup d’état organized by those who possess wealth and power in Haiti, the United States, Canada and France.

Haitians took to the streets last week because they justifiably believed that doing so was the only way they would be heard. More unrest is inevitable, unless Haiti immediately starts a peaceful revolution toward a suitable standard of living. The peaceful revolution requires Haiti’s government to take dramatic steps to penalize corruption and to respect the courts and others institutions that should hold it accountable. The peaceful revolution requires the international community to condition its support on the government’s willingness to be accountable to its people, not its willingness to squeeze them even more, and to practice what it preaches on fair elections and the rule of law.

BRIAN CONCANNON JR., A HUMAN-RIGHTS LAWYER, IS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE & DEMOCRACY IN HAITI.

Haiti Police chief Gédéon travels to the Cayemites Islands

Michel-Angel Gédéon, the General Director of the National Police Force of Haiti (PNH), together with his counterpart of the Minujusth, traveled to the Cayemites Islands in the locality of Anse à Maçon in the department of Grand-Anse. The trip was an evaluation visit of the Program Support Council of the PNH (PAC-PNH) and it answered the demands of the inhabitants of the area for the building of a local police station.

Haiti Senate: postponement of the hearing for the General Director of the PNH:

The invitation by the Haitian Senate to Michel-Angel Gédéon, the General Director of the National police force of Haiti (PNH), planned for last week was postponed to Tuesday, July 24^th because of a scheduling conflicts with the Senate and the candidate, explained the Senator of the Artibonite Gracia Delva (PHTK).

Florence Elie decorated with the Legion of Honor by France

The former Protector of citizens in Haiti, Mrs. Florence Elie, was distinguished by the French government at a ceremony organized by the French Embassy in Haiti on Monday, July 16^th, 2018. Elie received the award of the National Order of the Legion of Honor of France.

The distinction rewards "the eminent merits of French or foreign personalities in all the fields of activity" and represent "the highest French distinction and one of the most known to the world."

"By distinguishing this remarkable woman, the French Republic wished to reward her actions to strengthen justice, the defense of human rights and protection of citizens. This pays tribute to the determination as well as the courage of a tireless defender of human rights," indicated the French Embassy in a press release.