Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 30 octobre 2019

 NEW CALL FROM THE UNITED STATES IN LESS THAN A WEEK

The United States has again spoken out on the crisis that has been shaking Haiti for several weeks. This, after the violent demonstration from the opposition, last Sunday, October 27. They urge the actors concerned to act to resolve the current crisis.

The United States, in a recent note, urged Haitian political and economic leaders to work together with civil society to achieve a peaceful and democratic solution.

The United States says, “It supports the aspirations of the Haitian people for a better life. These aspirations must be achieved through an inter-Haitian, non-violent and democratic solution, which is possible through an inclusive dialogue,” preached Uncle Sam.

By the same token, the note manifested the absence of urgent measures to get the country out of this prolonged political impasse, which is increasingly worrisome and has had a negative impact on public safety, the economy, and the distribution of humanitarian aid including food aid.

Moreover, the United States condemns the acts of violence that continue to occur in Port-au-Prince and in other cities.

These shootings, killings, arson and destruction not only cause harm to Haitian citizens, but also, they increase economic and social instability and prolong the interruption of the daily activities of the Haitian people, especially, school activities.

The United States says it strongly supports the right to peacefully protests, as well as the freedom of expression. It calls for Haitian citizens to be heard peacefully and without violence.

Embassy of France condemns “violent attacks” against its premises

The French embassy denounced and condemned the acts of vandalism against its premises in the Champ-March and rejected the allegations that it has requested the arrest of some students who participated in a demonstration against President Jovenel Moïse on Friday.

Port-au-Prince, October 27, 2019. – In a press release, a copy of which was sent to the editor of Vant Bef Info (VBI), the French Embassy in Haiti rejected rumors, which it described as “malicious and totally unfounded.” These rumors alleged that it requested the arrest of some students who participated in a demonstration on Friday to demand the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse.

The French diplomatic representation also condemned the acts of violence and vandalism perpetrated against the exterior façade of the building housing the embassy in Champ-de-Mars.

However Marc Antoine Maisonneuve, one of the lawyers of the 4 students arrested at Avenue Lamartinière near the French Institute, maintained his statements that the French embassy is behind the arrest of these young people.

To be noted, the exterior façade of the French embassy was the target on Saturday of a group of protesters who wrote some inflammatory messages on the walls of the building.

Protest and burning tires at the entrance of the Canadian Embassy in Haiti

The building housing the Canadian Embassy in Haiti, located in Delmas 75, was the target of attempted arson during a demonstration to demand the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse.

Delmas, 27 October 2019. - Demonstrators set fire this Sunday to the barrier at the main entrance of the Canadian Embassy in Haiti.

Social media images show burning tires at the entrance of the Canadian diplomatic representation whose main barrier was affected by the flames.

Shortly before, the protesters had attempted to set fire to a building in Delmas 71, housing several companies including a branch of a private bank. The damage was limited due the actions of law enforcement, including fire fighters.

At least two people were shot and two others injured during this new day of mobilization to demand the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse in Delmas.

Catholics in Haiti demand president step down

22/10/2019 - 18:49

Port-au-Prince (AFP)

Thousands of Catholics demanding the resignation of Haiti's president marched through the capital Tuesday, becoming the latest group to join an outcry against him.

They gathered outside one of the main churches in Port-au-Prince and denounced President Jovenel Moise as corrupt and incompetent.

Over the past year, Haiti has sunk into political crisis amid anti-corruption protests demanding Moise's resignation.

"Jovenel, make a wise decision and resign. What are you president of? There is nothing in this country. No food, no hospitals, no schools," said protester Fausta Maisonneuve, who held a rosary in her hand.

Since coming to power in February 2017, Moise has had to face the anger of an opposition movement that refuses to recognize his victory in an election widely seen as dubious.

Anger mounted in late August due to a national fuel shortage, and protests turned violent.

In recent weeks, various professional or social groups have taken to the streets against the president one by one, such as university students and artists.

The Catholics that came out Tuesday were mainly young people who prayed aloud as they walked.

"We see that the president cannot run the country. He is incompetent. He must resign because the social situation has become critical and deplorable," said Osma Joseph, who studies education.

© 2019 AFP

Aftershock of Haiti protests: Best Western shutting down, other hotels temporarily closing

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OCTOBER 22, 2019 07:04 PM, UPDATED OCTOBER 22, 2019

After Haiti’s cataclysmic 2010 earthquake, the country rebuilt schools, churches and its tourism brand. Airlines expanded service and luxury brand hotels, boasting vibrant Haitian works of art, opened while others expanded. 

But more than a year of recurring fuel shortages, violent protests and currency devaluation is starting to take its toll as the owners of the Best Western Premier, the first U.S.-branded hotel to return to Haiti in 15 years, announced its permanent closure at the end of this month.

The surprise announcement comes on the heels of some temporary hotel closures and staff layoffs in tourism and other sectors as conditions in the country worsen. Haiti is facing a looming constitutional crisis, four unsuccessful attempts to confirm a new government, a deteriorating security environment and a sixth week of protests over demands that President Jovenel Moïse step down.

Christopher Handal, the president of Carabimmo SA, said the decision to close and terminate its franchise with Best Western International was “a financially wise decision” that took a lot of courage. 

“It saddens all of us to see that we have to send almost 100 people home. However, we could not hold on any longer,” Handal said about the hotel located in the upscale suburb of Petionville. “Since July 2018, we have been struggling to stay open due to so many riots going on, on almost a weekly or monthly basis. When the USA put the travel [warnings] to level 4, it also discouraged all tourists, any foreigner or diaspora, to travel to Haiti.”

Meanwhile, a contract war between the presidential palace and three private power providers — triggered by the Moïse administration’s sudden demand for payments and threats by a presidential adviser that contracts can be canceled and companies nationalized — risks plunging Haiti not just further into blackout, but exacerbating the crisis.

“The incapacity of the political leaders to solve the political crisis is greatly affecting the new fiscal year that started this month, and could affect the economic growth for 2020,” Pharel said. He noted that the last five years of political instability have “reduced the growth to less than 2 percent, which is too weak to reduce poverty in the population.”

Designer Pascale Theard, who worked with more than 250 artisans and artists to design everything in the hotel including the sheets, called what’s happening “a terrible economic tsunami,” that will lead to other businesses closing. 

“In September we did only 10 percent of our local sales and this month it is going to be zero,” she said, referring to her own business, which sells handmade leather purses and sandals. “The Best Western, from my experience, was a little example of how great things happen when we, as Haitians, dream together, get together and build together.” 

While Haiti’s economic malaise preceded Moise’s Feb. 7, 2017, inauguration, it has deepened during his 32 months in office through a series of economic missteps.

First, there was the August 2017 decision to “de-dollarize” the Haitian economy by forbidding the use of the U.S. dollar and making the gourde, the domestic currency, the only official currency in transactions. The decision was eventually reversed, but not before the gourde further depreciated against a strong U.S. dollar. 

Then came the administration’s decision in July 2018 to increase fuel pump prices by removing subsidies. Days of violent civil unrest accompanied by rioting, pillaging and the cancellation of international flights quickly ensued. At one point, a crowd of protesters even tried to gain access to the Best Western. When they couldn’t get through the front door, they set a car parked out front on fire.

The widespread protests were soon followed by more mass demonstrations in October and November, and a nearly two week lockdown of the capital in February. The lockdown led to “Do Not Travel” warnings from Canada and the U.S., an Expedia block on hotel and airline reservations and a reduction of flights.

And just as tourism appeared to be making a comeback after an uptick in summer travel, Spirit Airlines quietly canceled its Cap-Haitien service 14 months after announcing its expansion to the city amid great fanfare, and American Airlines announced a reduction to its daily Haiti service.

“I really hope that one lesson that is learned by all Haitians today by this closure is that the country cannot go on living in such a manner,“ Handal said.

Steve Mc Intosh, a hotelier in the northern city of Cap-Haitien, said the crisis “is the worst I’ve seen in Haiti in a while.”

Last week, he announced a temporary closure of one of his two hotels, the Mont Joli. Considered a landmark, the 42-room hotel, which sits on a mountaintop overlooking the historical city, first opened its doors in 1954. 

“I have to tell you we’ve been closed for a few months now. We have no clients coming to the hotel,” Mc Intosh said. “Our average occupancy rate is around 62 percent or 70 percent, and we have seen it for the past few months go down to 30 percent, 20 percent and for about a month now we have been at zero percent occupancy.”

Compounding the hotel’s economic woes, Mc Intosh said, has been the inability to get diesel over the past three weeks. Forced to ration fuel, some hotels have been turning away guests because they don’t want to turn on generators and operate at a loss. 

Meanwhile, there is no propane available for cooking anywhere in the city and a lot of businesses have had to put their staff on unpaid leave.

“They don’t have any food, any water, any propane gas, so the people are getting angrier and angrier every day,” Mc Intosh said. “People are really angry and frightened.”

Mc Intosh said his decision to close the Mont Joli came after a crowd showed up at the hotel and someone threatened his security guard with a machete. Prior to that, protesters had destroyed all of the windows in the restaurant at his other property, the Roi Christophe, which is located next to a police headquarters and jail. 

Two weeks after the restaurant incident, protesters covered the parking lot with charred glass bottles. The final straw, Mc Intosh said, was last week’s machete incident.

“We have protests happening almost every day,” he said. 

The repeated protests, which have turned violent at times, are creating what some believe is the second biggest shock after the quake.

Bertrand Buteau, whose family owns the Satama hotel in Cap-Haitien and three others in Port-au-Prince, said the Satama remains open “even though we don’t have customers.” His brother Richard, who runs the Karibe in Petionville, said their other properties are also functioning but with a reduced staff.

“Some hotels in the provinces have been suffering a lot from the effects of the road blockages ... and are closing down temporarily until things get back to normal,” Richard Buteau, a former president of the Haiti Tourism Association, said.

Businessman Fred Beliard said the occupancy at two of his properties in Cap-Haitien is less than 10 percent while his Habitation Jouissant, located not far from the Mont Joli, is temporarily closed due to the crisis.

Along the coast, the all-inclusive Royal Decameron Indigo Beach Resort & Spaon the Côte des Arcadins in Montrouis says it’s still open although it has reduced the staff by half and only nine of the 400 rooms are occupied due to roadblocks cutting the hotel off from both Cap-Haitien and Port-au-Prince.

“We have been here since 2015 and we are doing everything to make it work,” said Fernando Gracia, the property’s general manager for operations. “We are doing everything to stay and help the community and tourism in Haiti.”

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 12 novembre 2019

 *DHS Extends TPS Documentation for Six Countries including Haiti*

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a Federal Register notice extending the validity of TPS-related documentation for beneficiaries under the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designations for El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan through Jan. 4, 2021. 

The notice automatically extends the validity of Employment Authorization Documents; Forms I-797, Notice of Action; and Forms I-94, Arrival/Departure Record (collectively, TPS-related documentation).

DHS is extending the TPS documentation in compliance with the preliminary injunctions of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Ramos, et al. v. Nielsen, et. al. and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Saget, et. al., v. Trump, et. al., and with the order of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to stay proceedings in Bhattarai v. Nielsen.

Should the government prevail in its challenge to the Ramos preliminary injunction, the secretary’s determination to terminate TPS for Nicaragua and Sudan will take effect no earlier than 120 days from the issuance of any appellate mandate to the district court. The secretary’s determination to terminate TPS for El Salvador will take effect no earlier than 365 days from the issuance of any appellate mandate to the Ramos district court to allow for an orderly transition for affected TPS beneficiaries. 

For more information, see the notice and the TPS page on the USCIS website.

Exclusive: State Department officials warned Trump not to revoke protections for immigrants

The Trump administration ignored them and ended Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador, and Honduras.

Senior State Department officials and career diplomats repeatedly warned the Trump administration that taking away legal protections for immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti would put national security, foreign relations, and the immigrants’ American-born children at risk, according to internal State Department documents.

But Trump did it anyway — and concerns about the 2020 election appear to have helped determine the timeline for requiring immigrants to leave, according to the documents, which will be released in a report by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday.

About 400,000 citizens of El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti have been able to stay in the US through Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a protection allowing them to legally live and work in the US typically offered to citizens of countries suffering from natural disasters or armed conflict. 

President Donald Trump tried to end TPS for El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti, among others, starting in November 2017. He argued that conditions in those countries have improved enough that their citizens can now safely return.

“The law is relatively explicit that if the conditions on the ground do not support a TPS designation, the [administration] must terminate the TPS designation,” a senior administration official told reporters at the time. 

The almost 80 pages of internal State Department memos and diplomatic cables — obtained by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as part of an investigation commissioned by Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the committee — show that senior agency officials advised former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that revoking TPS would destabilize the three countries and recommending that, if he must end the program, it should be wound down over three years. 

But a State Department policy memo from 2017 also noted that this would put the end of the program “directly in the middle of the 2020 election cycle.” Tillerson scribbled on the memo that the wind-down period should instead be 18 months — a decision that ran counter to every recommendation by career diplomats in the State Department. 

The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Courts have so far kept the protections alive following legal challenges brought by advocacygroups. But should the Trump administration eventually be allowed to end them, the documents warn of dire consequences.

Career State Department officials argue that ending the protections, which would force the immigrants to leave or go underground, would hurt efforts to combat international criminal gangs and drug trafficking. It would worsen the poverty, political volatility, and violence causing unauthorized immigration to the US in the first place. 

And it could directly endanger hundreds of thousands of American citizens: The documents include an estimation that ending the protections would mean 273,000 US citizen children would either be separated from their immigrant parents, or have to return to El Salvador and Honduras, where, the experts warn, they could be recruited by criminal gangs such as MS-13. 

In light of these concerns, Thomas Shannon, the most senior foreign service official in the State Department at the time, appealed to Tillerson to renew protections for immigrants from the three countries.

“It is rare for the State Department to be asked to comment on an issue with such immediate domestic political ramifications,” he wrote in a previously undisclosed memo in October 2017. “I understand the delicate nature of the decision. However, it is our purpose to provide the best possible foreign policy and diplomatic advice. From my point of view, that advice is obvious: extend TPS for the countries indicated.”

One question was whether El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti were ready to start reabsorbing their citizens who had been living in the US for years or even decades. The US conferred TPS on citizens of El Salvador after a 2001 earthquake, Hondurans after a 1999 hurricane, and Haitians after a 2010 earthquake. In each case, the natural disasters displaced hundreds of thousands of people and left the countries in ruins.

The State Department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, as well as the Office of Policy Planning, argued that enough time had passed for the three countries to recover.

“Beneficiaries and their countries of origin know that this is a temporary program governed by statute that must eventually come to an end,” reads a previously undisclosed memo from the policy office, dated October 26, 2017. “Another extension for any of these countries based on environmental disaster that struck more than a decade ago (slightly shorter for Haiti) is not supported by the facts on the ground and will only delay the inevitable.” 

Other senior officials disagreed. They acknowledged that the countries had largely rebuilt after the disasters, but had not recovered from the resulting “cascade of political economic and social crises whose impacts are still deeply felt,” Shannon wrote in his memo to Tillerson. Though conditions in Haiti relating to the 2010 earthquake had improved, for example, housing shortages and public health crises remained, particularly in the camps for internally displaced individuals where there were cholera outbreaks.

In the memo, Shannon; the State Department’s Bureau of Populations, Refugees and Migration; and the three US embassies in El Salvador, Honduras, and Haiti urged Tillerson not to end the protections. 

“Doing so would not only continue the compassion and generosity that have underscored our approach to disaster and humanitarian assistance over time,” Shannon wrote. “It would also guarantee the necessary partnerships we have built with these countries and others in the struggle to promote safe and orderly migration, and fight the traffickers and criminal organizations that prey on the fears and aspirations of our neighbors.” 

U.S. Embassy Statement on USCIS Haiti Field Office Closure 

• •           In March, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), an agency within the Department of Homeland Security, announced its plans to close many of its international field offices, which will now result in 13 closures globally.

• •           USCIS in Haiti will permanently close to the public on November 29. However, the Consular section of the U.S. Embassy in Port-au-Prince will assume responsibility for certain in-person services that USCIS currently provides to individuals residing in Haiti.

• •           The Consular section of the Embassy which is primarily responsible for American citizen services, and the adjudication of nonimmigrant and immigrant visas, remains open for all consular services.

• •           USCIS is working closely with the Department of State to provide for a smooth transition of responsibilities and to minimize disruptions in the provision of these services.

• •           For information on the work of USCIS, please visit uscis.gov.

Rare calm in Haiti as thousands seek free medical care from U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort

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NOVEMBER 07, 2019 09:20 PM 

• PORT-AU-PRINCE
• One man needed a hernia operation that he could not afford. A young girl came to seek help for her 3-year-old cousin whose skin was inexplicably covered with sores. And a mother of four needed help with a chronic allergy reaction.
• They all took the chance to travel miles away from home to the Haitian Coast Guard base Killick on Thursday in search of medical care from the U.S. Navy ship Comfort, the floating U.S. naval hospital that arrived Monday. It was a rare calm following two months of sustained protests, burning tires and impassable barricades.
• “I already feel better”’ Jean Seide, 47, said as he lay in a bed waiting to be wheeled into the operating room aboard the ship to treat a large hernia that he said has plagued him for years.
•  
• Two miles away on shore, Marie Sabrine Sempre, sitting underneath a tent with scores of other waiting patients, was equally hopeful.
•  
• “I found medicine from them before and it was good,” she said, describing what appeared to be an allergic reaction. “So I came hoping they could help.”
•  
• Haiti is the ship’s 12th and final stop following a deployment that began in June in Ecuador.
•  
• A dentist from Mexico treats a Haitian patient aboard the USNS Comfort naval hospital ship Thursday in Haiti. The ship arrived on Monday and will remain in the country until Wednesday. Kisley Jeannot COURTESY OF US EMBASSY HAITI
• Though the goal of the ship’s mission was to relieve the healthcare stress placed on nations in the hemisphere by the crisis in Venezuela, the Haiti stop was a personal request from the country’s U.S. ambassador, Michele Sison, according to the head of the U.S Southern Command, Adm. Craig Faller.
• When Sison made the request earlier this year, Haiti was not yet in a protracted political crisis. Schools were still functioning, hotels were struggling but still open and Haitians weren’t yet facing a disturbing humanitarian crisis.
• “Haiti is going through a tough time,” Sison told some of the more than 800 doctors, dentists, nurses and other medical professionals aboard the Comfort on Thursday. “If you haven’t had the opportunity to get down to the Haitian Coast Guard base Killick, which is the medical site... I want to tell you what we all saw down there touches the heart. There were over 1,000 people at the gates yesterday. They told me upwards of 3,000 today at the medical site.”
•  
• The Comfort, she said, has brand recognition in Haiti, where the ship first visited in 2007 and again after the 2010 earthquake.
• U.S. Southcom Commander Adm. Craig Faller tours the medical site in Port-au-Prince at the country’s coast guard base. Haiti is the final stop of a 5-month, 12-nation mission to the region. Kisley Jeannot COURTESY OF US EMBASSY HAITI
• Faller, who arrived in the country on Thursday as part of a three-country Caribbean tour and later met with President Jovenel Moïse, called the outreach in Haiti “very powerful.”
• “It shows the power of an outstretched hand, the power of what we can do when we work together,” he said. “Here in Haiti we’ve had the opportunity to see first hand the impact that it has made, changing lives forever.”
• During their time out to sea, the ship’s crew, which includes medical professionals from other countries in the region, has treated more than 64,000 patients. That number will surely rise, with the crew expecting to see anywhere between 300 and 500 patients a day at the shore-based medical site in Haiti. Ship surgeons can conduct as many as 20 operations a day. On Thursday, the crew treated 599 patients. They also performed 15 surgeries. So far, a total of 1,380 Haitians have received free medical care.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 20 novembre 2019

 Moulin sur Mer closes its doors

The resort Moulin sur Mer closes its doors due to the absence of customers. Haitian tourism is sinking.

A Demonstration took place in Brooklyn last Sunday to show solidarity to the Haitian people

The protest met at the corner of Flatbush & Parkside Ave. and planned to march down Flatbush Ave. to the intersection of Nostrand & Flatbush.

They marched to:

• • Call for and end to the criminal Jovenel Moise-PHTK regime.
• • Denounce the CORE Group countries (composed of the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Ambassadors of Germany, Brazil, Canada, France, United States of America, and the representatives of Spain, the Organization of American States and the European Union) who are using Jovenel Moise as their puppet to allow them to steal Haiti’s resources and to massacre the Haitian people.
• • Say that Haitians are tired of being pushed out of our country and having to beg for a chance to live as human beings in neighboring countries. It is time that we can live with dignity in this country that our ancestors fought and died to create.
• • Denounce the false solutions being put forward by fake leaders whose true aim is to support the enemies of Haiti and keep Haitians who are now in the streets fighting from uprooting the rotten "shithole" system.

UNITED NATIONS LEADERS AND DOMINICAN SOLDIERS VISITING OUANAMINTHE

The delegation wanted to inquire about the functioning of the binational market and the free zone, in the industrial park Codevi, headed by Dominican businessman Fernando Aníbal Capellán.

The latter has maintained visitors on the functioning of this consortium of companies, according to what reported this Saturday, November 16, the newspaper Dominican Listindiario, in its electronic publishing.

Members of the delegation received explanations on the functioning of the binational market and were also able to observe the exchanges between Haitian and Dominican traders and buyers.

THE EMBASSY OF SWITZERLAND OFFERS SCHOLARSHIPS.

Last week, the Embassy of Switzerland in Haiti announced the opening of the process of the excellence scholarship of the Swiss Confederation. The information was shared on the institution’s Facebook page.

Applicants for a doctorate can submit their papers by December. No specific date was chosen because the date of submission varies according to each country.

Two types of scholarship:

1. Grants for research internships, doctorates or post-doctorates in Swiss universities, Federal Polytechnic Schools and Universities of Applied Sciences (no grants at bachelor’s or master’s level)
2. Arts scholarships for advanced studies at Swiss conservatories and art colleges (only for a limited number of countries)

Interested parties can go to this link to read the eligibility criteria and other information concerning them: EXCELLENCE SCHOLARSHIP OF THE SWISS CONFEDERATION.

Détails

Catégorie : What's up Little Haiti

Création : 27 novembre 2019

 MUTINY OVER COKING CHARCOAL IN A HAITIAN PRISON LED TO GANG RAPES, HUMAN-RIGHTS GROUPS SAY

JACQUELINE CHARLES

THE MIAMI HERALD NOVEMBER 22ND 2019

It started around noon, when male detainees inside a prison for men and women north of Haiti’s capital heard there was no charcoal or propane gas to cook their food, and began violently protesting prison conditions and attempting to escape.

By the time it was over and the jailbreak had been stopped by Haiti National Police, at least one inmate was dead, several others had been injured and 10 female detainees, including a 15-year-old teen girl and 62-year-old woman, had been gang raped, two Haiti-based human rights groups said.

Accusing the government of being irresponsible and neglectful in its mission to protect detainees in its custody, the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights and the Solidarite Fanm Ayisyèn are demanding an investigation into the Nov. 7 incident inside the Gonaives Civil Prison, and are calling on Haitian authorities to identify and prosecute everyone involved in the alleged rapes.

The human-rights groups are also demanding that medical, psychological and social assistance be given to the victims, and for prisons exclusively for women to be constructed in the country.

NEW DEVELOPMENT OPPOSING THE HAITIAN STATE TO SOGENER.

A new development occurred in the conflict between the Haitian State and the Société Générale de l'Énergie (SOGENER). Last week, the Prosecutor of Port-au-Prince accompanied by officials from the electric company EDH, took control of the sites hosting the power plants of Varreux. The decision was taken by judicial authorities, 24 hours after issuing an invitation to company officials, who did not show up.

After several days of threats, the Moises/Lapin administration went from words to deeds. In fact, the government commissioner of Port-au-Prince, Jacques Lafontant, accompanied by police officers, a justice of the peace and officials of the EDH, resumed possession and full enjoyment of the power plants of Varreux, managed by Société Générale d'Energie (SOGENER).

Les Cayes (South): 2 Mexicans and a Haitian arrested after a plane landed clandestinely

The Commissioner of the Government of Les Cayes (South), Ronald Richemond, has arrested two individuals of Mexican nationality and another of Haitian nationality. This is in connection with the clandestine landing of a plane in Saint-Jean du Sud.

The suspects are: Villeda Juan Jose, Vargas Flores Andres and Archil John Jhimy. These individuals were arrested at Cartagena Avenue, in the city of Les Cayes, at about 8 o'clock in the evening.

The initials reports said that a plane crashed in a locality called “Nan mwen” at the 3rd communal section of Saint-Jean du Sud.

The National Civil Aviation Office (FOCA) not only confirmed the information but also indicated that officers of the Anti-drug Brigade (BLTS) were on the scene, because the aircraft in question would have been transporting illegal goods.

HS/Haiti standard

The United States encourages the actors of the Haitian crisis to dialogue

VISIT OF THE AMERICAN EMISSARY IN HAITI:

OPPOSITION REFUSES TO SIT DOWN WITH PRESIDENT JOVENEL MOISE

The Permanent Ambassador of the United States to the United Nations (UN), Kelly Dawn Knight Craft failed to convince opposition leaders and business representatives to sit down with the President of the Republic Jovenel Moïse. After a few hours visit to the country, the diplomat Kelly Dawn Knight Craft met the Head of State, one of the leaders of the Haitian Party tèt kale (PHTK), Liné Balthazar, opposition leaders including Senators Youri Latortue, Joseph Lambert and Evalière Beauplan, the president of the Fusion of Haitian Social Democrats, Edmonde Supplice Beauzile and one of the representatives of the business sector in Haiti Bernard Craan.

Rep. Waters Statement on 1-Year Anniversary of Lasalin Massacre in Haiti

‘Those responsible for acts of politically motivated violence in Haiti must be held accountable.
Impunity in Haiti must end now’ 

WASHINGTON – Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) issued the following statement on the one-year anniversary of the Lasalin Massacre in Haiti:

“Following the anniversary of the brutal attack in the Lasalin neighborhood of Haiti’s capital – which resulted in the deaths of at least 71 civilians, in addition to the rape of at least 11 women, and the looting of more than 150 homes – I renew my call for justice for the victims and survivors of Lasalin and the protection of Haiti’s citizens in exercising their democratic rights to free expression and assembly.

“In April 2019, I led a delegation to Haiti, which met with residents of Lasalin and surrounding areas, who described acts of unconscionable violence that occurred the previous November.  Survivors expressed concern that government-connected gangs, working with police officers, carried out the attacks to punish the neighborhood for participation in anti-government protests.

“In the months since my trip to Haiti, credible investigations by Haiti’s National Human Rights Defense Network (RNDDH), the United Nations (UN) Mission for Justice Support in Haiti together with the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR), and Haiti’s national directorate of judicial police have all consistently pointed to politically motivated violence. Furthermore, the judicial police investigation report named two senior officials from the administration of Haiti’s President, Jovenel Moise, in the list of alleged perpetrators.

“As a longtime friend of Haiti, I am deeply concerned that one year after the massacre, the state officials implicated in the Lasalin killings remain at liberty, and they were only suspended from their posts in September 2019, after repeated calls for accountability by victims and human rights organizations.  Meanwhile, judicial processes in Haiti regarding Lasalin appear stalled.

“Without justice for Lasalin, impunity for violence against civilians continues, and acts of repression are increasing. Early reports suggest that the recent killing of at least 15 people in the Bel-Air neighborhood between November 4-7, 2019, may have been carried out by the very same gang leaders implicated in the Lasalin massacre. OHCHR has verified that Haitian security forces were responsible for at least 19 killings since September 15, and attacks on journalists have steadily increased in recent months. Moreover, Amnesty International reported that Haitian police have repeatedly used excessive force during recent anti-government protests, including unlawfully firing live ammunition at protesters and indiscriminately launching tear gas.  These acts of violence are alarming and raise grave concerns about human rights in Haiti.

“Following the one-year anniversary of the Lasalin massacre, we are reminded that impunity for brutality against innocent civilians enables and perpetuates violence. These acts of violence endanger the safety of the population and violate fundamental human rights.

“Those responsible for acts of politically motivated violence in Haiti must be held accountable.  Impunity in Haiti must end now.”

‘Voodoo Is Part of Us’

By Gina Cherelus

Nov. 21, 2019

In a dark club in Downtown Brooklyn, surrounded by more than 100 people, Agathina Ginoue Nozy took a sip of Haitian rum. She stood near an altar stacked with skulls, lit candles, cigars, rum, coffee and bowls filled with charred salt fish, boiled plantains, cassava and piman (spicy peppers).

“You typically drink white liquor during Fet Gede, but if there is none you drink rum with no ice to feel the heat,” Ms. Nozy said. “Gede is a hot thing.” 

Her face was painted to look hollow, like a skull, and she wore a dark skeleton bodysuit and a black veil. With her fingers wrapped around a smoking pipe and an austere look on her face, Ms. Nozy had become the embodiment of Maman Brigitte, a Haitian lwa (or goddess) of death.

Voodoo believers, Haitians and curious partygoers gathered last Saturday night to celebrate Fet Gede, or the Festival of the Dead.

Similar to Mexico’s Day of the Dead, Gede invites revelers to dress up, eat, drink and dance to honor the lwas and the ancestors who came before them. It is one of the most anticipated celebrations in the Haitian voodoo religious calendar.

Ms. Nozy, a 29-year-old Haitian immigrant who was born and raised in Port-au-Prince, moved to New York City just before she turned 17. As someone who believes in voodoo, she looks forward to the celebration each year, but acknowledges that many people, including Haitians, lack an understanding of what it is.

They believe that the religion “has something to do with black magic,” Ms. Nozy said. “Voodoo is part of us. It’s who we are. It’s the culture. Voodoo is the food that we eat. It’s the language that we speak.”

What voodoo is not, contrary to popular belief, is a dark spell-casting practice full of pin-dolls and demonic prayers, said the party’s organizers, Monvelyno Alexis, 43, and Riva Précil, 30, a husband and wife musical duo who have organized one of the city’s most popular Fet Gede events for the past seven years.

This means that the event of Fet Gede can be somewhat misunderstood, too. 

“I know a lot of Haitians that dress up their kids for Halloween. But when it comes to Gede they say I am not interested in that thing,” Ms. Nozy said. 

“Our generation is more open-minded when it comes to the voodoo religion,” said Ms. Nozy, who was part of a large crew at the party that night.

At the club, guests were dressed in the official Gede colors — black, purple, and white — and danced to rhythmic drumming. The room was thick with smoke from incense and cigars. 

The night kicked off with a rum tasting at the altar, which helped guests get in the Gede mood. As Ms. Nozy and her crew danced, one man splattered Florida Water — a perfume used in voodoo for spiritual cleansing and protection — over their heads, leaving a sweet citrus and floral scent that covered the room. At times, Ms. Nozy and others would scream, throw their hands in the air or slam a wooden cane into the ground.

Fet Gede is observed typically in early November, although it can be celebrated all month.

Rituals include a special Gede dance, Banda, and making offerings to the spirits, the most famous of whom is Baron Samedi, known as the god of death (he is also the husband of Maman Brigitte, the goddess of death), Ms. Précil said. Together, both spirits — the Baron and Maman — revel in eroticisms, obscenities and drinking.

The ancestors, Ms. Précil said, like to party. “They don’t have the same restrictions or rules as we do here on earth,” she said. “They’re very fearless, so it’s a time where we sort of channel their ways and celebrate them by taking on their way of life.”

Haitian voodoo is a religion that emerged out of institutional slavery.

Starting in the mid-1600s, many Africans who had been brought against their will to the Island of Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) arrived with their own spiritual traditions, eventually integrating them with those of the indigenous people of the island. As a result, voodoo, which means “spirit,” was born.

Voodoo, often spelled Vodou, is still regarded by many Haitians as the spiritual source of the country’s strength, healing and resilience.

Mr. Alexis said that voodoo isn’t something he practices or follows with a strict set of rules; it is more of a connection. He emphasized the importance of working to help Haitians reconnect with voodoo through events like this one.

“Whenever somebody asks us questions we always answer them,” he said. “We want to bring the Haitian way back to Haitians.”

Despite more than 80,000 Haitian immigrants in New York City, Gede celebrations aren’t that common, Ms. Précil said. If her ever-expanding parties are proof, however, she sees a growing interest in the event. The couple has been asked recently to bring their party to parts of Canada and even Haiti.

Music and dance are key for a successful Gede. Last weekend, Mr. Alexis and Ms. Précil each sang, accompanied by a live band, and Ms. Nozy performed a Haitian folklore dance, gyrating and chanting to the drummer’s beat. The energy of the crowd swelled as the room became more congested, everyone trying to inch closer to the show.

Folks could be seen taking shots of liquor and eating different Haitian dishes, including griot (fried pork) or banan peze with pikliz (plantains with spicy pickled cabbage).

There was a tarot card reader and a face painter. At one point there was even a trivia contest, testing partygoers on their knowledge of Gede trivia and traditions.

“This is something that our ancestors left for us and we need to cherish it,” Ms. Nozy said. “Even though you’re not in Haiti, if you’re living in a foreign country, the culture is still alive. And it’s in you.”