Haiti News and Politics

[mountainannie]

Any solution must have Henry's immediate and complete dismissal. Dead or alive is a secondary question.

That is not going to happen.

Here is another article -
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/12/01/haiti-us-military-intervention-00071459

The issue is that the Montana Group has been unwilling to negotiate with Henry and the Internationals will not go outside the Haitian Constitution which is a very old document - difficult to amend -https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Haiti_2012.pdf?lang=en

There is not much support shown on social media for the Montana Accords but I am making every effort to press to get some idea of transparency --

(As I say to my friends - I may not be at the head table but I am definitely in the main ballroom as I am followed by both Susan D. Page who was the Ambassador to MINUSTAH and Madame Duvalier as well as both NouPapDomi & PetroChallengers who have 70k followers between them. )

I am really just a member of the press corps... with a lot of contacts both in Haiti and the Diaspora. And have achieved a certain level of respect and credibility. It is pretty easy to post someone's name and get a negative review - but almost impossible to get anyone to put forth positive suggestions.

My biggest concern is that neither Montana nor the Blans are including #BBQ - who has also put forth a peace plan which makes a lot of sense..

And it makes no sense to me to NOT negotiate with him before bringing in troops for a blood bath, http://elizabetheames.blogspot.com/2022/10/foreign-intervention-again-in-haiti.html.

 

[mountainannie]

Canada came out with new sanctions -this time against some of the business folks - here is the full list so far.... https://www.international.gc.ca/campaign-campagne/haiti-sanction/index.aspx?lang=eng

 

[mountainannie]

I am starting to see tweets and pix on Haitian twitter - something about the DR suspending flour shipments??

(

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1603078011905085440

does that have any relation to Planet Earth? or ?

 

[NanSanPedro]

Police officer and ex-soldier arrested in assassination case, 11 more cops sought​

https://haitiantimes.com/2022/12/22...ed-in-assassination-case-11-more-cops-sought/

PORT-AU-PRINCE — Authorities have arrested a high-ranking Haitian police official and a former soldier for their alleged involvement in the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, the Haitian National Police (PNH) said. In addition, the agency said via its Facebook page, it is looking for 11 other police officers in connection with the case.

The arrested are Emmanuel Louis, a divisional police inspector, and Miradieu Faustin, the ex-soldier. During the arrest, police confiscated from Louis’ home three gun licenses in the name of Jhon Joël Joseph, a former Haitian senator currently in jail in the United States for his alleged role in the July 2021 murder.

Faustin works for a local commercial company as head of security.

In addition, PNH said it is actively seeking 11 other officers to question them in connection with the case. Details about those suspects were not provided in the statement.

It is not clear if Louis was currently in his role or had been terminated.

The PNH spokesperson had not returned messages seeking comment as of this writing.

Case background

Sometime between late night July 6 and early July 7, a group of Colombia mercenaries brutally tortured and murdered Moïse, then left his wife Martine for dead inside the master bedroom of the couple’s personal residence in Pelerin 5.

Since then, at least five different judges have tried to oversee the investigation and nearly 50 suspects arrested, even as various characters in government and elsewhere were said to put up obstacles in the case. Officials who worked on the case have said they received death threats and at least one person, former investigative judge Merlan Belabre, said he was worried about his family’s safety.

Several fugitives have also been arrested this year, including Joseph. The former senator, according to a 122-page report, was a leader of the assassination plot who paid for the assassins’ rental cars and met with other suspects in the lead-up. Joseph fled to Jamaica soon after, but was captured and extradited to the U.S. at the start of the year.

Over the summer Judge Walther Wesser Voltaire began overseeing the investigation and prosecution. However, the justice system tasked with bringing the killers to justice deteriorated further as multiple crises hit the country. In June, gangs even took over the Palace of Justice in mid-June, weakening the country’s justice system even further as lawyers and other judicial workers were too scared to report to work and case files were going missing or being destroyed.

Since the summer, the gang violence, fuel shortage and cholera have burdened the country, bringing to a full stop – peyilòk – all activities for nearly two months and prompting a call from Prime Minister Ariel Henry for an international armed force to help. Activities began resuming in November.

 

[mountainannie]

the important part - from the AP linked article -
"But it also suggests that Prime Minister Ariel Henry, Justice Minister Rockefeller Vincent and even Martine Moïse, the former president’s wife, know far more about the killing than they have shared."

 

[NanSanPedro]

Haitian Radio Journalist Francklin Tamar Shot and Killed

HAVANA TIMES – Haitian authorities must immediately investigate the killing of radio journalist Francklin Tamar, determine if he was targeted because of his reporting, and bring those responsible to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday.

Two unidentified individuals on a motorcycle shot Tamar multiple times on Rue Monseigneur Guilloux street near his home in the capital of Port-au-Prince on December 18, according to news reports. Tamar was struck twice and died on his way to the hospital.

Tamar, 38, was a well-known radio journalist who covered music and culture for over two decades, according to reports and statements shared by friends and colleagues on social media. In 2015 he began working at broadcaster Radio Solidarité, where he hosted two programs — a daily cultural program, “Konpa Konpa,” and “Samedi Culture,” a weekly show on Saturdays that promoted Haitian musical artists, according to reports and Tamar’s Facebook.

“Deadly violence against journalists in Haiti has reached an unthinkable level this year, and authorities cannot simply sit by while the country’s media workers continue to be killed,” said Natalie Southwick, CPJ’s Latin America and the Caribbean program coordinator. “Officials must immediately open a transparent investigation into the killing of Francklin Tamar, determine if there was any relation to his work, and ensure those responsible are identified and held to account.”

In interviews with Haitian news outlets, Georges Venel Remarais, Radio Solidarité’s founder and director and president of the Association of Independent Media of Haiti (AMIH), described Tamar’s killing as “a huge loss” for the station. He said he could not speculate about possible motives or whether Tamar had been targeted and called on law enforcement and justice officials to investigate the killing.

In a statement, Haiti’s Ministry of Culture and Communication condemned Tamar’s killing and offered condolences to his family and colleagues but did not provide any additional information.

CPJ’s email to Haitian police did not receive a response.

Six journalists have been killed this year in Haiti in relation to their work, according to CPJ research. CPJ is still investigating whether the deaths of radio host Garry Tess, who was found dead after going missing in the southern city of Les Cayes, and radio journalist Romelson Vilcin, who was killed when police fired tear gas on a group of journalists protesting outside a police station, are related to their journalism.

Somebody or bodies like the status quo in Haiti.

 

[NanSanPedro]

Don't just show up here

“Do not, do not, just show up at the border,” President Joe Biden said to migrants from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela during a Jan. 5 press conference at the White House.

Haitians, Nicaraguans and Cubans will be automatically expelled at the United States border, the plan states, while his government puts in place a new program that will allow 30,000 people to apply for entry from their home countries through a humanitarian parole plan. The plan, previously offered to only Venezuelans, drastically decreased the number of Venezuelans at the U.S. southern border, U.S. and Mexican officials said.

The plan denies asylum to those without family connections in the U.S. or financial sponsorship commitments for two years. Advocates say this is not always possible for people fleeing violence and persecution in their home country and called the plan an expansion of a Trump-era policy that gives border agents the power to turn away Haitians without giving them a chance to seek asylum, while Title 42 also continues on. Title 42 is a pandemic-era federal policy that quickly expels migrants to Mexico.

There is more if anyone is interested. It's behind a paywall but I've paid and can copy it.

In any case, my question is this: Am I correct in assuming that this program mentioned in the 2nd paragraph above is yet to be implemented for Haitians? So that now, there is nothing to do until the govt addresses this plan.

 

[johne]

This was only a matter of time. Biden HAD to do this.

 

[KyleMackey]

This was only a matter of time. Biden HAD to do this.

Why it's a wide open open border. What's different over the last 5 decades or 6 or whatever.

 

[johne]

This was only a matter of time. Biden HAD to do this.

While staying on topic of "Haiti"... Are Haitians now excluded from entry to the US for humantarian reasons? Were they told "Don't show up here" (US border). Will this degree not further the border problems for DR/Haiti ?
My reference to "Biden had to do this" has to do with US politics and discussions here on DR1 are not permitted and perhaps you mis-interpeted my one liner.

 

[CristoRey]

This was only a matter of time. Biden HAD to do this.

Fools.

 

[NanSanPedro]

Don't just show up here



There is more if anyone is interested. It's behind a paywall but I've paid and can copy it.

In any case, my question is this: Am I correct in assuming that this program mentioned in the 2nd paragraph above is yet to be implemented for Haitians? So that now, there is nothing to do until the govt addresses this plan.

Just a quick update on how this has gone so far.

It took a week to get everything together, but yesterday I finally submitted my USCIS 134-1 form for Kenson, my son. I got an email this morning from them saying they had received it. We shall see how it goes and if I have to go back to the USA, which I suspect I will.

Additionally, I have 3 other Haitian asking me to do the same thing. That would be one crowded house.

 

[NALs]

Today's cover of Listín Diario newspaper.

 

[NanSanPedro]

Today's cover of Listín Diario newspaper.

I´m oh so upset.

 

[NALs]

A partial Haiti news was published yesterday in El Caribe newspaper. Dominican IDAC will train the new Haitian air controllers that will be at the new air control tower currently being built at Toussaint Loverture International Airport.

 

[mountainannie]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/22/...ytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Don't know about the paywall
The Times used to allow 10 free articles
Perhaps someone else would copy and paste?

 

[playacaribe2]

Just a quick update on how this has gone so far.

It took a week to get everything together, but yesterday I finally submitted my USCIS 134-1 form for Kenson, my son. I got an email this morning from them saying they had received it. We shall see how it goes and if I have to go back to the USA, which I suspect I will.

Additionally, I have 3 other Haitian asking me to do the same thing. That would be one crowded house.

Did you mean an I-134 Financial Support form?

Note that after January 6, 2023 you are required to submit an I-134A.

Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

 

[NanSanPedro]

Did you mean an I-134 Financial Support form?

Note that after January 6, 2023 you are required to submit an I-134A.

Respectfully,
Playacaribe2

yes, my mistake.

 

[windeguy]

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/22/...ytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Don't know about the paywall
The Times used to allow 10 free articles
Perhaps someone else would copy and paste?

As Haiti’s Police Retreat, Gangs Take Over Much of the Capital​ Even wealthier areas in the capital, Port-au-Prince, are no longer immune to violence as gangs attack police officers and destroy police stations. People walk past members of the Haitian National Police in March as they attempt to repel gangs in a neighborhood near the Presidential Palace in Port-au-Prince.Credit...Richard Pierrin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images By Andre Paultre and Chris Cameron Andre Paultre reported from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Chris Cameron reported from Washington. March 22, 2023 One by one, schools and hospitals have closed. Kidnappings are an everyday risk and gang warfare rages openly on the streets. But now, the chaos that has long consumed many parts of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, has spread: The national police, outgunned, outnumbered, underpaid and demoralized, have ceded control of most of the city to gangs. Almost no one is safe anymore, analysts and residents say. Even the wealthy who have long looked down at the gang-ridden city from their homes in the mountains above Port-au-Prince are no longer immune. Gangs operate with impunity across Port-au-Prince and increasingly in wealthy enclaves above the city, analysts say, tightening their grip by attacking police officers and destroying police stations. “Today, security in Haiti is not a matter of means,’’ said Youri Mevs, the managing partner of an industrial park who lives in the mountains overlooking the city. “It is a matter of avoiding the wrong place at the wrong time. And, the wrong place is almost everywhere, just as the wrong time is literally all the time.” Ms. Mevs said she was sending some of her relatives out of the country because of safety concerns. Image A shelter in Port-au-Prince housing more than 1,200 people, mostly older women and girls, who have fled armed clashes among gangs.Credit...Johnson Sabin/EPA, via Shutterstock The spreading insecurity and the widespread collapse of law and order has led officials to take the astonishing step of telling residents that they should take their protection into their own hands and not count on the government. Sale ends soon: All of the Times, all in one subscription. $1 a week for your first year. “We are asking for more citizen participation,” Gary Desrosiers, a police spokesman, said, citing the example of one Port-au-Prince neighborhood where “the population is standing up to prevent disorder.” The ruthless hallmarks of gang rule have advanced beyond the capital: More than 200 people were killed across the country in the first two weeks of March alone, mostly from snipers randomly shooting at people in their homes or on the streets, according to a United Nations report released this week. The assassination of Haiti’s president, Jovenel Moïse, in July 2021 unraveled the country, tipping it into terror and disarray: There is, effectively, no elected government. The acting prime minister is widely viewed as inept. There is no legislature since the terms of the last remaining members of Parliament expired in January, the judiciary is seen as fundamentally corrupt and the national police force appears on the brink of collapse. “The police are completely absent, the authorities are completely absent, the government is completely absent,” said Pierre Espérance, the executive director of the Haitian National Human Rights Defense Network. A United Nations official in Haiti said in December that gangs controlled about 60 percent of Port-au-Prince. Now analysts like Mr. Espérance estimate that the figure has risen to more than 90 percent. Image The funeral in Cap Haitien, Haiti, for President Jovenel Moïse, who was assassinated in his home in 2021.Credit...Federico Rios for The New York Times “The government is deeply concerned’’ about the violence, Jean-Junior Joseph, a spokesman for Ariel Henry, Haiti’s acting prime minister, said in a statement. He acknowledged that the police no longer have the capacity to take on the gangs. In a speech to the armed forces on Friday, Mr. Henry gave a sobering picture of the country’s condition. “Despair reaches such a level that the daughters and sons of the country only consider their future elsewhere,” he said. The national police force has shrunk to fewer than 9,000 members, according to the United Nations, from as many as 15,000 three years ago, after many officers quit or left the country, among other factors. “The government that is being paid to give us security is giving a clear statement that we are not about to protect you,” said Magali Comeau-Denis, a leader of the Montana Accord, an opposition group. “When you tell me to exercise self-defense, you tell me to engage myself in a civil war with the gangs.’’ A spree of killings of Haitian police officers in January sparked outrage among the rank-and-file, many of whom abandoned their stations and checkpoints in all but a few areas. The prime minister’s residence, the National Palace and some government ministries remain under police patrol. “Government officials do not have a security problem, because they have a lot of bodyguards with big guns,” Mr. Espérance said. Image Families flee their homes amid gang violence.Credit...Richard Pierrin/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Police officials describe a force under siege — unable to protect themselves, let alone civilians. At least 12 police officers were killed in January, said Mr. Desrosiers, the police spokesman. Entry-level police officers earn less than $200 a month, which is higher than the minimum wage but still not enough for many officers to perform an increasingly lethal function, Gesnel Morlant, a spokesman for a Haitian police union, said. “If nothing is done, the police force could collapse in the weeks to come,” he said. The United States, Canada and other countries have provided security aid to Haiti, including anti-gang and SWAT training and armored vehicles. But police officials say even more is needed to counter the firepower of the gangs, which have armed themselves through shipments of powerful weapons trafficked into the country from the United States, including machine guns, according to a report released this month by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Mr. Henry’s government in October appealed for outside military intervention in Haiti to quell the violence, a remarkable request that underscored the dire situation in a country deeply resentful of foreign intervention. The political opposition called it an attempt to strengthen Mr. Henry’s tenuous claim to power. Biden administration officials are pushing to rally a multinational armed force to Haiti, though the effort has stalled, largely because no country wants to lead it. American military leaders do not want U.S. troops drawn into another open-ended peacekeeping mission after the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. Image Streets in Port-au-Prince were largely deserted in March as residents are fearful of the wave of violence fueled by gang warfare. Credit...Johnson Sabin/EPA, via Shutterstock Canada had expressed interest in a leadership role, according to the Biden administration, but recently Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared to pull back, telling reporters that outside intervention in the past had not worked “to create long-term stability.” Brian Nichols, the top State Department official for the Western Hemisphere, visited Haiti recently and met with Mr. Henry and Frantz Elbé, the national police chief. Mr. Henry’s spokesman said the meeting focused on holding national elections and the need for more international support for the police. In Port-au-Prince, many residents are in a self-imposed lockdown, fearful of venturing out as gun battles erupt near neighborhoods that had been considered relatively calm. “There is an atmosphere of panic and paranoia, like in the Duvalier era,” said Leslie Voltaire, an urban planner and former presidential candidate, referring to the brutal decades-long dictatorship of François Duvalier and his son, Jean-Claude. He added that he has been without power for more than a month in his neighborhood in southern Port-au-Prince. Videos posted to social media in recent days show residents fleeing their homes in the capital as fires burn and smoke fills the air. Other videos show crowds of people fleeing gunfire, and groups of men armed with rifles patrolling the streets. Image Police officers take position as they take part in an anti-gang operation in March.Credit...Ralph Tedy Erol/Reuters The extreme violence has had a grim impact on the most vulnerable Haitians. Gangs have used sexual violence against women and girls to terrorize and pressure families to pay ransoms for abductees, according to a U.N. report released on Tuesday. Many children have also been forcibly recruited by armed gangs, the report said. Doctors Without Borders, the global humanitarian organization that is helping keep the Haitian health system functioning, said that the number of patients — including children, women and older people — arriving at its emergency center with gunshot wounds had surged in recent days. The group closed its hospital in Cité Soleil — the country’s largest slum — this month because patients and staff could not be assured protection. Heavily armed groups were battling just yards from the hospital compound’s gate, according to Vincent Harris, a medical adviser who worked at that hospital. “We had bullets flying over the hospital,” he said. Maria Abi-Habib contributed reporting. Chris Cameron is based in the Washington bureau. @ChrisCameronNYT